Magical Lives~Ray Buckland
By Lori Ann Hein

"An it harm none, do what thou wilt."

This statement is the Wiccan Rede. Ray Buckland explains, "The old word An means 'if,' so in modern parlance it’s 'If it harm none, do what thou wilt.' In other words, you can do anything you want to do . . . just so long as it doesn’t harm anybody. And that includes not harming yourself." Buckland says that it's important to stop and think about the consequences of your actions. "It means that for everything you do . . . you need to consider what effect that will have on others. It’s really an even stronger version of the 'Golden Rule'."

Mr. Buckland is certainly an authority on Wicca (or the Old Religion). Originally initiated as a Gardnerian witch (a tradition founded by Gerald Gardner), he has been practicing witchcraft for over forty years. In the early 1960s, he was responsible for bringing Wicca to the United States from England. After ten years, he left the Gardnerian tradition and founded his own, called Seax-Wica (Saxon Witchcraft). "Seeing where the Craft is today, in America, I can’t help but be proud of my role in it," he says.

An outspoken expert in the field, he has written many, many books, including the classic Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, published twenty years ago. The inspiration to write that book came, he says, "at a time when it was difficult for many people to make contact with a coven (it still isn’t easy in many areas). I saw many of those who so much wanted to be a part of the Craft, struggling to do something – anything – that would make them a part of the Old Religion. People just made up rituals and rites with no real knowledge of what they were doing. I wanted to make available a good foundation for people like that, so that they would at least be following the traditional path; so that what they came to practice was as close as it could be to what we might term 'authentic' Wicca, even though they hadn’t been initiated into an existing coven."

In the past two decades since he wrote Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, he has seen "tremendous changes . . . mostly good. However, in some senses things have gone full circle because you get people today who just can’t be bothered to learn the correct way of doing things and feel that just 'casting spells' (for good, or bad!) makes them Witches!" Buckland stresses that the Craft is much more than that. "Witchcraft/Wicca is a religious practice. If you’re only interested in working magic, then you don’t need to be a Witch; you are a Magician." He explains, "Witchcraft honors the gods of the Old Religion, with traditional rites and rituals throughout the year. Any magic that may need to be done is secondary to that religious side."

During his travels, he has accumulated many Wicca-related items. "It is a wonderful collection of artifacts from around the world," he says, "with many historical Wicca ones, including some of Gerald Gardner’s objects." Although at one time he displayed the items in a museum he created (the first witchcraft museum in the US), they are now in storage near New Orleans. He hopes they can someday be available for public viewing again.

Buckland currently lives on a small farm in Ohio where he is writing his autobiography. He has had an interest in homebuilt vehicles over the years, starting with small planes (particularly a design called the "Flying Flea") and now cars.

Besides his Wicca-related books, he has also created screenplays, and most recently, a YA novel set in World War II called The Liberty Squadron. "It is the adventures of a group of young men – in their late teens – who want to be a part of the fight against the Germans but don’t want to, or are unable to, join the Royal Air Force (this is before America came into the war). They manage to salvage some old aircraft that have been shot down and/or scrapped, patch them up and get them flying again, and go out to aid RAF squadrons in their battles. It very closely follows the sort of thing that actually happened."

What is the most magical thing that's happened in Buckland's life? "I have to be the romantic and say finding my present wife Tara. Second to that would be finding the Craft and being able to contribute to its advancement. But quite honestly, I think of my whole life as magical. You have only to look around at the many different aspects of nature to be in awe of life."

For more information about Ray Buckland, visit his web site at www.RayBuckland.com.

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