Gerald Gardner established modern witchcraft in different and controversial ways. There are different opinions about the origin of Wicca in Gardeno. Gardner himself said that this religion was not founded by himself, but the prehistoric and matriarchal primitive religion in Europe has survived to this day. He said that he was guided by a woman named "Old Dorothy" and joined an existing wizard group. Modern research has very different views on this kind of self-report. Some people think that Old Dorothy does exist, and Gardner's narrative is basically based on facts. Others think that Gardner made this up himself. After the ban on books was abolished in Britain, Gardeno published Witchcraft Today in 1954 and the Significance of Witchcraft in 1960, which laid the foundation for modern witchcraft. The ritual of Wiccan religion obviously comes from mysticism after the Victorian era, and its spiritual basis is influenced by primitive religions in Europe, and it also accepts elements of Buddhism and Hinduism.
Whether Wicca religion is directly related to primitive religion in Europe or not, it is obviously an imitation of primitive religion in Europe as people understand it today. Most of the rituals created by Gardeno were transferred from aleister crowley. In fact, few witchcraft rituals really originated in an earlier period. Most Wiccans' rituals are inconsistent internally, but borrowed from other sources. Some people say that the connotation of Wicca is patchwork. Others think that Gardner himself did not create or invent these ceremonies, but accepted them from others.
So some people think that Gardner revived a romantic movement in the early 20th century, rather than an ancient and complete primitive religion.
In Gardner's time, people became interested in the religion of primitive matriarchal society in Europe. Scholars and enthusiasts study this problem. Whether there is a matriarchal society in Europe is still controversial. Some people think that archaeological discoveries confirm this theory, but others criticize this understanding of archaeological discoveries.
In Victorian and Edwardian times, many people believed that there was a goddess of the earth in primitive Europe. The concept of beast horn beast is also very strong, but not as strong as Mother Earth. At that time, both scientific works and mass media had these two concepts. Gardner took these concepts as the center of his religious dogma and built Wicca around this center.