Modern Witchcraft In the of the 20th century, a revival of pre-Christian paganism arose in the Europe and the United States. The basis of this revival was witchcraft, or Wicca (said to be an early Anglo-Saxon word for witchcraft). Wicca is interpreted basically as the nature religion of pre-Christian Europe. The revival was based on books like Charles Leland’s Aradia: The Gospel of the Witches (1899), Margaret Murray’s The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921), and Robert Graves’s The White Goddess (1948). Such books gave inspiration to people looking for spiritual alternatives. The Englishman Gerald Gardner  (who in his book Witchcraft Today (1954) claimed that he was a witch initiated by a surviving coven) disclosed the alleged lore and rituals of English witches. Even though his claims have been questioned, he inspired covens of modern witches to be formed. This kind of witchcraft—with its love of nature, its resplendent rituals, its love of fantasy, and its question of convention— suited the mood of the 1960s and grew quickly during that decade. Modern witchcraft continued to flourish during the following decades. Many ecological and feminist followers found Wicca to be a religion that they could relate to. Wiccans emphasize the importance of nature and the equal role of gods and goddesses. Some groups, called Dianic (after the goddess Diana), include only women and worship the goddess exclusively. Closely related neo-pagan religions have also appeared in revivals of ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, and Nordic religions. Wicca is a modern religion based on the themes of ancient pre-Christian paganism, although it is not drawn directly from paganism. For example, Wicca abstains from some of the old pagan practices, such as animal sacrifice. Increasingly, Wicca draws from many pagan traditions, resulting in the distinctions between witchcraft, occultism, neo-paganism, and related religions have become hazy. Modern witchcraft is completely different from Satanism or diabolical witchcraft.