In the UK and most Commonwealth countries someone self-defined as Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca or Algard Wicca.

Gardnerian Wicca is used to refer to the traditions of neopaganism that adhere closely to Gardner's teachings, differentiating it from similar traditions, such as Alexandrian Wicca or more recent Wiccan offshoots.

Various forms of Wicca have since evolved or been adapted from Gardner's British Traditional Wicca or Gardnerian Wicca such as Alexandrian Wicca.

( A double-edged blade and black handle are required in almost all covens which practice some variant of British Traditional Wicca, including Gardnerian and Alexandrian.

In forms of British Traditional Wicca, which include Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca and Algard Wicca, the Book of Shadows used by adherents is based upon that written by Gardner and Valiente.

Alexandrian Wicca is similar in many ways to Gardnerian Wicca, and receives regular mention in books on Wicca as one of the religion's most widely-recognized traditions.

Encyclopedia Mystica states that Alexandrian Wicca " never gained the popularity as did the Gardnerian tradition because it is believed Sanders ’ negative publicity hurt it.

As compared to Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca is " somewhat more eclectic ", according to The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism.

Historian Ronald Hutton records comments from British practitioners of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca that distinctions between the two traditions have blurred in the last couple of decades, and some initiates of both traditions have recognized initiation within one as qualification for the other.

Valiente also edited and wrote the introduction to the 1990 book, Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed by Evan John Jones, which was about forms of Witchcraft other than the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, such as Cochrane's Craft.

While the James ’ s and their coven members claimed to have had backgrounds in Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca, and Continental Wicca, these claims were never substantiated — the general consensus of the British Traditional Wiccan community in Ontario prior to 1987 was that these claims had no substance whatsoever.

As mentioned above, Odyssean Wicca was inspired at least in part by the Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Continental, and Blue Star traditions.

Because the Odyssean tradition has been created from the known published material ( circa 1979 ) of Gardnerian Wicca and Alexandrian Wicca a greater exposure to the ritual style of other Wiccan and Modern Pagan traditions is offered to Odyssean laity, neophytes, and initiates through the Wiccan Church of Canada.

In traditional forms of Wicca, such as Gardnerian or Alexandrian, Craft names are typically adopted primarily out of regard for their symbolism.

Blue Star Wicca is one of a number of Wiccan traditions, and was created in the United States in the 1970s based loosely on the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions.

Blue Star remains a predominantly initiatory coven-based tradition in the model of the Gardnerian or Alexandrian traditions, but a number of " solitary " practitioners exist, typically with a form of long-distance relationship with an established group.

As mentioned above, Blue Star Wicca was inspired at least in part by both the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions.

In 1971, Garman Lord and other practitioners of Gardnerian Wicca founded The Coven Witan of Anglo-Saxon Wicca.

In the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca, the Horned God is sometimes specifically referred to as Cernunnos, or sometimes also as Kernunno.

Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practises that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest Coven, who initiated him into their ranks in 1939.

For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest extant tradition of Wicca, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived.

Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of British Traditional Wicca operate as an initiatory mystery cult ; membership is gained only through initiation by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest.

In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation.

In Gardnerian Wicca, the two principal deities are the Horned God and the Mother Goddess.

Therefore, Gardnerian Wicca can be said to differ from some modern non-coven Craft practices that often concentrate on the solitary practitioner's spiritual development.

Ruickbie, Hutton, and others further argue that much of what has been published of Gardnerian Wicca, as Gardner's practice came to be known by, was written by Blake, Yeats, Valiente and Crowley and contains borrowings from other identifiable sources.

This was the first of a number of disputes between individuals and groups, but the increased publicity only seems to have allowed Gardnerian Wicca to grow much more rapidly.

He was instrumental in bringing the Contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca to public attention, writing some of its definitive religious texts and founding the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca.

Erroneously believing the coven to be a survival of the pre-Christian Witch-Cult discussed in the works of Margaret Murray, he decided to revive the faith, supplementing the coven's rituals with ideas borrowed from Freemasonry, ceremonial magic and the writings of Aleister Crowley to form the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca.

In Gardnerian Wicca, the Dryghten prayer is recited at the end of every ritual meeting contains the lines referring to the Horned God:

The third degree initiation ceremony in Gardnerian Wicca ( including the Great Rite ) is derived almost completely from the Gnostic Mass.

Over the years Bonewits also had varying degrees of involvement with mystical organizations such as Ordo Templi Orientis, Gardnerian Wicca, and the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn ( a Wiccan organization not to be confused with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ) as well as others.

Murray's ideas proved highly influential over the ideas of Gerald Gardner ( 1884 – 1964 ), an English Wiccan who founded the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca in the 1950s before authoring the books Witchcraft Today ( 1954 ) and The Meaning of Witchcraft ( 1959 ).

First developing in the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca, the Rede spread throughout much of the pagan movement in the 1960s.

" Gardnerian " was originally a pejorative term coined by Gardner's initiate and contemporary Roy Bowers ( also known as Robert Cochrane ), a British cunning man.

According to his own claims, in September 1939, a British occultist named Gerald Gardner was initiated into the coven, and subsequently used its beliefs and practices as a basis from which he formed the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca.

Certain initiates such as Alex Sanders and Raymond Buckland who brought his take on the Gardnerian tradition to the United States in 1964 started off their own major traditions allowing further expansion.

Whilst nudity and the practice of witchcraft have long been associated in the visual arts, this contemporary ritual nudity is typically attributed to either the influence of Gerald Gardner or to a passage from Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, and as such is mainly attributed to the Gardnerian and Aradian covens.

This version of the ritual, written by both Gardner and Valiente, but containing sections adopted from various sources, such as Aleister Crowley, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, and even Rudyard Kipling, went on to become the traditional text for Gardnerian Wicca.

Subsequently becoming the High Priestess of his Bricket Wood coven, she helped him to produce or adapt many important scriptural texts for Wicca, such as The Witches Rune and the Charge of the Goddess, which were incorporated into the early Gardnerian Book of Shadows.

" Celtic " Wicca can be seen as emphasizing and elaborating on the facets of Gardnerian Wicca that practitioners believe to be Celtic, while de-emphasizing some of the more obviously non-Celtic facets ( such as the worship of deities from other cultures ).