It is unknown when exactly Wicca was developed as the religion we know today. Some says that it was formed by servant called Gerald Gardner. The year was 1954. From other sources we can see that in fact the year could most likely be 1939. Gardner died in 1964, at the age of 80.
Most of the sources talk about Witchcraft which is pointed as the source of the new age Wicca. It is a very interesting fact that Gardner took his initiation in Christchurch from Old Dorothy Clutterbuck in 1939 and maybe this is why some says that this year was the beginning of Wicca.
Concording to the traditional history of Wicca as given by Gerald Gardner, Wicca is a selection of the European witch-cult that was oppressed on the witch trials, and the hard element of concealment that traditionally borders the religion was assumed as a response to that persecution.
A quote taken by the book The Meaning of Witchcraft which Gardner wrote in 1959 says: "I realized that I had stumbled upon something interesting; but I was half-initiated before the word, "Wica" which they used hit me like a thunderbolt, and I knew where I was, and that the Old Religion still existed. And so I found myself in the Circle, and there took the usual oath of secrecy, which bound me not to reveal certain things."
Many people claims that they have some connection with the creator of the tradition. One of them is Ruth Wynn-Owen who fooled my people when she claimed that she is a part of the Wicca’s lineage. Alex Sanders and Robert Cochrane are names that we can link to the “claimers” too.
One of the people who are from the followers of Gardner shares an interesting story about how Cardell managed to get a woman in the Gardner’s coven and she copied the Book of Shadows. Cardell wanted to crush everything that Gardner was making and he thought that this could be the best way to do it.
In the book “The Wiccan” from Bill Liddell we see one more name: George Pickingill. Some says that in fact he has no connection the Gardner or any other modern Wiccan. The myth about him was spread by Eric Maple.
Heselton that was writing about Wicca have some interesting information too. He says that Gerald took the core of the rituals from unknown source as an act of good will. Doreen Valiente also makes this claim but only about the "basic skeleton of the rituals," as Margot Adler affirms in Drawing down the Moon.
Very important in Wicca are the gods of the religion. The Mother Goddess is believed to come from Victorian and Edwardian time because it is frequently used in the literature from these times. The Horned God is linked to gods Pan or Faunus. This could be very crucial because it could make the connection from the old to present time more precise.
As in every history there is truth and many uncertain claims. But in the end we have a modern tradition that lives today in the many societies.