Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

ORDER OF THE GARTER

The highest order of knights in Great Britain, founded by King Edward III in 1350, it was linked to the witch cult by discredited British anthropologist Margaret Alice Murray. Her evidence is rather dubious, though admittedly there are some curious aspects to this chivalric Order.

Edward conceived the Order in 1344 and formally created it on St. George's Day, April 23, 1350, in honour of the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, St. Edward the Confessor and St. George, the patron saint of England. The Order is sometimes called The Order of St. George.

According to legend, the Order resulted from an episode at court. While the king danced with the Countess of Salisbury, her garter fell to the floor. The king swooped it up and placed it on his own leg, saying, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" ("Shame on him who thinks evil of it"). The remark became the Order's motto. The official emblem was a dark blue ribbon edged in gold, bearing the motto in gold letters; this ribbon was worn below the left knee.

The Order originally numbered 26: 12 knights led by Edward, plus 12 knights led by the Prince of Wales. Beginning in 1786 the Order was opened to admit others. In modern times, the order has a dean and 12 canons.

In The Witch-cult in Western Europe (1921), Murray reads a great deal of significance into the numbers of the Order. The original groups of 13 - 12 plus a leader - equate with the traditional number in a Witches' Coven. Thirteen is still represented in the modem structure: a dean plus 12 canons. Murray also points out that Edward's mantle, as Chief of the Order, bore 168 garters. He wore another garter on his leg, and the total of 169 = 13 x 13.

According to witch lore, Garters were worn as a secret means of identification. Gerald B. Gardner, in Witchcraft Today (1954), theorizes that the Countess of Salisbury was a witch and that Edward immediately recognized her dropped garter as her secret identification and gallantly saved her from being exposed and brought to trial. This theory is highly speculative at best as Garters were in fashion at the time, and it was not unusual for ladies of the court to be wearing them.

Gardner further speculates that a 'Black Book', containing the Order's original constitution, was spirited away after Edward's death in 1377.

Most likely, the purpose of the Order of the Garter was nothing more than what Edward publicly intended it to be: purely one of chivalry.

see also: GARTERS

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc