One of the leading, though controversial, advocates of the connection between the European witchcraft of more modern times and the prehistoric pagan past was the Egyptologist Margaret Murray who authored "The Witch Cult in Western Europe" and "The God of the Witches."

These books promoted the concept that some of the Witches who were exterminated by the Christian Churches during the "Burning Times" (1450-1792) were remnants of an earlier, organized, and dominant pre-Christian religion in Europe.

Some of the old practices were lost when indigenous religions encountered militant Christianity and were forced to go underground for survival. Parents transmitted their traditions to their children, with parts being lost and new parts created in succeeding generations.

These survivals, along with research into the old ways, provide a rich foundation for modern practice. Other factors contributing to the revival of the Craft are archaeological and anthropological studies of the religious practices of non-Christian cultures, the works of the Golden Dawn and other metaphysical orders, and the liberalization of anti-Witchcraft laws.

These people today view themselves as followers of cults they see in a tradition they associate with alleged practices of the European witches, but that is more or less wishful thinking.

The evidence proves that underlying the Christian religion was a cult practiced by many classes of the community, chiefly however by the more ignorant or those in the less thickly inhabited parts of the country. It can be traced back to pre-christian times and appears to be the ancient religion of western Europe. The god, anthropomorphic or theriomorphic, was worshiped in well-defined rites; the organization was highly developed; and the ritual is analogous to many other ancient rituals. The dates of the chief festivals suggest that the religion belonged to a race which had not reached the agricultural stage.  It was a definite religion with beliefs, ritual, and organization as highly developed as that of any other cult in the world. From Miss Murray