 In his book The Meaning of Witchcraft ( 1959 ) Gardner states that he first heard the term Wica while being initiated into the New Forest coven in September 1939 , stating that " I realised I had stumbled on 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 . " This account was repeated in his biography , Gerald Gardner : Witch ( 1960 ) , written by Idries Shah but attributed to Jack L. Bracelin , in which he is quoted as saying that " it was halfway through when the word Wica was first mentioned ; and I knew that that which I had thought burnt out hundreds of years ago still survived . " If Gardner 's account was accurate and the New Forest coven had really existed , then the fact that Gardner spelled the word as Wica would not necessarily indicate that the coven members had spelled it the same way . As he relates , from Gardner 's account , " it seems that he had heard rather than read the word in the midst of his initiatory rite " and that , " suffering from a poor grasp of spelling , punctuation , and grammar , something caused by the fact that he was self @-@ educated and possibly also influenced by dyslexia " , he would have therefore spelled the word phonetically as Wica . 
 In his book The Meaning of Witchcraft ( 1959 ) Gardner <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>states</mark></a> that he first heard the term Wica while being initiated into the New Forest coven in September 1939 , stating that " I realised I <a href='been_done' title='2'><mark>had</mark></a> stumbled on 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 . " This account was repeated in his biography , Gerald Gardner : Witch ( 1960 ) , written by Idries Shah but attributed to Jack L. Bracelin , in which he is quoted as saying that " it was halfway through when the word Wica was first mentioned ; and I knew that that which I <a href='been_done' title='3'><mark>had</mark></a> thought burnt out hundreds of years ago still survived . " If Gardner <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>account was accurate and the New Forest coven <a href='been_done' title='5'><mark>had</mark></a> really existed , then the fact that Gardner spelled the word as Wica would not necessarily indicate that the coven members <a href='been_done' title='6'><mark>had</mark></a> spelled it the same way . As he <a href='uninflect' title='7'><mark>relates</mark></a> , from Gardner <a href='null_genetive' title='8'><mark>'s</mark></a>account , " it <a href='uninflect' title='9'><mark>seems</mark></a> that he <a href='been_done' title='10'><mark>had</mark></a> heard rather than read the word in the midst of his initiatory rite " and that , " suffering from a poor grasp of spelling , punctuation , and grammar , something caused by the fact that he<a href='been_done' title='11'><mark></mark></a> was self @-@ educated and possibly also influenced by dyslexia " , he would <a href='been_done' title='12'><mark>have</mark></a> therefore spelled the word phonetically as Wica . 
In his book da Meaning of Witchcraft ( 1959 ) Gardner state dat he first heard tdaterm Wica while being initiated into the New Forest coven in September 1939 , stating that " I realised I done stumbled on sumtin interesting ; but I was half @-@ initiated before thdaord Wica which they used hit me like a thunderbolt , and I knew where I was , and that thedad Religion still existed . " This account was repeated in his biography , Gerald Gardner : Witch ( 1960 ) , written by Idries Shah but attributed to Jack L. Bracelin , in which he is quoted as saying tdat" it was halfway through when the word Wica was first mentioned ; and I knew thdathadatich I done thought burnt out hundreds of years ago still survived . " If Gardner  account was accurate and the da Forest coven done really existed , then the fda that Gardner spelled the word as Wica would not necessarily indicate thatdat coven members done spelled it the same way . As he relate , from Gardner  account , " it seem that datone heard rather den read the word in the midst of his initiatory rite " and that , " suffering from a poor grasp of spelling , punctuation , and grammar , ssumtincaused by the fact that he been was self @-@ educated and possibly also influenced by dyslexia " , he would done therefore spelled the wodaphonetically as Wica .