Witches believe they have existed throughout known history in many parts of the world.
Wicca's marked revival in the 14th Century is due largely to the work of such scholars as Margaret A. Murray, who traced the existence of the Old Pagan Religion in pre-historic Europe. At the forefront of this revival was Gerald Gardner, the famous witch of the Isle of Man. In 1949, he published High Magic's Aid, a novel about Medieval Wicca based on his growing knowledge of 14th Century Witchcraft. After repeal of the last anti-Witchcraft law in Britain in 1951, Gardner became publicly prominent. He opened a Museum of Witchcraft on the Isle of Man, and in 1954 published Witchcraft Today in which he attacked the idea that Wicca was the worship of Satan and declared himself a witch, devoted to the Mother Goddess.