Warlock by Stone Warlock

WARLOCK! A word that strikes a chord of disdain and mistrust in many Wicca covens. Described by the Christian dictionaries as a male Witch, a traitor and oath-breaker. How accurate is this definition and why, even to this day, is the Warlock a repugnant thing to be avoided by Witches? What is a Warlock and, more importantly, what is his task?

The word is a derivative from the old Viking word and quite literally means "Protector of the Law". In 923, during the reign of king Rollo of the Vikings, queen Poppa, dismayed at the misinterpretation of Viking law, called together a group of judges whose task it was to travel throughout the Viking empire ensuring that the Law was correctly applied. She called these judges, her Warlocks.

During the next 400 years, most of the Pagan religions had been absorbed by the advancing Christian doctrine. Only Witchcraft (Wicca) stood firm. In 1318 Pope John XXII declared Witchcraft to be heresy and punishable by death. The Warlocks now became defence attorneys for those accused of Witchcraft. In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII turned the fury of the Inquisition against Witches. The Warlocks defended them, with great success. Rome declared the Warlocks to be traitors to the Catholic faith. When the Warlocks argued that they could not be traitors because they had never been Christian to begin with, Pope Gregory XXIII declared them to be oath-breakers.
In 1647 Matthew Hopkins was appointed Witchfinder General. Dismayed at the success achieved by the Warlocks, he determined to rid the world of Warlocks by declaring that "Only a Witch would defend a Witch", thereby insinuating that the Warlocks were actually male Witches. In the south of France alone, 52 000 Warlocks were executed. This left the Witches without defence. Then began the `Burning times'.

Edward Alexander (Aleister) Crowley was brought up in a very close-minded Christian society. Anything that went wrong in his young life was either blamed on Satan or on a Warlock. His hate for the Warlock became very clear when he blamed Warlocks for his heroin addiction in later life. In 1919 Crowley attempted to impress the Council of the Scottish Rite with his Masonic based O.T.O. in Detroit. When they rejected his `teachings' he called them a gang of Berserkers and Warlocks. In 1920 Crowley spread the false rumour that Theodor Reuss, leader of the O.T.O., had suffered a stroke and was no longer capable of leadership. He then appointed himself chief-in-charge. In November 1921 Reuss refuted his claim, whereupon Crowley attempted to dethrone him by calling him a traitorous Warlock.
In 1918 Gerald B Gardener had a run-in with John Bull of the London Times. Although Bull was a self-declared Warlock, not a real Warlock, Gardener developed a dislike of Warlocks and declared the Oxford English Dictionary's Christian definition of Warlock to be accurate, notwithstanding overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Both of these men have had a marked influence on the modern-day Wicca. Small wonder that the lie is perpetuated.

I have been as brief as possible. There is a lot more to this story than what I have mentioned.

[http://thetrickywitchysociety.ning.com/forum/topics/wicca-versus-warlock-what-went]

[and an update]

Spring Wolf is an organization dedicated to the exploration and discovery of the origin of Pagan customs and words. They are internationally acclaimed as being the leading authorities on the subject. Here follows their latest update on the definition of the word `WARLOCK'.

{{ What is a Warlock?
Warlock is also often associated with a male witch. However it is important to note the 2 distinct meanings of the word, because using this label is not accurate from a Saxon perspective.

Warlock comes from two root words and has 3 meanings:
The Anglo-saxon meaning, 'oath-breaker' is the most common use of the word. The label has fallen from use and is often seen as a derogatory title.

The Old Norse word 'vardlokkur' which has been translated to warlock. There are debates about the exact translation of the word in it's original form. Additionally there are debates about it's meaning. However there are several mythological tales about the Vardlokkur guarding the gates of knowledge. In these legends, the Vardlokkur were the wise men of divine knowledge who protected that wisdom and guarded it with their lives. The magik of the vardlokkur was/is to ward off evil spirits and to lock or bind them up, keeping the sacred wisdom safe. Some also call the vardlokkur the Norse Guards or Guardians. The warriors of the spiritual community. In this context a Norse practioner might use the world warlock to represent their personal path and preference of this label.

In the Scots dialect the word warlock, means a 'cunning man' or 'male white witch', it is rarely used today, if at all. }}

From the above it can be seen why Queen Poppa named her group `Warlocks'. Their task was to act as guardians of the Viking law and customs.
As Spring Wolf have listed their sources (15 original references), I shall refrain from repeating them here.
One of the main reasons that the label "oath-breaker" has fallen into disuse and is considered derogatory is due to the fact that this definition has been proved to be (quote) "....a false accusation and deliberate misrepresentation designed to support Christian politics."
(Unquote.)

[http://www.wayoftherede.com/forums/index.php/topic,4924.0.html]

Neat! I had no idea there were different classes of 'warlock'!