Leo Ruickbie

Leo Ruickbie
Alma mater	King's College, London
Occupation	writer
Years active	2004-
Title	Dr
Spouse(s)	Antje Ruickbie
Website	http://www.ruickbie.com

Leo Ruickbie is an historian and sociologist of religion, specializing in paranormal beliefs, magic, witchcraft and Wicca. He is the author of several books, beginning with Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, a 2004 publication outlining the history of witchcraft from ancient Greece until the modern day. Ruickbie was born in Scotland and took a Master's degree in Sociology and Religion at the University of Lancaster. He then studied at King's College London and was an awarded a PhD for his thesis entitled The Re-Enchanters: Theorising Re-Enchantment and Testing for its Presence in Modern Witchcraft. On Samhain 2007 he launched Open Source Wicca, a project inspired by the Open Source software movement aimed at making the founding texts of Wicca more readily available by releasing them under a Creative Commons licence. In 2008 and 2009 he exhibited on the subject of witchcraft in France. He is also a member of the Parapsychological Association, the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism and is on the committee of the Gesellschaft für Anomalistik. He is the current editor of the Paranormal Review, the magazine of the Society for Psychical Research.

Witchcraft Out of the Shadows begins with a survey of historical influences from classical times, northern European paganism, and medieval and early modern Europe. It then describes the roots of modern neopagan witchcraft in groups such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and individuals such as Aleister Crowley and Doreen Valiente. Particularly important is the critical analysis of the claims made by Gerald Gardner about Wicca, as well as a detailed discussion of the liturgical content of Gardner's Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical and its sources.

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