Is Witchcraft Hereditary?

Especially in the early years of the modern Witchcraft movement, many of the people who published books on the craft said that they were taught Witchcraft by a family member, such as a grandmother.  Alex Sanders and Sybil Leek were two famous Witches who fell into this category.

Many other Witches, however, have made no such claim.  From Gerald Gardner to Starhawk to Phyllis Curott (a Wiccan High Priestess who is also a successful Manhattan lawyer), many people come to Witchcraft simply by answering an inner call, an intuitive sense that this is the right spiritual path for them.

Some Witches and Wiccans place a great emphasis on family lineage, believing that magical or psychic powers are a genetically inherited talent, just like musical or artistic ability.  Others scoff at the whole idea of hereditary Witchcraft.  It seems that the grandmothers who supposedly taught the ancient secrets were always dead before their grandchildren went public with their teachings.  One prominent Witch even said to me that she calls this the “Dead Granny Syndrome” – the idea that someone can claim to be a Wiccan leader just because their granny (now dead) trained them in the ways of the craft.  Since Granny isn’t around to contradict this claim, who’s to challenge it?