Editing Gerald Gardner (section)

===Ceylon and Borneo: 1900–1911===
In 1900, Com married David Elkington, one of her many suitors who owned a tea plantation in the British colony of [[Ceylon]] (modern [[Sri Lanka]]).{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=20|Heselton|2012a|2pp=43–44}} It was agreed with the Gardners that Gerald would live with her on a tea plantation named Ladbroke Estate in the town of [[Maskeliya]], where he could learn the [[Tea production in Sri Lanka|tea trade]].{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1pp=22–23|Heselton|2012a|2pp=44, 46}} In 1901 Gardner and the Elkingtons lived briefly in a [[bungalow]] in [[Kandy]], where a neighbouring bungalow had just been vacated by the occultists [[Aleister Crowley]] and [[Charles Henry Allan Bennett]].{{Sfn|Heselton|2012a|pp=47–48}}

At his father's expense, Gardner trained as a "creeper",{{efn|A creeper was an individual who was apprenticed to an experienced manager to learn the business of tea planting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ceylonplanters.lk/history/ceylon-tea-industry/|title=Ceylon Tea Industry|publisher=The Ceylon Planters' Association|access-date=4 November 2021|archive-date=4 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104092502/https://www.ceylonplanters.lk/history/ceylon-tea-industry/|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} or trainee planter, learning all about the growing of tea; although he disliked the "dreary endlessness" of the work, he enjoyed being outdoors and near to the forests.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=26|Heselton|2012a|2pp=48–49}} He lived with the Elkingtons until 1904, when he moved into his own bungalow and began earning a living working on the Non Pareil tea estate below the [[Horton Plains National Park|Horton Plains]]. He spent much of his spare time hunting deer and trekking through the local forests, becoming acquainted with the Singhalese natives and taking a great interest in their [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] beliefs.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1pp=27, 30|Heselton|2012a|2pp=50–52}}

In December 1904, his parents and younger brother visited, with his father asking him to invest in a pioneering [[Hevea brasiliensis|rubber]] plantation which Gardner was to manage; located near the village of [[Belihuloya]], it was known as the Atlanta Estate, but allowed him a great deal of leisure time.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1pp=28–29|Heselton|2012a|2pp=52–53}} Exploring his interest in weaponry, in 1907 Gardner joined the [[Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps]], a local [[Military reserve force|volunteer force]] composed of European tea and rubber planters intent on protecting their interests from foreign aggression or domestic insurrection.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=34|Heselton|2012a|2pp=55–56}}

In 1907 Gardner returned to Britain for several months' leave, spending time with his family and joining the [[Legion of Frontiersmen]], a militia founded to repel the threat of German invasion.{{Sfn|Heselton|2012a|pp=57–59}} During his visit, Gardner spent time with family relations, the Sergenesons; Gardner became friendly with this side of his family, whom his [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] parents avoided because they were [[Methodists]].

According to Gardner, the Surgenesons talked about the [[paranormal]] with him; the patriarch of the family, Ted Surgeneson, believed that [[fairy|fairies]] were living in his garden and would say "I can often feel they're there, and sometimes I've seen them", though he readily admitted the possibility that it was all in his imagination.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=121|Heselton|2012a|2pp=59–62}} It was from the Sergenesons that Gardner discovered a family rumour that his grandfather, Joseph, had been a practising [[witch]], after being converted to the practice by his mistress.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=123|Heselton|2012a|2pp=62–66}} Another unconfirmed family belief repeated by Gardner was that a Scottish ancestor, Grissell Gairdner, had been [[witch-hunt|burned as a witch]] in [[Newburgh, Fife|Newburgh]] in 1610.{{Sfn|Heselton|2012a|pp=3–4}}

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een Ibu Dajak krijger uit Long Nawan Z. en O. afdeling Borneo. TMnr 60034031.jpg|thumb|left|While working in Borneo in 1911, Gardner eschewed the racist attitudes of his colleagues by befriending members of the Dayak indigenous community, fascinated by their [[magico-religious]] beliefs, tattoos and displays of weaponry.]]
Gardner returned to Ceylon in late 1907 and settled down to the routine of managing the rubber plantation. In 1910 he was initiated as an [[Freemasonry|Apprentice Freemason]] into the Sphinx Lodge No. 107 in [[Colombo]], affiliated with the [[Grand Lodge of Ireland|Irish Grand Lodge]]. Gardner placed great importance on this new activity; In order to attend masonic meetings, he had to arrange a weekend's leave, walk 15 miles to the nearest railway station in [[Haputale]], and then catch a train to the city.

He entered into the second and third degrees of Freemasonry within the next month, but this enthusiasm seems also to have waned, and he resigned the next year, probably because he intended to leave Ceylon.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=35|Heselton|2012a|2pp=66–67}} The experiment with rubber growing at the Atlanta Estate had proved relatively unsuccessful, and Gardner's father decided to sell the property in 1911, leaving Gerald unemployed.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=36|Heselton|2012a|2pp=67–68}}

That year, Gardner moved to [[British North Borneo]], gaining employment as a rubber planter at the Mawo Estate at Membuket. However, he did not get on well with the plantation's manager, a [[racism|racist]] named R. J. Graham who had wanted to deforest the entire local area.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1pp=38–39|Heselton|2012a|2pp=70–71}} Instead, Gardner became friendly with many of the locals, including the [[Dayak people|Dayak]] and [[Dusun people]].{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=43|Heselton|2012a|2p=71}}

An amateur anthropologist, Gardner was fascinated by the indigenous way of life, particularly the local forms of weaponry such as the ''[[Blowgun|sumpitan]]''.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=44|Heselton|2012a|2pp=72–73}} He was intrigued by the [[tattoo]]s of the Dayaks and pictures of him in later life show large snake or dragon tattoos on his forearms, presumably obtained at this time.{{Sfn|Heselton|2012a|p=72}} Taking a great interest in indigenous religious beliefs, Gardner told his first biographer that he had attended Dusun [[séance]]s or healing rituals.{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1pp=45–48|Heselton|2012a|2pp=74–76}}

He was unhappy with the working conditions and the racist attitudes of his colleagues, and when he developed [[malaria]] he felt that this was the last straw; he left Borneo and moved to [[Singapore]], in what was then known as the [[Straits Settlements]], part of [[British Malaya]].{{Sfnm|Bracelin|1960|1p=51|Heselton|2012a|2pp=76–77}}