I cannot believe there are still witches out there claiming to be from a long line of “hereditary” witches since before Gerald Gardener. Cringe. I really hope none of the kids are falling for this.
The witch-cult hypothesis has been robustly studied for nearly a century, and has been thoroughly disproven. This is common knowledge within the Pagan community.
There were many growing pains along the way, but now, we've accepted that we are re-creating and re-building paganism inspired by the ancients, not continuing any hidden unbroken traditions. And that's okay. It’s actually really special, being the first in your line, and creating traditions that might last into future generations.
For those of you in southwestern Indiana/western KY, I hope to see you at the Summer Solstice event at Angel Mounds! Let me know what time you are going. I'm going to try to make it at sunrise.