A Brief History of Modern MagicK - LCSG

A brief history of Modern Magic Logan City Study Group
Assembled by Odd
July 2001
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Table of Contents
1. Celts & Druidism.............................................................................................................................. 3
2. Medieval Period - Astrology and Medicine....................................................................................... 7
3. Dee, John.......................................................................................................................................... 8
4. Kabbalah (Western Magickal Tradition)(Cabala)............................................................................ 10
5. Levi, Eliphas (1810-1875) .............................................................................................................. 14
6. Theosophical Society...................................................................................................................... 16
7. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn .............................................................................................. 16
8. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) ........................................................................................................ 18
9. Wicca ............................................................................................................................................. 19
a) Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964) .................................................................................................. 19
b) Sanders, Alexander (1929-1988)................................................................................................. 22
c) Farrar, Janet (1950- ) and Stewart (1916-2000) ........................................................................... 24
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1. Celts & Druidism
Druidism was the religion of the Celtic people that was administered by priests and priestesses called Druids. Remnants
of Druidism still presently exist.
The Druids were a priestly caste existing among the Celtic people. The Celts, as they were called, were a tribal people
who spread throughout Gaul, Britain, Ireland, and other parts of Europe, Asia Minor, and the Balkans. This migration
had occurred by the 5th. century BC. By the first century AD the Roman had launched many attacks against the Celts
that greatly dwindled their population. Christianity dealt them their final defeat.
There is little first hand knowledge or the Druids or of their religion. The chief reason for this is that they taught their
acolytes secret Druidical knowledge by word of mouth. None of this trusted knowledge was committed to writing; it was
all learned through mnemonics.
The most important knowledge that exists of the Druids comes from the writings of Julius Caesar. Caesar was not only a
warrior and statesman but a priest as well; therefore he was keenly interested in the Druidism and the Celtic people.
Moreover, he was friendly with a pro-Roman Druid, Diviciacus, who shared with him many Druid beliefs, especially
about their gods and life after death.
Caesar mentions some of these beliefs and the behavior of the people in his "Gaelic Wars." The Gauls, he observed,
treated their ordinary people almost like slaves. There were two notable classes among them, the Druids and the
knights.
The Druids were concerned with the divine worship; they officiated over both public and private sacrifices, interpreted
ritual questions, settled disputes and issued punishments to those refusing to obey their rulings.
Caesar asserted several times "that Druid power originated in Britain and that Britain remained the center of Druidism."
This judgment of the Druids was profound and also served to unite the Celtic people. Druidic decisions were critical and
were to be completely adhered to. Caesar noted those not obeying the decisions were banished from the tribe and even
a wider community. In Gaul there were always boundary disputes that required Druidic intervention. The suggestion that
the Druids settled boundary disputes indicates the importance of Druidic rule among the Celtic tribes.
More evidence that the Druids and the religion of Druidism held the Celts together were the tribal assemblies which
occurred on days that were vital in the agricultural year. The original Druidic festive days were 'Beltain,' May 1, the
beginning of summer, or the light half of the year; and 'Samhain,' November 1, the beginning of winter, the dark half of
the year (see Sabbats). The assemblies, especially large and important ones, took place in "sanctified" places. It was
here that people from a large area or a whole island would gather. For example, ancient Ireland was divided into five
communities, each separate and independent of each other, but all unified on days of great feasts.
Both on the continent and in Ireland the Druids held themselves above the kings unless they held both offices. They
held themselves in very high esteem, which was shared for them by the people. The Druids called themselves "creators
of the universe." In Ireland kings went nowhere without Druids to advise them. Druids believed they were the
incarnations of the gods.
What were these "sanctified" or sacred places in which the Druids assembled? First and most important they were
sacred groves of trees, especially oak trees. The name Druid means, "knowing the oak tree" in Caelic. It was within
these groves that most assemblies and religious ceremonies occurred. The Druids also valued the trees for curative
benefits. The mistletoe, which was seen as a sign from the Celtic Otherworld (their name of a place where after life was
thought to exist) was used as a cure against poisons, infertility, and even used to cure animals. It can readily be seen
that it was here in these sacred groves that the Druids dispensed their judgment and punishments. When the people
were not nearby groves they assembled by rivers, streams, and lakes. The Celts worshipped water gods and believed
water to be sacred.
Like trees and water the Druids held some islands to be sacred too. One is the island of Mona, (also called Mon or
Anglesey); the Romans destroyed the sanctuary there in 60 AD. It is thought that both Irish and British Druids
periodically assembled in sacred strongholds. The Isle of Man, sacred to the sea god, Manannan, appears to have been
viewed with similar solemnity. A stone discovered in the 19thcentury bore a Celtic inscription, written in Ogam (a cryptic
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writing used mainly for commemorative inscriptions on wood and stone), which translates: "The Stone of Dovadona, son
of the Druid." This indicates Druids inhabited Man as late as the fifth and sixth century AD, and other discoveries and
legends also indicate this. There is the discovery of the three sons of the fifth-century Irish King Erc buried on Iona. This
preceded the coming of Saint Columba. It seems that one of Columba's brethren was sacrificed to build a monastery
there. This indicates pagan beliefs and ceremonies still existed long after the coming of Christianity.
According to Welsh legend such human sacrifices were recommended and performed. During the building of Vortigen's
castle the construction was delayed because as soon as a stone was laid it disappeared. The Druids ordered a child,
born without a father, be sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the site to cleanse it.
There are several descriptions of Druidic human sacrifices. They were performed within a religious and spiritual sense.
Many were performed publicly among the Celtic people especially at the celebration of Beltain. There were also private
human sacrifices. If a leader of warriors was defeated in battle, in disgrace, he would often turn his sword upon himself.
The reverse was also true, a petition to the gods, was sometimes accompanied by self-sacrifice.
Behind Druidical performance of human sacrifice laid the Druidic belief in an after life. Again Caesar emphatically states
it, "Doctrinally...the most important Druid belief was that after death the soul passes from one to another -- hence the
Celts' bravery in battle." This belief in reincarnation was not just in the transmigration of the soul from one human form
to another, but to other life forms as well. This is evident in the Irish epic 'Tain Bo Cuailnge,' "The Cattle Raid of Cooley."
In it two magical bulls possessing human reasoning, initially originating as two swineherds of the Lord of the Otherworld,
pass through a long series of metamorphoses -- they become ravens, stages, warriors, water monsters, demons and
aquatic worms. The evidence from archaeology, the classic writings, and vernacular tradition to the present reinforces
Caesar's assertion. In tombs have been found remains of lavish amounts of food, hearty mead, equipment that would
seem to indicate the belief the soul would need these things in the Otherworld.
In the poet Lucan's "Pharsalia," a verse epic about the Roman civil war, he addresses the Druids with, "If we understand
you right, death is only a pause in a long life." The writer Posidonius states that Celtic men were willing to have their
throats cut so they could follow their prince into death, and then into a new life.
A similar interpretation might be drawn from the sacrifice scene on the Gundestrup Cauldron. One column of warriors
are marching to the sacrifice while another, reborn, are marching away from it. An explanation for this might be the Celts
compared men to sacrificial vassals in which human life was offered up in exchange for another existence.
It is known that the wheel was a Celtic symbol of rebirth. The wheel appears on sword-sheaths and other pieces of art.
That the Celts did not fear death was not because they had a low regard for life or a feeling of recklessness in battle, but
it arose from generations of Druid teachings. Druids taught such teachings for countless generations, having been
recited at gravesites. Many seasonal assemblies were held at burial sites, including the enigmatic passage graves
(dolmens of the megaliths) that stud Ireland. From these beliefs came the interweaving of the spiritual and mundane
worlds until the two could hardly be separated. Such an attitude or viewpoint is a blending of ancient Celtic and proto-
Celtic ideals that formed the essential and archaic nature of Druidism.
The Druids were said to be the keepers of traditional wisdom that was concerned with moral philosophy, natural
phenomena and theology. They were skilled in the reading of omens, the interpretation of dreams, the conducting of
sacrifices, the construction of a calendar, herbal medicine, astronomy and the composition of poetry. Some say they
also practiced sexual magic.
One way the Druids read omens was by killing a victim. "The inhabitants employ a very surprising and incredible custom
when they want to know matters of great importance. They consecrate a human being to death, drive a dagger into his
belly, above the abdomen, and draw conclusions about events to come from the squirming of the victim and the
squirting of his blood. They have been practicing this since time immemorial."
The composing of poems was the chief duty of the bard, who was also considered a priest in Druidism. In most, if not
all, battles bards went along, not to fight but to record the battle that they later composed into verse to be sung and read
to the people of their tribe or clan. Bards were free to move about in battle without being in danger because it was a
strict rule of Druidic law that no bard should be killed. Bards, like other priests and priestesses, were considered gifted
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for their offices. Some were also seers.
Ammianus, a Roman historian (c. 330-395 B.C), said Druids "are uplifted by searching into things most secret and
sublime."
Much attention has been drawn to the Druid human sacrificial ceremonies that usually conducted on the festive days.
"Pliny recorded that the slaying of a human being was considered a highly religious acts among the Britons, and the
eating of the flesh regarded as a 'wholesome remedy.'" Also "the Roman historian Diodorus Siculus states the Irish ate
their enemies, and the Greek historian and traveler Pausaniaus tells how the Gallatin Celts ate the flesh and drank the
blood of children." The Irish Celts also are said to have washed their faces in the blood of the slain, and imbibed in it.
They drank the blood of dead relatives, a custom that existed until the 16th century. In the Western Isles the blood
brotherhood survived until recent times. All of these cultural traditions seem to indicate a Druidic influence.
Why was such influence so strong and prevalent, it might be asked? Caesar gave two reasons: Druids were omitted
from military service and did not have to pay taxes. These appear to be mundane reasons when Caesar also noted
some Druids studied as long as twenty years. The Druids, as it had been noted, seemed to possess gifts for learning
and art. Their concern for moral philosophy made them skillful judges in rendering rewards and punishments. Their
priestly duties also enhanced their judgments, as they knew how to conduct the proper ceremonies to the gods. There
were also female Druids because women were important in the Celtic culture.
There were many gods and goddesses Celtic pantheon. The Celtic belief in the gods was known by their personal
names that rendered three kinds of information about an individual. This information was the person's "own" name, his
identity; his "collective" name (the classics stated that the Celts knew themselves by the name of Keltoi, or Celtae); and
his "ancestral" name -- which would, in the early period of these people, indicate which pagan god from which he was
descended.
Caesar said that the Gauls "all assert their descent from Dis Pater and that it is the Druidic belief."
Three other major gods were Teutates, "god of the people," he possessed qualities of both the Roman gods Mars and
Mercury in that he was not just a god of war, but of healing, fertility and protection, guarding the people against disease
and hostility. Though he was guardian of the people he required his victims to be drown in sacred wells or pools, which
figured strongly among the Celts. In such receptacles were often offered expensive weapons and ornaments to the
gods.
Esus was not a very popular god, and little wonder, since he required his victims to be hung or stabbed. There are few
inscriptions to him; although, he was called lord and master.
Taranis, known as "Thunder," is equal to Jupiter. He was symbolized by the wheel which was either of lightning or a
solar symbol, and, less frequently the spiral representing a lightning flash. He required prisoners of war to be burned in
wicker cages.
These three gods lead the Celtic large and complex pantheon and played important roles in sacrificial worship
ceremonies. Each, it was believed, had given explicit instructions, known to Druid priests, as to how their victims were to
be sacrificed. The most notable were the sacrifices offered to Taranis which was the sacrificing of prisoners. Both the
Greek biographer, Diodorus Sculus, and geographer, Strabo, described the sacrifice. "'They set up a colossus of wood
and straw' -- it must have been something like a gigantic basket-like plaited figure -- 'shut cattle, wild animals and
human beings in it, and set light to the whole thing.'" This ceremony was usually held at the feast of Beltain and was
referred to by Caesar. Fires played an important role at Beltain and Samhain, because of the threat of poor crops and a
harsh winter. Diodorus thought the human beings were slain first by a blow to the head. But the writers agreed that the
victims, however killed, were not sacrificed so much as a cruelty, but for the sake of religiosity. Others have written that
before their deaths the victims were told what to ask the gods for when reaching the Otherworld. This, again, reinforces
the Celtic belief in an after life. All agreed the Druids, or "wise men" officiated at these rituals. The Roman Senate by
degree outlawed such human sacrifice in 97 BC. It was called a barbaric practice.
Celtic warriors were known to be fierce fighters. Caesar laid this to the fact of their Druidic belief in life after death. This
not fearing death made them braver. They were well trained and skilled in warfare, and because of this they acquired
the name of headhunters. It was described that Celtic warriors were seen "...with whole wreaths of victims' heads
dangling from their bridles."
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There is also literature hinting of homosexuality among the warriors. One writer, Drodorus, says Celtic women were not
only as tall as the men, but as courageous as well. But despite of their charm the young men paid little attention to them.
"They longed instead for the embrace of one of their own sex, lying on animal skins and tumbling around with a lover on
either side. It is particularly surprising they attached no value to either dignity or decency, offering their bodies to each
other without further ado. This was not regarded as at all harmful; on the contrary, if they were rejected in their
approaches, they felt insulted."
Such behavior was regarded to be the result of their training. Celtic children were allowed to play what were called "sex
games" so they would be familiar with each other bodies when mating. As soon as young men were old enough to bear
arms they lived solely among men. They trained exclusively with men; therefore, it was thought natural they should form
a likeness for each other. It was not hard in such a situation to see how latent homo-eroticism could turn into true
homosexuality. Constant companionships developed such bonds as a driver for his passenger, or a spear-carrier for the
warrior. Examples of this were "Achilles loved Patroclus as did Alaxander the Great Hephaestion. Wherever there was
no taboo, such relationships understandably gave rise to a cult of the male body."
It is also stated that women that bore children were greatly respected and won a high social status. In time of war they
were extremely courageous and fought beside of their men. By ancient Druidic law a man was permitted to have two
wives.
When thinking of Celtic women the name of Brighid must be mentioned. There are many legends concerning her, so it is
difficult to say whether there was a real woman by such a name owning up to all the things attributed to her, or she was
just a Celtic goddess. According to Celtic mythology the Irish Brighid is the equivalent to the Gaulish goddess Minerva.
Caesar included Minerva among the major deities of Gaul. Both were patronesses of poetry, learning, healing, and art
or craftsmanship.
Later the Christian church made her Saint Brighid, but her pagan past survived. Her feast day is February 1, which
directly coincides to Imbolc, the pagan festival for the celebration of spring.
The two goddesses may be thought of as one only by different names according to other writings and legends. Brighid
and nineteen nuns guarded a perpetually burning sacred fire surrounded by a hedge within which no male could enter.
Minerva's sanctuary in Briton also was susppose to have contained a perpetual burning fire.
There is doubt whether the pagan Brighid and Saint Brighid, or Saint Brigit, were one and the same. Therefore, there is
speculation that the Celtic, Irish Brighid was once abbotess of a pagan sanctuary, which later became Brighid's
monastery near Kildare. It was at such sanctuaries that men and women studied together. There were also sanctuaries
or schools for women who became Druid priestesses. This has important historical significance because during the Dark
Ages, when the Church was busy hunting heretics, Ireland, being isolated by itself, was left alone. During this time
Ireland built great schools and libraries at which students could study. Many of Europe's nobility sent their sons and
daughters to study in Ireland during this period. Such institutions date back to Druidic times. The schools for women
eventually in Christian times became schools for the sisterhoods or nuns.
Historically the Romans wanted to demolish the military and political strength of the Druids and bring them under the
control of the Empire. This was pretty well accomplished by the beginning of the second century AD. The Romans,
though, were not too concerned about Druidism itself during their earlier conflicts with the Celts because Druidism and
the Roman religion were both polytheistic therefore they coexisted together. Even though the Druids lost much of their
power Druidism still lingered on. The ancient and emotional beliefs of a culture were hard to destroy.
Such was seen when Christianity became the official religion of Rome. Christianity was monotheistic, and most of the
Emperors soon saw themselves as godheads. There was to be no questioning of their rule or religion, if there was, it
amounted to treason. Soon on the surface, especially in Briton and the Western Isles, the pagan religion seemed to die
and enter the Roman temples or churches. But like other pagan religions Druidism did not completely die within its
practitioners, they just observed and hid their old and sacred beliefs while observing Christianity as well.
It seems that the Celtic Druidism lingered on into the twentieth century although there was evidence of it in the centuries
before. An informant of Dr. Anne Ross, a native of Perthshire, took her to the sacred square where the rites, described
by Minister James Robertson of the same area, were performed. The informant remembered witnessing the rituals as a
young girl before the First World War. In her description a bonfire was lit, the oatmeal pancake was made with much
care. There was the darkened area "...'resembling the mark of a huge thumb' appeared." The cake was then sliced into
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pieces and placed in a bag. Onlookers drew pieces out of the bag. The person drawing the charred slice had to jump
through the fires, and was then driven from the area with shouts and jeers. "'He was a kind of scapegoat,' the informant
said, 'but in the old days, he or she would have been sacrificed.'"
Dr. Ross was told a similar story in Derbyshire in 1977, when she witnessed the lighting of the Beltain fires on May Eve
under the pretext of burning rubbish.
Traces of Druidism have been discovered throughout the centuries. There has been much romanticizing about the
Druids. In the 17th century John Aubrey alleged the Druids constructed Stonehenge, a theory that is thought to be
inaccurate. However in the 18th century William Stukeley endorsed Aubrey's views and became the first "Arch Druid"
and the founder of modern Druidism. Since then there have been formations and splitting-ups of Druidic Orders.
The Druids may not have built Stonehenge but it has been significant in their history. There is speculation that the
Druids met near Stonehenge. A half mile south of it is Normanton Down, Wiltshire, one of the finest barrow cemeteries
in Britain. It will be remembered the Druids met at burial sites. Other aspects of Stonehenge suggest the Druids may
have used it to construct their Coligny or Bush Barrow calendar; therefore, it is supposed they would not have used it as
a burial ground or met there.
The Bush Barrow calendar ties in with the Bush Barrow excavation of 1808. A man of considerable height and social
status was discovered under the mound eleven feet high. He was obviously a king or chieftain. Sewn on the breast of
his garment was a lozenge-shaped breastplate, with an engraved surface. The inscriptions indicate his possible burial
was 1900 BC.
Before 1915 Stonehenge was privately owned and modern Druids met there. With the over turning of a stone in 1900
fees began to be charged. In 1915 the owner Cecil Chubb turned it over to the government. For this the Druids ritually
cursed him, but continued meeting there until 1988, when spectators that their meetings attracted stopped their
meetings because of the vandalism.
2. Medieval Period - Astrology and Medicine.
Magick and Heathenism fell from favour in the 8th – 9th Centuries. From then on only Christianity was tolerated largely.
However, certain magickal practices never died and the attitude of the average European remained very strongly
superstitious. Therefore, astrology flourished despite the church.
Your average medieval Christian was quite comfortable with astrology as a science, and indeed saw it as another
manifestation of divine power and beneficence. Thomas Aquinas, one of the foremost theologians of the period, was to
reflect that, if the moon could influence the tides of the ocean, there was no reason to deny that the planets could
influence mankind. (Thomas, however, did not believe that such knowledge should be used for divination, that is,
predicting the future, except in serious cases, for reasons of which you may read in this link.)
One cannot understand much of the medieval literature and poetry without acknowledging the influence that concepts of
astrology had in its content. There also is an element of spirituality that can be seen in the attitude towards some of the
principles of astrology.
Though medieval attitudes would have considered magic to be a way of communing with the devil, the idea of the
universe as reflecting the hand of the Creator remained strong. Astrology was used particularly by physicians. No pain -
including sickness - would have been viewed as not having an element of the religious, whether as a punishment for sin
or as a means of sacrifice that would foster virtue. Being able to read the influence of the planets was a means of
discerning divine influence through a creation which was also "in His service." Such use of the signs within nature, by
contrast with that considered to involve evil spirits, would endure for centuries.
In the early days of the Christian era, the gods of ancient Rome, whose actions had been frequently seen as reflected in
those of the planets, were memories with which those fostering the new religion needed to reckon. Apparently, in the
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Middle Ages, though the Church opposed many of the pagan practises that remained popular amongst the people, the
planets were not identified with the gods, but with the magnificent power of God Himself, as reflected in his creation.
The very prohibition against divination was based on the notion that it was a possibility.
The popular literature and entertainment of the period, with Geoffrey Chaucer's Miller's Tale being a prime example,
shows that concepts of astrology were much a part of the general thought. (Chaucer's tale, of course, hardly illustrates
that consulting the astrologers was wise!) The concept of the planets influence on us and of divine providence working
through this was not questioned.
Those of the Middle Ages, whose minds were focused on divine power, could wonder at the
thought that, when each of us came into the world, the divine grace that delighted in this unique
individual was accompanied by an entire universe's being part of the tools of this creation. The
divine art declared that all of the planets would have some influence, at this singular time and
place, in welcoming a new soul that was different from any other.
In these days, long before B.F. Skinner, the concept of free will was never denied. Such
influences as the planets (or any other element of creation) may have on the individual's
destiny were nothing more than the reflection of divine providence. Each situation provided the opportunity to grow in
virtue, and, should a lack of its practise lead one from the ways God revealed, the divine mercy could make this an
experience of trusting in Him and changing for the better. Then, as now, no method of divination is seen as dictating
man's actions. The outcome of a situation remains in the control of the intellect and will that was given them when they
were created in the ‘divine image’.
Such was the nature of magic in the medieval/early renaissance period.
3. Dee, John
by James Dilworth
John Dee was born in London on July 13, 1527. His father was a vintner and a man of high repute in the court of Henry
VIII, with some affluence, allowing him to give his son a decent education. John Dee went to St. John¹s College in
Cambridge at the age of 15 in 1542, where he studied math and astronomy, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree two
years later. After receiving his first degree, he traveled to Holland meeting with many scholars. When he returned to
England, he brought with him the first astronomer¹s staff of brass along with two brass gloves constructed by Gerard
Mercator, a famous cartographer of that time. After his return he received a Master of the Arts degree but was soon
forced to leave England after being accused of being a conjurer thanks to a machine he built. During his first sojourn
away from England, he first went to Louvain, France then spent some time in Paris, giving lectures on Euclid¹s Elements
and the basics of Geometry at the Sorbonne. Dee was offered a permanent post there, but he declined the post to
return to England where he had been recommended for the post of Rector of Severn-upon-Severn by Edward VI, the
son of Henry VII.
While performing the duties of Rector, with the assurance of a home and steady income, Dee exclusively devoted
himself to astrological studies. However, upon the accession of Queen Mary, also known as Bloody Mary in 1553 he
was accused of ³using enchantments against the queen¹s life² and imprisoned at Hampton Court. Such accusations of
witchcraft and sorcery plagued Dee all his life, despite his many scientific achievements. Dee said in his translation of
Euclid¹s Elements in English that he was regarded as ³a companion of the helhounds (sic), a caller and a conjurer of
wicked and damned spirits². In 1555 Dee was freed by an act of the Privy Council and he took his liberty. Dee¹s fortunes
began to rise upon the accession of Elizabeth I, due to the fact that Lord Morely, one of the queen¹s favorites, asked
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Dee to pick a ³propitious day² for her coronation. Elizabeth met Dee and was so impressed with him that she had him
give her lessons in astrology. Soon after, Dee again went to the Continent for several years, traveling throughout
Europe. In 1571, Dee purchased a mansion at Mortlake on the Thames river where he began a collection of curious
books and manuscripts and objects, most of which were later destroyed by mobs that thought Dee was familiar with the
Devil and was confiscated by the Queen after 1583. The collection included 4000 rare books and 700 choice
manuscripts, many of which are to be found in the British Museum. He also became well known as an astronomer, as
well as an astrologer with many people coming to consult his advice. Dee practiced astrology for his living, but he
studied the Talmud, Rosicrucian theories and practiced alchemy in hopes of finding the elixir of life and the
Philosopher's Stone¹.
In 1581 Dee began to experiment with crystalomancy or crystal gazing, a mode of divination using a globe, a clear pool
of water (the method that Nostradamus used to collect his quatrains) or any transparent object. According to his diary on
May 25, 1581 Dee first saw spirits while crystal gazing, and during the following year, he saw a vision of the angel Uriel,
who gave him a convex piece of crystal that would allow communication with the spirit world. After using the crystal
many times, Dee discovered that he was only able to use the crystal by concentrating his entire mental faculties on the
crystal. Concentration of this kind can lead to powerful delusions, that can lead to insanity and it is generally thought that
Dee didn¹t see anything, only deluding himself. Dee found he was able to use it for such communications, but he could
not write down what he would see during his visions. It became necessary for Dee to have an assistant write down what
he saw and heard, and Dee found him in Edward Kelly.
Edward Kelly was born in 1555 in the county of Lancashire. Nothing is known about his early life, but after being
convicted of counterfeiting, he was sentenced to the pillory at Lancaster where he lost his ears. Then he moved to
Worcester, becoming an apothecary and an alchemist, gaining a reputation for being a sensualist. While Dee sought
knowledge for knowledge¹s sake, Kelly only was interested how it could make him rich. Kelly was famous for claiming to
have discovered the Philosopher¹s stone, and a deep knowledge of necromancy. He was also well known as a con
man, having duped many people. Upon meeting Dee, Kelly looked into the convex crystal and nearly every time he did
so, he seemed to have wondrous visions. Although Dee was very intelligent and learned, he was also too trusting. Kelly
not only saw visions of angels, but also of devils whose task was to destroy the two men. Dee was so convinced of the
truth of these visions that he transcribed them verbatim and they can be found in the book: ³A True and Faithful Relation
of what passed between Dr. Dee and some Spirits². Now, Dee claimed to have finally found the elixir vitæ in the ruins of
Glastonberry Abbey, and with the elixir and the spirits, Dee¹s fame spread throughout Europe attracting many curious
visitors, including Albert Laski, a Polish nobleman. Laski invited the two men, along with their wives and children to
return with him to Poland, so they all went.
For several years after 1583 Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly lived in Trebona in Poland, the home town of Albert Laski,
who sponsored their alchemical researches. In about a year, Laski¹s fortune was spent, and the men began to travel
about Poland and Bohemia, from city to city finding new people to dupe. These travels went on until 1587, when in
Prague Dr. Dee¹s health began to fail and when Kelly and Dee had a falling out because of Kelly's new explorations of a
book called The Necronomicon, that frightened both Dee and his family. Dee is said to have found a copy of the
Necronomicon, given to him by the alchemist Jacob Eliezer known as the "Black Rabbi" (this book does exist and was
the basis of Kelly and Dee¹s Endochian magic, Crowley¹s The Book of the Law and H.P Lovecraft¹s Cthulthu Mythos).
Shortly after that Dee returned to England along with his family. As for the final fate of Kelly, he continued to attempt to
dupe people in Germany, claiming that he had the philosopher¹s stone and the elixir vitæ as before, but not finding as
much interest as before. Eventually he was arrested as a heretic and a sorcerer in Prague, and again in southern
Germany. But, after the second imprisonment he attempted to escape from his prison, only managing to fall and brake
two of his ribs and both legs. He died in 1593 due to his injuries.
Dee returned to England, welcomed by Elizabeth and the court then went back to his home in Mortlake, continuing his
search for the philosopher¹s stone, that always had eluded him. His experiments yielded nothing except to impoverish
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Dee. Seeing his plight, Elizabeth gave him first the position of chancellor of St. Paul¹s Cathedral in London and then the
wardenship of Manchester College that he held until 1603 when he finally retired to his home for good. While he was
warden of Manchester College Dee translated his copy of the Necronomicon into English and was never printed. After
Dee¹s death the book went into the collection of Elias Ashmole then into the Bodleian Library in Oxford until it was
stolen in 1934 Back at Mortlake for good, Dee was a fortune-teller which gave him the reputation of being a wizard. Dee
petitioned James I in 1604 for protection against such accusation. Replying to them by saying ³that none of all the great
number of the very strange and frivolous fables or histories reported and told of him were true². Dee died at the age of
81 in 1608, in extreme poverty.
Dr. John Dee, despite his apparent delusions, was one of the keenest minds of his time. He his credited for making the
calculations that would enable England to use the Gregorian calendar, he championed the preservation and the
collection of historic documents and he was very well known for being a great astronomer and mathematician. It could
be said that Dr. Dee was the one of the first modern scientists, although he was one of the last serious alchemists,
necromancers and crystal gazers.
Sources Quoted:
Barrett, Francis The Magus Reprint of the 1801 edition Secausus, NJ Citadel Press 1967
Encyclopædia Brittanica 9th edition vol 7 Edinburgh 1887
Encyclopædia Brittanica 11th edition vol 7 New York 1911
Low, Collin The Necronomicon Anti-FAQ 1995
Spence, Lewis The Encyclopedia of Occultism New York University Books 1959
4. Kabbalah (Western Magickal Tradition)(Cabala)
Hermetic schools of philosophy again became popular in Europe during the renaissance. Greek, Roman and even
Judiac thought became popular and became the subject of a revival of culture. One of the important parts of this,
magickally speaking is the resurrection of the Kabbalah. This saw the rebirth of magickal practices by men, and in fact,
the progenitor of modern witchcraft, more than any other thing. However, it was still very ‘christian’in thought and
terminology being rooted in Judaic mysticism. Such institutions as the Rosicrucians, Golden Dawn, Freemasons etc
owe much to this revival. Read on:
The Kabbalah (also Cabala, Kabala, Qabalah) is system of thought which was originally included in Jewish theosophy,
philosophy, science, magic and mysticism. 'Kabbalah' is Hebrew for "that which is received" and refers to a secret oral
tradition of teaching which extends from teacher to pupil.
Kabbalah, which is the spelling usually preferred by scholars, specifically refers to oral mystical teaching not normally
revealed to the general population, but passed on from the adepts to the initiates.
The term "Kabbalah" itself was first applied to secret mystical teachings in the eleventh century by Iba Gabriol, a
Spanish philosopher, and has since become applied to all Jewish mystical practice.
Although the Kabbalah is founded on the Torah, the Jewish scriptures and other sacred writings, it is no intellectual
discipline; and the mystic is not to practice it in solitude, but is to employ it to enlighten humanity. The Kabbalist seeks
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two things: an union with God while maintaining a social, family, and communal life within the framework of traditional
Judaism. Those who have adopted the Kabbalistic teachings have modified these latter aims.
In legend God taught the Kabbalah to some angels, who in turn after the Fall taught it to Adam. The Kabbalah was to
help humankind to return to God. It then passed to Noah, to Abraham and Moses. Moses included the first four books of
the Pentateuch, leaving out Deuteronomy, in the Kabbalah before he initiated seventy Elders into it. The Elders initiated
others into it. It is thought that David and Solomon were Kabbalistic adapts. Eventually the oral tradition ended and the
knowledge was written down.
Many of the basic ideas and principles found in the Kabbalah are also found in Gnosticism because both were in the
Eastern Mediterranean near the time of Christ.
Both attach an importance to knowledge, called the 'gnosis' or the knowledge of God. This knowledge does not come
from rational thinking but is inspired by God. As in Gnosticism, sin is not considered to be wrong doing but ignorance
which separates humankind from God. The knowledge, specifically the 'gnosis', unites humankind to God--to know God
is to be God. Those sharing this 'gnosis' are the elect; they are the enlightened ones who share the knowledge of God,
although they may not lead perfect lives.
The Kabbalists share similar goals as did the Gnostics: each group set out to answer the religious paradoxical questions
of life. Such as why does the world possess both good and evil characteristics when it was created by a God Who is all
good? Why is the world finite when it was created by an infinite God? Similar questions which are asked concerning the
world can also be asked of humankind. Of all of the questions concerning God's relationship with the world and
humankind, there seems to be one ultimate question: God, by his very nature of being infinite, all good and knowing,
seems unknowable; then, how is it possible for humankind to know him?
The Kabbalah seems to serve to answer this question in two ways: the first is in the explanation that every idea contains
its own contradiction, and God Who is the sum of all ideas contains all contradictions. Therefore God is both good and
evil, just and unjust, merciful and cruel, limitless and limited, unknowable and knowable. All things, which contain their
contradictions or opposites, unite to form a greater whole which is God.
From this first answer comes the Kabbalah's second answer which indirectly relates God to the world. God is seen as a
mirror from which shines a brilliant light. This brilliant light is then reflected onto a second mirror, then onto a third, then
to a fourth, and so on. With each succeeding reflection the light loses some of its brilliancy until when it finally reaches
the finite world it shines very dimly.
Within this concept of the reflection of light lies the Kabbalist's theory for the creation of the world. In the beginning
there was just God, and from himself he sent an emanation, often described as light. From this first emanation evolved
nine more, ten in all, called the "sephiroth."
The ancient Kabbalists taught that the brilliant lights of the sephiroth constitute the sacred name of God. Their reasoning
was that the sephiroth was the world, or universe, and God is the world. Therefore, the sephiroth are the facets or parts
of God, and they also are facets of the universe.
The origin of the Kabbalah centers around a short book titled "Sefer Yetzirah" (Book of Creation). The origin dating of
the book is unknown but it is known to have been used in the tenth century, but may have been composed as early as
the third century. The book tells that God created the world by the means of thirty-two secret paths of knowledge which
are the ten "sephirots" and the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. It is believed the ten sephirots were originally
thought as referring to numbers but later representing emanations from which the cosmos was formed.
Each of the ten emanations within the sephiroth is called a "sephirot," and together they form what is called the Tree of
Life. This Tree is the central image of Kabbalistic meditation; for again, each sephirot describes a certain aspect of God,
and taken together as the sephiroth they form the sacred name of God. The Tree also describes the path by which the
divine spirit descended into the material world, and the path by which humankind must take to ascend to God.
Another basic teaching shared by Gnosticism and the Kabbalah was that the divine spirit, or the soul, had descended
from God and became trapped in the human body or matter. This was a prevalent theory shortly after time of Christ
within the Mediterranean area. This and other religious teachings exemplify how such teachings can reflect the beliefs of
the peoples of the time.
The first nine sephirots form three triangles with the sephiroth with the tenth sephirot forming the foundation or base.
When meditating upon the sephiroth the Kabbalist can concentrate upon any one of the three images which the
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triangles are said to represent. The images are analogous to God's relationship to humakind and the world. The first
triangle represents in impregnation of the female by the male thus creating the world and child, the second triangle
represents the development of the world and child, and the third triangle is the adult person or the finished product of
the world.
The triangles also depict the human body: the first triangle is the head, the second is the trunk and arms, the third being
the legs and reproductive organs which is based on the analogy of the relation between man and God.
An illustration of the sephiroth or Tree of Life is as follows:
Kether, the supreme crown, (God)

Chokmah, wisdom
Binah, understanding
Chesed, mercy, greatness
Geburah, strength, rigor
Tiphareth, beauty, harmony
Netzach, victory, force
Hod, splendor
Yesod, foundation
Malkuth, kingdom (world)
With the help of the sephiroth humankind ascends to God by gaining the meaning of each sephirot one at a time. The
accomplishment of ascending from one sephirot to the next is an attainment of knowledge.
Making one's way through the sephiroth is exceedingly difficult. Because each sephirot is said to be divided into four
sections that run the Four Worlds that compose the cosmos. They are Aziluth, the world of archetypes, from which
come all manifestation of forms; Briah, the world of creation, here the archetypal ideas become patterns; Yetzirah, the
world of form, here the patterns are expressed; and Assirah, the material world.
Also within the sephirot is the sacred, unknowable and unspeakable name of God: YHVH (Yahweh), or the
Tetragrammaron. The Tetragrammaron is so sacred that other names pertaining to God such as Elohim, Adonai and
Jehovah are substituted in scripture for it. The letters YHVH correspond to the Four Worlds.
The second description of the sephiroth pictures the world or universe made up of layers, or outer skins such as
surrounding an onion. This was generally how the world was viewed from ancient times to the sixteenth century. God
was thought to reside in the outer layer, and things closely related to God were within the next outer layers. The most
inner layer of this configuration contained the material world. The spiritual soul of humankind descended from the outer
layer, or God, to the inner layer, or the material world.
This onion-skin configuration of the world is definitely shared with Gnosticism whose chief teaching was that the divine
spirit was entrapped in matter, especially the soul in humankind. It is only through the attainment of knowledge that the
spirit can escape its material confinement.
The Kabbalah, which is based on the theory of the soul's descent from and ascent to God, is made up of ten sephirots
instead of nine which is due to the influence of the Pythagorean theory. Earth has a separate sphere to itself. Above this
the next seven sephirots correspond to the planets, with the top two corresponding to the stars and the Prime Mover or
God.
Each sephirot is guarded by angels who determinedly try to turn climbers back on their ascent to God. On the bottom
sephirots there are plenty sinister intelligences who can easily trapped a soul in ignorance. The Kabbalist hold that
some persons can achieve an union with God even before death.
There were many modifications and interpretations made of the Kabbalah through the centuries. In the tenth century the
practical Kabbalah was introduced in Italy and then spread to Germany. In it was contained ecstatic practices, magic
rituals and mainly techniques of prayer, contemplation and meditation. From it came such techniques as gematria,
notarikon and temura.
The thirteenth century saw the birth of the classical Kabbalah in Provence, France. It moved into Spain where it was
developed more extensively by the Spanish Hebrews. The primary work was the "Sefer ba-Zohar (Book of Splendor).
The development progressed until the Jews seemed to lose their spirituality. Then after a year in a cave meditating
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upon this situation a rabbi heard a voice which told him to teach those ready to learn, and let the ordinary people go on
their way. From this revelation seemed to have developed the "Zohar," the teachings recorded by disciples.
Chiefly, the Zohar describes God as "Em-Sof" ("without end"). God is unknowable beyond representation. He created
the world out of himself. The chief aim of humankind is to achieve complete union with the Divine. All things are
reflected in a higher world, and nothing is independent of everything else. "Thus human beings, by elevating their souls
to unite with God, also elevate all other entities in the cosmos."
The nine sephirots configured the three triangles in the sephiroth with the tenth forming the base. The triangles may be
aligned vertically or horizontally. Each has the male (a positive) and female (a negative) principle with a milder principle
between them to create a balance between the two. The male principle is always on the right side or at the top of each
triangle while the female principle is always on the left side or at the bottom of the triangle. For instance, the first triangle
embodies Kether, Chokmah and Binah.
The three principles with each sephirot are aligned from right to left because Hebrew is written from right to left. Each
principle functionally participates according to its characteristics or nature. In general the male principles, sometimes
called forces, are characterized as being positive, active, dynamic or thrusting. The female principles are said to be a
combination of good traits which are joined with evil or ominous ones which makes the female principle complex. The
feminine principle can be both passive and active at times, it can be both passionate and cold, also tender and cruel.
The principle residing between each male and female principle is thought to be bisexual, which serves to harmonize the
opposites.
For example in the first triangle Chokmah, the male principle, is opposed by Binah, the female principle. These
principles are thought of as the Father and Mother respectively. Chokmah, also called the active Wisdom of God, acts
upon Binah, the passive Understanding of God. Kether is the harmonizing principle which keeps a balance between the
two. But, modern Kabbalists say that it is the thrusting and compliance between these opposing principles which brings
about creation.
In the second triangle where the father, mother and child are represented the sephirots are Chesed, Geburah and
Tiphareth. Chesed (male) is the kind and merciful father who guides and protects the child. Geburah (female) is the
strict, authoritarian mother who tears down what Chesed builds up. The balancing principle in this triangle is Tiphareth.
Tiphareth, in the sphere of the sun, is often compared to the sun.
The functions of Tiphareth, that combines the characteristics of both Chesed and Geburah, are frequently compared to
those of Nature. Tiphareth can be both the warming sun that gently shines on humankind, beasts and crops; and it can
also be the fierce heat which suffocates humankind and kills animals and crops. Christian Kabbalists compare Christ to
Tiphareth for Tiphareth is thought of as the son of Kether (God) as being directly descended from it on the Tree.
Tiphareth is the life-force which brings forth physical life as Christ is said to give the promise of eternal life. There has
been a symbolic association between Christ and the sun since the earliest days of Christianity.
The third triangle represents the child's emergence into adulthood. Its sephirots symbolize the struggle between the
forces of animality and mentality. Netzach (male) is said to represent the Endurance and the Victory of God. These traits
are thought to stand for the all-enduring drives of Nature which allow humankind to act naturally instead of by
contrivance. The opposing sephirot is Hod (female) which contains the good qualities of imagination, inspiration, insight
and intutition which the Kabbalists admire; but Hod also had the powers of reason and logic which are distrusted by the
Kabbalist. Reasoning is thought to repress humankind's natural abilities.
Yesod is the child fully grown, and the harmonizing sephirot between Netzach and Hod. Sexually mature Yesod is able
to produce both sexually and mentally. Also, it is in the sphere of the moon. So within the struggle between Netzach and
Hod Yesod bring about the best results.
The results may not be produced by the best assets within a person, because as the moon is the ruler of the night and
the light of the darkness, Yesod is the dark depths of personality which often lie hidden but suffice.
Yesod is the potential magic power within oneself bringing together the magician's highest mental abilities and the
animal or sexual drive to succeed at what he wishes to accomplish.
Yesod is thought to be the link between Tiphareth (the sun or the life-force) and Malkuth (the earth or the body).
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Malkuth being the base of the sephiroth or Tree is the Earth. This is appropriate because within Earth are found all
things of God. It is therefore the kingdom of God because every principle found with each of the sephirots is found within
Earth. All ideas and their contradictions are found on Earth.
It might be noted that within the third triangle, and particularly in the struggle between Netzach and Hod, one can see
the distinct difference of attitude between the Kabbalist and the rest of the world. The same can be said of the Gnostic.
Within both of these teachings, the Kabbalah and Gnosticism, reason and logic are distrusted. The reasons given for
such distrust is similar: that they inhibit the abilities of natural man.
Viewing such an attitude from the present day viewpoint one might say that their idea of God is even different from that
of the average person's. To Kabbalists and Gnostics God does not restrict man but lets him improve himself through
knowledge. Whereas, to the average person God does the restricting, or is it the person who makes God do the
restricting?
The Kabbalah has been accepted into Western occult ceremonies and practices, and vice versa. In the sixteenth
century symbols of alchemy were embodied into the Christian Kabbalah. The Christian Kabbalah is said to have been
used to prove the divinity of Christ.
Aleister Crowley adapted the ranks or grades in his magical organization, the A.A., or Astrum Argentium, the Silver Star,
to correspond to the sephirots of the sephiroth. The Kabbalah has also been related to numerology, the Tarot and
astrology although some criticize the relationship is not a perfect match.
The Kabbalistic idea that God contains all ideas and their contradictions definitely forms the bases for the magical laws
of polarity and synthesis. Both laws are based on the theoretical assumption that all ideas or conceptions contain their
opposites, examples of these are: white and black, up and down, right and left. The essence of each thing also contains
the essence of its opposite. A typical clear, but not too magical, illustration is that a black ink pen does not show up too
good on a black or dark colored background. It requires a white or light background to bring out the illustrious nature of
the black ink. Here the opposites compliment each other to produce the writing or drawing.
5. Levi, Eliphas (1810-1875)
The pseudonym for Alphonse Louis Constant, a French occultist who is credited for reviving interest in magic in the 19th
century. Although Levi studied magic, he was considered to be more of a commentator on the subject than an adept
even though he professed to have practiced necromancy several times.
Being born in Paris, Constant was the son of a shoemaker. He showed intelligence and was educated at the church of
St. Sulpice.As a young boy he quickly became intrigued with magic and the occult. Also encouraging this curiosity was
his head master's concept of animal magnetism, in which the man claimed that the vital energy of the body was
controlled by the Devil. Nonetheless, Constant pursued the ecclesiastical studies and became a priest.
His career in the priesthood was short lived because of his left-winged political writings and he found it impossible to
keep his vow of chastity. For his writings he served three short jail sentences.
He was quickly attracted to an eccentric, old man named Ganneau, who said he was a prophet and the reincarnation of
Louis XVII. Ganneau's was claimed she was the reincarnation of Marie Anntoinette. Constant became a follower of
Ganneau and was drawn deeper into the worlds of magic and the occult.
He married Noemie Cadot, no older that 18, in 1846. The one daughter from the married died very young. The marriage
broke up in 1853 and was annulled in 1865.
For a time Constant lived from his writings and giving lessons in the occult. It was during this time he took the name of
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Magus Eliphas Levi, the Hebrew equivalents of his first and middle names.
His first attempt at practicing necromancy came during a trip to London in 1854. A mysterious woman, claiming to be an
adept, asked him to conjure the spirit of Apollonius of Tyana, a great, ancient magician. Agreeing to try the conjuration
Levi went about his preparations which included two weeks on a vegetarian diet, a week of fasting, which included
meditation about Apollonius and imagining having conversations with him.
When feeling himself ready for the ritual, he dawn white robes and entered his magic chamber that had mirrors on the
walls. He placed a table covered with white lambskin in the center of this room. On the table he placed two metal bowls
in which he lit fires. Then he began his incantations which lasted for twelve hours.
Levi gave a description of the ritual. He progressively grew colder as he proceeded deeper into the ritual. After some
twelve hours the floor beneath him began to shake. He saw an apparition in one of the mirrors. He asked the ghost to
appear. On his third request a grayish spirit appeared in front of him, thin and sad and wrapped from head to foot in a
gray shroud. Levi was frightened and felt extremely cold. The apparition touched Levi's ritual sword causing his arm to
suddenly go numb. Levi dropped the sword and lost consciousness.
As Levi related his arm was sore for days after the event. He never vocally asked his questions. They were fixed in his
mind and the apparition answered them telepathically. The answers, he revealed were "death" and "dead," but Levi
never disclosed the questions. Levi remained unconvinced that he conjured Apollonius in that particular ritual, but in
other rituals claimed he conjured Apollonius several times.
Levi's writings have been appraised as being highly imaginative but not very accurate. His first and probably most
important work was The Dogma and Ritual of High Magic. It was followed by A History of Magic, Transcendental Magic,
The Key of Great Mysteries, and other occult books.
The imaginative criticism arose from the fact that Levi "believed in the existence of a universal `secret doctrine' of magic
throughout history, everywhere in the world."
In The Dogma, Levi devoted 22 chapters to the 22 trump cards, or Major Arcana, of the tarot
. He linked each to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and to aspects of God. Some experts called this a significant
endeavor while others claimed it to be ignorant.
Levi also proclaimed a theory of astral light based on his belief in animal magnetism. In his theory, astral light was
similar to either, a fluidic life force that fills all space and living beings. This concept was not original but held by others in
the 19th century. Levi stated, "To control the astral light was to control all things; a skilled magician's will was limitless in
power."
Levi stated he was influenced by an earlier writer and occultist Francis Barrettt. In turn he influenced another writer and
occultist Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, with whom he visited in London in 1861. Bulwer-Lytton wrote The Last Days of
Pompeii and other occult books helping to make magic fashionable to the last of the 19th century. They both became
members of an occult group, which perhaps Bulwer-Lyttom may have organized, that studied scrying, magic, astrology,
and mesmerism.
Until his death Levi made his living from his occult writings and lessons that he taught. In his popularity he drew a cult
following, influencing others to write their own books.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in London in1888, adopted much of Levi's magic. Aliester Crowley, a
former member, was born the year that Levi died and claimed to be the reincarnation of Levi.
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6. Theosophical Society
The society was formed in September 1875. Its co-founders were Henry Steele Olcott and William Q. Judge. Its secretary was
Helena P. Blavatsky who was the actual instigator of the organization.
Its name was furnished by Charles Sotheran who was of independent means, a high Mason, a Rosicrucian, and a student of the
kabbalah. Sotheran looking through a dictionary, found the word theosophy, a word that was unanimously agreed on at the next
meeting because it seemed to express esoteric truth as well as covering the aspects of occult scientific research, both of which
were goals of the Society.
After its establishment the Theosophical Society expounded the esoteric tradition of Buddhism aiming to form an universal
brotherhood of man, studying and making known the ancient religions, philosophies and sciences, and investigating the laws of
nature and divine powers latent in man. The direction of the society was claimed to be directed by the secret Mahatmas or Masters
of Wisdom.
Following Olcott the successive international presidents were Annie Besant, G. S. Armdale, C. Jinarajadasa, and in the 1970's N.
Sri Ram.
In 1882 the international headquarters was established in Adyar, Madras, India, with national organizations in more than 60
countries by the 1970's. The headquarters of the American Theosophical Society is in Wheaton, Ill. There are over 150 branches.
At Wheaton there is a Reference and Lending Library. The Society publishes The American Theosophist a monthly magazine.
The three objectives of the Theosophical Society are (1) to form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without
distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color; (2) to encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science; (3) to
investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
The society's policy is one of complete freedom of individual search and belief. A.G.H.
Sources: 9, Joy Mills, The Theosophy Society in America 61.
Meade, Marion, Madame Blavatsky: The Woman Behind the Myth, New York, G. P. Putman's Sons, 1980.
Williams, Gertrude Marvin, Priestess of the Occult: Madame Blavatsky, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1946.
7. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
An organization exerting one of three most significant influences on Western occultism in the 19th and 20th centuries. The second
and third influences were the Theosophical Socirty and G. I. Gurdjieff.
As a secret society the organization's membership included some of the most distinguished and talented personalities of the times
such as W. B. Yeats, Annie Horniman (who sponsored the Abbey Threatre, Dublin), Florence Farr (mistress of G. B. Shaw), S. L.
MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, A. E. Waite, Algernon Blackwood, Arthue Machen, and many others.
Some claim the society's basis is dubious. Its key founder was Dr. William Wynn Westcott, a London coroner and a Rosicrucian,
who in 1887 obtained part of a manuscript that was written in brown-ink cipher from a Reverend A. F. A. Woodford, a Mason. The
manuscript appeared to be old although probably it was not. However, with his Hermetic knowledge Westcott deciphered the
manuscript and discovered it contained fragments of mystical rituals of the "Golden Dawn" an unknown organization which
admitted both men and women.
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Westcott approached his occultist friend Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers who he asked to transform the ritual fragments into
expanded and systematized rituals. Among the papers contained within the manuscript was a slip of paper bearing the name of
Fraulein Anna Sprengel, a Rosicrucian adept living in Germany.
Through correspondence with this woman Westcott obtained her permission to organized the English branch of the occult society
Die Goldene Dammerung (The Golden Dawn). However, the authenticity of this establishment of the English order has been
suspect. It has been suggested the character on Fraulein Sprengel might have been mythologized by Westcott in order to fabricate
the correspondence which established the new secret society.
The structured hierarchy of The Golden Dawn was based upon the Tree of Life of the Kabbalah: there were ten grades or degrees
corresponding to the ten sephiroth, with a eleventh degree for neophytes. The degrees were divided into the Outer, Second, and
Third orders. Such was the arrangement of the hierarchy of the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
established in 1888. At first, Westcott, Mathers, and Dr. W. R. Woodman, Supreme Magus of the Rosicrucian Society of Anglia,
were the three Chiefs Second Order, and to be under the direction of the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order who were entities of the
astral plane. This secret society attracted many members and between 1888 to 1896 315 initiations were performed.
Subsequently selected candidates that passed the Adeptus Minor grade might qualiy for admission to the Second Order. This,
also, was known as the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (Order of the Red Rose and Cross of Gold). The Secret Chiefs of
the Third Order were equivalent to the fanciful Mahamas of the Theosophical Society who could also be contacted in the astral
plane.
Prevalent in-fighting is recorded among the prominent members of the Golden Dawn. Woodman died in 1891 and was never
replaced in the organization. Mathers produced the initiation ritual for the Adeptus Minor degree. Most of the rituals which Mathers
produced were based on Freemasonry. Many thought Mathers a little eccentric if not a lunatic. He never consummated his
marriage to his wife, Mina, who, he claimed, received teachings from the Secret Chiefs through clairaudience and supernormal
hearing. Due to unstable finances he and his wife were penniless in 1891.
However a rich member of the Golden Dawn, Annie Horniman, became their benefactor. This allowed the couple to move to Paris
where Mathers establish another lodge. He continued writing curricula material which he sent to London. However, he was
obssessed with an autocratic jealousy toward Westcott. Mathers devoted considerable time to translation of the manuscript The
Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage which he claimed was bewitched and inhabited by a nonphysical intelligence.
This translation was published in 1898.
Horiman stopped her financial support of Mathers in l896. In that year, Mathers claimed the Secret Chiefs had initiated him into the
Third Order, which Horniman disputed and was expelled from the society. In 1897 members discovered Westcott's questionable
activities in founding the society. This led to the resignation of his position to be succeeded by Florence Farr. By this time,
irreparable schisms had formed within the Golden Dawn.
In 1898 Aleister Crowley was initiated into the society and progressed rapidly through the degrees. The next year, 1899, he went to
Paris and compelled Mathers to initiate him into the Second Order to which Mathers complied. The London lodge, under Farr,
rejected this initiation. Crowley returned to England as Mathers' "Envoy Extraordinary," in 1900, attempting to control the quarters
of the Second Order. Crowley wore a black mask, Highland dress, and gilt dagger. The staged attempt was in vain, for it was
rebuffed.
Eventually both Crowley and Mathers were thrown out of the society as a result of the uneasy alliance between them which
deteriorated. Crowley considered himself a superior magician compared to Mathers. Allegedly this led to magical warfare between
the two men. Mathers sent an astral vampire to attack Crowley. Crowley then counterattacked with an army of demons led by
Beelzebub. After this latter attack was launched against the quarters of the Second Order the London lodge expelled both men.
Mathers received no compensation for his efforts; but, Crowley retaliated by publishing some of the Golden Dawn in his magazine,
The Equinox.
Then W. B. Yeats assume control of the Second Order. He did attempt to restore order to the society, but it was so splintered that
Yeats' efforts were nearly fruitless. Yeats played a prominent part in the conflict between Crowley and Mathers. After the expulsion
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of both men Yeats took charge of the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis and also became the Imperator of the Isis-Urania
Temple Outer Order.
With all the splintering within the Golden Dawn it was not long until various groups were forming. Followers of Mathers formed the
Alpha et Omega Temple. In 1903 A. E. Waite left with others to form a society retaining the Golden Dawn name but with more
emphasis on mysticism than magic. In 1905 another splinter group formed known as the Stella Matutina, or "Order of the
Companions of the Rising Light in the Morning." This was the end of the Isis-Urania Temple.
It was resurrected in 1917 as the Merlin Temple of the Stella Matutina which lasted until the 1940s when it went into decline
following the publication of its secret rituals by a former member Israel Regardie, who had been Crowley's one-time secretary.
There are some distant offshoots of the Golden Dawn still around.
During its glory, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn possessed one of the greatest repositories of Western magical
knowledge. The studies of the Second Order focused on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Three magical systems were taught: the Key
of Solomon, a grimoire; Abra-Melin magic; and Enochian magic. Also, materials were incorporated from the Egyptian Book of the
Dead, the Prophetic Books of William Blake; and the Chaldean Oracles. Instruction was given in astral travel, scrying, alchemy,
geomancy, the Tarot, and astrology.
The main purpose of the order was "to prosecute the Great Work: which is to obtain control of the nature and power of [one's] own
being." Some Christian fundamentals were included in various texts of the society such as establishing a closer relationship with
Jesus, the "Master of Masters." Members circulated various Catholic and Anglican writings and sermons. Regardie did not include
these in the materials which he published.
The rise and fall of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is thought, by some, to portray the history of many occult groups. They
attract members of high intellectual and mystical caliber, but eventually suffer internal dissensions because their system of
instruction and development does not fundamentally change the character of the members. Basically the talented and
psychologically adjusted individuals strive to enhance their talents and achievements, but there is no elimination of the defects and
weaknesses of others which will inevitably weaken the organizational structure. Here a comparison of Eastern and Western
initiations may be made. The Eastern initiations incorporate various yoga systems which purify and perfect the individual; whereas,
Western initiations do not include this essential preliminary training.
8. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Love is the law, love under will.
Edward Alexander (Aleister) Crowley [rhymes with "holy"] was born October 12, 1875 in Leamington Spa, England. His
parents were members of the Plymouth Brethren, a strict fundamentalist Christian sect. As a result, Aleister grew up
with a thorough biblical education and an equally thorough disdain of Christianity.
He attended Trinity College at Cambridge University, leaving just before completing his degree. Shortly thereafter he
was introduced to George Cecil Jones, who was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden
Dawn was an occult society led by S.L. MacGregor Mathers which taught magick, qabalah, alchemy, tarot, astrology,
and other hermetic subjects. It had many notable members (including A. E. Waite, Dion Fortune, and W. B. Yeats), and
its influence on the development of modern western occultism was profound.
Crowley was initiated into the Golden Dawn in 1898, and proceeded to climb up rapidly through the grades. But in 1900
the order was shattered by schism, and Crowley left England to travel extensively throughout the East. There he learned
and practiced the mental and physical disciplines of yoga, supplementing his knowledge of western-style ritual magick
with the methods of Oriental mysticism.
In 1903, Crowley married Rose Kelly, and they went to Egypt on their honeymoon. After returning to Cairo in early 1904,
Rose (who until this point had shown no interest or familiarity with the occult) began entering trance states and insisting
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to her husband that the god Horus was trying to contact him. As a test, Crowley took Rose to the Boulak Museum and
asked her to point out Horus to him. She passed several well-known images of the god and led Aleister straight to a
painted wooden funerary stele from the 26th dynasty, depicting Horus receiving a sacrifice from the deceased, a priest
named Ankh-af-na-khonsu. Crowley was especially impressed by the fact that this piece was numbered 666 by the
museum, a number with which he had identified since childhood.
The upshot was that he began to listen to Rose, and at her direction, on three successive days beginning April 8, 1904,
he entered his chamber at noon and wrote down what he heard dictated from a shadowy presence behind him. The
result was the three chapters of verse known as Liber AL vel Legis, or The Book of the Law. This book heralded the
dawning of the new aeon of Horus, which would be governed by the Law of Thelema. "Thelema" is a Greek word
meaning "will", and the Law of Thelema is often stated as: "Do what thou wilt". As the prophet of this new aeon, Crowley
spent the rest of his life working to develop and establish Thelemic philosophy.
In 1906 Crowley rejoined George Cecil Jones in England, where they set about the task of creating a magical order to
continue where the Golden Dawn had left off. They called this order the (Astron Argon or Astrum Argentium or Silver
Star), and it became the primary vehicle for the transmission of Crowley's mystical and magical training system based
on the principles of Thelema.
Then in 1910 Crowley was contacted by Theodore Reuss, the head of an organization based in Germany called the
Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.). This group of high-ranking Freemasons claimed to have discovered the supreme secret
of practical magick, which was taught in its highest degrees. Apparently Crowley agreed, becoming a member of O.T.O.
and eventually taking over as head of the order when Reuss suffered a stroke in 1921. Crowley reformulated the rites of
the O.T.O. to conform them to the Law of Thelema, and vested the organization with its main purpose of establishing
Thelema in the world. The order also became independent of Freemasonry (although still based on the same patterns)
and opened its membership to women and men who were not masons.
Aleister Crowley died in Hastings, England on December 1, 1947. However, his legacy lives on in the Law of Thelema
which he brought to mankind (along with dozens of books and writings on magick and other mystical subjects), and in
the orders A.'. A.'. and O.T.O. which continue to advance the principles of Thelema to this day.
9. Wicca
WICCA:
A word of somewhat unknown origin and meaning. Although properly pronounced, "Wee-Kah," it is usually pronounced,
"Wick-Kah," by most people today. It is the word from which the term, "Witch," (q.v.) is said to have evolved from. Some
sources claim the word Wicca is derived from a word meaning "to bend, or shape," as in the ability of members of this
faith to be able to bend, or shape their consciousness and thus reality to their wills. Another source claims the word
Wicca came from a word meaning "wise." Thus, those who follow the path of Wicca are called, the "wise ones." A
follower of modern day Wicca is called a "Wiccan." The modern Wiccan movement, as a formal religion and philosophy,
began with the writings of Gerald B. Gardner (q.v.) and Doreen Valiente, in the mid 1950's. Anthropologist Margaret
Murry (q.v.) wrote two books that prefaced this modern movement in the 1920's.
a) Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964)

Gerald Brousseau Gardner, an English hereditary Witch and allegedly responsible for reviving Witchcraft in the modern
Western world, was born in Blundellands, near Liverpool, England, on June 13, 1884. His father served as a justice of
the peace, being a member of a family in the timber trade business. The family was of Scottish descent, tracing its roots
to a woman named Grissell Gardner who had been burned as a Witch in 1610 at Newburgh. Gardner's grandfather
marred a woman who was supposedly a Witch and some of his distant relatives assumedly possessed psychical
abilities. Gardner's family tree included as well mayors of Liverpool, and Alan Gardner, a naval commander and later
vice admiral and peer, who later earned distinction as the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet who helped to
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prevent the invasion of Napoleon in 1807.
Gerald was the second of three sons, and suffered severely with asthma when young. To alleviate his condition his
nurse Josephine "Com" McCombie convinced his parents to permit him to travel with her in Europe during the winter.
During this time young Gerald found much time for reading since he was often by himself while Com roamed Europe.
She eventually married a man in Ceylon and took Gerald with her. There he worked on a tea plantation. Later he
worked in Borneo and Malaysia.
While in the Far East Gardner became acquainted with the natives and familiar with their spiritual beliefs, which
influenced him more than Christianity. He was fascinated by the ritual daggers and knives, especially the Malaysian kris;
a wavy blade dagger, and wrote Kris and Other Malay Weapons, which was published in Singapore in 1939. The book
established Gardner as the world authority on the kris. It remains the standard on the subject, and was reprinted
posthumously in 1973.
Between 1923 and 1936 Gardner was employed by the British government in the Far East as a rubber plantation
inspector, customs official and inspector of opium establishments. He made considerable money in rubber which
allowed him to dabble in his great interest of archaeology. He claimed to have discovered the site of the ancient city of
Singapura.
In 1927 he married an Englishwoman Donna who returned to England with him upon his retirement from working for the
government in 1936. Then much of Gardner's time was spent on archaeological trips throughout Europe and Asia Minor.
It was in Cyprus that he saw things which he had previously dreamed about which convinced him that he had previously
lived there in another life. (see Reincarnation)
This was the background for his second book, A Goddess Arrives (1939). The novel is set in Cyprus and is concerned
with the worship of The Goddess as Aphrodite in the year 1450 BC.
In England, before World War II, Gardner met people who introduced him into Witchcraft. He and his wife lived in the
New Forest region, where Gardner was involved with the Fellowship of Crotona, an occult group of Co-Masons, a
Masonic order established by Mrs. Besant Scott, daughter of the Theosophist Annie Besant (see Theosophical
Society).This group had established "The First Rosicrucian Theater in England," which presented plays having occult
themes. In this group Gardner met a member who claimed they had been together in a previous life in Cyprus and
described a site that Gardner had envisioned when dreaming.
Within the Fellowship of Crotona was another, secret group, which took Gardner into its confidence. Members in this
group claimed to be hereditary Witches, whose family members had practiced a craft for centuries, and such practice
had not been interrupted by the witch hunts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. This group met in the New Forest,
and just days before World War II began in 1i939, Gardner was nitiated into the coven by the high priestess Old Dorothy
Clutterbuck.
The coven, including Gardner, joined with other Witches in southern England on July 31 (Lummas Eve), 1940, to
perform a ritual to prevent Hitler's forces from invading England.(see Cone of power). Five members of the coven died
shortly afterwards. Their deaths were blamed on the power drained from them during the ritual. Gardner, himself, felt his
health had been adversely affected.
Through the introduction of Arnold Crowther Gardner met Aleister Crowley in 1946. Crowley made Gardner a honorary
member of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), a magical order of which at one time Crowley held leadership. Crowley had
once practiced Witchcraft, presumably in one of the Old George Pickingill's covens. There is speculation that Gardner
asked Crowley information about Craft rituals, which he might incorporate into his own. According to Patricia
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C.Crowther, wife of Crowther, it is known that Gardner admired and was influenced by Crowley, but there is no evidence
suggesting that Crowley gave him any specific Craft material.
Gardner desired to, but was kept from publicly writing about the survival of Witchcraft, because at the time Witchcraft
was still against English law. So his novel High Magic's Aid concerning Witchcraft was published in 1949, under the
pseudonym Scire. The work included rituals which he had learned from his coven, and the worship of the Horned God,
but the Goddess was not mentioned.
When the law against witchcraft was repealed in 1951 Gardner broke from the New Forest coven to form his own coven.
In the same year he traveled to the Isle of Man, on which was a Museum of Magic and Witchcraft which had been
established by Cecil Williamson and housed in a 400-year-old Craft farmhouse. Williamson had originally named it the
Folklore Centre and intended it to become a center for currently practicing Witches. Gardner became the "resident
Witch" and added his personal substantial collection of ritual tools and artifacts. Gardner purchased the museum from
Williamson.
It was in 1953 that Gardner initiated Doreen Valiente into his coven. The coven's rituals were virtually identical to those
that Gardner described in High Magic's Aid. In his coven Gardner reworked his material since the material which he
inherited from his first coven was only fragmentary. He freshen rituals with his own work, adding quotations and extracts
from Crowley's work. Valiente somewhat discouraged this, advising Gardner that Growley's material was inappropriate
because it was "too modern," thus most of Crowley's work was subsequently deleted through rewriting of the material.
Gardner and Valiente collaborated through the years of 1954 to 1957 on writing ritual and nonritual material. The body
or work, or Book of Shadows, became the authority for what is currently known as the Gardnerian tradition.
In 1954 Gardener published his first nonfiction book about Witchcraft, Witchcraft Today. The book supports the theory of
the British anthropologist Margaret A. Murray, that modern Witchcraft is the surviving remnant of organized Pagan
religion which existed during the witch hunts. Murray wrote the introduction to the book.
The book's immediate success gave emphasis for new covens rising up throughout England. Gardner suddenly found
himself in the spotlight. Due to his numerous media appearances the press referred to him as "Britain's Chief Witch," a
title he did not seek. He was not interested in exploiting his fame for money and personal glory. In 1959 he published his
final book, The Meaning of Witchcraft.
In 1960, at a Buckingham Palace garden party Gardner was recognized for his distinguished civil service work in the Far
East. During the same year his wife died, and he began suffering from asthma. In the winter of 1963 he met Raymond
Buckland, an Englishman who had moved to America. This was shortly before Gardner was to leave for Lebanon.
Buckland was initiated into the Craft by Gardner's high priestess Monique Wilson (Lady Olwen). It would be Buckland
who would introduce the Gardnerian tradition to America.
Gardner died aboard ship when returning from Lebanon on the morning of February 12, 1964.His burial was in Tunis,
February 13.
In his will, Gardner bequeathed the museum, his ritual tools and objects, notebooks and the copyrights to his books to
Wilson. Other beneficiaries of his estate were Patricia C. Crowther and Jack L. Bracelin, who authored an authoritative
biography of Gardner, Gerald Gardner: Witch (1960). Wilson and her husband kept the museum opened for a short time
while holding weekly coven meetings in Gardner's cottage. Eventually the museum was closed and most of its contents
were sold to the Ripley organization, which dispersed the objects to various museums.
Doreen Valiente described Gardner as a man "utterly without malice," who was generous to a fault and who possessed
some real, but not exceptional, magical powers. Those in the Craft knowing him called him "G. B. G."
- 21 -
One of his missions, Gardner felt, was to attract young people to the Old Religion. He felt Witchcraft was primarily to
older people who when dying would let the Craft die with them. In Witchcraft Today he said science was replacing
reliance on the old ways
I think we must say good-bye to the witch. The cult is doomed, I am afraid, partly
because of modern conditions, housing shortage, the smallness of families, and chiefly
by education. The modern child is not interested. He knows witches are all bunk...
He died before he saw how greatly his own writing inspired the revival of Witchcraft. The Craft continues to grow and
spread more than he ever could have envisioned. The "Gardnerian tradition" continues to be the dominant tradition of
modern Witchcraft.
b) Sanders, Alexander (1929-1988)
Sanders rose to fame during the 1960s. He was flamboyant in character, and proclaimed himself "King of Witches" in
his native England as he founded the Alexandrian tradition which bears his name.
He was born in Manchester, the oldest of six children. His father was a dance-hall entertainer and suffered from
alcoholism. Sanders said his grandmother, Mary Biddy, initiated him into Witchcraft. As a youth he found her one day
standing naked in the middle of a circle. She told him to take his clothes off and enter the circle with her. When doing so
she told him that she was an hereditary Witch, and told him to put his head down between his thighs. As he did so, she
took a knife and nicked his scrotum, saying, "You are one of us now."
Sanders told that his grandmother let him copy her Book of Shadows when he was nine and taught him the rites and
magic of Witches. He discovered his own gifts of clairvoyance and healing by touch.
He became an analytical chemist in a laboratory in Manchester. He married a co-worker, nineteen-year-old Doreen,

when he was 21. They had two children, Paul and Janice, but the marriage quickly deteriorated and Doreen took the
children and left Sanders when he was 26.
After this came the period when Sanders life a life of the "left-handed-path" after having drifted from one low-level job to
another and had sexual affairs with both men and women. He used magic to secure wealth and power. He worshipped
the Devil for awhile and studied Abra-Melin magic. Apparently he attracted people to him who financially supported him.
He founded his first coven and attracted media attention which brought him more followers. By 1965 he claimed 1,623
initiates in 100 covens he persuaded him to be elected as King of the Witches.
Among his alleged magical feats is the creation of a "spiritual baby," who became one of his familiars. The birth is to
have resulted from a sacred act of masturbation which occurred between Sanders and a male assistant. Shortly
following its creation the spirit Michael disappeared to grow up, but reappeared later to take Sanders over in his
channeling. Supposedly Michael forcibly made Sanders carry on at wild parties, insult people and otherwise act
abominably. But as Michael matured he became a valuably spirit familiar in channeling and healing matters.
Sanders channeled with another familiar too, Nick Demdike, who claimed to have been persecuted as a witch at the
Lancaster trails of the 17th century, although the name is not mentioned in the records of those trails.
- 22 -
His healing feats include getting rid of warts by "wishing them on someone else, someone who’s already ugly with boil
marks, I can fill up with warts." He said he cured a man of heroin addiction and a woman of cystitis by laying his hands
on her head and willing the affliction away. He cure a woman of cancer but sitting with her in a hospital three days and
nights, while holding her feet and pouring healing energy into her.
He also healed but pointing to troubled spots on people’s bodies and concentrating. He claimed pointing never failed.
He performed aborting by pointing and commanding the pregnancy to end. Some women he helped by sending them to
certain physicians for the procedure. But others could not afford the physician’s fees. Once it is recorded he ended a
pregnancy by returning the soul to the Divine.
One of Sanders’most famous alleged cures involved his daughter Janice, who was born in dry labor with her left foot
twisted backwards. Physicians had said nothing could be done for the foot until the girl reached her teens. It was an
"impression" from Michael which instructed Sanders to anoint the foot with warm olive oil. Having done this, Sanders
turned his daughter’s foot straight. The foot stayed corrected. Janice walked normally except for a slight limp in cold,
damp weather.
During the 1960s Sanders met Maxine Morris, a Roman Catholic and 20 years his junior, whom he initiated into the
Craft and handfasted. She became his high priestess. In 1967 they married in a civil ceremony and moved into a
basement flat near Notting Hill Gate in London, where they ran their coven and taught classes on Witchcraft. Many
followers came to them. In the same year their daughter Maya was born.
The projection of Sanders into the national public spotlight resulted from a sensational newspaper article in 1969 which
led to a romanticized biography , King of the Witches, by June Johns in 1969, and the film, Legend of the Witches. All of
which led to much media publicity, guest appearances on talk-shows, and public speaking engagements. It seemed to
other Witches that Sanders enjoyed all of this too much to where it was exploitation, and he drug the Craft through a
gutter press.
Sanders frequently appeared in ritual photos as robed wearing only a loincloth while Witches surrounding him were
naked. His explanation for this was that "Witch law" required that the elder of a coven to be apart from the others and
easy identifiable.
It was at the preview of Legend of the Witches that Sanders met Stewart Farrar. Farrar was impressed with Sanders.
He, a feature writer for the weekly Reveille was working on a story concerning modern Witchcraft and attended an
initiation which Sanders invited him to. The ceremony impressed and interested Farrar who later was initiated by Maxine
Sanders into the coven where he met Janet Owens. (see Janet and Stewart Farrar )
It seems that Sanders’flamboyance irritated many people and seemed to be a cause for him to receive much criticism.
Whether this was justly earned or not is had to say. There are even questions about whether Sanders was even initiated
by his grandmother or copied her book of shadows at the age of nine. To the objective and scholarly observer such
questions seem frivolous. What is known is that the Alexandrian tradition does exist in modern Witchcraft. There were
enough believers of what Sanders taught to make this possible.
No objective researcher can say any or all of the criticism aimed at Sanders is true or not. All one can do is to make
note of it without trying to appear bias. Some claim Sanders plagiarized some of his material, although, it must be noted,
this criticism came after Sanders’publicity was at its highest. It is said he took material from the Gardnerian book of
shadows, from material written by Eliphas Levi, and from the Austrian occultist Franz Bardon. Since the Alexandrian
tradition closely follows the Gardnerian tradition some claim this is proof of plagiary. Some say he made few changes in
some material, others say he made no changes at all. Others claim the name "Alexander Sanders" was not his own, but
one he assumed.
- 23 -
The Sanders separated in 1971. Sanders moved to Sussex, while Maxine remained in the London flat where she
continued running the coven and teaching the Craft. A son Victor was born in 1972.
Sanders lived in seclusion until his death on Beltane Eve, April 30, 1988, after suffering from lung cancer. Even at his
death Sanders seemed to arose controversy. A tape recording was played at his funeral in which Sanders declared
Victor was to succeed him as King of the Witches. According to his mother, Maxine, Victor did not want to do so, and
had moved to the United States. He would have led the "Witchcraft Council of Elders," which claimed an incredible
100,000 members. The entire thing seemed preposterous since no king or queen of the craft is ever elected. Other
witches said the council was a "fabrication" of the followers of Sanders. It seemed highly unlikely there are 100,000
witches in Britain alone, not to mention members of a council.
The Alexandrian tradition now exists in other countries beside Britain. In the United States it never gained the popularity
as did the Gardnerian tradition because it is believed Sanders’negative publicity hurt it. As of the 1980s none of the
American Alexandrian coven had any connection with Sanders himself. The Alexandrian covens have done better in
Canada where they were more firmly established before all of Sanders’negative publicity.
Many, including Stewart Farrar, felt Sanders made major contributions to the Craft.
c) Farrar, Janet (1950- ) and Stewart (1916-2000)
Two English Witches that have done much to illuminate Witchcraft to the general public, and to the practitioners of the
Craft. Both were initiated into the Craft by Alexander Sanders. They remained in Sander's coven until they went onto
form their covens in England and Ireland. Their form of Craft worship has been referred to as "reformed Alexandrian"
and "post-Alexandrian." However, the Farrars steadfastly avoided applying the sectarian label to their approach of
Wicca. They simply refer to themselves as Witches.
Both Janet and Stewart shared pre-Wiccan backgrounds. She was born Janet Owen on June 24, 1950, in Clapton,
London. Her father, Ronald Owen, was of English and Welsh descent; her mother, Ivy (nee Craddock), was an
immigrant Irishwoman. Both of them belonged to the Church of England and were hospital workers. When Janet was
five her mother died.
Jant attended the Leyton Manor School in London and Royal Wanstead High School for Girls in Sawbridgeworth,
Hertfordshire. Following her graduation, she worked as a model and receptionist. In 1970 she was initiated into Alex and
Maxine Sander's coven where she met Stewart Farrar.
Stewart was born on June 28, 1916 in Highams Park, Essex. His father, Frank Farrar, was English and employed as a
bank official; his mother, Agnes (nee Picken) was Scottish and a school teacher. Stewart was raised as a Christian
scientist, but by the age of 20 he had became an agnostic, which he remained until initiated into the Craft in 1970.
Stewart received his education at City of London School and University College, London, where he studied journalism.
He graduated in 1937, having served as president of the London University Journalism Union and editor of the London
Union Magazine.
He volunteered for service in the army, in 1939, and became an instructor in Gunnery, Anti-Aircraft. He was discharged
in 1946 with the rank of major. Then he worked until 1947 as a civilian public relations and press officer for the Control
Commission for Germany.
Then from 1947 to the present he embarked on a long and varied career as a journalist, author and scriptwriter. He
- 24 -
worked as a sub-editor and night editor in the Reuter's London office from 1953 to 1954. Then he was employed as a
reporter by the Communist Party's Daily Worker. Being disillusioned he left it and the party in 1954. From 1956 to 1962
he worked as a scriptwriter for Associated British-Pathe, working on television documentaries and a feature film, and on
television dramas for the company's associate A. B. C. Television, now known as Thames Television. His freelance
work included radio dramas for the British Broadcasting Company, short stories for magazines and books. His first
detective novel The Snake on 99, was published in 1958.
From 1969 to 1974 Stewart was a feature writer for the weekly Reveille, a job that got him his introduction into
Witchcraft. Late in 1969 he was assigned to attend a press preview of the film, Legend of Witches, for which Alexander
and Maxine Sanders had given technical advice, and who were present at the preview. Reveille was interested in the
story. Stewart was skeptical about Witchcraft but was interested in Sanders upon meeting him. Sanders invited Stewart
to attend a Witchcraft initiation, which Stewart did. He found the ceremony both dignified and moving. He wrote a two-
part feature story on it for the magazine, which gained him Sanders' favor. Sanders informed him that the publisher of
his own biography King of the Witches was looking for an author to writer another book on modern Witchcraft. Stewart
got the contract for What Witches Do. Also, he begun attending Sanders' training classes. At first he was sympathetic,
but a skeptical outsider. However, the instructions struck a personal chord within Stewart, and on February 21, 1970,
Maxine Sanders initiated him into the coven, where he met Janet Owen.
On December 22, 1970 the Farrars formed their own London coven. The Sanders separated separated shortly
afterward. The final time which the Farrars saw Sanders was in 1971 when What Witches Do was published. The book
clearly established Farrar as a voice that promoted the Wiccan community. However, the book was controversial in that
it included incidents which Sanders fabricated about himself plus Farrar's insertion that he ranked Sanders above
Gerald B.Gardner and alongside of Aleister Crowley and Eliphas Levi in terms of magical achievement. Later Farrar
admitted that he had been too credulous and no long placed Sanders on the same level as Crowley, Levi, and Gardner.
Farrar, nevertheless, refused to disparage "the enfant terrible of British Witchcraft," adding that Sanders had made
significance contributions to the Craft.
The Farrars built up their own coven from 1970 to 1976. On January 31, 1974, they were handfasted in a ceremony
attended by Stewart's two sons and two daughters from a previous marriage who also took part in the ceremony. They
were legally married on July 19, 1975. Stewart left Reveille in 1974 to become a full-time freelance writer.
When moving to Ireland in 1976, the Farrars turned their coven over to Susan and David Buckingham. In Ireland they
formed a new coven from which several more hived off of it. They returned to England in 1988.
The success of What Witches Do resulted in the generation of many requests from persons seeking help in joining the
Craft. Following nine years of running a coven and giving advice, the Farrars coauthored two books of ritual and
nonritual material: Eight Sabbats for Witches (1981) and The Witches' Way (1984). In the United States both books
were combined and published as A Witches Bible Compleat. The books include rituals created by the Farrars plus much
material concerning the religion of the Craft.
The Witches' Way provided the first thorough reconstruction of the evolution of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, as it
was developed by Gardner and Doreen Valiente, including contributions by Valiente herself.
The Farrars, like other Witches who have written about the Craft, have been criticized for revealing too much. They
disagree with the false secrecy mandate of the Craft, saying that it promotes distorted information. They do not feel they
have revealed any essential secrets, but merely clarified and illuminated material which has already been made public.
The Farrars also coauthored The Witches' Goddess (1987); Life & Times of a Modern Witch (1987); The Witches' God
(1989), a companion to The Witches' Goddess.
- 25 -
Stewart Farrar's other fiction works include two detective novels, Zero in the Gate (1960) and Death in the Wrong Bed
(1963); a romance novel, Delphine, Be a Darling (1963); and seven occult novels; The Twelve Maidens (1974); The
Serpent of Lilith (1976); The Dance of Blood (1977); The Sword of Orley (1977); Omega (1980); Forcible Entry (1986);
and Blacklash (1988).
NB: Much of the material from this booklet comes from the Encyclopedia Mystica:
http://www.themystica.com
- 26 -

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A brief history of Modern Magic Logan City Study Group

1. Celts & Druidism

for their offices. Some were also seers.

2. Medieval Period - Astrology and Medicine.

Such was the nature of magic in the medieval/early renaissance period.

Encyclopædia Brittanica 9th edition vol 7 Edinburgh 1887

Encyclopædia Brittanica 11th edition vol 7 New York 1911

Low, Collin The Necronomicon Anti-FAQ 1995

4. Kabbalah (Western Magickal Tradition)(Cabala)

Kether, the supreme crown, (God)

5. Levi, Eliphas (1810-1875)

Sources: 9, Joy Mills, The Theosophy Society in America 61.

7. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

8. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

a) Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964)

prevent the invasion of Napoleon in 1807.

b) Sanders, Alexander (1929-1988)

He became an analytical chemist in a laboratory in Manchester. He married a co-worker, nineteen-year-old Doreen,

c) Farrar, Janet (1950- ) and Stewart (1916-2000)

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