I admit it. I’m getting distracted. Eventually I will get around to writing about Gardnerian witchcraft and the history of witchcraft but I also have these rather wonderful books on Alex and Maxine Sanders which deserve some comment. Between them they founded a school of Wicca known as Alexandrian Wicca. Alex died in 1988. As far as I know Maxine is still alive though her website doesn’t appear to have been updated since 2004.
You can read about Alex and Maxine via their wikipedia entries.
The reason I mention them here is because there was a definite tendency to link witchcraft with satanism in the 1960s. Indeed Alex Sanders said that he followed the “left-hand path” for some time early in his career. The press also liked to sensationalise stories about witchcraft and satanists and were happiest when they could find salacious photographs to illustrate their exposes. Even these biographies feature several photographs of naked participants in various ceremonies and, as you can see, “Maxine, The Witch Queen” quotes the News of the World on its cover.
Just like “Devil Worship in Britain” these books also feature noteworthy blurbs. For “Maxine”, part of the blurb reads “Maxine Sanders….. has been threatened with death for daring to tell her story. But she will not be silenced!” For “King of the Witches” the blurb tells us “A master of the occult reveals the forbidden secrets of sorcery, witchcraft and black magic.”
It’s only fair to warn you that if you continue to read these posts your own life may be in danger from occult forces beyond your comprehension.
My “life may be in danger from occult forces beyond my comprehension” from following your blog? Whoa! Care to elaborate?
I’m seriously interested in the history of occultism and magic but I’m satirising the style of writing that you find in popular books about the occult and witchcraft published in the 1950s and 1960s in this case. Don’t worry, I think you’re safe!
(feeling relieved) Well it that’s the case, bring on Witchcraft in Britain Part 3!