Alexandrian Wicca
Encyclopedia
Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan
religion
of Wicca
, founded by Alex Sanders
(also known as "King of the Witches") who, with his wife Maxine Sanders
, established the tradition in the United Kingdom
in the 1960s. Alexandrian Wicca is similar in many ways to Gardnerian Wicca
, and receives regular mention in books on Wicca as one of the religion's most widely-recognized traditions.
, in which Sanders was trained to the first degree of initiation, and also contains elements of ceremonial magic
and Qabalah
, which Sanders had studied independently.
The name of the tradition is a reference both to Alex Sanders and to the ancient occult library of Alexandria
, which was one of the first libraries in the world. The choice of name was inspired by a view of the library as an early attempt to bring together the knowledge and wisdom of the world into one place. Maxine Sanders recalls that the name was chosen when Stewart Farrar
, a student of the Sanders', began to write What Witches Do
. "Stewart asked what Witches who were initiated via our Covens should be called; after much discussion, he came up with "Alexandrian" which both Alex and I rather liked. Before this time we were very happy to be called Witches". Conversely, the most recent addition of What Witches Do(2010) includes previously published interviews between Sanders and Farrar. In one interview from 1970 Sanders clearly states: "the Gardnerians call my witches Alexandrians", suggesting that it was not Farrar who coined the term.
Alexandrian Wicca is practiced outside of Britain, including Canada, the United States and Australia. Encyclopedia Mystica states that Alexandrian Wicca "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
s 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".
As compared to Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca is "somewhat more eclectic", according to The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism. Maxine Sanders notes that Alexandrians take the attitude "If it works use it". Tool use and deity and elemental
names also differ from the Gardnerian tradition. Skyclad practice, or ritual nudity, is optional within the tradition, training is emphasized, and ceremonial magic
practices, such as those derived from Hermetic Qabalah
and Enochian magic
may be part of ritual. Alex's work on his Book of Shadows continued up until his death resulting, like the Gardnerian in several different versions. Some of these derived from his teaching notes that his students received in the late '60's and early '70's. It is not unusual to find that earlier initiates did not receive the same books as later ones although they obtained all the information in dictated form, Sander's preferred mode of teaching.
Alexandrian covens meet on new moons, full moons and during Sabbat festivals.
". As in Gardnerian Wicca
, there are three levels, or "degrees", of initiation, commonly referred to as "first", "second", and "third" degree. Only a second or third degree witch can initiate another into witchcraft, and only a third degree witch can initiate another to third degree. A third degree initiate is referred to as a "High Priestess" or "High Priest". The Farrars published the rituals for the three ceremonies of initiation in Eight Sabbats for Witches. but it is important to point out that it was common for Sander's to alter his 'modus operandi'. Stories abound among Alexandrians of the unorthodox methods that Sander's used to initiate people up to third degree. In the case of at least one line originating from the 1980s, the progenitors of that line were sent away to do the third degree initiation by themselves without any other third being present. Regardless, this line is now well established and accepted.
Some Alexandrians have instituted a preliminary rank called "neophyte" or "dedicant." In these Alexandrian covens, a neophyte is not bound by the oaths taken by initiates, and thus has an opportunity to examine the tradition before committing to it. Neophytes are not, however, considered to have actually joined the tradition until they do take first degree. As such they would not experience certain aspects of rituals that were considered oathbound.
records comments from British practitioners of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca that distinctions between the two traditions have blurred in the last couple of decades, and some initiates of both traditions have recognized initiation within one as qualification for the other. Author Vivianne Crowley
often trains her students in both traditions. In the United States, Alexandrian priestess Mary Nesnick, an initiate of both traditions, created a deliberate fusion of the two, which she named the Algard Tradition
.
Janet and Stewart Farrar, both of whom were initiated into the Alexandrian tradition by the Sanderses, describe themselves as having left the tradition after the release of Eight Sabbats for Witches. They were later referred to as "Reformed Alexandrian", a description that Janet Farrar
does not use preferring just to refer to herself and her initiates as witches. Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca
and the "Starkindler Line" are derived from Alexandrian Wicca, and Alexandrian Wicca was a major influence on Blue Star Wicca
and Odyssean Wicca
.
The High Magical and Qabalistic strands of the Alexandrian tradition also informed the Ordine Della Luna in Constantinople which, from 1967 onwards, Sanders operated as a 'side-degree' or ancillary rite to Alexandrian Wicca, most notably in collaboration with Derek Taylor in the 1980s.
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
of Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
, founded by Alex Sanders
Alex Sanders (Wiccan)
Alex Sanders , born Orrell Alexander Carter, was an English occultist and High Priest in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, responsible for founding the tradition of Alexandrian Wicca during the 1960s. He was a figure who often appeared in tabloid newspapers...
(also known as "King of the Witches") who, with his wife Maxine Sanders
Maxine Sanders
Maxine Sanders is a prominent member of the Wiccan faith and a co-founder with her late husband, Alex Sanders, of Alexandrian Wicca....
, established the tradition in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1960s. Alexandrian Wicca is similar in many ways to Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
, and receives regular mention in books on Wicca as one of the religion's most widely-recognized traditions.
Origins and history
The tradition is based largely upon Gardnerian WiccaGardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
, in which Sanders was trained to the first degree of initiation, and also contains elements of ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic, also referred to as high magic and as learned magic, is a broad term used in the context of Hermeticism or Western esotericism to encompass a wide variety of long, elaborate, and complex rituals of magic. It is named as such because the works included are characterized by...
and Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric and mystical tradition...
, which Sanders had studied independently.
The name of the tradition is a reference both to Alex Sanders and to the ancient occult library of Alexandria
Library of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
, which was one of the first libraries in the world. The choice of name was inspired by a view of the library as an early attempt to bring together the knowledge and wisdom of the world into one place. Maxine Sanders recalls that the name was chosen when Stewart Farrar
Stewart Farrar
Frank Stewart Farrar , who always went by the name of Stewart Farrar, was an English screenwriter, novelist and prominent figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, which he devoted much of his later life to propagating with the aid of his seventh wife, Janet Farrar, and then his friend Gavin Bone...
, a student of the Sanders', began to write What Witches Do
What Witches Do
What Witches Do is a book by Stewart Farrar, and is an eye-witness account of Wiccan practices, namely that of the Alexandrian coven run by Alex Sanders and his wife Maxine Sanders.-Description:Farrar was a practicing witch and a member of an active coven...
. "Stewart asked what Witches who were initiated via our Covens should be called; after much discussion, he came up with "Alexandrian" which both Alex and I rather liked. Before this time we were very happy to be called Witches". Conversely, the most recent addition of What Witches Do(2010) includes previously published interviews between Sanders and Farrar. In one interview from 1970 Sanders clearly states: "the Gardnerians call my witches Alexandrians", suggesting that it was not Farrar who coined the term.
Alexandrian Wicca is practiced outside of Britain, including Canada, the United States and Australia. Encyclopedia Mystica states that Alexandrian Wicca "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
Coven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
s 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".
Practices
Alexandrian Wicca, in similarity with other traditional Wiccan practices, emphasizes gender polarity. This emphasis can be seen in the Sabbat rituals, which focus on the relationship between the Wiccan Goddess and God.As compared to Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca is "somewhat more eclectic", according to The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism. Maxine Sanders notes that Alexandrians take the attitude "If it works use it". Tool use and deity and elemental
Elemental
An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus in the 16th century. Traditionally, there are four types:*gnomes, earth elementals*undines , water elementals*sylphs, air elementals...
names also differ from the Gardnerian tradition. Skyclad practice, or ritual nudity, is optional within the tradition, training is emphasized, and ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic, also referred to as high magic and as learned magic, is a broad term used in the context of Hermeticism or Western esotericism to encompass a wide variety of long, elaborate, and complex rituals of magic. It is named as such because the works included are characterized by...
practices, such as those derived from Hermetic Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric and mystical tradition...
and Enochian magic
Enochian magic
Enochian magic is a system of ceremonial magic based on the evocation and commanding of various spirits. It is based on the 16th-century writings of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley, who claimed that their information was delivered to them directly by various angels. Dee's journals contained the...
may be part of ritual. Alex's work on his Book of Shadows continued up until his death resulting, like the Gardnerian in several different versions. Some of these derived from his teaching notes that his students received in the late '60's and early '70's. It is not unusual to find that earlier initiates did not receive the same books as later ones although they obtained all the information in dictated form, Sander's preferred mode of teaching.
Alexandrian covens meet on new moons, full moons and during Sabbat festivals.
Ranks and degrees
Alexandrian Wicca shares with other traditional Wicca systems the belief that "only a witch can make another witch". The process through which an individual is made a witch is called "initiationInitiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
". As in Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
, there are three levels, or "degrees", of initiation, commonly referred to as "first", "second", and "third" degree. Only a second or third degree witch can initiate another into witchcraft, and only a third degree witch can initiate another to third degree. A third degree initiate is referred to as a "High Priestess" or "High Priest". The Farrars published the rituals for the three ceremonies of initiation in Eight Sabbats for Witches. but it is important to point out that it was common for Sander's to alter his 'modus operandi'. Stories abound among Alexandrians of the unorthodox methods that Sander's used to initiate people up to third degree. In the case of at least one line originating from the 1980s, the progenitors of that line were sent away to do the third degree initiation by themselves without any other third being present. Regardless, this line is now well established and accepted.
Some Alexandrians have instituted a preliminary rank called "neophyte" or "dedicant." In these Alexandrian covens, a neophyte is not bound by the oaths taken by initiates, and thus has an opportunity to examine the tradition before committing to it. Neophytes are not, however, considered to have actually joined the tradition until they do take first degree. As such they would not experience certain aspects of rituals that were considered oathbound.
Relationship to other traditions
Historian Ronald HuttonRonald Hutton
Ronald Hutton is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A reader in the subject at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio...
records comments from British practitioners of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca that distinctions between the two traditions have blurred in the last couple of decades, and some initiates of both traditions have recognized initiation within one as qualification for the other. Author Vivianne Crowley
Vivianne Crowley
Vivianne Crowley is an author, university lecturer, psychologist, and a High Priestess and teacher of the Wiccan religion. She was initiated into the London coven of Alex Sanders at the age of eighteen, but later joined a Gardnerian coven...
often trains her students in both traditions. In the United States, Alexandrian priestess Mary Nesnick, an initiate of both traditions, created a deliberate fusion of the two, which she named the Algard Tradition
Algard Tradition
Algard Wicca is a tradition, or denomination, in the Neo-Pagan religion of Wicca. It was founded in the United States in 1972 by Mary Nesnick, a High Priestess in both Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, in an attempt to fuse the two traditions...
.
Janet and Stewart Farrar, both of whom were initiated into the Alexandrian tradition by the Sanderses, describe themselves as having left the tradition after the release of Eight Sabbats for Witches. They were later referred to as "Reformed Alexandrian", a description that Janet Farrar
Janet Farrar
Janet Farrar is a British teacher and author of books on Wicca and Neopaganism. Along with her two husbands, Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone, Farrar has published "some of the most influential books on modern Witchcraft to date." According to George Knowles, "some seventy five percent of Wiccans...
does not use preferring just to refer to herself and her initiates as witches. Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca
Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca
Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca is a Boston-area family of Alexandrian Wicca-derived covens directly downline from Coven Chthonioi. Coven Chthonioi grew out of the Alexandrian practice of its founders in the 1970s, has an unbroken lineage back to Alex Sanders and Maxine Sanders, and has been in...
and the "Starkindler Line" are derived from Alexandrian Wicca, and Alexandrian Wicca was a major influence on Blue Star Wicca
Blue Star Wicca
Blue Star Wicca is one of a number of Wiccan traditions, and was created in the United States in the 1970s based loosely on the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions...
and Odyssean Wicca
Odyssean Wicca
Odyssean Wicca is a Wiccan tradition created in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the late 1970s. Its principal founders were Tamarra and Richard James. Most of its practitioners today live in Ontario, but it also has members in the United States...
.
The High Magical and Qabalistic strands of the Alexandrian tradition also informed the Ordine Della Luna in Constantinople which, from 1967 onwards, Sanders operated as a 'side-degree' or ancillary rite to Alexandrian Wicca, most notably in collaboration with Derek Taylor in the 1980s.