Who's Who In the Pagan Community

[Kalyani Srijoi]

It has recently occured to me that many of the oldbies both in this guild and the Pagan Community at large will often refer to community 'celebrities.' They will often do so without any explanation as to who they are talking about - not even what religion they are! This can become especially important when learning about religions - after all, you want to make sure that the author of the book someone references is a legitimate source. Unfortunately, there are a lot of psychoes and con artists within the pagan community. As many normal and intellegent pagans there are, there are also those who are concerned chiefly with making money or feeding their own ego - and there are some who are just plain stupid.

This list is under construction - if you see anyone not on the list, please PM me and I will add it. Feel free to make any additions or discuss any of the people on the list, or disagree. Discussion could keep this on the first page, after all, which would make it quite a bit more useful. xd

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone was willing to help me write up some of these profiles, as they will obviously be very time-consuming. If you wish to help, please fill out this brief form:

Quote:

Name
Religion or magical path
Books written by or about this person
A brief description of contributions, good and bad alike
Any notes on his/her credibility as pertaining to history, magical practices, theology, etc.

Then just post them or PM them to me, and I'll add them in.

Thanks a ton, guys.

ZEE FOOKING LEEST, MENG

Stuff is organized in alphabetical order based on first name, beetches.

A

Alex Sanders
Religion - Wiccan, Founder of Alexandrian Wiccan Tradition
Books - The Alex Sanders Lectures, King of the Witches (a biography)

Sanders is one of the most influential modern occultists, and you're bound to hear him mentioned in this forum. He claimed that he was initiated by his grandmother when he was very young, and he later joined a Gardnerian coven. Eventually, however, he split with Gardner and created his own tradition. Alexandrian Wicca remains very similar to the original Gardnerian line.

Sanders, as most early Wiccans, claimed that Wicca was directly descended from ancient practices - in modern times, however, it has been proven that magic has radically evolved over the years, making such a connection essentially impossible: to wit, Wicca is not an ancient path because magical practices have changed drastically since ancient times.

B

C

D

E

F

G

H  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

Feel free to post now. I'll be updating this as I get the bios done. Oh, and if you feel like expanding any, feel free to post your expanded version. This will work better as a community thingy.  

[saint dreya]

the good mixed with the bad, with some in between and both.

aleister crowley, gerald gardner, z. budapest, vivian crowley, scott cunningham, peter berresford ellis, caitlin and john matthews, doreen valiente, miranda green, edred thorsson, peter carroll, anton lavey, eliphas levi, starhawk, silver ravenwolf, edain mccoy, d.j. conway, h.r. ellis davidson, ceisiwr serith, philip carr-gomm, john michael greer, oberon zell-ravenheart...

most are authors.  

[Pelta]

phoenix shadowwolf

the good mixed with the bad, with some in between and both.

aleister crowley, gerald gardner, z. budapest, vivian crowley, scott cunningham, peter berresford ellis, caitlin and john matthews, doreen valiente, miranda green, edred thorsson, peter carroll, anton lavey, eliphas levi, starhawk, silver ravenwolf, edain mccoy, d.j. conway, h.r. ellis davidson, ceisiwr serith, philip carr-gomm, john michael greer, oberon zell-ravenheart...

most are authors.

... Israel Regardie, A. E. Waite, the Farrars, Sir John Frazer (not actually a pagan but I love The Golden Bough)...  

[ShadowSharrow]

ah um why do this there there are plenty of sites that do this already the wiki pagan wiki ect ect, why not creat a entry including these links and then impressions of as well peoples opinion are after all subjective and the people we would be talking about human after all is said and done.

Also there are at least 4 factual erros in your Alex Sanders entry and surely correct form means it should be Sanders, J. Alex.  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

ShadowSharrow

ah um why do this there there are plenty of sites that do this already the wiki pagan wiki ect ect, why not creat a entry including these links and then impressions of as well peoples opinion are after all subjective and the people we would be talking about human after all is said and done.

Also there are at least 4 factual erros in your Alex Sanders entry and surely correct form means it should be Sanders, J. Alex.

As I said, I'm listing them by first name, for no particular reason.

Also, what factual errors were there? confused  

[scorplett]

Kalyani Srijoi

he later joined a Gardnerian coven. Eventually, however, he split with Gardner and created his own tradition. Alexandrian Wicca remains very similar to the original Gardnerian line.

Sanders, as most early Wiccans, claimed that Wicca was directly descended from ancient practices - in modern times, however, it has been proven that magic has radically evolved over the years, making such a connection essentially impossible: to wit, Wicca is not an ancient path because magical practices have changed drastically since ancient times.

Pretty much most of this is poorly based.
Alex never joined a Gardnerian coven. He petitioned to join the Crowthers coven but was refused. A member of that coven split after disagreements and she is believed to have been his source for the material that is similar to Gardnerian.
According to the published versions of books of shadows it is believed the two traditions on paper are very similar. This is not nescessarliy so. The focous of the two traditions are very different. The prefered methods of working are different and the styles of ceremonial magic are different. Tools used by the two trads are also quite different and a Gardnerian altar is quite different from that of an Alexandrians.
Sanders claimed family heritage. He also claimed that folk witchcraft and not Wicca, is ancient in origin. He recognised that Wicca is a reconstruction of earth fertility magic native to britain. However he fully understood and accepted that other aspects of Wicca, for example ceremonial ritual elements, were of much more modern extraction. Many of these misunderstandings come from the wanten segragation of the word Wicca from Witchcraft. Today they are used in different contexts, this is a very modern perception and not one held by those who practiced or are surrounded by those who practiced before the 1990's.  

[Starlock]

While I don't yet own this book or have it on hand, if someone has a copy of "Being a Pagan" lying around it will be an excellent source for you in compiling this. The book consists of interviews of a number of big name (and not so big name) Pagans in the community. Another book that would make a good source is Guiley's Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, which I also don't own so I can't really give you anything from its pages. If I can get ahold of any sort of source material (though I truly tend to check out or borrow books and take notes rather than own most of them) I'll try to contribute something to this.  

[godhi]

scorplett

Kalyani Srijoi

he later joined a Gardnerian coven. Eventually, however, he split with Gardner and created his own tradition. Alexandrian Wicca remains very similar to the original Gardnerian line.

Saunders, as most early Wiccans, claimed that Wicca was directly descended from ancient practices - in modern times, however, it has been proven that magic has radically evolved over the years, making such a connection essentially impossible: to wit, Wicca is not an ancient path because magical practices have changed drastically since ancient times.

Pretty much most of this is poorly based.
Alex never joined a Gardnerian coven. He petitioned to join the Crowthers coven but was refused. A member of that coven split after disagreements and she is believed to have been his source for the material that is similar to Gardnerian.
According to the published versions of books of shadows it is believed the two traditions on paper are very similar. This is not nescessarliy so. The focous of the two traditions are very different. The prefered methods of working are different and the styles of ceremonial magic are different. Tools used by the two trads are also quite different and a Gardnerian altar is quite different from that of an Alexandrians.
Saunders claimed family heritage. He also claimed that folk witchcraft and not Wicca, is ancient in origin. He recognised that Wicca is a reconstruction of earth fertility magic native to britain. However he fully understood and accepted that other aspects of Wicca, for example ceremonial ritual elements, were of much more modern extraction. Many of these misunderstandings come from the wanton segragation of the word Wicca from Witchcraft. Today they are used in different contexts, this is a very modern perception and not one held by those who practiced or are surrounded by those who practiced before the 1990's.

I take everything Alex Saunders says with a grain of salt. Why?
Saunders was the self-proclaimed "King of the Witches" in Great Britain, and claims that in the 1960's most of the witches in the British Isles took part in a lottery which proclaimed him their King--in spite of the fact that when interviewed by the media, most of the witches they contacted had never heard of Saunders or his tradition prior to this claim.