Doreen Valiente
From Free Encyclopedia of Thelema
Doreen Valiente (1922 - 1999) was a co-creator of Wicca, together with Gerald Gardner.
Born Doreen Dominy, the daughter of Christian parents, the young Doreen was convinced from an early age that she possessed the power to use magic. Valiente was the name of Doreen's second husband.
Shortly after Gardner made public his claims to have been initiated into a surviving witch cult, he was joined by Valiente, who collaborated with him in the creation of rituals. Valiente also wrote a number of poems for the use of Wiccans, including the first version of Charge of the Goddess. Faced with challenges from sceptics Valiente attempted, with some success, to provide evidence for Gardner's claims concerning his intitiation, notably by identifying Dorothy Clutterbuck, the old witch who was supposed to have performed the initiation in an essay published in Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar.
Valiente broke with Gardner, though never completely, and became the de facto leader of the Wiccan movement after his death. She was active in her promotion of modern witchcraft and Neopaganism, being particularly keen to emphasise that the movement was not related to satanism.
Dr Leo Ruickbie examines her life and contribution to Wicca in his Witchcraft Out of the Shadows. According to Dr Ruickbie, Valiente was the 'Mother of Modern Witchcraft', playing a crucial role in re-writing much of Gardner's original ritual material.
Bibliography
- 1973: An ABC of Witchcraft
- 1975: Natural Magic
- 1978: Witchcraft for Tomorrow
- 1989: The Rebirth of Witchcraft
References
- Ruickbie, Leo, Witchcraft Out of the Shadows. Robert Hale, 2004. ISBN 0709075677.
