The Alexandrian Tradition

 

The Alexandrian tradition of Wicca was established in the 60's by Alex Sanders and along with his wife Maxine, it became (along with the Gardnerian tradition) one of the earliest and most prolific traditions of Wicca.

Born in 1926, initially Alex had claimed to have been initiated by his grandmother in her kitchen at the age of seven, after discovering her there doing a ritual. (see June Johns book - King of the Witches) but this was not true. He was actually a Gardnerian initiate in one of the Crowthers covens and was initiated by a lady called Pat Kopanski.

He publicised Wicca extensively, despite opposition from more traditional Gardnerian Wiccans who considered it to be either a betrayal of the Mysteries and Oath, or a personal bid for fame and notoriety. In any case, the publicity he generated made people aware of his existence and of the religion known as Wicca. Throughout the 1960's and 70's he and Maxine initiated many people including Stewart Farrar and Janet Owen (who was to marry Stewart and become Janet Farrar). The Farrars over the years published a great many books on Wicca and have probably been the most responsible for it's growth over the years, having made it far more accessible to people all over the world. It is they who, through their publications, have given the greatest insight into the running of a traditional Alexandrian coven and built on the traditions base.

Maxine (left)

 

Janet and Stewart Farrar, with Gavin Bone (right)

 

 

 

It is, of course, very hard to say exactly what is the "Alexandrian Tradition" as each coven can vary considerably in the way it practises. For me, it is the fact that the coven would generally follow the rituals laid down in the Alexandrian "Shadows" which forms the skeleton of the tradition. An Alexandrian can then flesh this out with their experience and knowledge to round out the bare basics and of course this is why each group tends to work differently based on the leaders methods of working. Some covens focus on preserving the tradition intact without ommision or invention and focus on the written material in "Shadows", others tend to place more emphasis on growth, continuing to develop new material while preserving the old as well. Neither are wrong and it is this freedom to grow and develop or preserve which makes the Alexandrian tradition so varied in it's practises. In general though, the ritual framework is preserved.

In general, an Alexandrian coven is hierachical in structure, meets for Full Moons and Sabbats and focuses on training, initiation, self growth and self responsibility. They tend to work skyclad (naked) and practise the Great Rite (a ritual enacting the sexual union of the God and Goddess), though this may be done in token, that is to say symbolically. They also run Outer Courts for the purposes of training new members and are generally "open", in that they will allow non-initiates to attend festivals.

Alexandrians use basically the same Working Tools as Gardnerians and the rituals are very similar. The Book of Shadows is also very similar (which led to the saying "If Alex's granny initiated him, she was a Gardnerian") Over the years the line between the two traditions has become blurred and it is common nowadays to find covens that are neither one or the other and the term "British Traditional Wicca" has come to be used to refer to both traditions and distinguish them from other newer versions of Wicca that have sprung up in the last fifteen to twenty years.

Alex died on the 30th of April 1988, May Eve. Whatever his faults, the self styled "King Of the Witches" had made a great contribution to the growth of Wicca and his like will probably never rise again. The growth of Wicca in all it's myriad forms means that one person will never have the same impact on the growth of the tradition again. The same can be said of the passing of Stewart Farrar who was (with Janet) one of the most prolific and published writers in the Wiccan genre. Their kind will be always missed and too few can be said to be able to fill their shoes or surpass the contributions they have made to Wicca.