Alexandrian Wicca or Alexandrian Witchcraft 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 recognised traditions.

Origins and history

The tradition is based largely upon Gardnerian Wicca, in which Sanders was trained and initiated, and also contains elements of ceremonial magic and Qabalah, which Sanders had studied independently.

Maxine Sanders recalls that the name was chosen when Stewart Farrar, a student of Alex 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". The most recent edition of What Witches Do (2010) includes previously published interviews between Sanders and Farrar.

Alexandrian Wicca is practised outside of Britain, including Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, the United States, Brazil and South Africa.

Practices

Alexandrian Wicca, in similarity with other traditional Wiccan practices, emphasises 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. The process through which an individual is made a witch is called "initiation". 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".

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. Author Vivianne Crowley often trains her students in both traditions. 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. 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.

See also

  • Great Rite
  • Neopaganism
  • Alex Sanders
  • Maxine Sanders

References

<!-- ==External links==

Author no longer has an active account, and article is no longer available. -->

----