Spit on your dish or The Farrar’s big mistake
One of the things that bothers me on people all over the Craft is their easiness to put behind their backs what once putted them on the track of Witchcraft.
” Oh no, I had move on , I’m not “so and so” Tradition anymore. Now I’m “So and so”.
This is ok. It’s sometimes a sign that you are searching for another way to express/progress in your spirituality. Other times it’s a sign of something else that we are not discussing here – pure snob-ism.
The thing is that I thought, as many people did, that the Farras (Janet and Stewart) were in fact the emissaries of the Alexandrian Wicca and that their book “Witches Bible” were all Alexandrian.
I was wrong! So wrong.
To begin with, Janet and Stewart Farrar were initiated by Alex and Maxine Sanders in 1970 in London. Later Janet was introduced to Eleanour (Rae) Bone, one of Gerald Gardners High Priestess’, who had offered both of them (Janet and Stewart) initiation. I supposed that “had offered both of them (Janet and Stewart) initiation” means that they were in fact initiated into this tradition later on right?
On their site we can read the following:
“Janet and Stewart were initiated to Second Degree by Alex and Maxine ‘in an unoccupied house in Sydenham’ (from coven records). There were 14 witnesses. This took place on the 17th October 1970 . They received Third Degree by Alex and Maxine in on the 24th April 1971 in their flat. There were two other witnesses present (Don and Barbara). Janet and Stewart had already hived off to form their own coven in Leyton, East London, with Alex’s Coven BOS and other ‘books’ .”
” In 1976 they moved to Ireland and set up their first coven. After researching Eight Sabbats for Witches they stopped working Wicca in an Alexandrian fashion and developed their own style of Wicca (they also at this point stopped referring to themselves as ‘Alexandrian’).
The Rites of Handfasting, Wiccaning and Requiem as found in our books were ALL created by Janet and Stewart after leaving the Sanders’ Coven.”
To me this is very clear. They started Alexandrian and then “took off” to another path, since they were always very into discover and explore other lines of Witchcraft. That’s perfectly ok, once you think of Witches that begun in a path and for any reason that only concern themselves, follow or progress into other ways of attaining what they desire, being that whatever it will be.
What I really don’t understand is their unclear and sinuous way to call names on Alex Sanders or to blame Alex in a unclear way on their works and specially “The Witches Bible”. Not clear? Well let me explain it to you.
In “The Witches Bible” of Phoenix Publishing Inc. we can read on page 30:
” Referring again to What Witches Do, there is one apology Stewart would like to make. When he wrote it, as a first-year witch, he included material which he then understood to be either traditional or originating from his teachers. He now know that much of it was in fact written for Gradner by Doreen Valiente.”
and worse than that on the same page we read:
“To plead ‘safeguarding the Mysteries’ as an excuse for falsifying history and concealing plagiarism is wrong, and disservice both to the Mysteries themselves and to those whom you teach. That includes, for example, claiming to have copied the Book of Shadows from your grandmother many years before it was in fact compiled, or dictating other teaches’ work to trusting students as your own.”
It clear that Stewart “teachers” were in fact Alex and Maxine Sanders. They say “much of it” was written for Gardner by Doreen Valiente – to me it doesn’t include the hole of the Book of Shadows but some poems and the Charge. What they don’t say is that much of the material refered as “their own” in the Witches Bible was in fact Alex work witch they don’t really accredited to him, not even on the Acknowledgements.
I only know one person who did said that copied the Book of Shadows from him grandmother and that’s Alex Sanders. I wonder why they simply didn’t simply said Alex name instead of putting that ironic tone on the writing…
This is clearly spitting on the dish that brought you food to eat, i.e denying Alex work and integrity, when they themselves don’t have any! Shame on you Janet!
Well, at least they had the decency not to call themselves Alexandrian.
Mrs Farrar, at least you could had been more polite and had some respect for those who brought her into the Craft!
- That’s a very serious mistake for one that claim herself to be a Priestess of the Goddess, hey Janet?
