Dawa Lhamo
May 6th, 2008, 09:00 PM
We're just a few days past the twentieth anniversary of the death of the "King of the Witches", Alex Sanders, so it's sort of an appropriate time to talk about his life. ^_^
Vivianne Crowley writes in her memorial found here (http://www.cog.org/wicca/trads/alex2.html):
A great deal has been said and written about Alex. He had many faults and many objected to his semi-tongue-in-cheek title of 'King of the Witches', but he was a wonderful kind and loving person, a powerful magician and a true and devoted priest of the Goddess.
The Wiccan world owes him a great deal. His flurry of activity in the 1960s took up where Gerald Gardner left off and aroused interest in Wicca in new generations. Many talented people were attracted by his blend of Wicca and high magick and his energy current was a galvanizing force.
_____________________________
First of all, here are some links to biographical information and commentary on his life:
http://www.controverscial.com/Alex%20Sanders.htm
Without doubt Alex Sanders was a controversial and flamboyant man, who without scruples plagiarized the work of others to embellish he own. Whither he did so with malice, remains a question? Personally I don’t think so. More I assume through innocuous indifference, and mainly for the benefit of his students, even though it resulted in criticism from many in the craft. He was also without doubt a very skilled witch, and powerful magician, whose contribution to the newly evolving movement, brought witchcraft back into the public arena and changed the face of Wicca. He helped to influence many newcomers entering the craft and Alexandrian Wicca remains today one of the largest traditions of the craft.
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/s/sanders_alexander.html
The projection of Sanders into the national public spotlight resulted from a sensational newspaper article in 1969 which led to a romanticized biography , King of the Witches, by June Johns in 1969, and the film, Legend of the Witches. All of which led to much media publicity, guest appearances on talk-shows, and public speaking engagements. It seemed to other Witches that Sanders enjoyed all of this too much to where it was exploitation, and he drug the Craft through a gutter press....
It seems that Sanders’ flamboyance irritated many people and seemed to be a cause for him to receive much criticism. Whether this was justly earned or not is had to say. There are even questions about whether Sanders was even initiated by his grandmother or copied her book of shadows at the age of nine. To the objective and scholarly observer such questions seem frivolous. What is known is that the Alexandrian tradition does exist in modern Witchcraft. There were enough believers of what Sanders taught to make this possible.
Wikipedia article on Alex Sanders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Sanders_(Wiccan))
RECALLING ALEX SANDERS by Jack Pleasant (http://www.peacockangel.net/sanders.htm)
____________________________
There's a few online videos from old documentaries (love the old soundtracks) featuring Alex here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5n7DVxMg97A&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tQqZndWpIis&feature=related
Books which have information about/discuss Alex:
* King of the Witches (http://www.amazon.com/King-witches-world-Alex-Sanders/dp/0432076751/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in) (June Johns)
* Maxine the Witch Queen (Maxine Sanders)
* What Witches Do (http://www.amazon.com/What-Witches-Do-Stewart-Farrar/dp/0709045565/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210120558&sr=1-1) (Stewart Farrar)
* The Rebirth of Witchcraft (http://www.amazon.com/Rebirth-Witchcraft-Doreen-Valiente/dp/0709083696/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210121114&sr=1-3) (Doreen Valiente)
* Triumph of the Moon (http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Moon-History-Modern-Witchcraft/dp/0192854496/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in?ie=UTF8&qid=1210119547&sr=8-2) (Ronald Hutton)
As well as his own words:
The Alex Sanders Lectures (http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Sanders-Lectures-Saunders/dp/0939708051/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210119547&sr=8-3)
and
Alex Sanders- A Witch is Born Ritual on CD (http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Sanders-Witch-Born-Ritual/dp/B000VLVC3W/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1210119547&sr=8-2)
And not "historical" but nonetheless interesting:
A Voice in the Forest: Spirit Conversations with Alex Sanders, (http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Forest-Spirit-Conversations-Sanders/dp/0974174009/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in) where the author and his companions claim that via a talking board and automatic writings they have successfully channeled Alex Sanders between the years of 1998 and 2003.
Also, though this thread is *intended* to be about Alex himself, for some context, here is the Witchvox article on the Alexandrian Wicca (http://web.archive.org/web/20050401235317/http://www.witchvox.com/trads/trad_alexandrian.html), recovered via the Wayback Machine.
Vivianne Crowley writes in her memorial found here (http://www.cog.org/wicca/trads/alex2.html):
A great deal has been said and written about Alex. He had many faults and many objected to his semi-tongue-in-cheek title of 'King of the Witches', but he was a wonderful kind and loving person, a powerful magician and a true and devoted priest of the Goddess.
The Wiccan world owes him a great deal. His flurry of activity in the 1960s took up where Gerald Gardner left off and aroused interest in Wicca in new generations. Many talented people were attracted by his blend of Wicca and high magick and his energy current was a galvanizing force.
_____________________________
First of all, here are some links to biographical information and commentary on his life:
http://www.controverscial.com/Alex%20Sanders.htm
Without doubt Alex Sanders was a controversial and flamboyant man, who without scruples plagiarized the work of others to embellish he own. Whither he did so with malice, remains a question? Personally I don’t think so. More I assume through innocuous indifference, and mainly for the benefit of his students, even though it resulted in criticism from many in the craft. He was also without doubt a very skilled witch, and powerful magician, whose contribution to the newly evolving movement, brought witchcraft back into the public arena and changed the face of Wicca. He helped to influence many newcomers entering the craft and Alexandrian Wicca remains today one of the largest traditions of the craft.
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/s/sanders_alexander.html
The projection of Sanders into the national public spotlight resulted from a sensational newspaper article in 1969 which led to a romanticized biography , King of the Witches, by June Johns in 1969, and the film, Legend of the Witches. All of which led to much media publicity, guest appearances on talk-shows, and public speaking engagements. It seemed to other Witches that Sanders enjoyed all of this too much to where it was exploitation, and he drug the Craft through a gutter press....
It seems that Sanders’ flamboyance irritated many people and seemed to be a cause for him to receive much criticism. Whether this was justly earned or not is had to say. There are even questions about whether Sanders was even initiated by his grandmother or copied her book of shadows at the age of nine. To the objective and scholarly observer such questions seem frivolous. What is known is that the Alexandrian tradition does exist in modern Witchcraft. There were enough believers of what Sanders taught to make this possible.
Wikipedia article on Alex Sanders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Sanders_(Wiccan))
RECALLING ALEX SANDERS by Jack Pleasant (http://www.peacockangel.net/sanders.htm)
____________________________
There's a few online videos from old documentaries (love the old soundtracks) featuring Alex here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5n7DVxMg97A&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tQqZndWpIis&feature=related
Books which have information about/discuss Alex:
* King of the Witches (http://www.amazon.com/King-witches-world-Alex-Sanders/dp/0432076751/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in) (June Johns)
* Maxine the Witch Queen (Maxine Sanders)
* What Witches Do (http://www.amazon.com/What-Witches-Do-Stewart-Farrar/dp/0709045565/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210120558&sr=1-1) (Stewart Farrar)
* The Rebirth of Witchcraft (http://www.amazon.com/Rebirth-Witchcraft-Doreen-Valiente/dp/0709083696/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210121114&sr=1-3) (Doreen Valiente)
* Triumph of the Moon (http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Moon-History-Modern-Witchcraft/dp/0192854496/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in?ie=UTF8&qid=1210119547&sr=8-2) (Ronald Hutton)
As well as his own words:
The Alex Sanders Lectures (http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Sanders-Lectures-Saunders/dp/0939708051/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210119547&sr=8-3)
and
Alex Sanders- A Witch is Born Ritual on CD (http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Sanders-Witch-Born-Ritual/dp/B000VLVC3W/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1210119547&sr=8-2)
And not "historical" but nonetheless interesting:
A Voice in the Forest: Spirit Conversations with Alex Sanders, (http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Forest-Spirit-Conversations-Sanders/dp/0974174009/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in) where the author and his companions claim that via a talking board and automatic writings they have successfully channeled Alex Sanders between the years of 1998 and 2003.
Also, though this thread is *intended* to be about Alex himself, for some context, here is the Witchvox article on the Alexandrian Wicca (http://web.archive.org/web/20050401235317/http://www.witchvox.com/trads/trad_alexandrian.html), recovered via the Wayback Machine.