Doreen Valiente
. (1922-1999)
. (1922-1999)
Reprinted with the gracious permission of Raymond Buckland from this book
"The Witch Book. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism.
"The Witch Book. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism.
Doreen Valiente was one of Gerald Gardner's High Priestesses. With him, she
coauthored what became known as the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, the book of
rituals used in that tradition of Wicca. Although that book is a gathering of material
from a wide variety of sources, much of it originated with Valiente. She was one of the
most influential people in the Wiccan revival.
Doreen Dominy was born in London, England, living in Horley, Surrey, in her early
years even though her family came from the New Forest area of Hampshire and from
Cerne Abbas, Dorset. She read extensively on Theosophy as well as the writings of
Aleister Crowley, her interest in matters occult growing rapidly. In 1944 she met and
married a wounded and recuperating refugee from the Spanish Civil War.
Valiente learned of the Folklore Center of Superstition and Witchcraft, opened in 1950
by Cecil Williamson at Castletown, on the Isle of Man, and entered into a
correspondence with Williamson. From him, Valiente learned of an existing Witchcraft
coven in New Forest, and she eventually became acquainted with Gerald Gardner, a
member of that coven. Gardner presented her with a copy of High Magic's Aid, his
novelized version of Wiccan practices. Valiente's husband was not interested in Wicca
but did not stand in her way. By 1953 Gardner had initiated Valiente into his own
coven, which was then separate from the original New Forest group.
Valiente studied Gardner's Book of Shadows, which was based on the one belonging
to the New Forest coven but heavily modified by Gardner. Valiente, with her
knowledge of occult literature, identified material attributable to Aleister Crowley,
Rudyard Kipling, Alexander Carmichael, Charles Godfrey Leland, and others that
Gardner had added to the text. She set about editing the book so that it was not so
obviously laced with outside material, contributing much original work herself, including
the universally admired Wiccan "Charge of the Goddess." This she wrote in verse, but
she also revamped the original prose version, which was largely written by Leland and
in part by Crowley. Valiente worked on the Gardnerian Book of Shadows from 1954 till
1957 before they were both satisfied with it. It has since become the mainstay of
modern Wicca.
By the end of 1957, Valiente left Gardner's coven and formed her own with a man
hamed Ned. From 1964 till 1966 she received a series of trance communications from
a spirit claming to be a Witch. He gave his name as Jack Brakespear and said that he
lived in Surrey in the early nineteenth century, where he had a coven. Later, in 1978,
Valiente incorporated some of this spirit material in her book, Witchcraft For
Tomorrow. In that book Valiente also criticized such people as Lady Sheba, the
self-proclaimed "Witch Queen of America," who published the Gardnerian Book of
Shadows under her own name, claiming it to be "words handed down by word of mouth
for generations." Several writers have claimed great antiquity for their particular
tradition while producing only a version of the Gardner-Valiente writings.
Valiente's husband died in 1972. For the later years of her life Valiente lived in
Brighton, Sussex, on the south coast of England. She became very much a recluse
until her death on September 1. 1999.
coauthored what became known as the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, the book of
rituals used in that tradition of Wicca. Although that book is a gathering of material
from a wide variety of sources, much of it originated with Valiente. She was one of the
most influential people in the Wiccan revival.
Doreen Dominy was born in London, England, living in Horley, Surrey, in her early
years even though her family came from the New Forest area of Hampshire and from
Cerne Abbas, Dorset. She read extensively on Theosophy as well as the writings of
Aleister Crowley, her interest in matters occult growing rapidly. In 1944 she met and
married a wounded and recuperating refugee from the Spanish Civil War.
Valiente learned of the Folklore Center of Superstition and Witchcraft, opened in 1950
by Cecil Williamson at Castletown, on the Isle of Man, and entered into a
correspondence with Williamson. From him, Valiente learned of an existing Witchcraft
coven in New Forest, and she eventually became acquainted with Gerald Gardner, a
member of that coven. Gardner presented her with a copy of High Magic's Aid, his
novelized version of Wiccan practices. Valiente's husband was not interested in Wicca
but did not stand in her way. By 1953 Gardner had initiated Valiente into his own
coven, which was then separate from the original New Forest group.
Valiente studied Gardner's Book of Shadows, which was based on the one belonging
to the New Forest coven but heavily modified by Gardner. Valiente, with her
knowledge of occult literature, identified material attributable to Aleister Crowley,
Rudyard Kipling, Alexander Carmichael, Charles Godfrey Leland, and others that
Gardner had added to the text. She set about editing the book so that it was not so
obviously laced with outside material, contributing much original work herself, including
the universally admired Wiccan "Charge of the Goddess." This she wrote in verse, but
she also revamped the original prose version, which was largely written by Leland and
in part by Crowley. Valiente worked on the Gardnerian Book of Shadows from 1954 till
1957 before they were both satisfied with it. It has since become the mainstay of
modern Wicca.
By the end of 1957, Valiente left Gardner's coven and formed her own with a man
hamed Ned. From 1964 till 1966 she received a series of trance communications from
a spirit claming to be a Witch. He gave his name as Jack Brakespear and said that he
lived in Surrey in the early nineteenth century, where he had a coven. Later, in 1978,
Valiente incorporated some of this spirit material in her book, Witchcraft For
Tomorrow. In that book Valiente also criticized such people as Lady Sheba, the
self-proclaimed "Witch Queen of America," who published the Gardnerian Book of
Shadows under her own name, claiming it to be "words handed down by word of mouth
for generations." Several writers have claimed great antiquity for their particular
tradition while producing only a version of the Gardner-Valiente writings.
Valiente's husband died in 1972. For the later years of her life Valiente lived in
Brighton, Sussex, on the south coast of England. She became very much a recluse
until her death on September 1. 1999.
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