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Ameth: The Life & Times of Doreen Valiente
Ameth is the first definitive biography of Doreen Valiente (1922-1999), an English Witch who became known as 'the Mother of Modern Witchcraft'. Based on the author's work collating her artefacts, interviewing people who knew her, reading and researching numerous personal magical documents and correspondence bequeathed by Doreen, this book gives unparalleled insight into her magical life. Evocatively recreating the atmosphere of British Witchcraft post-1951 after the repeal of the Witchcraft Act of 1735, the author explores Doreen's magical journey, including her initiation and relationship with Gerald Gardner. We are guided on a journey from the 1950's through to the early 1970's as she worked and interacted with Charles Cardell and the Coven of Atho, Robert Cochrane and the Clan of Tubal Cain, as well as the Regency coven. Ameth chronicles the whole of Doreen Valiente's colourful and varied life. It emphasises her fight to establish Pagan rights, and her subsequent role as one of the leading spokespersons for the pagan revival from the 1960s until her death in 1999. Through her own published books and her contribution to the work of Janet and Stewart Farrar, she has reinforced her position as one of the most significant and influential priestesses of the twentieth century. Her research to find Dorothy Clutterbuck may have saved the credibility of traditional Witchcraft, and took her to what was arguably the height of her achievements helping to shape the world's fastest growing religion - Wicca. As an author, priestess, researcher and pagan spokeswoman, Doreen Valiente occupied a unique position in leading the resurgence of magic, perhaps best exemplified by her creation of the Wiccan Rede - "an it harm none, do what ye will". Possessed of a fiery spirit and willingness to challenge dogma in her search for truth (the meaning of Ameth, her witch name), Doreen's tireless quest serves as an example of the power of the human spirit to accomplish transformation on a major scale. "Within Doreen's teachings, one feels she is conveying a message to all, of a gateway to the Goddess and personal enlightenment " - Jonathan Tapsell
- GenresPaganism
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
7 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 1, 2021
Anyone who knows me is aware that I have a very big love and admiration for Doreen Valiente. She's one of my role models and I hope to help the pagan and witchcraft communities at least a little bit of an amount to what she did. She's an amazing, powerful, inspiring and dedicated Witch that I truly admired.
I've read Doreen Valiente Witch and also The Rebirth of Witchcraft so much of the info in this book it was already known to me but I loved reading it nonetheless because I gave me more perspective, added some info to several situations and served to remember how much I admire Doreen and her work.
I highly recommend this book, and the other two I spoke of above, to anyone interested in Wicca or in Modern Witchcraft. Doreen Valiente is a very important person to our movements and we need to remember her work and help keep it alive and not let the memory of Doreen die! :)
I've read Doreen Valiente Witch and also The Rebirth of Witchcraft so much of the info in this book it was already known to me but I loved reading it nonetheless because I gave me more perspective, added some info to several situations and served to remember how much I admire Doreen and her work.
I highly recommend this book, and the other two I spoke of above, to anyone interested in Wicca or in Modern Witchcraft. Doreen Valiente is a very important person to our movements and we need to remember her work and help keep it alive and not let the memory of Doreen die! :)
October 18, 2014
“Ameth: the Life and Times of Doreen Valiente”
Jonathan Tapsell, Avalonia Books, 2013 – 127 pages
£12.99/US $14.99 (Amazon, $4.99)
When I heard that the long-anticipated biography of Doreen Valiente had at last come out, I could hardly wait to buy it. I was expecting it to be wonderful, as the author, JonathanTapsell, is the curator of Doreen’s papers for the Centre for Pagan Studies in the U K.
Wow, was I disappointed. Where were the previously-unknown details of Doreen’s life? Where were the insights into her inner self? After all, she kept diaries and Tapsell has unlimited access to it all. While he fleshes out a number incidents we already knew about, there’s little here that Doreen – or her contemporaries – has not mentioned before.
What there is, is a lot of fan-boy adulation of Doreen and furiously empurpled prose aimed at those Tapsell felt had wronged her. His characterization of the infamous Charles Cardell, for instance, crosses over from indignant into unintentioned hilarity with its strings of over-the-top invective. He sneers at Gardner in subtle and not-so-subtle ways throughout, buying into the ‘Gardner plagiarized it all’ myth in an attempt to bolster Doreen’s reputation as the ‘real’ author of the modern Craft. Still, Doreen respected the Old Man, as Tapsell is forced again and again to report. It obviously galls him.
I was surprised to learn that Tapsell is the author of other books, as I found his writing pompous and hackneyed, relying in almost every sentence on clichés and ‘official-speak’ to try and convey his point. It’s full of typos, wrong homonyms and truly awful punctuation – I don’t think it was ever proofread. It also seems like he wrote different sections at different times without checking his previous work to see if he’d already explained something; it reads almost as if it had originally been intended to be serialized in a magazine.
Through most of the book, his narration of Doreen’s life, despite (or maybe because of) his hushed-voiced reverence, seems curiously flat and lifeless. He fails to flesh out information about Doreen we’d have loved to know, yet includes unimportant details like the name of the school-yard bully who picked on Charles Cardell in his youth (Bulstrode, actually.) It’s not until her last few years that the narrative suddenly gains life and warmth and anything like personal detail. All his writing faults remain, but here he sparkles despite them.
I suspect this may be the only biography of Doreen Valiente ever published, due to the tight control the Centre for Pagan Studies maintains over the source material. So if you want to learn a bit more about the woman who just may have single-handedly saved the Craft, here’s your chance. Just don’t expect it to be a great read.
Jonathan Tapsell, Avalonia Books, 2013 – 127 pages
£12.99/US $14.99 (Amazon, $4.99)
When I heard that the long-anticipated biography of Doreen Valiente had at last come out, I could hardly wait to buy it. I was expecting it to be wonderful, as the author, JonathanTapsell, is the curator of Doreen’s papers for the Centre for Pagan Studies in the U K.
Wow, was I disappointed. Where were the previously-unknown details of Doreen’s life? Where were the insights into her inner self? After all, she kept diaries and Tapsell has unlimited access to it all. While he fleshes out a number incidents we already knew about, there’s little here that Doreen – or her contemporaries – has not mentioned before.
What there is, is a lot of fan-boy adulation of Doreen and furiously empurpled prose aimed at those Tapsell felt had wronged her. His characterization of the infamous Charles Cardell, for instance, crosses over from indignant into unintentioned hilarity with its strings of over-the-top invective. He sneers at Gardner in subtle and not-so-subtle ways throughout, buying into the ‘Gardner plagiarized it all’ myth in an attempt to bolster Doreen’s reputation as the ‘real’ author of the modern Craft. Still, Doreen respected the Old Man, as Tapsell is forced again and again to report. It obviously galls him.
I was surprised to learn that Tapsell is the author of other books, as I found his writing pompous and hackneyed, relying in almost every sentence on clichés and ‘official-speak’ to try and convey his point. It’s full of typos, wrong homonyms and truly awful punctuation – I don’t think it was ever proofread. It also seems like he wrote different sections at different times without checking his previous work to see if he’d already explained something; it reads almost as if it had originally been intended to be serialized in a magazine.
Through most of the book, his narration of Doreen’s life, despite (or maybe because of) his hushed-voiced reverence, seems curiously flat and lifeless. He fails to flesh out information about Doreen we’d have loved to know, yet includes unimportant details like the name of the school-yard bully who picked on Charles Cardell in his youth (Bulstrode, actually.) It’s not until her last few years that the narrative suddenly gains life and warmth and anything like personal detail. All his writing faults remain, but here he sparkles despite them.
I suspect this may be the only biography of Doreen Valiente ever published, due to the tight control the Centre for Pagan Studies maintains over the source material. So if you want to learn a bit more about the woman who just may have single-handedly saved the Craft, here’s your chance. Just don’t expect it to be a great read.
February 8, 2015
Ameth
Most of the Pagan world knows her as Doreen Valiente. Mother of Modern Paganism and Midwife to modern Wicca. Born in the south English town of Surrey to Edward Dominy, a civil engineer , her birth name was Doreen Dominy. Raised in a strict catholic background Doreen began having magical experiences as young as 12 or thirteen. One of her first spells involved protecting her mother from a co worker ago was constantly harassing her. The black crow would follow the employee around until she finally quit her job. Doreen would also ride around the street on a broomstick and have mystical experiences while staring at the moon. This disturbed her parents to no end so they enrolled her in a catholic school. Doreen left as soon as she could.
While in her young adulthood Doreen was constantly interested in the occult and studied heavily the Golden Dawn. So Inteense was her interest that she was able to get her hands on rare Golden Dawn books and pamphlets that only initiates had access to. She was known to haunt used bookstores to hunt down rare tomes.
The second worl war changed life for Europeans in general. It was during the second world war that she met and lost her first husband. His body was never found. It was also the world war that the witches were called upon to perform magic to stop Hitler's aggression . Also involved was Gerald Gardrner and Cecil Williamson.
After the world war Doreen would eventually become involved with Gerald Gardner and become initiated in his coven. She would later part ways with him over his excessive publicity stunts and reckless behavior. While Gerald's book of shadows had lots of Crowley material and other borrowings. Doreen would totally rewrite it.
After parting ways with Gardner she would work with Robert Cochrane for a bit. Yet his talk about a nightbof long knives against Gardner and use of psychadelic, Doreen would part wYs with him also. She then joined the coven of atho but then soon moved on.
After 1964 when her second husband died is when she really came into her own and began publishing her books. She was also known as the witch queen. It was during this time that she wished to push Wicca forward . She was against the degree system, felt a witch did not need to be initiated as the power came from within. She also advocated gay rights and felt gays could be strong ptactiiners of magic. She passd away in 1997 of diabetes and pancreatic cancer
Most of the Pagan world knows her as Doreen Valiente. Mother of Modern Paganism and Midwife to modern Wicca. Born in the south English town of Surrey to Edward Dominy, a civil engineer , her birth name was Doreen Dominy. Raised in a strict catholic background Doreen began having magical experiences as young as 12 or thirteen. One of her first spells involved protecting her mother from a co worker ago was constantly harassing her. The black crow would follow the employee around until she finally quit her job. Doreen would also ride around the street on a broomstick and have mystical experiences while staring at the moon. This disturbed her parents to no end so they enrolled her in a catholic school. Doreen left as soon as she could.
While in her young adulthood Doreen was constantly interested in the occult and studied heavily the Golden Dawn. So Inteense was her interest that she was able to get her hands on rare Golden Dawn books and pamphlets that only initiates had access to. She was known to haunt used bookstores to hunt down rare tomes.
The second worl war changed life for Europeans in general. It was during the second world war that she met and lost her first husband. His body was never found. It was also the world war that the witches were called upon to perform magic to stop Hitler's aggression . Also involved was Gerald Gardrner and Cecil Williamson.
After the world war Doreen would eventually become involved with Gerald Gardner and become initiated in his coven. She would later part ways with him over his excessive publicity stunts and reckless behavior. While Gerald's book of shadows had lots of Crowley material and other borrowings. Doreen would totally rewrite it.
After parting ways with Gardner she would work with Robert Cochrane for a bit. Yet his talk about a nightbof long knives against Gardner and use of psychadelic, Doreen would part wYs with him also. She then joined the coven of atho but then soon moved on.
After 1964 when her second husband died is when she really came into her own and began publishing her books. She was also known as the witch queen. It was during this time that she wished to push Wicca forward . She was against the degree system, felt a witch did not need to be initiated as the power came from within. She also advocated gay rights and felt gays could be strong ptactiiners of magic. She passd away in 1997 of diabetes and pancreatic cancer
June 2, 2015
Great Read
I learned a great deal from my reading of Ameth. Doreen's quest for truth, both public and private has, and will continue to serve as an example of how humility, kindness, and gentleness are the true paths of power.
I learned a great deal from my reading of Ameth. Doreen's quest for truth, both public and private has, and will continue to serve as an example of how humility, kindness, and gentleness are the true paths of power.
December 24, 2014
brilliant insight into this remarkable woman.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews