Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed

by Doreen Valiente, Evan John Jones

Revealing the secrets of ancient rituals and the philosophy of witchcraft, this book delves deep into modern witchcraft. The nature of the rites are shown to revolve around traditional witchcraft passed down from ancient times.'

Genres: Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, Spirituality, Religion

203 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 1990

About the author

Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerian Wicca, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho. Responsible for writing much of the early Gardnerian religious liturgy, in later years she also helped to play a big part in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to wider public attention through the publication of a string of books on the subject.
Having been born in south London, she first became involved in the Craft after being initiated into the Gardnerian tradition in 1953 in a ceremony performed by Gerald Gardner.
Subsequently becoming the High Priestess of his Bricket Wood coven, she helped him to produce many important scriptural texts for Wicca, such as “The Witches Rune” and the “Charge of the Goddess”, which were incorporated into the early Gardnerian Book of Shadows.
Splitting off to form her own coven in 1957, she went on to work with Robert Cochrane in his coven, the Clan of Tubal Cain, till the mid 1960s when she began working as a solitary practitioner. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s she penned a number of books on the subject of Wicca - which she always called "witchcraft" – including “An ABC of Witchcraft” (1973) and “Witchcraft for Tomorrow” (1978), as well as being an early proponent of self-initiation into the Craft.
Having had a significant influence in the history of Wicca, she has been referred to as "the mother of modern Witchcraft" and is today is widely revered in the Wiccan and wider Neopagan community.

Reviews

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doreen Valiente is a pioneer when it comes to Witchcraft. She got started with Gerald Gardener and Wicca and then moved on to join up with Robert Cochrane and the Clan of Tubal Caine. This book, however is not authored by Doreen Valiente but rather it is authored Evan John Jones. Valiente wrote the forward. Evan John Jones wrote a book about the Clan of Tubal Caine Witchcraft and made the teaching of Robert Cochrane available to the masses. Some Witches may decree this openness but he sees it as being the right time to reveal information so others can approach the Goddess and the Old Gods. It must be noted that not everything is revealed. Several things are held back as the reserve for the intitiate.

Old Witch Craft or Tubal Caine is not the light airy Wicca that everyone is used to. This is primal stuff with none of the modern unpleasantness edited out. No there is no human or animal sacrifice involved although that was a motif in the old days. And speaking of old day. The author straight up informs the reader that what he is practicing is not the old witchcraft unaltered for centuries. Witchcraft has indeed evolved it has had to. Much has been lost due to persecutions and being forced to stay hidden. Religions also have to evolve. What is practiced is based on the old ways.

What is presented in the book will give anyone without access to a coven the ability to start practicing and enough knowledge to start their own working group or coven. After giving a philosophical over view of the craft the coven positions. They are as follows the lady, North, South, East, West, the man in black, the summoner and the hierarchy of membership . Within the Clan of Tubal Caine there are several oaths. There is the initiation oath upon entering the coven and then after a year and a day the initiate takes the full oath. Officers take oaths as does the lady. The Lady is the leader of the coven and of the clan. The clan consists of many covens. He time in office lasts for seven years.

Regalia for both the individual and coven are discussed in the book as well as how to cleanse and consecrate them. The working tool for the individual are the knife, cord, and stang. For the coven they are the coven knife,cup, stangs,besom, cauldron and skull. There are even directions on how to prepare the stangs for ritual use. At the final chapter the method of circle construction is explained as well. The four great Sabbats Candlemas (February) , May Eve (April 30th), Lammas (August 1) and Halloween ( October 31)

If there is a great short book in getting started in the Ancient Craft then this is the one.Excellent read go and get it.

[Christopher Orapello · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, don't be enticed by Doreen Valiente's name appearing on the title as she only wrote the introduction. The book itself was written by Evan John Jones and Valiente had nothing to do with it.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings on this text, but found it extremely disappointing to the point where I skipped through most of it for a variety of reasons. I found that certain parts were either very rambly, irrelevant to my current practice, or full of 'Murrayisms' which bothered me greatly. However, despite my feelings, I could see some people getting something of value from this book because it presents a different approach to modern religious witchcraft, however the majority of the material did not resonate with me. Jones does offer a complete coven based system in this text which was inspired by his experiences with Robert Cochrane and because of that, this book has some objective value, but my mixed feelings for this book still stand. The addition of directional officer roles in the coven hierarchy is something to consider, as this emphasizes the 'magical lodge' aspect of what a modern coven actually is, but is rarely ever stated. Regardless of some of my concerns, I still may crack this text open once in a while as a contrast source for certain elements that it contains, but I don't see it offering any direct influence on my practice.

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not her best. Not sure but it fails to capture me.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as interesting as Doreen Valiente's other books. Still recommended.