Alexandrian Wicca

Overview

The Alexandrian tradition was established in the 1960s by Alex Sanders and his wife Maxine Sanders. It uses substantially the Gardnerian ritual structure with additional material drawn from Qabalistic and Enochian ceremonial magic of the kind developed within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The two lines are closely related; members are frequently initiated into both, and joint Gardnerian-Alexandrian covens are common.

Like Gardnerian Wicca, the Alexandrian line works in autonomous covens of the three-degree pattern with lineaged initiation traceable to its founders.

Origins & history

Alex Sanders, originally a Mancunian, attracted significant press attention in 1960s England, including a 1969 documentary, Legend of the Witches, that introduced the figure of the “King of the Witches” to a broad public. His own claims to a family witchcraft initiation through his grandmother are not corroborated by independent evidence, and his early initiations are now generally understood to have been Gardnerian, conferred by way of a coven derived from Gardner’s.

The tradition spread quickly through the late 1960s and 70s, particularly in Britain, the Netherlands, and North America. Janet Owen and Stewart Farrar, both Sanders initiates, became influential authors of widely read introductory material in the 1980s, and the tradition has continued to develop through the international network of covens that descends from the Sanderses.

Beliefs & practices

Alexandrian working follows the same eight-Sabbat / lunar-esbat calendar as Gardnerian Wicca, the same duotheistic god-and-goddess framework, and the same three-degree initiatory structure. Differences are principally a matter of emphasis: greater use of ceremonial-magical material (Qabalistic correspondences, Enochian invocations, formal banishings drawn from the Golden Dawn), and a generally more elaborate liturgical style. Robes are more commonly worn rather than working skyclad, although this varies by coven.