Doreen Valiente 1922-1999

John Belham-Payne - Video

John Belham-Payne-

speaking on the passing of Doreen Valiente

Madge Worthington

We are sad to hear that Madge Worthington died on Sunday 6th November, three days short of her 92nd birthday. Madge was a founder member of the Pagan Federation and the founder of the Whitecroft line of Gardnerian Wicca.
Follow this link to a reprint of an article that appeared in Pagan Dawn 151 in honour of her 90th birthday.

www.doreenvaliente.com

We are proud to announce that we are in the process of uploading to the website http://doreenvaliente.com where you will be able to find Doreen Valiente Biography, Books by Doreen Valiente, Doreen Valiente news and links.

Doreen's Poetry

A question I ask many Wiccas is what first attracted them to the Craft? What got their attention? What gave them a feeling that they had come home? The majority have always told me it was the poem The Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente. The same was true for me back in 1993 shortly after I met my first Wiccan and they suggested some things for me to read. My first book was by Scott Cunningham called Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner which is a very common book you will hear people talk about. That book was nice but it left me wanting to know more like. It left me with questions like: What is the Witches Rune? What is it like to worship with other Witches? Is there more to Wicca than just what I’m reading in books? With Doreen’s writings Wicca gained the beat of a pulse and a breath. Doreen’s poems gave Wicca the essence of life itself! I’ve heard some call her the Mother of Modern day Witchcraft, and if ever there was a person that did give birth to the Craft of the Wise it would be Doreen Valiente. Have you ever read or heard a poem that brought you to tears because it spoke to your very core? If Doreen’s poems don’t awake something in you then maybe you should check your pulse and be sure you are alive, because her poems have passion, mystery, and hold the keys to the very Mysteries of the Craft itself.

The Pagan Federation

The Pagan Federation was founded in 1971 to provide information on Paganism and to counter misconceptions about the religion. The Pagan Federation works for the rights of Pagans to worship freely and without censure. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Britain is a signatory, states: 'Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.'
Doreen Valiente was a strong supporter of the Pagan Federation, and an honorary member, and gave her time freely to give talks at their annual conferences, in her last address to the National Conference of the Pagan Federation, held at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, London on the 22nd November 1997, she stated that:
"The initiates of the ancient pagan Mysteries were taught to say 'I am the child of earth and Starry Heaven and there is no part of me that is not of the Gods". If we in our own day believe this, then we will not only see it as true of ourselves, but of other people also. We will for instance cease to have silly bickering between covens, because they happen to do things differently from the way we do them. This incidentally is the reason why I eventually parted from Robert Cochrane, because he wanted to declare a sort of Holy War against the followers of Gerald Gardner, in the name of traditional witchcraft. This made no sense to me, because it seemed to me, and still does, that as witches, pagans or whatever we choose to call ourselves, the things which unite us are more important than the things which divide us".
We at the Centre for Pagan Studies adhere to this philosophy of Doreen's and as such completely support the Pagan Federation. For more infomation on how to join please go to http://www.paganfed.org/. Remember this is run by volunteers and is not for profit.