Book: King Of The Witches The World Of Alex Sanders by June Johns
This Book is a cornerstone of Wiccan Literature. It is easy to read in biography form and explains a number of complex phenomena that were then taking place within wicca during the early generation of this past century. As it tells the story of his life, the book explores intricate balances of life and death, good and evil and of course the tender standing of wicca to the only just repealed laws forbidding the public practice of any sort of witch craft. It includes fascinating accounts of coven meetings and eary structure, sets the standard for known practise and is a must-read, along with Gerald Gardener's "Witchcraft Today". The emergance of hereditary witchcraft into mainstream society was institutionalised by the leadership of these men and their contribution of not only the newly unvieled shadows of craft, but also mystic lore of past ages and knowledge of ancient secrets and grimoires all has come to form what we recognise today as modern wicca.Alex Saunders was a fascinating man whose story, as told in this book, is one I have heard from a number of sources, so if it is not true, it is still the one he wished others to believe. Some of what was written in the Johns book was later confirmed in the books by the Farrars who were, as I understand it, students of his at one time. I often wonder at the disillusion which caused Alex to stop being the priest he was. Whatever he is viewed, as personally having been at the time the book was written and in his life before priesthood, he was a knowledgable "light in the darkness" in the times when the Craft was just beginning to be important again. This book is about those times. It does not comment or criticise his life. It is, rather, a reporter's view of it. For one in today's world to speak ill of the facts in this book simply serves as one's judgement of his personal life, not his life as a priest which, fortunately, June Johns has not seen fit to do. The purity of her approach sheds light on the times in which the events took place. Such judgement is based on life today, not life as it was in ancient times or even as it was in Alex's time.
The accounts of Alex's "black magick" exploits of which he would later feel guilty about and thus seek to redeem himself by performing purging rituals deemed from Christianized Ceremonial Magick tomes sounded to me a bit too contrived...possibly by the author who in her introduction tells us of her Angelican background. No TRUE Witch...especially a British Witch...back then would have such shortcomings since from the explanation of the "Black Magick" Alex was supposed to have practiced was to my years of knowledge of the Occult obviously "White" Ceremonial Magick not to mention that much of the supposed "Witch Laws" sounded phoney to me as well, having studied "Wica" many years ago as part of my Occult education.
Thus, I suggest one read this book soley for it's entertainment value as well as the novelty of a historic figure from Wiccan "History", but not to be taken as a serious book on the practice of Witchcraft!
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June Johns - King Of The Witches The World Of Alex Sanders
