Ameth: The Life and Times of
Doreen Valiente
by Jonathan Tapsell
Coming soon from Avalonia…
Pre-order* your copy now!
Paperback, 130pp, £12.99 with FREE
P&P (worldwide)
Release date: Beltane, May
2014
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 post-1951 British Witchcraft, following the repeal of the
Witchcraft Act, the author explores Doreen’s magical journey- including her
initiation and relationship with Gerald Gardner. The reader is 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 reinforced her position as one of the most significant and
influential priestesses of the twentieth century. Her research to find Dorothy
Clutterbuck (Dafo) may have saved the credibility of modern Witchcraft, and
took her towards what was arguably the height of her achievements, her
contribution to the foundations of the rapidly growing religion of 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.
Extract
…
“At this rite Gardner and Dafo
gave their new initiate a secret Witch-name known only to those within the
Craft. Doreen was from then on to be known as – Ameth. Gardner
“As the ceremony progressed the
newly initiated Witch, Doreen, would have been anointed, given wine from a
chalice, gently scourged for purification and eventually untied and the
blindfold taken away. At its conclusion
she would have been presented with an athame (a witch’s knife), a wand to invoke
spirits, a white handled knife, a scourge and a censor for incense. Another
magical artefact, belonging to the Witch, was the cords used to bind her during
the ceremony. One cord measured nine feet long and was to be used to make
magical circles and another cord was used for spells. She was now a member of
the coven and only another two degrees stood between her and the title of High
Priestess in the art magical…”
About
the Author:
Jonathan Tapsell was born in 1964
in Sussex Asia , educational documentaries for
the House of Lords, organising festivals and writing in numerous magazines. As
an author he has written several books including one which is considered a
minor gonzo classic.
Original Cover Illustration by
Rowan Wulfe
* All pre-ordered copies will be
dispatched on or before the release date, or as soon as the book becomes
available.
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