'"High priest" denies witch wedding story', Manchester Evening News, 6 December 1965

Manchester Evening News, Monday 6 December 1965, page 9. The day after The People broke the story of the witches' wedding, Alex Sanders, 39, told the paper at his flat in Egerton Road North, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, that he was not marrying Maxine Morris that Wednesday. They had agreed before her mother's death a fortnight earlier to wait until Maxine was 21; the ceremony planned for Wednesday was an initiation. He denied the silken cord and the mixing of blood, but agreed the couple would jump over a broomstick and through the flames of a cauldron when the handfasting did take place. The wedding went ahead the next day, 7 December, and was reported around the world. The archive holds The People's report of 5 December, The Sun's of 8 December, and the Daily Express, Indianapolis News, Stockton Record and Sydney Morning Herald reports of 8 and 10 December. How to cite: '"High priest" denies witch wedding story', Manchester Evening News, 6 December 1965, p. 9. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

‘High priest’ denies witch wedding story By a staff reporter ALEX SANDERS, the 39-year-old “high priest” of a witch cult, today denied reports that he is to marry 18-year-old Maxine Morris, his “witch queen” on Wednesday. At his flat in Egerton Road North, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, Mr Sanders said they agreed before Maxine’s mother’s death only a fortnight ago that they would wait until Maxine was 21 before getting married. He also denied the report in a newspaper that the wedding ceremony would include having their hands fastened together with a silken cord or that their arms would be cut and the blood mixed. He said: “there has been an absolute mix-up over this. There is an initiation ceremony for a 25-year-old man on Wednesday, but certainly no wedding. “Maxine and I did plan to marry on September 18 this year at a register office but at the last moment, Maxine’s mother withdrew her consent. 100 WITCHES “We agreed then, to wait until Maxine is 21 and we have not changed those plans since her mother’s death,” said Mr Sanders, who claims to be the head of more than 100 witches in the Manchester area. Maxine, a slim blonde who will be 19 on December 30, would have to obtain the permission of one of two trustees if she wished to marry before she is 21, he said. Of the actual ceremony - called a “hand fasting ceremony” - Mr Sanders added: “All it entails is making Maxine a common law wife in front of two witnesses. “She would not wear a white wedding dress as the newspaper story said. We should both be quite naked and afterwards we should share a wedding feast with other members of the coven.” But he did agree that during the witchcraft wedding ceremony, the couple would jump over a broomstick and through the flames from a blazing cauldron.