'Meaning of witchcraft', letter from Arnold Crowther, Wolverhampton Express and Star, 14 September 1967

Wolverhampton Express and Star, Thursday 14 September 1967, page 7. A letter to the editor from Arnold Crowther of City Road, Sheffield, answering the paper's article 'Devil worship warning' of 30 August. He says its author, a Mr MacCarthy, cannot be an authority on witchcraft if he does not know the dates of the sabbats; that the dates given are Christian ones; that the old religion predates the Church's Satan and, being a fertility religion, has no interest in taking life. He recommends Gerald Gardner's The Meaning of Witchcraft and his own book, The Witches Speak. Four days later the paper printed a hostile reply signed Vulcan, the name used by Robert Turner, which is also in the archive as 'Which are witches?'. How to cite: Arnold Crowther, 'Meaning of witchcraft', letter, Wolverhampton Express and Star, 14 September 1967, p. 7. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

Meaning of witchcraft IN THE article “Devil worship warning” (Express and Star, August 30), Mr. MacCarthy claims to be an authority on witchcraft, yet he has no idea of the dates of the sabbaths, which would be the first thing an authority would know. The dates he mentions are purely Christian ones and have nothing to do with witches. Neither would they know anything about the devil, as their religion existed centuries before the Church invented Satan. Also most of the church festivals were purely Christianised pagan festivals. The old religion was a fertility one and its followers would have no interest in taking life. I suggest our expert should read “The Meaning of Witchcraft,” by Gerald Gardner, or my own book, “The Witches Speak.” He would then learn what witchcraft really is. A. CROWTHER, 397, City-road, Sheffield 2.