'That was the witch that was', Wolverhampton Express and Star, 18 February 1963

Wolverhampton Express and Star, Monday 18 February 1963, page 13. Reporter Mark Kersen meets a young man who walks into the paper's office calling himself Vulcan and saying he is a witch. Vulcan was the name used by Robert Turner. He says he is 20, does not work, and belongs to a coven of nine that has just fought 'an occult battle with the black magician in the circle'. He will not give his real name or say where the coven meets, but shows a copper band on his left wrist inscribed VULCAN, marking him Keeper of the Thunderbolt and Blacksmith of the Gods, and describes a temple in his home. The report is printed with a drawing of the disc he carries, the pentacle he says binds him to secrecy. 'We worship the horned God which represents fertility but it is nothing to do with the Devil.' The paper followed up six weeks later, when Kersen took Vulcan to a lecture on witchcraft. That report, 'My pal Vulcan the witch', is also in the archive. How to cite: Mark Kersen, 'That was the witch that was', Wolverhampton Express and Star, 18 February 1963, p. 13. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

THAT WAS THE WITCH THAT WAS By Mark Kersen VULCAN, he said his name was. “I'm a witch.” Long fair hair, thin faced, high black sweater, navy jacket, greyish twill trousers. He came today offering information to an “Express and Star” correspondent who wanted to know where to find a witches’ coven. He said he was 20. He fingered his stubbly chin and said he did not work. Witches do not work - not many of them anyway. He said he felt quite shaky. “ We had an occult battle with the black magician in the circle. We won, but I am still feeling the effects.” “We,” was his coven. “A proper one has 13 witches, but we only have nine.” No, he could not tell me where they met. No, he could not tell me his name and address. MANY-SIDED “I am bound by the ‘Pentacle,’” he explained, fingering a many-sided disc. But he could show the copper band on his left wrist boldly inscribed VULCAN and covered with many symbols. One denoting Venus, another the religion of fertility the witches worshipped, an arrow with a ring at one end, another – “You may not know the meaning of this.” One showing him Keeper of the Thunderbolt and Blacksmith of the Gods. But some signs remained secret “I am bound by the Black Book of Witches. It is destroyed at death. A witch always knows when he it [sic] going to die, for we have spirit guides.” HOME TEMPLE He told of the Temple at his home, a room with an altar surrounded by pictures of the ancient Gods. “We worship the horned God which represents fertility but it is nothing to do with the Devil. I must impress that on you.” He had been considering his anonymity, “No, you can only know me as Vulcan. I am afraid to tell you more.” Then, a quick ruffle of his fair hair and he was gone - but slowly out of the office and down in the lift. Not in a puff of smoke.