'Two Sides Of Witchcraft', Dean Simpson, The Fresno Bee, 5 April 1970

The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California), Sunday 5 April 1970, page 68. Staff writer Dean Simpson reviews two books together: Ronald Seth's In the Name of the Devil, which argues that witchcraft was a charge invented by inquisitors, and June Johns's King of the Witches: The World of Alex Sanders. He is wry about both ("strictly for those who are looking for off-beat reading") but sets out Alex's own account fairly: initiated by his grandmother, a "white witch" opposed to black witchcraft, with cures claimed by spell and by fith-fath. The review carries a photograph of Alex Sanders with June Johns, Alex holding a plasticine fith-fath. Cropped to the review, with the photograph and the full page. How to cite: Dean Simpson, 'Two Sides Of Witchcraft', The Fresno Bee, 5 April 1970, p. 68. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

[ photo of Alex sanders and June Johns ] ALEX SANDERS, king of the witches, with June Johns, author of his biography. He holds a fith-fath, a plasticine model of a woman on whom a spell will be worked. Sanders is reputed as Europe’s most powerful witch. Two Sides Of Witchcraft IN THE NAME OF THE DEVIL, by Ronald Seth; Walker; $4.95. KING OF THE WITCHES: THE WORLD OF ALEX SANDERS, by June Johns; Coward-McCann; $5. Unhappy is the lot of the writer who is given the task of reviewing books on witchcraft. If he writes a straightaway review his readers will say to themselves: "Why, the dope; he believes all this stuff.” If he makes it appear that he thinks it is all hogwash, he runs the risk of some witch casting a spell which may cause the reviewer to contract a bad case of dandruff, fallen arches or the Chinese elm rot. Anyway, here goes. Britisher Ronald Seth in his short (175 pages) book takes the tack that there is no such thing as witchcraft and never has been. Witchcraft, he contends (and makes a very strong case for his point of view) was a charge dreamed up by Inquisitors of the Roman Catholic Church and later the Churches of Scotland and England to keep them in jobs once they had run out of religious heretics to try and to condemn to death. No one likes to find himself out of a job now, does he? In his book Seth goes into the background of witchcraft and then gives details of accusations, charges, evidence and sentences meted out in 11 famous witchcraft trials in Scotland and Northern England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. And some of them make pretty gruesome reading. On the other hand Miss Johns (also a Briton) details the life of self-styled hereditary witch Alex Sanders, a slight soft spoken Britisher who several years ago was elected “King of the Witches” by the estimated 4,000 witches of Great Britain. Sanders, who was initiated into witchcraft as a youngster by his grandmother, a practicing witch, terms himself a “white witch” whose spells bring no harm to anyone, but only do good. This, Miss Johns explains, is opposed to “black witchcraft” which is anathema to Sanders and his white witches. In the course of the book Sanders, who converted his wife to witchcraft after their marriage, explains the witches’ rituals which are performed at sabbats (large meetings) and esbats (smaller get-togethers) and makes the point that complete nudity is essential to the proper performance of the rites. Sanders claims any number of cures of various diseases by his spells (cancer, tuberculosis, etc.) and declares also that through use of a fith-fath (a tiny clay or plastic likeness of the person to be bewitched) he can even cause a bothersome mother-in-law to keep her mouth shut. The book is copiously illustrated with photographs of nude witches, male and female, performing the various rites. These two books are strictly for those who are looking for off-beat reading. -Dean Simpson Fresno Bee staff writer