Witches Dance for Cameras... And A Better Image - Evening News & Chronicle.

Manchester Evening News and Chronicle, Friday 18 April 1969, page 4, cut from the paper and pasted into Doreen Valiente's scrapbook. Under the headings 'Witches dance for cameras... and a better image' and 'Naked on the Edge... to break a "spell"', the paper reports the Sanders' thirteen-strong London coven performing initiation ceremonies at night on Alderley Edge for an independent film company making a 45-minute documentary. Maxine Sanders, 22, says the film will show the public what witches really do: 'We do much healing and charity work.' She describes an initiation of the elements, earth, air, fire and water, for a 25-year-old man, and calls Alderley Edge the only place in Britain with everything the rite needs: a wizard's well, a witches' altar and a stone circle. The director, Malcolm Leigh, hopes for an 'A' certificate and a general release. The two photographs show a naked male witch enacting an initiation on the rocks, and Maxine Sanders. The film was released in 1970 as Legend of the Witches. The Daily Express covered the same night's filming under the headline 'Witches go into action', which the archive also holds. How to cite: 'Naked on the Edge... to break a "spell"', Manchester Evening News, 18 April 1969, p. 4. From the scrapbooks of Doreen Valiente, private collection. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

[Photograph] Witches Dance for Cameras … And a better Image The camera whirrs, and a naked male witch enacts an initiation scene for the film being made on the bleak rocks of Alderley Edge, Cheshire. [Photograph: Maxine Sanders] Naked on the Edge … to break a 'spell' WITCHES have been dancing naked in the chilly night winds of Alderley Edge - in the hope of breaking the spell of public suspicion. The 13 - strong London coven has been performing initiation ceremonies for the cameras of an independent film company which is making a 45-minute-long documentary on their activities. The film, they believe, will brighten their image. The public, they claim, still think of them in medieval terms. Mrs Maxine Sanders, a 22-year-old Queen Witch, originally from Manchester, said: “People think witches are bad and do wicked things. We are not. We do much healing and charity work. In fact, we do a lot of 'Christian’ work. The public think a lot of rubbish about us. Let them see the film and find out exactly what we do.” Mrs Sanders, who has a two-year-old daughter and whose 42-year-old husband, Alex, is a king witch, said that the ceremony they were performing on Alderley Edge had never been filmed before. “A 25-year-old man will go through an initiation of the elements - earth, air, fire, and water. He will be naked and blindfolded as he goes through the ceremony. “In fact, this ceremony has never been held before in Europe. It is normally held in the South Seas or India.” Alderley Edge was the only place in Britain where the ceremony could be performed, said Mrs Sanders. “it is a traditional place for witches. They have worked hard for centuries. And it is the only place which has everything for us. It has a wizard’s well, a witches’ altar, a stone circle, and all the things required for an initiation.” She added: “People do not realize that to become a witch you must have a two-year-training. In general, witches are very moral people.” The director of the film, Mr Malcolm Leigh, said that they hoped the film would be granted an “A” certificate and would receive a general release. Scenes had already been shot in France and elsewhere in England. “This will be a scientific documentary, a serious film. We will draw no conclusions,” he said.