The Witches' Rune quoted in an American reader column, The World-News, 31 October 1969

The World-News, Friday 31 October 1969, front page. A Hallowe'en item in the paper's Quickline reader-question column. A reader asks whether there are real witches who invoke the devil and why they are not arrested. The answer says witchcraft exists in the United States and is not illegal, cites Hans Holzer's estimate of 'several thousand' covens, and says many will open their rites at midnight with 'an ancient chant, translated by Alex Sanders': 'Darksome night and shining moon, East, then South, then West, then North. Harken to the Witches' Rune...' Printed with a cartoon of a witch stirring a cauldron. A small sign of how far Sanders's name had travelled by 1969: an American local paper credits him for the Witches' Rune. How to cite: 'Quickline', The World-News, 31 October 1969, p. 1. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

[Cartoon of a witch stirring a cauldron] Q. Halloween is dismissed as a joke, but I have heard that there are actually real witches who still invoke the devil, is this true, and why aren’t these people arrested? - Mrs. P. J. A. Witchcraft does exist in the U.S., but persons who celebrate black masses tend to do so in the privacy of their homes. Such groups are called covens. Peaceful assembly for the orderly practice of witchcraft is not illegal in the U.S. Hans Holzer, an authority on the Black arts, has written that “several thousand” covens are quietly active in this country. Many will begin their ceremonies at 12 p.m. tonight with those words to an ancient chant, translated by Alex Sanders: “Darksome night and shining moon, East, then South, then West, then North. Harken in the Witches’ Rune . . .”