'Witches Want A Better Image', Robert Musel, The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana), 26 April 1964

The Times, Shreveport, Louisiana, 26 April 1964, page 70. A United Press International feature by Robert Musel on British witchcraft's bid for respectability after the death of Dr Gerald Gardner, whose will named Monique Wilson and Patricia Crowther as his heirs. Mrs Wilson speaks of being ill-wished by jealous witches; Mrs Crowther says London witches were upset over talk of a "Queen of the Witches" title and recalls going on television with "Mrs. Ray Bone" (Eleanor Bone); Sybil Leek, with her jackdaw Hotfoot Jackson, puts the number of practising witches at 5,000 and plans a Witchcraft Research Association. An American syndication of the UPI piece. How to cite: Robert Musel, 'Witches Want A Better Image', The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana), 26 April 1964, p. 70. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

Witches Want A Better Image By ROBERT MUSEL United Press International Britain’s witches want to improve their brand image. The wrinkled old crone is out, the pretty girl witch is in. Eye of the newt and toe of frog (Macbeth) are out, smoked salmon sandwiches and vintage wine are in. The evil eye is out (well, nearly). The 1964 model witch tries to be whiter than white (as against the “black witch” of fairy tales) and if she has to stick a pin in an effigy, the pin is likely to be sterilized. What is more, witches, both male and female, are talking about a trade union that would not only make witchcraft respectable but perhaps even profitable. Only a few months ago witches were shy about revealing their identities because it might cost them their mundane jobs. One male witch threatened to sue if anyone published his connection with a coven (witch’s circle) in suburban Watford. But now witchcraft is suddenly respectable and Britain’s witches are anxious to follow the lead of the pioneers who have already explained what they are and what they do in these modern times for the benefit of nationwide television audiences. What finally brought the witches into the open - after centuries of secrecy because of the torture and execution of hundreds of them in the 16th and 17th centuries - was the recent death of Dr. Gerald Gardner, 80, a witch who took part in the “great curse” on Adolf Hitler. As Dr. Gardner once told it to UPI, he and all the other witches in Britain linked their “life force” to raise a “cone of power” which prevented Nazi Germany from invading Britain in World War II. He said similar cooperation by witches had wrecked the Spanish Armada in 1588 and thwarted Napoleon’s plans to capture London. Gardner was curator of “The Witches Mill” museum on the Isle of Man, off the coast of Britain - the only witches museum in the world - and when his will was probated it set the cauldron bubbling by actually naming the two witches who inherited his estate. One of them is Mrs. Monique Wilson, high priestess of the covens of Scotland, and the other is Mrs. Patricia Crowther, high priestess of the witches of the cities of Sheffield and Manchester. Neither of these two ladies relished the publicity at first, but openly revealing their identities was part of Dr. Gardner’s plan to bring witchcraft out of the furtive necessities of the age of persecution. Mrs. Wilson said somewhat sadly that the fact she would be named as official guide to the Witches Museum had evidently been guessed by some other witches who were jealous enough to resort to evil charms and incantations. “They cannot harm me,” she said, defiantly. “I have had my warning and I am protected. Last summer they almost succeeded. I had a heart attack no medical man would explain. “It was ill-wished and I know what, or should I say who, caused it. But using power that way means it goes back to the sender threefold. So, witches who ill-wish me will themselves be ill.” Since this warning Mrs. Wilson’s health has been excellent. Mrs. Crowther said the trouble apparently arose because some witches thought Mrs. Wilson was going to lay claim to a new title - “Queen of the Witches.” “London witches were quite upset about this title business,” she said. She went on television with a London witch, Mrs. Ray Bone, demonstrating ancient rites which include some white magic but nothing that should lead present day Britons to revive burning at the stake - the old penalty. Another witch, Mrs. Sybil Leek, a motherly 42-year-old antique shop owner, who claims to be the high priestess of the New Forest coven, estimated there were 5,000 practicing witches in Britain and she was going to organize them into “The Witchcraft Research Association” to give witches “a better public image.” She said offices all over the country would be staffed by witches and she hoped to run bus tours of Britain for witches from other countries. In the unprecedented discussion the British public learned there are white witches who try to promote “love and tolerance” and black witches who are not above trafficking with the devil although their number is said to be very small. They seem to spend their time desecrating churches and church-yards. Mrs. Leek and the other respectable witches deny there is any sexual element at all in real witchcraft. Orgies, they say, are a comparatively recent development in British witchcraft and one on which the conservative majority frowns. Although the rites of covens are secret, knowledgeable informants claim that outside the nudity and mumbo-jumbo they might be lodge meetings anywhere with sandwiches and wine or coffee winding up the night. Mrs. Leek, who walks around with a pet jackdaw named “Hotfoot Jackson” on her shoulder, said legitimate witches do not take advantage of their powers although she knew some who could cause pain by sticking a pin into an effigy. Supposing a journalist wrote skeptically about witches . . . ouch!