What exactly is an 'Alexandrian Wicca' and what do they do?

Answer 1

Alex Sanders was a member of Gerald Gardner's Wicca coven. Sanders wanted the coven to promote itself on TV and newspapers. The rest of the coven didn't want to.

So Sanders struck out on his own in the early 60's, claiming he came from a line of Wiccans independent fron Sanders. Sanders wasn't privy to all the secrets of Gardnerian Wicca, so what he didn't know, he simply invented, borrowing from "Ceremonial Magick". Alexandrians do indeed practice nude (ref. the movie "Witchcraft '70").

Sanders concocted a story that he had been "initiated" by his grandmother that involved sex with her at age 7. While the story is probably bull, it's not hard to see how this story would give the green light to incest or pedophillia. Sanders also claimed Aleister Crowley was his babysitter (although Crowley never mentions the Sanders family in his writings)...a scary thought considering even Crowley's admirers say he practiced pedifry. Some of Crowley's own "poetry" seem to bear this out as well (http://usminc.org/crowley.html)

Sanders promoted Wicca everywhere he could. He appeared on British TV shows, gave lectures, interviews in newspapers and magazines, and appeared in the shockumentary "Witchcraft 70".

Sanders ego knew no bounds, and he declared himself "King of The Witches". The Gardnerians could have exposed him as a fraud off the bat, but chose not to. Why? Because in their case, they had a dubious history (i.e., a Stoneage religion that somehow escaped detection in miniscule England of all places). Someone else claiming a similar story comes along, so that made their story a little more believable. Eventually of course, the Gardnerians did denounce Sanders as a fraud (a case of the pot calling the cauldron black).

Sanders claimed he could perform abortions by casting spells on pregnant women, killing the unborn child. Sanders related one such instance in the book What Witches Do:
"There was a girl who recently tried everything and had no money..she really believed I could stop it. I pointed to her womb, without touching her or giving her anything to take and said, 'Yes, it's stopped. It won't grow anymore. You will have a heavy period, and by the end of September, you will be clear of it...Another girl, three months pregnant--I got the clinic fee reduced by more than half for her but she still couldn't afford it and she was desperate. So I told her,'I don't care if you believe me or not--it's stopped!' Michael [Sander's “spirit guide”] was shouting in my mind, 'Three, three, three!' I told her, 'Within three days you'll be perfectly alright. "
If the idea of using Witchcraft to kill unborn children doesn't sound bad enough, Sanders further something even more disturbing. Sander goes on to describe the spell he uses to perform this abortion spell (which I will not repeat here so one reading this will try it), and then says:
"I realize I am taking a life-I have to absorb that spirit into my being and become responsible for it. That's where magic and wisdom come in." (What Witches Do, by Janet and Stewart Farrar, 2nd ed., pgs.126-127 Pheonix Publishing Inc. isbn 0-919345-17-4)
So rather than dismiss an unborn fetus as not being human as many pro-choicers do, Sanders was fully aware he was taking a human life in the killing an unborn child! Abortion really is baby murder, after all. He then believed he could absorb the baby's soul into himself like some sort of spirit vampire! If Wiccans believe in doing anything they want bar “harming none”, what would we call what was done to the unborn child?

Sanders certainly lied about many things. There is probably no way to know if he actually performed any abortions, magical or otherwise, but still the claim seems to fly in the face of everything Wiccans claim about themselves. The next paragraph after this in the book cited quickly goes on to talk about the awesome responsibility of being a white magician and how black magicians literally get away with murder. It seems strange how using witchcraft to perform an abortion could be anything but black magic, even if the baby's soul wasn't absorbed by the magician. And I can also see how many occultists would try such a thing hoping they could absorb the fetuses soul to give themselves more power.

At any rate, whatever "powers" Sanders may have absorbed, or gotten through intiation didn't seem to do him that much good. He wasn't rich, didn't do any miracles, and eventually died of cancer in his early 60's. http://usminc.org/famous.html

Answer 2

Alexandrian Wicca was started in England by a witch named Alex Sanders (1926 - 1988) and his wife Maxine (who was a Roman Catholic) in the 1960s. He was referred to as "The King of the Witches." He had claimed to be initiated into Wicca at the age of seven by his grandmother but later admitted that this was not true. There was controversy within Wiccan circles as to the motivation of Mr. Sanders in developing his tradition. Some thought he was involved for the fame and influence. But this only helped to increase his popularity.
Alex Sanders experimented with homosexuality, magick, claimed he could heal people, and is said to have even worshipped the devil for a while. He had been initiated into the Gardnerian tradition and his Alexandrian Wicca reflects some of those aspects. However, Alexandrian Wicca does not require ritual nudity as Gardnerian Wicca does.
At first, the Alexandrian tradition grew but later declined when it was discovered that Alex Sanders had been dishonest about his claim to be a hereditary witch. The Alexandrian tradition focuses on ceremonial magic and has elements of the Kabbalah.

Answer 3

Wicca is a modern religion based on very old beliefs. It was formalised by a man called Gerald Gardner in the 50's, I think, based on what he said were teachings he received from a lineage of pagans that had gone underground during the times of the Inquisition.

Just like Christianity, Islam et al have different interpretations of their core belief (from there the different denominations), Wicca also has different interpretations. So you have Gardnerian Wicca, which holds closely to what Gardner originally taught, Saex Wicca, which is based on old Saxom beliefs, etc.

Alexandrian Wicca was founded by Alex Sanders in the 60's, is named after the Library of Alexandria, and is very similar to the Gardnerian tradition, except that it tends to incorporate more from other traditions.

Like all forms of Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca reveres nature, believes on the Goddess and the God manifested in all creation, and live by the Wiccan Rede "An it Harm None, Do as ye Will shall be the Whole of the Law."

Answer 4

According to Wikepedia:
Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders (also known as "King of the Witches"[1]) who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established the tradition in the 1960s. Alexandrian Wicca is similar in many ways to Gardnerian Wicca, and receives regular mention in books on Wicca as one of the religion's most widely-recognized traditions.[2]

In his lifetime Alex SAnders books attracted some interest, but I am surprised to find that he has left any significant legacy or tradition.

Answer 5

Alexandrian is a branch of Wicca. Like Baptist is a branch of Christianity. You can google it if you like and get a thorough breakdown of their particular traditions and practices. I don't follow Alexandrian Wicca, so I can't tell you how it differs from other paths.

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Answer 6

For a disgusting amount of reading material, check the lower right-hand corner on this page--there are Alexandrian and Gardnerian texts, where you will likely find any differences between the two: http://www.hermetics.org/ebooks.html

Answer 7

Absolute basics. Wicca is a nature religion. Wiccans can honor many gods and goddess, sometimes just a Horned God and Triple Goddess. They revere nature, and some practice magick. No devil or anything like that. Their law is "An it harm none, do what thou will". Basically, do as you please so long as you don't harm any person, place or thing, including yourself.

Answer 8

Wow, how much time do you have...you'd be better off to Google this one, but in short it's a lot like Gardnerian Wicca, although that probably doesn't help you much.

Answer 9

Yeah Tony B pretty much beat me to it. Hehe.

Answer 10

check out www.witchvox.com you should be able to find answers there
lol