(1922-1999)
Prominent Gardnerian writer and thinker, initiated in 1953 by Gerald Gardner. Author of the initial forms of the Charge of the Goddess, in verse and prose forms. After her initiation, Valiente noticed that much of Gardner’s material was derived (or outright “borrowed”) from Crowleyan and Masonic sources, and so she set herself to creating more naturalistic liturgy for Gardner’s tradition. She succeeded; large swathes of Gardnerian liturgy are actually Doreen’s work.
After the occult explosion of the ’60s, Valiente started publishing books on Wicca, including Natural Magic, Witchcraft for Tomorrow, and The Rebirth of Witchcraft. In the latter book, she presents proof of the existence of Old Dorothy Clutterbuck, providing some verification of Garder’s claim to have been initiated by a pre-existing coven in the New Forest. In all her works, both literary and otherwise, she showed a keen grasp of the spiritual and religious side of Wicca, as well as an understanding of its connections with both the past and the future.
A site devoted to her can be found at www.doreenvaliente.com.
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