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Born a dreamy Piscean with a head for science, it is no great surprise that
the mystical and magical sides of life had attracted me for as long as I can
remember. As a teenager, my first ventures into practical magic were
experienced through the likes of the 'Ritual Magic Workbook' by Dolores
Ashcroft Nowicki. After dutifully constructing my own personal temple on a white
bed-sheet, I started to find this path a little lonely and naturally
gravitated towards Witchcraft, which seemed far more
gregarious. I subsequently set up a small Pagan/eclectic group in
Cambridgeshire. I was, however, eager to find a real Gardnerian or
Alexandrian Coven.
A short while later, a peculiar twist of fate meant that I ended up having
the good fortune to meet a previously unknown Craft High Priest, Charles
Clark, who had been friends with Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente and several
other early Elders. I was subsequently initiated and trained by Charles and
went on to start my own Coven with my then-partner and fellow initiate David
Johnson.
In my mid-twenties various life circumstances had meant that I had moved
several time and I felt that I needed to spend some time exploring the
feminine, so I started a women's mysteries group in Nottingham, out of which
was born the Nottingham Goddess Camp. Having felt that I had sufficiently
explored my anima, I returned to the middle pillar, revived my Coven,
and started writing.
Currently I am involved with various Witchcraft and Magical groups both in
the real world and online. I have also co-written a book with
Nick Farrell, 'King Over the Water' (to be published 2008 by
Thoth Publications) about
Mathers, the history of the Golden Dawn and the Golden Dawn influence on
Gardner's Witchcraft. I am also involved in writing academic papers with Dr Stuart Whomsley,
about transpersonal psychology, Esoteric Orders and Pagan Paths.
Melissa Seims
Here is my first article about
Charles Clark, a little-known, early High Priest of the Wica who made it his
mission to spread the Craft in Scotland.
(Published in
Circle Magazine Issue 93 Spring 2005, The Cauldron No. 116 May
2005, Wiccan Rede Beltane 2005, G.B.G.'s Family and Friends
Autumn/Samhain 2005.)
Here is an article I wrote about
the 'Weschcke Documents' in which I used original documents to explore how
the casting of the circle developed and changed throughout the 1950s.
(Published in The
Cauldron, No.120 May 2006, The Cauldron - Brazilian version
Edition IX.)
Here is an article about The Scottish Wica and Gardner detailing
the rise of the Witch Cult, in Scotland, in the 1950s and early 1960s.(Published
in Pagan Dawn Beltane 2006, G.B.G.'s Family and Friends Samhain/Yule
2006, The Cauldron No,12, August 2006, The Cauldron -
Brazilian version Edition XI.)
Here is an article about Doreen Valiente and her Golden Dawn
notebooks!
(Published The Cauldron no.124 May 2007, G.B.G.'s Family and
Friends Spring 2007)
Here
is an article about Charles Cardell, Raymond Howard and
the Coven of Atho.
(Published The Cauldron no.126 November 2007.)
'Who Will Plow My Vulva?' - An article I wrote about
Inanna as an insatiable Goddess of Love.
(Published in Pagan Dawn,
Samhain 2007)
Here is a brief
introduction to the main branches of modern Witchcraft. This was written as
a handout for
a Transpersonal Psychology Conference.
My writings on Ritual Magic, Hermeticism and the Golden Dawn can be found on
the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in Britain website
here and are often
published in Hermetic Virtues.
Picture by
Dave Johnson
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