Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Lid Off the Cauldron Handbook for Witches by Patricia Crowther Patricia Crowther - Lid off the Cauldron (copyrighted book, review only) Patricia Crowther lifts the lid off the cauldron and reveals the truth about witchcraft, sharing its history and the methods and theory behind magic and self-initiation. Included are spells, chants, prayers, divination methods, information on ancient symbols, the effects of sonics, cosmic tides and the working of planetary rituals. Lid Off the Cauldron presents the basics of Wicca in a well thought out and informative manner. Just enough information to digest, with information on were to obtain more. Great for those looking to expand their knowledge of what being a Witch is all about. Lid Off Cauldron concise and informative, yet easy to read and comprehend for those just getting started. The book contains a little history, but not enough to get bogged down and have people lose interest. She covers all the basics: the Gods, casting a circle, the elements, the body as a vehicle for the soul and some easy magic spells. A very good book for beginners and all who teach should have this book in their library. PPatricia Crowther ( Thelema ) is another well-known High Priestess who has done much for the Goddess movement and has written several books. For many years she was married to Arnold Crowther, the stage magician and acquaintance of Aleister Crowley's. Patricia lives in Sheffield with her husband, Ian. Lid off the Cauldron, The Zodiac Experience, High Priestess-The Life of Patricia Crowther, Witches Speak, Witches Were For Hanging, Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft with the Witches Tarot, Witchcraft in Yorkshire. Witch Blood, From Stagecraft to Witchcraft. Famous Witches – Patricia Crowther (1927 – ) Patricia Crowther was one of the High Priestesses initiated by Gerald Gardner , the founder of modern Wicca , and is considered highly influential in the early promotion of the Wicca religion. She has worked steadfastly to promote witchcraft through her books, media interviews and lecture appearances, and has formed many flourishing covens throughout the United Kingdom. She is considered by many to be Gardner ’s spiritual heir. She was born Patricia Dawson on 27 October 1927 in Sheffield, England. Her great-grandmother had been a herbalist , clairvoyant and fortune- teller, and she identified from an early age with fairies and the supernatural. She had a natural talent for the stage and, after leaving school, she took up a career in cabaret and toured all over the United Kingdom, singing, dancing and acting. While performing at one venue, in her late twenties, she went to see a hypnotist who regressed her back to previous lives, including one as a 17th Century witch called Polly. After this experience, she claims to have had a number of clairvoyant visions from another past life, in which she served as a priestess of a Goddess who had great power. In 1956, she met a stage magician and ventriloquist called Arnold Crowther (as had been foretold by a fortune-teller two years earlier), and he introduce her to Gerald Gardner , a personal friend of his since 1939. After several meetings, Gardner initiated her into the craft on in June 1960 at his home in Castletown on the Isle of Man, and she in turn initiated Arnold Crowther. Later in 1960, Arnold Crowther and Patricia Dawson were married in a private skyclad handfasting ceremony officiated by Gerald Gardner , and then in a civil marriage ceremony, after which they returned to Sheffield to live. Both took their second-degree initiation in 1961, after which Patricia became High Priestess. As minor celebrities connected with the entertainment world, they quickly became known as authoritative spokespersons for the craft, and by December 1961 they had started to build their own coven in Sheffield, while continuing their instruction in the craft with Gardner . Patricia was also taught the secrets of an old inner tradition by a woman called Jean in Inverness over the course of two years, via correspondence. Together, the Crowthers authored two books, “The Witches Speak” (1965) and “The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft” (1974) and, in 1971, they produced a radio series called “A Spell of Witchcraft” for BBC Radio Sheffield. Controverscial.Com. Pagan Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others. Patricia Crowther. Written and compiled by George Knowles. One of the last remaining High Priestesses initiated by "Gerald B. Gardner". Since her initiation by Gardner in 1960, Patricia Crowley has worked steadfastly to promote the Old Religion through her books, media interviews, and lecture appearances. She is considered by many to be Gardner�s spiritual heir, and has formed many flourishing covens throughout the United Kingdom. Patricia Crowther was born Patricia Dawson on the 14th October 1927, in Sheffield, England. The Dawson�s lived next door to palmist �Madame Melba�, who predicted that Patricia would later develop great clairvoyancy powers and follow in the foot steps of her great-grand mother, who had been a herbalist, clairvoyant, and fortuneteller. From an early age Patricia often identified herself with fairies and the craft, dressing up as a fairy for fancy-dress parties and playing the role in school activities. At an early birthday party she was presented with a gold snake bangle, symbolic of wisdom, life, and death. Patricia was keenly interested in acting, singing and dancing, and as she progressed through school, she performed in pantomimes as Robin Hood, and was chosen to be the leading lady in a special revue, which featured a tableau entitled � The Legend of the Moon Goddess �. After leaving school she took up a career in Cabaret and toured all over the United Kingdom, singing and dancing, and acting on stage. While performing at one venue in her late twenties, Patricia went to see a hypnotist who regressed her back to previous lives, including one as a witch called �Polly�. The year was approximately 1670 and Polly was an old crone of about 66 years old. She lived in a little hut with a cat, a frog, a goat and hen, and worked spells for the local people most of whom she held in contempt. During the regression, Polly recited a number of spells in rhyme with instructions on how to use them. Patricia at the time had no knowledge of any such spells, which experts later determined to be authentic. After her experience with the hypnotist, Patricia had a number of clairvoyant visions from another past life, one in which she served as a priestess of a Goddess who had great power. She identified much more strongly with this spiritual priestess than she did with the old crone. In 1954 while playing at a theater in Birmingham, Patricia went to see a fortuneteller who predicted that she would meet her future husband, two years later over water, and his name would be Arnold. Patricia thought no more of it, but two years later in 1956 she accepted a summer job to appear in a show on the Isle of White. While on a flight crossing the Solent (a channel between the coast of Hampshire, England and the Isle of White) she met a stage magician and ventriloquist called �Arnold Crowther�. He was appearing in the same show as she and soon romance blossomed between them. Discovering her interest in witchcraft, Crowther offered to introduce her to �Gerald B. Gardner�, a personal friend since 1939. Gardner incidentally had predicted some years earlier, that Crowther would eventually meet �a fair haired women who would initiate him into the craft�. Arnold Crowther. After several meetings with him, Gardner initiated Patricia into the craft on the 6 th of June 1960. The ceremony took place in his private temple on the top floor of the barn at his home in Castletown on the Isle of Man. During the initiation rite, Patricia had a profound and powerful trance experience. She saw herself being reborn and initiated as a priestess of a Moon Goddess, whose initiation rite consisted of a line of howling naked women who passed her gauntlet-style through their spread legs. Gardner explained it, that she, while in trance, had reverted back to a past life and relived an ancient initiation. After the rite, Patricia in turn initiated Arnold Crowther, fulfilling the predication Gardner had made years earlier. Gardner then presented them with a gift of ritual tools and jewelry, including a coral necklace for Patricia. Later that year on the 8 th November 1960, Arnold Crowther and Patricia Dawson were married in a private handfasting ceremony officiated by Gerald Gardner. The ceremony was performed skyclad (nude) inside a circle strewn with flowers were they danced, sang and jumped the broom in accordance with tradition. The following day they were remarried in a civil ceremony, which was publicized in the national tabloids. After the wedding the Crowthers returned to Sheffield were they established their home. Both took their second-degree initiation on the 11 th October 1961, and on her birthday, Patricia became high priestess. The media ever looking for interviews often turned to the Crowthers for comments, as minor celebrities connected with the entertainment world, they quickly became known as authoritative spokespersons for the craft. By December 1961 they had started to build their own coven in Sheffield, while continuing their instruction in the craft with Gardner. Patricia had also started a correspondence with an old woman called Jean in Inverness, she had seen Patricia giving an interview on television and had written to her. She told Patricia that she thought her worthy of inheriting secret knowledge, and over the course of two years via correspondence, taught Patricia the secrets of an old inner tradition. The Crowthers were a popular couple and media exposure generated more and more requests for interviews and speaking engagements. Together they authored two books, � The Witches Speak � (1965 and 1976) and � The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft � (1974). In 1971, for BBC Radio Sheffield, they produced � A spell of Witchcraft �, the first Radio series in Britain on Witchcraft. While performing numerous craft services for those who would ask for help, including spell casting and exorcising ghosts and spirits, they also wrote seasonal rituals and introduced new music and poetry into the craft. After the death of her husband on the 1 st May 1974, Patricia Crowther unstintingly continued to work for the betterment of the craft. She is a frequent guest on radio talk shows, appears regularly on television, and gives lectures up and down the country. She works hard at dispelling the many misconceptions surrounding the Craft and the Old Religion, and with her cool self-assurance and sense of humour, she is unhesitant when answering religious bigots and critics. In 1978 she represented the United Kingdom at an international conference on the occult, held in Barcelona. After her 70 th birthday while meditating in a circle, Patricia received clairaudient guidance that she should call herself a �Grand-Mother of the Craft of the Wise�. She emphasizes that the craft concerns the evolution of the soul, and that it�s inner teachings should be transmitted orally. � I am sure that the Craft/Paganism will have a big part to play in the centuries to come ,� she say�s. � We must not forget that in the new age, the ruler of Aquarius is none other than the Star Goddess, whose white hand even now beckons the Children of the Earth, to become Children of the Stars �. Grand-Mother of the Craft of the Wise. Patricia has written numerous books over the years (see bibliography), as well as writing for various mainline periodicals such as: Prediction, Gnostica, New Dimensions, Zodiac, and The Lamp of Thoth . She also designed three of the tarot cards (The Sun, Karma, and The World.) used for the Tarot of the Old Path (1990). Bibliography: 1965 - The Witches Speak (with Arnold Crowther - Athol Publications) 1973 - Witchcraft in Yorkshire (Dalesman) 1974 - Witch Blood (The Diary of a Witch High Priestess - House of Collectibles) 1981 - Lid off the Cauldron: A handbook for witches (Muller) 1992 - The Zodiac Experience (Samuel Weiser Inc) 1992 - The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft With the Witches' Tarot (Carol Publishing) 1992 - Witches Were for Hanging (Excalibur Press of London) 1998 - One Witch's World (Robert Hale - Also published in America under the title High Priestess , which apart from the title are the same book by Phoenix Publishing) 2002 - From Stagecraft to Witchcraft: The Early years of a High Priestess (Capall Bann) 2009 - "Covensense" (Robert Hale) The Encyclopedia of Witches &Witchcraft - by Rosemary Ellen Guiley. Lid Off the Cauldron by Patricia Crowther © 1998. Lid Off the Cauldron by Patricia Crowther © 1998 Capall Bann ISBN 186163032-8 200 pages includes Appendix, Bibliography and Index & 10 Pages of black and white photos paperback $19.25 (approximately) (U.S.) L 10.95. This is a revision of a book first published about twenty years earlier. It was originally published in 1981 and suffers from some of the attitudes prevalent at that time. The author is a Gardnerian initiate and, consequently, espouses the “It takes a Witch to make a Witch” position. Self-initiation is not an option for this lady. A lot of what she says resounds with what I was taught, although I am not Gardnerian. For instance, her statement on page 53: “Unlike the ritual magician’s circle, which is there to keep elementals and hostile forces at bay, the Witches’ circle is erected to contain the magical power raised within it.” Many modern-day Wiccans stress to protective aspects of the circle, thus betraying their fear of the powers they are attempting to associate with. She provides basic information and examples regarding tools, magic working and circle casting, in the event one is not able to work with a coven. While this was an extremely valid position (and remains so to a lesser extent, even in 2005), with the advent of the burgeoning cyber community dedicated to the Craft and magickal workings, there is little excuse for not connecting with fellow practitioners. The book is enriched by the inclusion of poetry and invocations created by Ms. Crowther and her late husband, Arthur. The imagery created is beautiful and contributes much to the beauty and power of the rituals being worked. While this book is, in essence, a “Wicca 101” book (witness its subtitle “A Wicca Handbook”) it has the advantage of being penned by an author who personally knew one of the acknowledged leaders if the early public life of Wicca. Thus her information is not the kind that has passed through several layers of teachers, with the resultant distortion which may occur. That doesn’t necessarily make it better, but it does allow us to see what information was considered important, back “in the day.” She includes Planetary Rites to use as attunements (or at-one-ments) before beginning actual magickal operations. Each such rite included basic correspondences and invocations, as well as full descriptions of appropriate actions. There are no seasonal rituals given, nor are there any “laws” included. Only the final couplet of the Rede is quoted. Therefore, even though this is a “Wicca 101” book, it is even more basic than that. It is an excellent overview of the Craft in the early days of its public existence, and can serve to provide a bit more meat on the bones of the usual Craft histories. On top of that, Ms. Crowther has a most enjoyable style of writing and is, on top of her other qualifications, quite entertaining. Crowther, Patricia C. Patricia C. Crowther (1927- ) A Witch and high priestess of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, and one of the last surviving high priestesses initiated by Gerald B. Gardner. Patricia Crowther has, since the 1960s, been a leading spokesperson for the Old Religion in books, the media and lecture appearances. Initiated formally into the Craft by Gardner, she is regarded by many as Gardner's spiritual heir. She has formed covens all over the United Kingdom. She was born Patricia Dawson on October 27, 1927, in Sheffield. Her Breton great-grandmother was an herbalist and clairvoyant, who also told fortunes. Her grand- mother, Elizabeth (Tizzy) Machen (her maiden name) was a very small woman whose surname means “fairy” (see fairies). The Dawsons lived next door to a palmist, Madame Melba, who accurately predicted that Patricia would develop great clairvoyant powers. During childhood, she experienced synchronistic associations with fairies and the Craft: at a children's birthday party, she was chosen to be Fairy on the Moon, and was wheeled around seated on a huge, illuminated crescent moon (the Goddess with crescent moon is often symbolic of Diana); for a birth- day present, she was given a gold snake bangle, symbol of wisdom, life and rebirth; she performed as Robin Hood in pantomime, and she was the leading lady in a revue which featured a tableau entitled The Legend of the Moon Goddess. When Patricia was 30, a hypnotist regressed her to previous lives, including one as a Witch, Polly, an old crone of about 66 in the year 1670. Polly revealed that she lived in a hut with a CAT, frog, goat and hen, and worked spells for people, most of whom she held in contempt. Polly freely recited spells, all in rhyme, with instructions on how to use them. Patricia had no knowledge of such spells, which experts determined were authentic. The regression proved to her that she had been a Witch in a previous life and that, in accordance with Witch lore, she would find her way back into the Craft in the present life. Since that experience, she has recalled, in clairvoyant visions, another past life in which she served as a priestess of the Goddess who had great power. She identifies more strongly with the spiritual priestess than with the spell- casting crone. Patricia's parents had trained her in singing, dancing and acting for the stage, and she toured all over the United Kingdom. While playing a theater in Birmingham in 1954, she met a fortune-teller who predicted she would meet her future husband, a man named Arnold, two years later over water. The prediction seemed fantastic, but it was borne out. In 1956 Patricia took a summer job on the Isle of Wight, where she met Arnold Crowther, a stage magician and ventriloquist who was performing in the same show as she. When Arnold discovered her interest in Witchcraft, he offered to introduce her to Gardner, a personal friend since 1939. Several years earlier, Gardner had predicted that Arnold would meet a fair- haired woman who would initiate him into the Craft. This prediction proved to be true as well. After several meetings with Gardner, Patricia was initiated by him on June 6, 1960. The initiation took place in Gardner's private Magic Room, the top floor of a barn, at his home in Castletown on the Isle of Man. Patricia in turn initiated Arnold. Gardner presented them with ritual tools and jewelry, including a coral necklace for Patricia. During the rite, Patricia had a profound and powerful trance experience in which she saw herself being reborn into the priesthood of the Moon Mysteries, initiated by a line of howling, naked women who passed her, gauntlet- style, through their spread legs. Gardner posited that she had gone back in time to another previous life and relived an ancient initiation ceremony. On November 8, 1960, Patricia and Arnold were married in a private handfasting officiated by Gardner. The ceremony took place in a circle; participants were skyclad (nude). The following day, November 9, the Crowthers were married in a civil ceremony which the press found out about in advance and publicized heavily. The Crowthers established their home in Sheffield. They took the second-degree initiation on October 11, 1961; Patricia became high priestess on October 14, her birthday. The Crowthers often were sought out by the media for interviews. One interview inadvertently led to the gradual formation of a COVEN. Asked by a reporter if she wanted to meet others who were interested in the Craft, Patricia answered yes. The reporter's story was headlined, “Witch Seeks Recruits for Coven,” which prompted many inquiries from interested persons. The Crowthers initiated the first member of their coven in December 1961, with others following gradually over time. The Crowthers continued their instruction in the Craft with Gardner. Patricia was taught an old secret, in- ner tradition by an old woman who lived in Inverness, who saw Patricia on a television program and wrote to her. Her name was Jean, and she told Patricia she considered her worthy of inheriting this knowledge, which she imparted over the course of a two-year correspondence. The Crowthers' media exposure generated requests for more interviews and speaking engagements. Together, they authored two books, The Witches Speak (1965, 1976) and The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft (1974). For B.B.C. Radio Sheffield, the Crowthers produced the first ra- dio series in Britain on Witchcraft, A Spell of Witchcraft, which debuted on January 6, 1971. They performed ser- vices for people, including casting spells and exorcising ghosts (see spirit exorcism). They wrote rituals for the seasons of the year and introduced new music and poetry into the Craft. Patricia's nonfiction books include Witchcraft in Yorkshire (1973), her autobiography, Witch Blood! (1974), The Witches Speak (1976), Lid Off the Cauldron (1981, 1985, 1989, 1992, 1998), The Zodiac Experience (1992, 1995), One Witch's World (1998) and From Stagecraft to Witchcraft; The Early Years of a High Priestess (2002). Her novel Witches Were for Hanging (1992) was reprinted in 1999. In addition, she wrote poetry and designed three cards (The Sun, Karma and The World) for The Tarot of the Old Path (1990). In addition, she has written articles for periodicals, including Prediction, Gnostica, New Dimensions, Zodiac, and The Lamp of Thoth. She is a frequent guest on radio and television shows and lectures as well, working to dispel sensational misconceptions associated with the Old Religion and with the modern Craft. In 1978 she represented Wicca in the United Kingdom at an international occult conference in Barcelona. In addition to her activities on behalf of the Craft, Crowther continued to work professionally as a singer, magician and puppeteer well her later years. After her 70th birthday, Crowther received clairaudient guidance while meditating in a circle that she should call herself a “Grand-Mother of the Craft of the Wise.” She emphasized that the Craft concerns the evolution of the soul, and that its inner teachings should be transmitted orally. “I am sure that the Craft/Paganism will have a big part to play in the centuries to come,” she stated. “We must not forget that in the New Age, the ruler of Aquarius is none other than the Star Goddess, whose white hand, even now, beckons the Children of the Earth to become Children of the Stars.”