Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Wandering Witch

Home
Pagan
How I met Maxine Sanders, The Witch Queen

How I met Maxine Sanders, The Witch Queen

Last updated on: July 30, 2018 at 12:42 pm by Julia Penelope

How I met Maxine Sanders, The Witch Queen 2018-07-30T12:42:12-04:00 Julia Penelope

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Have you ever found yourself at an event or location and just wondered how the hell you got there? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me a month ago when I found myself talking to Maxine Sanders, AKA The Witch Queen. For those who aren’t aware, Maxine is the wife and partner of Alex Sanders, who passed away in 1988. Alex was the founder of one of the two major branches of British Traditional Wicca- the Alexandrian Tradition.

Image result for maxine sanders

Alex (left) and Maxine (center) Sanders at one of their publicized rituals. Google images.

Here’s how it happened:

My sister and I arrived in London. We only had one day in the city before taking off on mini road trip through the English countryside. As a big fan of museums, we wanted to visit the British Museum. I was suffering from a bit of a cold and wanted to stop at a pharmacy so I pulled up Google Maps to try and locate one when lo and behold, there appeared on the map just .1 km away, the Atlantis Bookshop. Which just happens to be London’s oldest independent occult bookshop and was a known haunt of Gerald Gardner himself.

As a self-described bibliophile and lover of occult history, it seemed too good to be true.

Related image

We walked inside and found the owner Geraldine behind the counter.

I knew that Jason Mankey had just been there giving a talk so I walked up and introduced myself and explained that I was a blogger for Patheos. Out of curiosity, I asked if there were any upcoming events and she told me that there was a night in honor of Alex Sanders just a few days away. Furthermore, Maxine would be attending and would be leading the group ritual!

I think my eyes were popping out of my head at this point. I knew we would be back in London that night so I immediately put our names on the list to attend.

When Saturday finally came, I was beyond excited. We arrived as soon as the doors opened and found ourselves amongst a lovely group of people who were very friendly and thrilled to have a couple of witches from across the pond in attendance. One woman came right up to us and started chatting. A few minutes into the conversation she asked us if we had met Maxine yet, which we obviously hadn’t. I started fangirling right about now….she then brought us over to one of the most ethereally beautiful women I have ever seen.

It’s hard to describe her presence. Like meeting Galadriel I suppose. She oozes power and yet is incredibly kind. She was very pleased to meet us and even agreed to take a picture with me.

Maxine graciously allowed me to take a photo with her 🙂

Later in the evening when she cast the circle, she seemed to be of another world entirely.

We spent the rest of the night listening to memories of Alex shared by those who knew him best. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget.

Uncategorized

alex sanders

alexandrian wicca

british traditional wicca

About Julia Penelope

I am a practicing witch with a Celtic neopagan background. I am the founder and main organizer of a women’s pagan group based out of Maine, Witches of Down East. I am an avid reader and lover of history. At any given time you could find me buried in a book about Bigfoot, mythology, witchcraft, or UFO’s–just to name a few of my myriad interests. I am a keen traveler and somehow manage to get around quite a bit despite being a full-time student (pursuing a degree in archaeology). When I go somewhere, I tend to spend hours finding out about the obscure and weird places that seem to be found in every town. Luckily, my friends and family like to humor me and let me plan the travel itinerary, most of the time You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

July 23, 2018

Eclipses: The End of the World As We Know It?

Next Post

August 29, 2018 10 Highlights from Templefest 2018

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archaeology France The Basics The Black Madonna the blog The Craft The History of Paganism Thoughts Travel Uncategorized United States witchcraft Witchcraft in Literature Witchery

Select a Month May 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was David's oldest brother, critical of him at the battlefield?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Abinadab Eliab Jesse Shammah