Patricia Crowther (Wiccan)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Patricia Crowther (née Dawson; 14 October 1927 – 24 September 2025), who also went by the craft name Thelema, was a British occultist considered influential in the early promotion of the Wiccan religion.<ref>Elders of the Wica Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 5 February 2007.</ref>

Background

Crowther was born in Sheffield, England, on 14 October 1927 as Patricia Dawson. She was initiated into witchcraft by fellow well-known Wiccan Gerald Gardner.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her handfasting to husband Arnold Crowther (1909–1974) took place in 1960.<ref name=guardian>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Philip Heselton, Witchfather. A life of Gerald Gardner. Volume II, Thoth Publications, Loughborough, Leichestershire, 2012</ref>

Crowther died from complications of dementia in Sheffield on 24 September 2025, at the age of 97.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

Along with Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne, and Eleanor Bone, Crowther is considered to be one of the "early mothers" of modern Wicca.Template:Citation needed Patricia and her then-husband, Arnold Crowther, founded the Sheffield Coven in 1961,<ref name=guardian /> of which they were High Priestess and High Priest.Template:Citation needed Crowther promoted Witchcraft through a number of book publications, contributions to occult magazines and journals, and through a number of interviews with local and national newspapers. She also appeared several times on television.

In 1971, both Patricia and her then-husband Arnold wrote and presented A Spell of Witchcraft, a radio programme produced and broadcast by BBC Radio Sheffield in six 20-minute parts. The radio programme, the first of its kind in relation to modern Wicca as a religion, explored the history and folklore of witchcraft and presented elements of a local coven's activities and practices within the community.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Books

• 1965 – The Witches Speak (with Arnold Crowther)(Athol Publications)
• 1973 – Witchcraft in Yorkshire (Dalesman) Template:ISBN
• 1974 – Witch Blood (The Diary of a Witch High Priestess) (House of Collectibles) Template:ISBN
• 1981 – Lid off the Cauldron: A handbook for witches (Muller) Template:ISBN
• 1992 – The Zodiac Experience (Samuel Weiser Inc) Template:ISBN
• 1992 – The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft With the Witches' Tarot (Carol Publishing) Template:ISBN
• 1992 – Witches Were for Hanging (Excalibur Press of London) Template:ISBN
• 1998 – One Witch's World (Robert Hale) Template:ISBN (published in America under the title High Priestess. Apart from the title, they are the same book) (Phoenix Publishing) Template:ISBN
• 2001 – High Priestess: The Life & Times of Patricia Crowther (Phoenix Publishing Inc.) Template:ISBN
• 2002 – From Stagecraft to Witchcraft: The Early years of a High Priestess (Capall Bann) Template:ISBN
• 2009 – Covensense (Robert Hale) Template:ISBN

External links

• The Mystica site on Patricia Crowther
• The Wicca - Website with some information about Patricia Crowther. Template:Webarchive
• Patricia Crowther personal recording from her book Zodiac Experience