Yes, we did mean Doreen Valiente NOT Doreen Virtue

We get a lot of questions and emails, some we answer in public on our website and some we answer in private via email depending on the content and need for privacy. We also get a lot of spam as I’m sure you can imagine but what we don’t usually get is people telling us we’re wrong about something as bluntly as this, and especially on occasions where we're not wrong at all.

The email we received had the following comment:
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“In your web page entitled "Ceremonial Magic and the Occult" you mention Doreen Valiente, when I believe you meant Doreen Virtue, creator of angel oracle cards.”

Our Sarah gives her comments about this here………
So - let’s set this straight right at the off - we did indeed mean Doreen Valiente and NOT Doreen Virtue. 

​Doreen Virtue was until 2017 a prolific “new age” author on angels and working with them among other things. She has since renounced all her work before this date, stopped profiting from her many books and card decks and converted to Christianity from new age spirituality. Many were left bereft, disappointed and lost when she denounced these things as “the devils work” and walked away from her following after an experience during which she claims she spoke directly to Jesus Christ. I am keenly aware of her work and find it uninspired at best, downright dangerous at its worst. Her past work has unfortunately been guilty of preaching false positivity and reliance on other worldly beings rather than self-responsibility and realistic routes to healing.

Doreen Valiente on the other hand, was without a doubt the matriarch of modern witchcraft. When she passed away in 1999, she left behind her a legacy that is far reaching and its echoes will live on for many generations of witches to come. Not only one is Doreen of the most well-known and influential names in the world of modern witchcraft, she is also one of the most respected and endeared of our elders. The author of several books and a whole world of poetry about witchcraft, she was responsible for opening the door to the world of magic and occult practice to many who now walk the path – including myself.

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Doreen’s work included working with members of parliament to ensure the rights of witches and pagans were protected as much as it did the research and practice of magical workings so we have much to thank her for as we enjoy the freedoms she helped to start establishing.

Thankfully, her collection of tools and written works now reside safely in the hands of The Doreen Valiente Foundation, a charitable foundation dedicated to her work and memory established by her very dear friend John Belham-Payne. Her work has been recognised posthumously with the placement of a blue plaque outside the flat in Brighton where she lived happily for many years.

In short, Doreen Valiente will never, should never, be forgotten by the witchcraft community. She dedicated her life and work to us and that should always be honoured with the deepest respect.
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You can find out more about Doreen and support the work of The Doreen Valiente Foundation by clicking their logo below. If you would like to know more about her and her accomplishments, I can highly recommend the biography written of her life by Philip Heselton. It is beautifully written and a true in depth look at the incredible life of a wonderful woman.

Bright blessings, 
​Sarah x