I guess it was a little over 2 years ago now that I spied a biography on Doreen Valiente at the Seattle Esoteric Book Conference and promptly did a little dance on the spot as I bought it. I luckily had found Doreen very early in my journey, so to say I was thrilled to finally see a bio on her is an understatement. However, my joy changed to frustration as I dove in, finding the language clunky and editing leaving much to be desired. It made me angry on so many levels, as the book was just not worthy of Doreen.
Doreen Valiente was such a gifted writer and visionary. She is responsible for much of what is beautiful and soulful (IMHO) about “The Craft” today. She deserved something better, more eloquent, and better edited.
Then I heard ANOTHER biography was coming out, and I held out hope for better, stalking Edge of the Circle Books until it landed on this side of the pond. That book was “Doreen Valiente: Witch” by Philip Heselton, and published by the Centre for Pagan Studies in association with The Doreen Valiente Foundation.
Sadly though, due to my schedule, the new biography sat on my nightstand for quite a while, waiting to be read at a time where I could settle in and enjoy it. That was a REALLY long time, though somewhat appropriately happened as I was recently flying to New England to officiate the wedding of one of my students in Salem, Massachusetts.
It did not disappoint – this biography was definitely a much better step up in all the ways from the previous one. Though not perfect (though can any biography really be perfect?), it’s a much more enjoyable read that makes you feel that Doreen is in the next room over relaying over bits of her life. There’s definitely some careful conjecture to fill in the blanks about missing sections of her life – which, I wonder if only 17 years after her passing the author’s extensive research can’t find, that we may just never know. And as someone VERY familiar with Doreen’s work, I found the summary of her own books in certain sections a bit tedious, but I understand that many are probably NOT as familiar. That aside, I truly loved getting more insight into Doreen’s life, and found myself on the verge of tears a few times – the good kind.
You see, when Doreen died in 1999, I was crushed. I was personally sad I would never have the chance to meet her in person, and I was deeply concerned and heartbroken by various reports that said she had passed without friends on hand, unappreciated, or felt the recognition for the magnitude of work she had done. But neither was the case (SPOILER ALERT) – she indeed did not die alone and she did know how much she was appreciated to some degree. Nor did I know about her last partner in life, and the joy that they had together – or that she was such a tall woman!
It made me so very happy to read these things.
I also marked up the book quite a lot underlining and starring things – something I hardly EVER do to a book. But I felt there were certain messages that I needed to make note of and will come back to. “Doreen Valiente: Witch” is truly inspiring, and I recommend that anyone interested in witchcraft should read it, in addition to reading ALL of her work. It’s being distributed in the US via Llewellyn, so it’s much easier to get a hold of now then when it first came out – so go get it!
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