Wicca 103-Who was Doreen Valiente?

[icymist]

Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente was born on January 4, 1922, in Mitcham, South London, England, to parents Harry and Edith Dominy, both of whom were Christians. Doreen was convinced at the age of 13, that she was capable of performing Magic; she cast a spell to protect her mother. She informed her parents of her actions, however, and they promptly sent her to a convent school. This only lasted until she was 15 years old; she left the school and refused to go back.

In 1941, while working as a secretary in Wales, Doreen married a Navy Seaman named Joanis Vlachopoulos. In 1943, he was declared missing and presumed dead.

In 1944 she married Casimiro Valiente, a Spaniard living in exile. She became further interested in Occultism. Doreen and her husband moved to Bournemouth, near the New Forest, in 1952. She began corresponding with Gerald Gardner, after reading an article about the New Forest Coven. She requested to join the Coven. He refused at first, but later personally initiated her in 1953. As we discussed in the last article, she shortly became the High Priestess, but disagreed with Gardner on publicity issues, causing a Schism in the Wiccan Movement. She and Gardner, however, remained the closest of friends.

After Gardner's passing, she was initiated into Robert Cochrane's Coven, the "Tribe of Tubal-Cain", but she separated from him due to his strong opposition towards the Gardnerians.
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