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Pagan Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Christina Oakley Harrington
Written and compiled by George Knowles
Christina Oakley Harrington is a respected historian, researcher and academic commentator on the history of Paganism and Witchcraft in the UK and Ireland. A Wiccan High Priestess, she is a founding director of “Treadwell’s Bookshop”, one of the UK’s premier Occult bookshops located in Bloomsbury, London.
Born in America to an English father, a Geologist working for the United Nations, and American mother, an amateur Anthropologist, her parents were dedicated to Third World economic development. As a result, Christina was raised mainly in West Africa, were she recalls attending her first religious ceremony at the age of five, that of a young girl’s initiation rite in Northern Liberia. Later the family moved to Burma where she experienced Buddhism, and through the early 1970’s lived in Chile during the turbulent rule of General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.
At the age of 15 Christina returned to England to completed her formal education at an American style academy, a transition she refers to as “a severe culture shock where they had strange tribes, like football teams, cheerleaders and computer geeks.” She then entered University studying for a BSc degree in International Politics and History. Her interest in Politics was negligible however, and she spent most of her time reading Latin and Medieval poetry, of which she was particularly fond of the American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892), and his “Leaves of Grass” poetry.
Also at University and since her early 20s, Christina has been a pagan, but how did she find paganism? During an interview she has stated “I was heartened to discover Europe’s native religious traditions”, and further explained: “Well, I had always had this ‘tree thing’, Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass. I was a failed Buddhist, I liked to drink and smoke and enjoyed sex too much for that, and a friend suggested I read a book on paganism. I did and thought “Oh God, this is what I am!”
After graduating University, Christina spent the next few years working in Corporate business, before returning to study at University College London (UCL) and there completing a PhD degree in Medieval History. She then began a career in academia and throughout the 1990s was an Assistant Professor (lecturer) in Medieval and Theological History at the University of Surrey. During the course of her tenure, Christina received a sponsored ‘University Research Fellowship’ from Queens University, Belfast, the result of which was the publication of a book in 2002 entitled “Women in a Celtic Church” (*for a review see below).
While Christina loved her work teaching at the University of Surrey, with growing academic interest in the ‘History of Paganism’ inspired by books and scholarly works from the likes of Aidan A. Kelly in America, and Ronald Hutton (Professor of History at Bristol University) here in the UK, she began seeking a place where she could develop and advance such academic interest. To this end she founded and opened “Treadwell’s Bookshop” in 2003.
Treadwell’s Bookshop at 34 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London
A traditional old style bookshop specialising in Occult, Magick and Pagan literature, Treadwell’s also stocked the usual magickal accessories of wands, herbal potions, tarot cards and incense. Under Christina’s guidance however, Treadwell’s became more than just a bookshop, for it has and evolved into a cultural centre focused on building bridges between the esoteric community and the wider worlds of academia. It is now a place where people with an interest in the Occult, Paganism and Witchcraft can comfortably meet and exchange ideas.
Using her contacts in academic circles Christina regularly invites speakers from nearby Oxford and Cambridge Universities to talk on specialized subjects, as well as prominent authors and practitioners from the wider Pagan community to share their knowledge and experience with interested audiences. Today the shop is host to numerous evenings and weekend talks, lectures and classes covering all manner of esoteric subjects. Her mission statement when starting the shop was: “To provide a place for people who have a Spiritual, Occult or Pagan interest, a place that can link the Pagan and Occult world to the world of Literature, Art, and Philosophy”, and this she has achieved in abundance.
Aside from running the bookshop, as a Wiccan Priestess Christina conducts open rituals in Central London, serves on the central committee of the Pagan Federation UK, and is currently an editor of its magazine “The Pagan Dawn”. She is also co-editor with Rob Ansell of “Abraxas: A Journal of Esoteric Studies”. Well known to the media as a spokesperson on Paganism and Witchcraft, Christina was featured in the documentary film “Celtic Legends”, and has appeared on the “Richard and Judy” television talk show in the UK. She has also given interviews to the BBC World Service, Radio 4 and 5, and Resonance Radio, and been mentioned in such national newspapers and magazines as Stern, Marie Claire, Time Out and Women’s Weekly. She is also a frequent guest speaker at national and international academic conferences.
More recently, at a time when small bookshops are failing due to the popularity of the internet, and when those still running are struggling to survive, Treadwell’s bookshop is expanding. At the start of 2011 the shop was relocated to larger premises at 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1.
Treadwell’s - the new shop at 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WCI.
According to Christina, “Treadwell’s had to expand and relocate from its old premises in Covent Garden. The spiritual centre of London is the old British Library in the heart of the British Museum. There is a tradition for people going to Bloomsbury looking for knowledge, for inspiration - both artistic and creative - and it is here where people look for others who might share their desire for intellectual freedom. I aspire to carry on that tradition.”
End
“Women in a Celtic Church”
(Oxford University Press - May 2002)
*A Review:
A history of women in the early Irish church has never before been written, despite perennial interest in the early Christianity of Celtic areas, and indeed the increasing interest in gender and spirituality generally. This book covers the development of women's religious professions in the primitive church in St Patrick's era and the development of large women's monasteries such as Kildare, Clonbroney, Cloonburren, and Killeedy. It traces its subject through the heyday of the seventh century, through the Viking era, and the Culdee reforms, to the era of the Europeanization of the twelfth century. The place of women and their establishments is considered against the wider Irish background and compared with female religiosity elsewhere in early medieval Europe. The author demonstrates that while Ireland was distinct it was still very much part of the wider world of Western Christendom, and it must be appreciated as such. Grounded in the primary material of the period the book places in the foreground many largely unknown Irish texts in order to bring them to the attention of scholars in related fields. Throughout the study the author notes widespread ideas about Celtic women, pagan priestesses, and Saint Brigit, considering how these perceptions came about in light of the texts and historiographical traditions of the previous centuries.
Sources:
The Book of English Magic” by Phillip Carr Gomm and Richard Heygate http://www.treadwells-london.com/ http://www.esoteric-e.co.uk/popup_harrington.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RuHhyQFYnI http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2513122.Women_in_a_Celtic_Church http://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.wicca/browse_thread/thread/c96049962c2030da http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/mar/15/treadwells-bookshop-london-esoteric Plus others to many too mention.
Best wishes and Blessed Be
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Site Contents - Links to all Pages
A Universal Message:
Let there be peace in the world - Where have all the flowers gone?
About me: My Personal Page / My Place in England / My Family Tree (Ancestry)
Wicca & Witchcraft
Wicca/Witchcraft / What is Wicca / What is Magick
Traditional Writings:
The Wiccan Rede / Charge of the Goddess / Charge of the God / The Three-Fold Law (includes The Law of Power and The Four Powers of the Magus) / The Witches Chant / The Witches Creed / Descent of the Goddess / Drawing Down the Moon / The Great Rite Invocation / Invocation of the Horned God / The 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief / The Witches Rede of Chivalry / A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality
Correspondence Tables:
Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals
Traditions:
Traditions Part 1 - Alexandrian Wicca / Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) / Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) / Blue Star Wicca / British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) / Celtic Wicca / Ceremonial Magic / Chaos Magic / Church and School of Wicca / Circle Sanctuary / Covenant of the Goddess (COG) / Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) / Cyber Wicca / Dianic Wicca / Eclectic Wicca / Feri Wicca /
Traditions Part 2 - Gardnerian Wicca / Georgian Tradition / Henge of Keltria / Hereditary Witchcraft / Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.) / Kitchen Witch (Hedge Witch) / Minoan Brotherhood and Minoan Sisterhood Tradition / Nordic Paganism / Pagan Federation / Pectic-Wita / Seax-Wica / Shamanism / Solitary / Strega / Sylvan Tradition / Vodoun or Voodoo / Witches League of Public Awareness (WLPA) /
Other things of interest:
Gods and Goddesses (Greek
Mythology) / Esbats &
Full Moons / Links
to Personal Friends & Resources / Wicca/Witchcraft
Resources / What's a spell? /
Circle Casting and
Sacred Space / Pentagram
- Pentacle / Marks
of a Witch / The Witches
Power / The Witches Hat
/ An
esoteric guide to visiting London / Satanism
/ Pow-wow
/ The
Unitarian Universalist Association / Numerology: Part 1
/ Part 2 / Part
3 / A
history of the Malleus Maleficarum: includes: Pope
Innocent VIII /
The
papal Bull /
The
Malleus Maleficarum /
An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum
/ The letter of approbation
/ Johann
Nider’s Formicarius /
Jacob
Sprenger /
Heinrich Kramer /
Stefano Infessura
/ Montague Summers /
The Waldenses
/ The Albigenses
/
The Hussites / The
Native American Sun Dance
/ Shielding (Occult
and Psychic Protection) /
Sabbats and Festivals:
The Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)
Rituals contributed by Crone:
Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon
Tools:
Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing
Animals:
Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar and Totem Animals) / Antelope / Bats / Crow / Fox / Frog and Toads / Goat / Honeybee / Kangaroo / Lion / Owl / Phoenix / Rabbits and Hares / Raven / Robin Redbreast / Sheep / Spider / Squirrel / Swans / Unicorn / Wild Boar / Wolf / Serpent / Pig / Stag / Horse / Mouse / Cat / Rats / Unicorn
Trees:
In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder
Sacred Sites:
Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /
Rocks and Stones:
Stones - History, Myths and Lore
Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:
Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble
Wisdom and Inspiration:
Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods / I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /
Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:
Murdered by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark
Old Masters of Academia: (Our Ancestors)
Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras / Paracelsus / Abramelin the Mage / Archimedes / Agrippa / Socrates / Aristotle
Biographies
A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People (Ancient, Past and Present)
(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)
Pagan
Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Aidan A Kelly / Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” / Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya / Allan Kardec (Spiritism) / Alphonsus de Spina / Amber K / Ann Moura / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Balthasar Bekker / Biddy Early / Barbara Vickers / Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christopher Penczak / Christina Oakley Harrington / Cornelius Loos / Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Donald Michael Kraig / Doreen Valiente / Dorothy Morrison / Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Edain McCoy / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake / Fiona Horne / Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Herman Slater - Horrible Herman / Heinrich Kramer / Isaac Bonewits / Israel Regardie / Ivo Domínguez Jr. / Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick / James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches / Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone / Jean Bodin / Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" / Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim - the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred / John Michael Greer / John Score / Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" / Laurie Cabot - "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Lodovico Maria Sinistrari / Ludwig Lavater / Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" / Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” / Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Martin Antoine Del Rio / Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” / Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set / Monique Wilson / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellars / Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school / Peter Binsfeld / Philip Heselton / Raven Grimassi / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Richard Baxter / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" / Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Rossell Hope Robbins / Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) / Rudolf Steiner / Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - (includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) / Thomas Ady / T. Thorn Coyle / Vera Chapman / Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / Walter Ernest Butler / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest /
Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)
"FAIR USE NOTICE"While I have taken due care and diligence to credit all sources where possible, this website may contain copyrighted material which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. My use of making such material available here is done so in my efforts to advance our understanding of religious discrimination, the environmental and social justice issues etc. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this website for purposes of your own then you must obtain permission from the relevant copyright owner yourself.Any queries please contact me at email - George@controverscial.com
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