Robert Cochrane (witch)

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cursed them. He said that his father had practised witchcraft, but that he kept it a secret, and made his wife promise to not tell his son, Robert. Despite her oath, according to Cochrane, after his father's death, her mother did in fact tell him, at which he embraced his heritage. He asserted that his Aunt Lucy actually taught him all about the faith. However, these claims would later be denounced by members of his own family. His nephew, Martin Lloyd, has refuted that the family were ever Witches, insisting that they were Methodists, while his wife Jane also later asserted that Cochrane's claims to have come from a hereditary Witch-Cult were bogus.

440:), had embarked on; they appeared on television and in tabloid newspapers to present their tradition as the face of Wicca in Britain, which angered Cochrane, whose own tradition differed from Gardnerism in focus. Second, Cochrane disliked Gardnerism's focus on ritual liturgy and magic, instead of emphasising a mystical search for gnosis, while third, Cochrane appeared jealous of the success that Gardnerism had achieved, which was far in advance of that achieved by his own tradition. The fourth point purported by Doyle White was that Cochrane might have been hostile to Gardnerism as a result of a poor experience with it in the past. 1689: 460:. The two became friends, and Valiente joined the Clan of Tubal Cain. She later remarked that there were certain things in this coven that were better than those in Gardner's, for instance she thought that " believed in getting close to nature as few Gardnerian witches at that time seemed to do". She also commented on how Cochrane did not seem to want much publicity, as Gardner had, something she admired. However, she eventually became dissatisfied with Cochrane over some of his practices. 564:". Historian Ethan Doyle White asserted that Cochrane left behind "an ever-expanding legacy", noting that by the 21st century, he had become an "almost tutelary figure" within the Traditional Witchcraft movement, and warrants the title of "Father of Traditional Witchcraft" more than any other occultist. Elsewhere, Doyle White asserted that Cochrane had been "without doubt the most influential" of Gardner's rivals in the mid-20th century nmoWiccan movement. 428:, to be a con man and sexual deviant. He referred to the tradition as "Gardnerism" and its adherents as "Gardnerians", the latter of which would become the standard term for such practitioners. Upon examining Cochrane's writings, Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White has identified four possible reasons for this animosity. First, Cochrane disliked the publicity seeking that a variety of prominent Gardnerians (among them Gardner, 475:

with a new woman who had joined the coven, and, according to other coven members, did not care that his wife Jane knew. In May 1966, Jane left Cochrane, initiating divorce proceedings and considering performing a death rite against her husband involving the sacrifice of a black cockerel. Without her,

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as a part of the mythos for his tradition. He and Jane later worked as bargees transporting coal around the English Midlands, taking an interest in the folklore of the Bargee community, later believing that it contained traces of the "Old Faith". By the start of the 1960s, he was living with Jane and

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He began to claim to have been born to a hereditary family of witches whose practices stretched back to at least the 17th century; these statements have later been dismissed. He subsequently went on to found a tradition known as The Clan of Tubal Cain, through which he propagated his Craft. In 1966,

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of the Gardnerians", at which point Valiente in her own words, "rose up and challenged him in the presence of the rest of the coven. I told him that I was fed up with listening to all this senseless malice, and that, if a 'Night of the Long Knives' was what his sick little soul craved, he could get

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in Central London. White and Stannard joined this nascent coven, the latter taking up the position of Summoner. Describing his creation of his Witchcraft tradition, later Maid of the Clan Shani Oates remarked that "Like any true craftsman, he was able to mold raw material into a magical synthesis,

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since at least the 17th century, and that two of them had been executed for it. Claiming that his great-grandfather had been "the last Grand Master of the Staffordshire witches", he said that his grandparents had abandoned the Craft and converted to Methodism, for which his great-grandfather had

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to survive, with a very complex and evolved philosophy that has strong affinities with many Christian beliefs. The concept of a sacrificial god was not new to the ancient world; it is not new to a witch... I come from an old witch family. My mother told me of things that had been told to her

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In 1964, further individuals joined the Clan. Among these was Evan John Jones, who would later become the Magister of The Clan of Tubal Caine, and an accomplished author upon the subject of witchcraft. Jones had met Cochrane through his wife Jane, as they both worked at the same company.

170:'. The People are formed in clans or families and describe themselves by the local name of the Deity. I am a member of the People of Goda – the Clan of Tubal Cain. We were known locally as 'witches', 'the Good People', Green gowns (females only), 'Horsemen' and finally Wizards." 33: 575:) outlining his version of the Cochrane tradition. Whilst there was no objective way to validate Cochrane's claim to be a hereditary witch, the experience of being in his coven was that of being one of "Diana's darling crew" (Jones, cited in Clifton, 2006). 578:

A group called The Regency was formed by Ronald "Chalky" White and his friend, George Winter, to preserve and continue Cochrane's tradition; it eventually disbanded in 1978 but recently a website has been set up to preserve The Regency memory.

514:. He had told Glass that it depicted a witch's ritual bowl that had been in his family for many centuries. Valiente revealed that this was a lie by Cochrane – she had herself, in fact, bought that very item for him only the year before in a 249:

contact him; he received a response from the schoolteacher Ronald Milland White, known to his friends as "Chalky". White then introduced him to George Arthur Stannard (also known as George Winter), who ran a betting shop near

296:' book of the same name. The God was associated with fire, the underworld and time, and was described as "the goat-god of fire, craft, lower magics, fertility and death". The God was known by several names, most notable 559:

considered him to be "one of the most fascinating, enigmatic and controversial figures of the modern Craft revival". John of Monmouth claimed that Cochrane was "the man behind, what is now called, 'Traditional

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Valiente described Cochrane as "a remarkable man", asserting that he "had something" which could be termed "magical power, charisma or what you will. He may have been devious; but he was no charlatan."

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According to Jonathan Tapsell, Cochrane was "an unsung giant of modern Wicca" due to the fact that he "gave inspiration to those who came later to escape the narrow confines of Gardner's philosophy".

338:, Bowers is responsible for the introduction of this into Wicca), a cup, a stone (used as a whetstone to sharpen the knife), and a ritual cord worn by the coven members. Cochrane never made use of a 145:

into a family of eight children. He later described it as a "slum", though this has been refuted by family members, who considered it a "respectable working class area". There, he lived through the

2676: 217:." He worked as a typographical draughtsman in an office, but disliked his job. He founded a witches' coven, but it soon broke up as one member died and he fell out with another. 567:

Following Cochrane's death, the Mantle of Magister of the Clan of Tubal Cain was given to Evan John Jones. Another of Cochrane's initiates, Evan John Jones wrote a book,

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Whilst they used ritual tools, they differed somewhat from those used by Gardner's coven. The main five tools in Cochrane's Craft were a ritual knife, a staff known as a

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eve 1966, and died nine days later in hospital without recovering consciousness. He left a suicide note expressing his intent to kill himself "while of sound mind".

149:. Some of his family emigrated to Australia, while he went to art school, living a bohemian lifestyle. His aunt would later claim that he first took an interest in 2669: 233:

Cochrane formed his second coven, which provided the basis for the Clan of Tubal Cain, in the early 1960s. Searching for members, he placed an advert in the

510:. Valiente claimed that Cochrane had given the American witch Justine Glass a photograph of a copper platter with '1724' printed on it for her 1965 book 2662: 600:. Each has its own interpretation and expression of the legacy of Robert Cochrane, although they may not necessarily completely agree with each other. 463:

Cochrane often insulted and mocked Gardnerian witches, which annoyed Valiente. This reached such an extreme that at one point in 1966 he called for "a

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publication. In it, he outlined his beliefs regarding Witchcraft, and first publicly made the claim that he came from a hereditary line of Witches.

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A similarly Cochrane-inspired tradition was the Roebuck, an inner mystery of the godhead whose lore is also used by the "Ancient Keltic Church".

323:, as Gardner's did. Cochrane himself disliked Gardner and the Gardnerians and often ridiculed them, even coining the term "Gardnerian" himself. 1638: 188:. He admitted to having a violent temper in his youth, but calmed after meeting Jane, whom he would later marry. For a time he worked for 3628: 1425:

Doyle White, Ethan (2011). "Robert Cochrane and the Gardnerian Craft: Feuds, Secrets, and Mysteries in Contemporary British Witchcraft".

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Cochrane did not write any books in his lifetime, though some of his collected writings and letters have been assembled since his death:

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Cochrane arose to public prominence in November 1963, when he published an article titled "Genuine Witchcraft is Defended" in

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on with it, but he could get on with it alone, because I had better things to do." She left the coven and never came back.

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based upon teachings of Ruth Wynn Owen, a tradition taught by a man he refers to as Sean, and Robert Cochrane's teaching.

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The numerological number '1724' (a possible misprint in the book), was explained by Doreen Valiente in her 1989 book

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As noted by Michael Howard, "factual details about Cochrane's early life are scant". He was born in an area between

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movement. Ever since his death, a number of Neopagan and magical groups have continued to adhere to his teachings.

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Other works have been published about Cochrane based upon his teachings, and on his Craft, or based upon his ideas

213:; he did not like the neighbours, considering them "the biggest load of monkeys there have been trained since the 2636: 414: 184:, but went absent without leave; as punishment, he was sentenced to 90 days imprisonment in a military prison in 3563: 3265: 2631: 2169: 319:, or naked, whereas Cochrane's followers wore black hooded robes. Similarly, Cochrane's coven did not practice 154: 107: 2312: 1592:(Reineke Verlag, 2004) gives a scrupulously researched account of Bowers' suicide from contemporary documents. 1290: 3200: 2992: 2796: 2534: 424:

Cochrane took a particularly hostile attitude toward the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca, deeming its founder,

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or similar such books, but worked from a "traditional way of doing things", which was both "spontaneous and

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grandmother by her grandmother. I have two ancestors who died by hanging for the practice of witchcraft."

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Doyle White, Ethan (2010). "The Meaning of "Wicca": A Study in Etymology, History and Pagan Politics".

1320: 457: 429: 312:. Cochrane's tradition held that these two deities had a son, the Horn Child, who was a young sun god. 2482: 1704: 649:" The Star Crossed Serpent Vol One by Evan John Jones, Edited by Shani Oates, Mandrake of Oxford 2011 1600: 1276: 3598: 3459: 2081: 2005: 1985: 1818: 1803: 583: 496: 464: 189: 106:

Born in a working-class family in West London, he became interested in occultism after attending a

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Tubelo's Green Fire: Mythos, Ethos, Female, Male and Priestly Mysteries of the Clan of Tubal Cain

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Genuine Witchcraft is Explained: The Secret History of the Royal Windsor Coven & the Regency

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creating a marvelous working system, at once instinctively true and intrinsically beautiful."

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However, differences between the two also existed, for instance Gardnerians always worked

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and Fate, expressed as the Pale Faced Goddess, named Hekate. The Goddess was viewed as "

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Later, in the 1960s, he claimed that members of his family had been practitioners of

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