Publication Date:November 23, 2007 Shipping:Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Promotion:Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout.Terms and Conditions Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Description One of the world's most influential and respected witches, Maxine first caught worldwide public attention while married to the celebrated - and controversial - 'King of the Witches', Alex Sanders. A highly respected Priestess of the Sacred Mysteries, in her role of teacher she has encouraged, enabled and inspired students of the Priesthood to take on the conscious mantle of their spiritual potential. In this long awaited autobiography Maxine reflects on her life and magical experiences spanning Modern Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Gods and Goddesses, Seasonal rituals, Sabbats, Ceremonial magic, Cabbala and The Sacred Magic of the Angels. This is a unique, poignant and often humorous memoir of an extraordinary life, by a rare, courageous and inspiring woman.
A must read book from one of Witchcraft's Great Elders!August 22, 2008 I so looked forward to reading this book and was not disapointed. Maxine Sanders has written a truly wonderful autobiography of her life before and after meeting Alex Sanders, and revealed quite a few personal revelations in the process. She takes us through the trials and tribulations of her life with Alex while being under a "media microscope" and how difficult it was to find a sense of balance in the whirlwind that revolved around them at the time. Through her writing, she allowed us a glimpse of what it was like to try and raise a family,run a coven, teach The Craft in a responsible way to the flood-gate of people that wanted to learn, endure the masses of needy people that came knocking on her door and calling at all hours, and of course dealing with Alex and the media circus that came as a result of being the wife & High Priestess to "The King of The Witches". Her endurance & fortitude are truly phenomenal! Today, we take much for granted, because Maxine, Alex and many others paved the way for us. This book will help readers understand the amount of pressure our Craft Elders were under back in those early days when Witchcraft was coming out of the shadows, so to speak. Maxine writes quite frankly about mistakes that were made and the lessons learned from them. This book covers many aspects of Maxine's life. She talks about not only her involvement with Witchcraft, but also of her involvement with an Egyptian Magickal Order she was initiated into earlier on. She wrote about being advisors on the film "Eye Of The Devil" and meeting up and coming actress Sharon Tate. Maxine reveals what occured between Alex and Sharon during filming and insight into the aftermath that followed. I found myself reading & re-reading certain chapters over & over again, enthralled with what Maxine had written. Her honesty about her relationship with Alex and her life overall is to be commended. This is a truly remarkable book that I would highly recommend everyone to read. Thank-you Maxine for all you have done & all that you continue to do!
InsightfulJuly 31, 2008 This was a very insightful book into the lives of the progenitors of the Alexandrian lineage. Brings to light some interesting details that many may not have been aware of. A wonderful autobiography from an exceptional woman.
Slaying those sacred cows with style!April 1, 2008 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The long awaited autobiography of Maxine Sanders does not pull any punches! Until now the only available works were the difficult to obtain Maxine: Witch Queen or the almost impossibly elusive Ecstatic Mother. The influence of Maxine Sanders on the development of the Wiccan tradition has long been overshadowed by Alex Sanders and others, when in fact Maxine has more claim to being the "first lady of Wicca" than any other high priestess in the history of the modern Craft movement.
This book reflects Maxine's character. It is not an easy read, and it certainly slays a herd of sacred cows! Nevertheless, shining through the humour and sadness found in equal measure, is a sense of the inspiration which flows through Maxine and has inspired so many people into the Wiccan path. As can be seen from the accounts of her life with Alex, if he was the mind, she was the heart. Maxine was the pre-eminent priestess during the decades when Wicca went from being a small elite club to being a global spirituality.
So what stands out in Maxine's tale of her magickal life and the people who have populated it? Her early life and the influence of her family in shaping Maxine's future are well documented. However it is when she reaches the influence of Alex and how the two of them interacted that things quickly become more revealing (happily this is from chapter 3 onwards!). Maxine is very honest about how her shyness was almost painfully clear during her early exposure to the media. What is more surprising is her revelation that Sharon Tate was initiated into Wicca during the filming of `Eye of the Devil'.
It would be too easy to recount lots of fascinating details from this book, presented from a unique perspective from the point of view of the development of Wiccan and modern paganism. However it is more appropriate to look at what the book says about Maxine. Here is a woman of courage, who has been to hell and back many times, and is still around to tell the tale. Not only that but she has grown strong in the fires of testing which she has been repeatedly exposed to through her life. Maxine is also very honest, admitting her own mistakes and failings in a way that many people would find difficult to.
Firechild is a wonderful book that is very difficult to put down. It will give you a completely different view of the development of Wicca, and many of the people within it. As such it is a very important book for everyone interested in the history of modern paganism (whichever tradition) and of course everyone whose work, beliefs and practices have been inspired, in one way or another, by Maxine - which quite possibly includes all of us.(Only those suffering from extreme arrogance or who prefer to bury their head in the sand, will tell themselves differently)
FoundationalFebruary 29, 2008 8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Fire Child is one of those books that are necessary to an understanding of fondational things. In this book the reader can catch a glimpse of Wicca in the early days of the Alexandrian and Gardnerian period. Much has been written about Gerald Gardner, but comparatively little on Alex Sanders. Fire Child helps to correct this oversight, and brings to light two important figures - Maxine and Alex.
I think the book is an important contribution, and is a good study to add to a history of the rise & fall of Wicca. Old Timer's in the Craft will most likely enjoy the memories stirred by Fire Child, and newbies can catch a glimpse of Wicca before it became diluted and heavily customized by a new generation of practitioners.
The Craft community has recently lost several of its elders, such as Doreen Valiente and Stewart Farrar. Others have long ago left the Craft for a variety of personal reasons. As Maxine notes near the end of the book, the growth of numbers in Wicca has not kept up with the lineage trained & available teachers, which has left much in the hands of the "self-initiated" who turned to an eclectic gathering of what is available in print. It is encouraging to read in Fire Child that some elders are still with us, and that Maxine remains a witch, and still believes in the old magic.
After the Witch Queen Steps Down: Maxine Sanders' "Fire Child"February 17, 2008 7 out of 9 found this review helpful
In the 1960s, when Pagan Witchcraft started to gain widespread media attention, Maxine Sanders (b. 1948?) was one of its visible faces. A tall willowy young woman with bleached blonde hair, she was married in 1965 to Alex Sanders (1926-1988) for whom the Alexandrian tradition is named.
He was older, charming, verbal - she was photographed, he was recorded. That's her on the cover of my early hardback edition of Stewart Farrar's 1971 book What Witches Do, long hair flowing, eyes downcast towards the chalice.
Now she talks -- in print as opposed to classes and lectures -- in a valuable autobiography, Fire Child: The Life & Magic of Maxine Sanders, 'Witch Queen' The book is not what it could have been. Material is not always straight-forwardly organized, punctuation is erratic and unclear, and words usedly mistakenly ("taught" for "taut," that sort of thing). I fault the publisher.
Still, this is an important book. Sanders gave her life to the Craft in a way that few have, and she admits she paid a price: two failed marriages (Sanders, in the end, preferred men), financial hardship in the early years, breast cancer, and, most of all, the hardship of being always on-call in her role as priestess.
"Marriage with Alex had been rather like a working relationship. Unconsciously, we sacrificed the more personal and sharing aspects of a normal marriage."
To read Fire Child is follow a trail of ups and initiations, rituals and happenings, magical politics, festivals and and visions.
Yet it is also a frank admission of the dangers of magickal religion. Coming from a background of intense, small-group work, she is prone to opinions such as these:
"The modern Craft is a victim of its own success. Its tremendous growth since the heady days of the 1960s has outstripped the availability of experienced and reputable teachers, who in former days would themselves have served an arduous apprenticeship before being judged worthy to passon the tradition - and then only to a few."
(And she admits that even in her own group that rule was not always followed.)
Witchcraft is so often perceived as a young person's religion that it is good to read a mature priestess's thoughts. Maxine Sander has gone through the fires - media celebrity, high-profile religious leadership, magic, suffering. Her book is valuable - "full and candid," to quote Ronald Hutton's cover blurb. I recommend it.
