Alex Sanders (1926-1988), was the founder of the Alexandrian tradition of Wicca, that incorporates elements of witchcraft and ceremonial magic. He was born in Birkenhead, England, to a working-class family and claimed to have been initiated into witchcraft by his grandmother at the age of seven. He worked as a medium, a laboratory assistant, and a healer before becoming involved in Wicca in the early 1960s. He initiated many people into his coven, including his second wife and high priestess, Maxine Sanders, and attracted media attention and controversy by proclaiming himself the “King of the Witches”. He also wrote several books and appeared in documentaries about witchcraft. He died of cancer in 1988 in Sussex, England.
