Eleanor Bone

Eleanor Ray Margaret Bone (born December 15, 1911 in Fleet , Hampshire , England , † September 21, 2001 ) was a predominant advocate of Wicca as a witch and high priestess since the 1960s .

Eleanor Ray Bone was one of Gerald Gardner's Wiccan high priestesses and played an important role in the development of modern day Wicca. She is known as the "Matriarch of British Witchcraft" for having trained and introduced some of the most important figures in Wicca in the 1960s and 1970s: Prudence Jones, Chris and Vivianne Crowley , Madge and Arthur Worthington, and John and Kathy (Caitlen) Matthews .

Youth and education

Eleanor Bone was born Eleanor Margaret Tilley on December 15, 1911 in Fleet, Hampshire. Her friends and acquaintances called her Ray. Her mother Emma Tilley (née Roper) was a school principal. Her father, Charlie Tilly, was the administrator of a local golf club at the time of her birth and is later listed as a retired colonel on her 1958 marriage certificate.

Not much is known about Eleanor Bone's childhood and adolescence, apart from the few things she revealed in newspaper interviews. Accordingly, she developed an interest in an alternative religion at the age of eight after her cat died and was told by the pastor that animals do not go to heaven.

Eleanor had two illegitimate children prior to World War II with the married music director of a theater company, Jacob Posner, a son named John (born November 17, 1933) and a daughter named Francesca. It is possible that she was married several times because when she married her last husband, William "Bill" Bone, she used the surname Newton.

Eleanor and Bill Bone were married on July 5, 1958. Bill was sixteen years younger than Eleanor and a professional instrument maker. At the time of the marriage, Eleanor Bone was already working at the Brackenburn Rest Home, a retirement home in Tooting Bec, London. Bill Bone moved into Eleanor's house on Trinity Road in Streatham, south London, which was near the home.

First contact with witches from 1941

Eleanor left London in 1941 because of the constant bombing and found work in Cumbria in the north of England. There she came under the care of an elderly couple. One evening, while discussing reincarnation, this couple revealed to her that they were both hereditary witches. In August 1941, Eleanor was introduced to the witchcraft. In the next four years until the end of the war in 1945, she learned and practiced traditional witchcraft. After the war ended, she moved back to London.

Relation to Gerald Gardner

From the early to mid 1950s, Gerald Gardner gained prominence through the press and Gardnerian Wicca covens formed across the country. Eleonor wrote to Gerald Gardner in late 1959 or early 1960, but he referred her to the Bricket Wood Coven in London. Although she was initiated and accepted into the first degree there, she couldn't make friends with the very young people. Jack Bracelin, the high priest of the Coven, referred her back to Gerald Gardner. He then took care of her personally, he introduced her to the second and third degrees. In 1961 she became the high priestess of her own coven in Tooting Bec, London. Her witch name was Artemis. You initiated u. a. Vivianne and Chris Crowley, John and Kathy (Caitlen) Matthews, Prudence Jones and Madge and Arthur Worthington. Madge and Arthur Worthington, in turn, later founded the Whitecroft Coven in south London, which was ultimately able to secure the continuation of the Gardner Wicca tradition in the United Kingdom through its large number of initiations.

After the death of Gerald Gardner on February 12, 1964, the three most important high priestesses Monique Wilson , Patricia Crowther and Eleanor took on the task of representing the Gardner Wicca tradition in public.

In June 1964, Eleanor invited a newspaper photographer to photograph parts of a secret initiation ceremony in a remote cabin deep in the Hertfordshire forest. As usual in the Gardnerian Wicca tradition, the ritual was celebrated in the nude.

In 1966, Eleanor and Patricia Crowther came together to discredit Alex Sanders , who had acquired the title "King of Witches" and founded his own Wicca tradition. In the same year Eleanor became an honorary member of the Oxford University Liberal Club.

In 1968 she traveled to Tunis to the grave of Gerald Gardner. When she learned that the cemetery was about to be closed and turned into a city park, she raised funds and arranged for the grave to be moved to a cemetery near the ancient city of Carthage.

Eleanor led her coven in London for around two decades. She appeared regularly in newspapers and magazines. She made a dignified impression and worked hard to improve the reputation of traditional witchcraft. During this time she had trained a great many people and helped them build their own coven. Two of these covens are noteworthy, the Whitecroft Coven and the Brighton Coven. Almost all Gardnerian Wicca covens in Europe come from these two covens.

In the late 1970s, Eleanor Bone retired to Alston, Cumbria. She took over a nursing home there, but after a few years it had to be closed for financial reasons. They then moved to Garrigill, just a few miles from the nursing home. Over time, she became estranged from her husband, who continued to live in the house. Bill died on August 24, 1984.

After the death of her husband, she founded another coven in Garrigill, which lasted about ten years. Her son John visited her regularly until he passed away in 1999. In the last few years she lived withdrawn and lonely. She no longer had any contact with the Wicca community in London. She passed away in her sleep on September 21, 2001. Eleanor died almost penniless. Their belongings had to be sold to cover the funeral expenses. She was buried in an anonymous grave in the Garrigill cemetery.

In 2014, Wiccan supporters established the Eleanor Bone Memorial Fund to fund a headstone and the inscriptions. In 2015 the tombstone was erected.

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• Taken from the English Wikipedia and various English websites and freely translated.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Glenda Banks As a Matron and as a Witch , interview with Ray Bone, Tit-Bits, week ending 6 June 1964
2. ↑ controverscial.com Eleanor Bone
3. ↑ http://eleanorbone.org/biography/