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Early life and careerFarrar was born in Essex in 1916. He was raised as a Christian Scientist, but gave up the religion in favour of agnosticism at age twenty[2], which he maintained until he became an adherent of witchcraft. Farrar attended the City of London School boys' school, and graduated from University College, London in 1937 with a degree in journalism. In college, Farrar had served both as president of the London University Journalism Union and editor of the London Union Magazine[2].
Farrar returned to England after 1947. He began his career in journalism, and from 1953 to 1954 worked in London's Reuters office. In 1954, Farrar joined the British Communist Party, and began reporting for the Daily Worker[2], but left both the party and the paper in protest over the Soviet response to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution[4]. For the six years following, Farrar worked for Associated British-Pathe and A. B. C. Television as a scriptwriter, and also did freelance work for the British Broadcasting Company. His writing for the BBC during the 1960's and 70's included the award-winning radio play "Watch the Wall my Darling", the children's television series "The Boy Merlin" and "Pity About the Abbey", a play for television which he co-wrote with poet John Betjeman. Farrar published his first novel in 1958, The Snake on 99. By the end of 1963 Farrar had published two more detective novels, Zero in the Gate and Death in the Wrong Bed. Farrar also wrote a romance novel, Delphine, Be a Darling, also published in 1963. In 1969, Farrar was once again working as a journalist, employed by the weekly newspaper Reveille. It was an assignment from this paper that would introduce Farrar to Wicca. Involvement in Wicca
On February 21 1970 Farrar was initiated into Alexandrian Wicca and joined the Sanders' coven.[7] Farrar met his future wife, then Janet Owen (thirty-four years his junior), in the coven. Janet Farrar asserts that the couple were both elevated to the second degree "in an unoccupied house in Sydenham" by the Sanders on October 17 1970, and that they received the third, and final, degree of initiation in their flat April 24 1971, but that these events are disputed by some Alexandrian "revisionists"[5]. What Witches Do was published in 1971. The book has been called "controversial" because of Farrar's assertion that Sanders should be "ranked above Gerald B.Gardner and alongside of Aleister Crowley and Eliphas Levi in terms of magical achievement"[2]. Farrar later backed away from the assessment. Farrar and Owen had begun running their own coven in 1971, before their third degree initiation ceremony, and were handfasted in 1972 and legally married in 1975[5]. The ceremony was attended by Farrar's two daughters and two sons from three previous marriages - his marriage to Owen was his seventh. The late 1970s saw the publication of several more novels by Farrar, all of which were occult-themed fantasy novels or science fiction. Farrar left Reveille to pursue a full-time freelance writing career in 1974. In 1976 the Farrars moved to Ireland to get away from the busy life of London[7]. They lived in County Mayo and County Wicklow, finally settling in "Herne Cottage" in Kells, County Meath. Both husband and wife went on to publish a number of "classic" and "influential"[7] books on the Wiccan religion and on coven practises. Their 1981 Eight Sabbats for Witches included material the authors claimed to be from the Alexandrian tradition's Book of Shadows[8]. The Farrars, with the support of Doreen Valiente, argued in the book that even though the publishing of this material broke their oath of secrecy, it was justified by the need to correct misinformation[8]. Janet Farrar indicates that some of the rituals contained in the couple's books were actually written by them, and that they left the Alexandrian tradition after the book's research was complete[5]. The couple co-authored four more books on Wicca. The Farrars returned to England in 1988, but by 1993 had returned to Ireland. They were joined by Gavin Bone, with whom they entered into a "polyfidelitous relationship"[9]. The three of them would co-author two more books, The Healing Craft and The Pagan Path, an investigation into the many varieties of Neopaganism.[10], and The Healing Craft. In 1999 the Farrars received the Aquarian Tabernacle Church charter for Ireland, and were ordained as third level clergy.[7] Farrar died February 7 2000 after a brief illness. BibliographyThe following books, written by Farrar as the sole author are works of fiction, with the exception of What Witches Do.
With Janet FarrarThe following are non-fiction books.
With Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone
Notes and references
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