History of Wicca Book of Shadows, adding further degrees of initiation which were required before members could found their own covens. Interest outstripped the ability of the mostly British-based covens to train and propagate members; the beliefs of the religion spread faster by the printed word or word of mouth than the initiatory system was prepared to handle. Also in the 1960s, non-Gardnerian forms of Witchcraft (which are sometimes viewed as Wicca, or sometimes as "Traditional Witchcraft") made their way to the USA. The American Joseph Bearwalker Wilson corresponded with the English Robert Cochrane prior to Cochrane's ritual suicide in 1966, and from
Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca as equally valid, lineaged, proper Initiations and part of our Tradition." Because of the acceptance of same-sex initiations, some elders of Alexandrian Wicca do not recognize Chthonioi-Alexandrian tradition as "Alexandrian". Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca is a Boston-area family of Alexandrian Wicca-derived covens directly downline from Coven Chthonioi. Coven Chthonioi grew out of the Alexandrian practice of its founders in the 1970s, has an unbroken lineage back to Alex Sanders and Maxine Sanders, and has been in continuous operation since 1974. This coven is the originator of the cycle of rituals that has become known as the Book of