|
The Anderson Craft Tradition is an initiatory form of Witchcraft.
This means that initiation is required for full participation in the tradition. Furthermore, initiation and training are available only through existing initiates.
The tradition is sometimes referred to as "Anderson Feri":
In the 1970s the Andersons wrote of their Craft as a "Fairy" or Pictish Tradition. At some point in the 1990s, they began using the spelling "Feri" to differentiate their tradition from unrelated groups using similar terms (Faery Wicca, Radical Faeries, R. J. Stewart, et cetera).
The Andersons also taught that "fe" means "to be psychic and the science of doing magic," and "ri" means "a specialist." Thus, "Feri" denotes someone who specializes in psychic skills and doing magic.
The Andersons often referred to their tradition simply as "the Craft." Mandorla has stopped using the term Feri in order to avoid confusion with other groups.
The modern roots of the Anderson Craft Tradition stretch back to several sources.
These include a coven of pre-Gardnerian Witches active in southern Oregon in the 1930s, a group of Haitian migrant workers practicing Vodou in southern Oregon around the same time, and a form of hereditary Southern folk magic dating back to the late 1800s. Elements of Hawaiian and Native American lore were also present at an early date. Other material has been added to this matrix over time, but there remains a core unique to Feri.
Although Victor and Cora Anderson are acknowledged as the modern founders of their tradition, they considered it a survival of Stone Age religion.
Victor drew no distinction between his tradition and the earliest forms of human magic. According to him, Witchcraft was born when humans stepped past the neighborhood of the known into the world of the unknown. This ability to step into the unknown is a birthright all humans possess but few attempt to use.
The Anderson Craft Tradition is universalist in nature.
Victor Anderson considered Witchcraft a universal religion arising out of the very nature of humanity and the cosmos. He had a very clear idea of the underlying structure that his teachings speak to. This was sometimes confusing to people, as when Victor pointed out the book Kali: the Feminine Force as being about Feri. Because Victor saw the Craft as universal, he saw it popping up everywhere—from other religions to quantum physics. The Andersons' Craft is both very simple and utterly vast in scope.
More information on the Anderson Craft Tradition is available in Cora Anderson's book, Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition.
Who Were the
Andersons?
What is Vicia?
Prior to Training
Exercises
Recommended Reading
Site Map & Links
|
