Press Release

On Friday 21^st June 2013, Brighton will host a historic event as a Blue Plaque is unveiled to commemorate ‘the mother of modern witchcraft’, Doreen Valiente.

Valiente (1922-1999) was a writer and poet, but better known for her contributions to modern Paganism - widely accepted as being key to the growth of the movement worldwide. Much of her work was done in a modest flat in Tyson Place, where she lived for over thirty years until her death in 1999.

This is the first time such a plaque has ever been awarded to a Pagan for service to their beliefs.

At midday on the Summer Solstice, supporters and guests will meet at Brighton’s Old Steine for an open ritual celebrating both the solstice and the life of Valiente. The Pentacle Drummers will then lead a procession to Tyson Place, where there will be live music from Beck Sian and Paul Mitchell, and dancing by the Hunter’s Moon Morris and Nina McGhee.

At 2.30pm the plaque will be unveiled by a special guest, and more music and dance will follow. Later, participants may proceed to the Green Door Store, where Greenmantle, a Brighton-based Pagan magazine, will host a ticketed (£5.00) event to celebrate both the plaque and its own 20^th anniversary. Music will be provided by singer-songwriters Talis Kimberley and Matthew Callow, .

The Doreen Valiente Foundation, a charitable organisation, has arranged for the plaque and celebration in collaboration with Brighton & Hove City Council and the residents of Tyson Place. The Foundation represents the aim of John Belham-Payne, to whom Valiente bequeathed her writings and extensive collection of Pagan artefacts and tools, to celebrate her life and create a lasting legacy to her work. The second part of this legacy is planned to be the opening of a museum, together with BHCC, to display her fascinating collection and to house the Centre for Pagan Studies, a unique centre for education in the fields of Witchcraft and Paganism.

For further details contact:

foundation@doreenvaliente.org (The Doreen Valiente Foundation)

uther8@hotmail.com (Greenmantle Editor)
Websites: - 
Doreen Valiente Foundation     http://doreenvaliente.org
Greenmantle                            http://www.greenmantle.org.uk/ 
Centre For Pagan Studies       http://centre-for-pagan-studies.com