Doreen Valiente
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Doreen Valiente (1922 - 1999) was a co-creator of Wicca, together with Gerald Gardner.
Born Doreen Dominy, the daughter of Christian parents, the young Doreen was convinced from an early age that she possessed the power to use magic. Valiente was the name of Doreen's second husband.
Shortly after Gardner made public his claims to have been initiated into a surviving witch cult, he was joined by Valiente, who collaborated with him in the creation of rituals. Valiente also wrote a number of poems for the use of Wiccans. Faced with challenges from sceptics Valiente attempted, with some success, to provide evidence for Gardner's claims concerning his intitiation, notably by identifying Dorothy Clutterbuck, the old witch who was supposed to have performed the initiation.
Valiente broke with Gardner, though never completely, and became the de facto leader of the Wiccan movement after his death. She was active in her promotion of modern witchcraft and neo-paganism, being particularly keen to emphasise that the movement was not related to satanism.