Witchcraft Research Association (WRA) Organization
founded in February 1964 by Sybil Leek with the
purpose of uniting witches in Britain.
Leek established herself as president, but only for a
few months, stepping down in July 1964 in the face of
backfired self-promotion and publicity. Leek moved to
America, and Doreen Valiente stepped in as her successor.
The association had a journal, the Pentagram, edited
by a friend of Robert Cochrane, who also contributed
articles.
On October 3, 1964, the WRA hosted a dinner at which
Valiente urged all witch traditions to come out of secrecy
and join together. Among the approximately 50 attendees
were Cochrane and Patricia Crowther. Cochrane
was introduced as a hereditary witch, and Valiente and
Crowther made a toast to the Horned God together.
In the first issue of Pentagram, Valiente wrote about
her dream to see the WRA become the United Nations for
witches. All traditions, she said, should make themselves
known and accept one another. This dream was never
realized, for the Pentagram became the battleground between
supporters of Gerald B. Gardner, among whom
Crowther and her husband, Arnold Crowther, were
leading voices, and anti-Gardnerians, including Cochrane
and his associate, Taliesin. By 1966, the Pentagram folded,
and the WRA ceased soon after.
Further reading:
Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern
Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1999.
Valiente, Doreen. The Rebirth of Witchcraft. London: Robert
Hale, 1989.