Alexander Sanders (1929-1988) was a flamboyant British witch who generated a certain amount of controversy during his life for his publicity-mongering and slightly dubious magical ethics. He may be the best known modern witch after Gerald Gardner. Sanders claimed to have been initiated into witchcraft by his grandmother, a hereditary witch, during a nude ritual when he was a child. Others noted that his writings (such as King of the Witches) seemed to be influenced by other writers such as Eliphas Levi and Gerald Gardner himself.
Like Aleister Crowley, Sanders possessed an ambisexual flexibility and was possessed by a decidedly "dark" streak (he had no ethical qualms against casting spells of destruction when he deemed it justified) and was much inspired by ceremonial magic such as the Book of Abramelin the Mage. His coven practice and writings emphasize the study of the Qabalah and Enochian magic, though it is not known how much (if any) contact he may have had with any Golden Dawn offshoots. Also like Crowley, Sanders experimented with the creation of at least one "moonchild" (or "spiritual baby" as he called it), a magically-influenced offspring, who he later utilized as a human familiar.
The late 1960s saw Sanders and his wife leading a coven in London and garnering the expected publicity in local scandal sheets. A film, Legend of the Witches, was released in 1969 which brought national notoriety to Sanders and directly led to his meeting with journalist Stewart Farrar, who was later initiated into the craft by Sanders' wife. Stewart's future partner Janet met him in the Sanders' coven.
The glare of the spotlight eventually dimmed for Sanders, and he avoided public appearances prior to his death from lung cancer in 1988. His influence upon modern wicca created a tradition that is now called "Alexandrian Wicca," althought whether this term is derived from his name or from the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt is still in dispute. Alexandrian Wicca is noted for being slightly more flexible than Gardnerian Wicca; for instance, working skyclad is optional in Alexandrian covens rather than mandatory as in Garderian covens. Alexandrian covens also tend to emphasize more study of ceremonial magic and the Qabalah, and it seems to be more popular in Great Britain and Canada than the United States.
A young Sanders imitating Crowley.