Official Biography of Raven Grimassi

Email address:
grimassi@comcast.net
Raven Grimassi is a published author of many titles on
Witchcraft, Wicca, and Inner Mystery Traditions. He brings over 45 years of personal
experience in the practice of ritual, magic, spell-casting, and occult
mysticism.
Raven is the Co-Directing Elder of the Ash, Birch and
Willow Tradition, a system reflecting the commonality of European rooted
traditions of Witchcraft. The ABW system is based upon the Thorn Path of
Witchery, which is an Old World practice of Witchcraft. Raven
began focusing on this system in 2004 when introduced to the inner ways
of the Thorn Path. Raven is also the co-Director of the
Fellowship of the Pentacle - an umbrella organization for his work
through various sources.
Raven was born in 1951 to an Italian immigrant who came to
the United States as a War Bride in 1946. At an early age he began to
study the folklore and Witchcraft of Italy, the Old Religion of Italy's
past. His early training was a curious construction of a Catholic veneer
fitted over archaic elements of Italian folk magic, folk customs, and
peasant Witchcraft.
By age 18 it became Raven's passion to deepen his study of
the Old Religion in an attempt to unlock its innermost secrets. In the
summer of 1969 Raven discovered Wicca and was intrigued by the
similarities between it and the Italian Craft. Seeking out like-minded
people closer to his own age, Raven met a young woman who managed an
Herb Shop in Old Town San Diego. She eventually introduced him to a
woman who claimed to be a Gardnerian witch High Priestess called Lady
Heather. She later initiated Raven into Wicca, but he was eventually to
discover that her claims to Gardnerian Wicca were unfounded. However,
Raven considers her teachings to be sound and in keeping with known and
accepted elements of traditional Wicca.
In 1974 Raven studied Wicca under Lady Sara Cunningham for
the traditional "year and a day". He then formed his own system of
practice, which was a blend of Lady Heather and Lady Sara's teachings
mixed together with elements of Italian witchcraft. Raven later formed a
small group known as the Coven of Sothis, which operated for a few years
in the San Diego area. In 1975 Raven became a member of the First Temple
of Tiphareth and began a serious study of the Kabbalah, a mystical
Hebrew system.
It was during his study of the Kabbalah that Raven met and
became friends with Donald Michael Kraig, author of Modern Magick and
Modern Sex Magick. That same year (1975) Raven was introduced to a High
Priestess and High Priest (Phil & Joanne) in the San Diego area where
the couple were well known. They became friends, and Raven was initiated
into their tradition of Brittic Wicca, a system claiming to be a blend
of Basque Witchcraft and English Wicca. It contained elements of
traditional Witchcraft along with folkloric elements reflective of the
regions where its foundational roots originated.
By the summer of 1979 Raven felt that this period of
exploration into Wicca was complete and he returned to the sole practice
of Italian witchcraft. In the fall of 1979 he started classes on the
Italian Craft at Ye Olde Enchantment Shoppe in San Diego. One of the
people attending was Scott Cunningham. Raven and Scott became friends,
and in 1980, Scott was initiated into the Aridian Tradition of Italian
witchcraft, a system formed by Raven that same year. The Aridian
tradition was a construction of Wiccan elements mixed into the ways of
the Italian Craft that was part of Raven's own training. Scott remained
a first degree initiate during his three years of study with Raven.
Because of growing differences it was mutually agreed that Scott should
be released, and he moved on from the Aridian Tradition in favor of a
heavily self-styled view of modern Wicca. Scott was later to publish his
self-styled "Wicca" through a series of books.
In 1981 Raven was a writer and editor for The Shadow's
Edge, a magazine focused on Italian witchcraft. He was later a
contributing writer and editor for two other magazines, Moon Shadow and
Raven's Call. This same year Raven wrote several booklets including The
Book of the Holy Strega, and a two volume set titled Book of Ways,
published by Nemi Enterprises in San Diego, California. These books came
to be referred to as "the blue books" because of their covers. Many
photocopy versions of this book manifested and have been passed through
the Craft Community for many years.
In 1983, Raven accepted third degree initiation into the
Pictish-Gaelic Tradition in order to help preserve its teachings, but
served as a guardian of the material rather than a full participant in
the tradition. In 2001 Grimassi received third degree initiation into
the Traditionalist Celtic Tradition through the First Wiccan Church
(Escondido, California).
In 2004, Raven ceased practicing Stregheria and
stepped down as the directing Elder. He then devoted his time to
exploring non-specific cultural themes.
In 2006, Raven founded the Ash, Birch and Willow tradition
of Witchcraft, which is a non-cultural system rooted in the primal
perspectives of our distant human ancestors.
Raven formerly served as editor/writer for Raven’s Call
magazine. He now works as co-director of the Fellowship of the Pentacle,
and co-directing Elder of the Ash, Birch and Willow tradition. He is
devoted to preserving and teaching the Mystery Tradition of
pre-Christian Europe. Having been born on the festival day of the
goddess Ceres (Patron of the Mysteries) Raven maintains a shrine in her
honor.
He is the author of seventeen books on Wicca and
Witchcraft, including
The Wiccan
Mysteries, which was awarded Book of the Year and First Place -
Spirituality Book by the Coalition of Visionary Retailers in 1998, Ways
of the Strega (re-released as
Italian Witchcraft),
Wiccan Magick,
Hereditary
Witchcraft, Encyclopedia of Wicca and
Witchcraft,
Beltane - Springtime Rituals, Lore, and Celebration,
The Witches'
Craft,
Crafting A Wiccan Tradition,
Witches' Familiar,
Spirit of the Witch,
Witchcraft - A
Mystery Tradition,
The Cauldron of
Memory,
The Book of Ways I and II,
The Book of the Holy Strega,
Old World
Witchcraft, and Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch.
|