Sybil did not practice “Witta”–that is utter hogwash. Nowhere in Sybil’s writings does she ever claim to practice “Witta”. It is a recent invention and “cannot be pronounced in Gaelic. It is a combination of letters that are virtually never seen together in that language (an equivalent combination of letters in English might be ‘xyqueph’).”–Joanna Hautin-Mayer, “When is a Celt Not a Celt”, cyberwitch.com/wychwood/Library/whenIsACeltNotACelt.htm

Also read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witta_(Wicca)

B*B,
SoulFire

It is widely known here in Mexico that there is a woman called Brida Alcocer, living in Mexico City, who is said to be the “friend” of Coelho on whose life the novel Brida was very loosely based. Brida declares herself “the last student of Sybil Leek” and inheritor of her personal, private documents, and identifies Witta, the witch-tradition of the Horsa coven, as “the Tradition of the Moon” mentioned in the novel. The part about seeing a light above the shoulder of your soulmate (in the novel) is also a part of her techings. Her students have told me that she ended on uneasy terms with Coelho and is unhappy with the novel, though. Brida used to declare that the Horsa coven practiced Wicca since centuries ago, and *called* it Wicca from old times, producing ancient manuscripts as proof. However, a couple of years ago, one of her students contacted other alumni of Sybil’s who refuted this, and Brida now claims that her tradition is Witta and she used the word “Wicca” to gain acceptance (I have no idea how she explains her previous claims of written proof).

The “Magus” or “Magician” mentioned in the novel (I don’t know how he is called in the translation) seems to be a man who practices bio-energetics and Pleidian contactism -a follower of “Messengers of Dawn” beliefs told me that Pleiadian teachings are actually the “Tradition of the Sun” from the book, I wouldn’t know.

I do know for a fact that Coelho corresponded with a young man from Mexico for a while who wanted to join his Order of Ram, and Coelho finally advised him to “start with Wicca” and go back to him some time afterwards, which I believe shows just how he regards Wicca.

Catholicism and Spiritualism are a common hybrid.

Funnily enough, some of the Wiccans there told me that some Candomble houses won’t use candles because candles are too Catholic! And the largest selling Wiccan author in Brazil is a convert from Candomble. That floored me. Plus, he sells more books than any US Pagan author I know.