Occupation Wiccan High Priest Spouse Dorothy Modrzyk Died February 5, 2014 | Name Stanley Modrzyk Children Elizabeth Modrzyk | |
Born August 15th Wisconsin | ||
Stanley Modrzyk was a Wiccan High Priest and Ceremonial Magician. He is the founder of the First Temple of the Craft of W.I.C.A. and is also one of the founding members of the Midwest Pagan Council and of the Pan Pagan Festival, one of the first and oldest running festivals in the Midwest United States from which other Pagan festivals got their start. Starting in the 1970s Stanley Modrzyk was open to the public and the media about his religious beliefs and through classes open to the public, press releases, radio and, then, television appearances presented Witchcraft and Wicca in a positive light of understanding. In September 1982, after a call from a source at the Chicago Tribune asking him to comment on the five Chicago suburbs that were doing Witch Burnings as part of their Halloween celebration, he spearheaded a movement that got all of the five suburbs to end the practice. (See Media/Print below)In April, 2011 Stanley Modrzyk did a lecture entitled Wicca - aka Witchcraft, The Religion and performed a ritual at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.The media appearances shown below are but a sampling of the many appearances he did in the years when Witchcraft and Wicca were presented to the public as something to be feared or loathed. For those media appearances shown below there are audio or video copies on file in the library of the First Temple of the Craft of W.I.C.A.
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First Temple of the Craft of W.I.C.A.
First Temple of the Craft of W.I.C.A. is one of the five oldest, legally recognized Wiccan churches in the U.S. Founded in 1970, it traces its roots to the Temple of The Pagan Way (TPW) by way of the Calumet Pagan Temple. Originally a crossbreed of TPW rituals with ceremonial and qabbalistic influences, it has evolved over the last 40 years to be its own tradition. First Temple honors both the God and the Goddess. It celebrates the New Moon, the Full Moon, and the eight Festivals marked on the Wheel of Life.