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About the author
Jean Williams (1928-2015) was a well-respected and much-loved member of the Pagan community, which she cared for deeply. She was humble, down to earth, joyful and encouraging. Jean kept her own spiritual practice very close to her heart and many were unaware that she was a Wiccan Elder who had served as the High Priestess of Gerald Gardner's original Bricket Wood Coven for over 40 years, by the side of her beloved husband Zach as High Priest. In 1974 Pagan Pathfinders was formed to offer seekers a chance to explore indigenous British spiritual traditions, at a time when many were looking further afield for answers. In the sessions, Jean sought to interweave her knowledge of psychology and spirituality to help the group deepen their understanding of their own potential as well as to begin to walk their personal paths. She never pushed one way of doing things and strongly believed that people should have their own experiences. After her retirement, Jean played a pivotal role in the Pagan Federation and many remember her gentle, unassuming, but also practical and efficient nature when she was involved with conferences and events. Jean was also fun-loving and greatly enjoyed travelling with friends and spending time with her cats.
Liz Wigglesworth attended Pagan Pathfinders for many years in the 2000s. She has always considered herself incredibly lucky to have found the group, having never again found one like it. The learning was deep, but subtle, given in such a gentle way by Jean that it was only after the group ended that many members realised how much they had been gifted by Jean's wisdom and the group itself. Liz was aware that Jean planned to write a book and, after Jean sadly passed away, was asked by Ruth Bayer to investigate. There were several almost finished chapters on Jean's laptop and a large heap of notebooks. Incredibly, Jean had written notes for every single meeting from 1974 until the final PP in 2011, so Liz set about pulling together the threads and extracting rituals and meditations to form the second half of the book, the practical workbook. This book is very much an honouring of Jean but also a tool for pollination, to spread the valuable ideas and methods that those who attended PP were lucky enough to experience. In her day job Liz is a stenographer, but the rest of the time is still a dedicated Peeper and spiritual seeker.
