Patricia Crowther

Patricia Crowther (née Dawson; 14 October 1927 – 24 September 2025), who also went by the craft name Thelema, was a British occultist considered influential in the early promotion of the Wiccan religion.

Background Patricia Dawson was born in Sheffield, England on 14 October 1927 to parents Clare and Alfred Dawson. She attended East Bank School and studied at Whiteley's Secretarial College and the Constance Grant School of Dance. She began her career in pantomime theatre. Her handfasting to husband Arnold Crowther (1909–1974) took place in 1960.

Crowther died from complications of dementia in Sheffield on 24 September 2025, at the age of 97.

Career Along with Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne, and Eleanor Bone, Crowther is considered to be one of the "early mothers" of modern Wicca. Patricia and her then-husband, Arnold Crowther, founded the Sheffield Coven in 1961, Books 1965 – The Witches Speak (with Arnold Crowther)(Athol Publications) 1973 – Witchcraft in Yorkshire (Dalesman) 1974 – Witch Blood (The Diary of a Witch High Priestess) (House of Collectibles) 1981 – Lid off the Cauldron: A handbook for witches (Muller) 1992 – The Zodiac Experience (Samuel Weiser Inc) 1992 – The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft With the Witches' Tarot (Carol Publishing) 1992 – Witches Were for Hanging (Excalibur Press of London) 1998 – One Witch's World (Robert Hale) (published in America under the title High Priestess. Apart from the title, they are the same book) (Phoenix Publishing) 2001 – High Priestess: The Life & Times of Patricia Crowther (Phoenix Publishing Inc.) 2002 – From Stagecraft to Witchcraft: The Early years of a High Priestess (Capall Bann) 2009 – Covensense (Robert Hale)