Scott Cunningham
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Scott Douglas Cunningham (June 27, 1956 – March 28, 1993) was the author of dozens of popular books on Wicca and various other alternative religious subjects. His name is perhaps the most recognizable of the authors in those genres.
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Personal life
Scott Cunningham was born at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, USA, the second son of Chester Grant Cunningham and Rose Marie Wilhoit Cunningham.
The Cunningham family moved to San Diego, California in the fall of 1959. The family moved there because of Rose Marie's health issues. The doctors in Royal Oak declared the mild climate in San Diego ideal for her. Outside of many trips to Hawaii, Scott lived in San Diego until his death.
Scott had one older brother, Greg, and a younger sister, Christine.
When he was in high school he became associated with a girl whom he knew to deal in the occult and covens. This classmate introduced him to Wicca and trained him in Wiccan spirituality. He was initiated into various traditional covens.
He studied creative writing at San Diego State University, where he enrolled in 1978. After two years in the program, however, he had more published works than several of his professors, and dropped out of the university to write full time.
In 1983 Scott Cunningham was diagnosed with lymphoma. Over the years his health deteriorated, and in 1990 while on a speaking tour in Massachusetts, he was diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis. He suffered from several infections brought on by his cancer, and finally passed away in early 1993. He was thirty-six years old.
Religious Beliefs
Cunningham's religious beliefs were simple and easy to understand. He practiced a fairly basic interpretation of Wicca, often worshipping alone, though his book series for solitaries describes several instances in which he worshipped with friends and teachers.
While his beliefs were simple, he had arguably every detail of his religion thought out. He practiced things thoroughly, however he went out of his way to make sure explanations were brief and clear in his books. This exemplified his belief that everyone's religion was deeply personal and invariably individual. In Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, easily Scott's most successful book, he wrote, Learn by doing, and the Goddess and God will bless you with all that you truly need.
He also believed that Wicca, which had been a very secretive religion in the past, should become more open and accepting to newcomers. In the same book, he wrote, Wicca has been, up until the past decade or so, a closed religion, but no more. The inner components of Wicca are available to anyone who can read and has the proper wit to understand the material. Wicca's only secrets are its individual ritual forms, spells, names of deities and so on.
It is reported that in 1980 Scott studied in a tradition under Raven Grimassi, another popular neopagan author. This is verified by Grimassi who admits that Cunningham studied under him for three years as a first degree initiate in his system. Cunningham later moved on, as Grimassi states: "In favor of a self-styled approach to Wicca".
Published works
Books
- The Art of Divination (1993)
- The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews (1989)
- Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic (1988)
- Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (1985)
- Dreaming the Divine: Techniques for Sacred Sleep (1999)
- Earth Power: Techniques of Natural Magic (1987)
- Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic (1991)
- Hawaiian Magic and Spirituality (2000)
- Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (1993)
- Magical Aromatherapy: The Power of Scent (1989)
- Magical Herbalism: The Secret of the Wise (1987)
- The Magical Household: Empower Your Home With Love, Protection, Health and Happiness (1987)
- Pocket Guide to Fortune Telling (1997)
- Shadow of Love (1980) - fiction
- Spell Crafts: Creating Magical Objects (1993)
- The Truth About Herb Magic (1993)
- The Truth About Witchcraft Today (1988)
- The Truth About Witchcraft (1996)
- Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (1990)
- The Magic in Food: Legends, Lore and Spellwork (1993)
Videos
- Herb Magic
Backlash Against Cunningham
Scott Cunningham has been one of the biggest selling authors on Wicca, particularly for solitary practitioners. A portion of the Wiccan community consider his teachings to be a skewed idea of what Wicca was really meant to be, and blame the large fluffy bunny following of their religion upon him. He is blamed by his critics for being the source of the "make-up-your-own-religion-as-you-go-along" attitude [1] which the so-called fluffies believe in.