Stanley Modrzyk

Stanley Modrzyk (1945-2014) 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. 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.

Stanley Modrzyk
BornAugust 15th, 1945
Wisconsin
DiedFebruary 5, 2014[1]
Illinois
OccupationWiccan High Priest
Spouse(s)Dorothy Modrzyk
ChildrenElizabeth Modrzyk

Jennifer (Modrzyk) Smith

Vincent Modrzyk

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.

Media Appearances

TV
  • 3/9/1978 Channel 2 (CBS Chicago) Evening News: Information on Witchcraft
  • 7/17-18/1978 Channel 2 (CBS Chicago) Mary Laney Special Report: Live at Pan Pagan Festival.
  • 10/25/1978 Channel 2 (CBS Chicago) Mary Laney Special Report: Witchcraft and Samhain.
  • 10/1981 Channel 7 (ABC Chicago) 4:30 News Frank Mathie Special Report: Interview on Witchcraft and Samhain.
  • 10/1981 Channel 50 (Indiana) Bob Freeland's Bottom Line: Show on What IS Witchcraft.
  • 10/1982 Channel 7 (ABC Chicago) Eyewitness News Alan Krashesky Special Report on Witch Burnings.
  • 6/10/1994 Channel 32 (Fox Chicago) Fox News Chicago: Modern Day Witches
  • 10/28/1995 Continental Cablevision (Chicago) Lifestyle With Pat Cheffer: What is Witchcraft and how do Witches celebrate Halloween.
  • 8/26/1997 SciFi Cable Channel Emmett Miller's Strange Universe:[2] Live at the 21st Pan Pagan Festival
  • 2/17/1999 Channel 9 (WGN Chicago[3]) WGN TV9 News Special Report: Real Chicago Witches (Tie-in on the news after a Charmed TV show episode.)

Radio
  • 3/23/1978 WGN Radio Chicago - The Milt Rosenberg Show: Interview opposite Dusty Sklar on her new book Gods & Beasts, Nazis And The Occult.
  • 5/15/1981 WCGO radio Occult Sciences: Beyond the Realm of Human Comprehension.
  • 10/1982 Warren Freiberg Show - Interview on the Chicago Witch Burnings.
  • 1988 WGN Radio Chicago - Ed Swartz show on Satanism with police Chief Donald Story.
  • 5/1993 WAIF radio in Cincinnati - Night Talk with the Knight Hawk on the Pan Pagan Festival.

Print
  • Raymond Buckland's Complete Guide To Witchcraft (c 1996): Article titled Stan Slays The Dragon.

Bibliography

Books
  • Turning of the Wheel: A Wiccan Book of Shadows for Moons and Festivals (1993) Weiser Books.[4]
  • Celebrating Times of Change: A Wiccan Book of Shadows for Family and Coven Growth (1995). Weiser Books.[5]

References
  1. http://wildhunt.org/2014/02/pagan-community-notes-stanley-modrzyk-pantheon-foundation-polytheist-leadership-conference-and-more.html
  2. Strange Universe
  3. WGN Chicago
  4. WorldCat
  5. WorldCat
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