Janet Farrar

Janet Farrar
Janet Farrar with Gavin Bone
Born	(1950-06-24) 24 June 1950 (age 66) Clapham
Occupation	Writer;Wiccan Priestess
Spouse(s)	Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone

Janet Farrar (born Janet Owen on 24 June 1950) is a British teacher and author of books on Wicca and Neopaganism. Along with her two husbands, Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone, she has published "some of the most influential books on modern Witchcraft to date." According to George Knowles, "some seventy five percent of Wiccans both in the Republic and Northern Ireland can trace their roots back to the Farrar's [sic]."

Farrar has been one of the most public faces of Wicca, having appeared as a model for book covers and illustrations in several of the best-read books on the subject. She is a frequent guest lecturer on the subjects of Wicca, Neopaganism and witchcraft in North America and Europe.

Janet Owen was born in Clacton in 1950. Her family, of mixed English, Irish and Welsh descent, were members of the Church of England. She attended the Leyton Manor School, and the Royal Wanstead High School girls' school. After high school, Janet worked as a model and receptionist.

She was initiated into Alexandrian Wicca by the tradition's founders, Alex and Maxine Sanders. She met the Sanders in 1970 through a friend who had become interested in exploring Wicca. Janet accompanied her friend to keep the friend "out of this weird cult", but she instead joined the Sanders coven, and would go on to become, in the words of Knowles, one of "England's most eminent and respected modern day witches." In the coven she met Stewart Farrar, her future husband and co-author.

Janet and Stewart Farrar were both elevated to the second degree "in an unoccupied house in Sydenham" by the Sanders on 17 October 1970, and they received the third, and final, degree of initiation in their flat on 24 April 1971. Both events are well-recorded by Stewart Farrar down to the smallest detail in his diaries.