Edith, who to our tradition is better known as Dafo, was herself from Yorkshire. Dafo was involved in several esoteric orders during her life, predominately the Crotona Fellowship of the Rosicrucian Order when she resided in the New Forest area. This branch of the order was lead by a self-professed Immortal, and as such many of the members sought to work outside the order and formed what Gerald Gardner would later refer to as the New Forest Coven. During Dafo’s time within the Crotona Fellowship she came to meet Gardner, to whom she later initiated into their “Coven” in 1939.
In 1947/8 Gardner went off on his own to form the Bricketwood Coven, allegedly with Dafo as his High Priestess during this early period of the new coven’s history. Dafo was a large supporter of the secrecy of their covens work and was said to have encouraged Gardner to maintain his silence also, and yet with the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1951 and Gardner’s draw to the spotlight, Dafo retired from the coven. Dafo and Gardner remained friends, but later in Dafo’s life her, involvement with Wicca was kept private due to her living with family members who were not so supportive of her beliefs. However, her Grandson is quoted in ‘In search of the New Forest Coven’ by Philip Heselton as saying “remember that there was a lot of books around the house and there was a large bookcase. There were definitely some books on witchcraft, some of which have been passed down in the family.”
