The purpose of this is not to prove or claim anything. I readily admit that I have a "bastard" lineage in regards to Wicca. I do, however, get a little tired of the US Alexandrians claiming that I'm not really one of them until they want to rake me over the coals for violating their concept of the "rules." When I was in communication with Jim Baker of Du Bandia Grasail in the early 1970's, he was well aware that many early Wiccans had bastard lineages, and that what was important was not that someone could claim proper initiation to higher degrees, but that their Initiation descended from Gerald Gardner and that they pursued the work of Initiation by constant study and practice until they actually achieved the state of Initiation. Unfortunately, too many people today have undergone initiatory rituals but have not gone on to actually attain the spiritual transformation implied by those rituals. The result is a crop of leaders who are short-sighted, narrow-minded and lacking in wisdom and illumination. One should never judge others by the rituals they have undergone, but rather, by the wisdom they have attained.