Score, John

Score, John (?-1979)

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

A Flight Lieutenant in the British Royal Air Force, in which he served from 1931 to 1946, John Score was influential in establishing Wicca in Britain in its formative years. He became editor of The Wiccan newsletter in 1968 and established it as the main Wiccan publication in Britain. He played a part, with Ed Fitch, in America in establishing the Pagan Way, an open organization that absorbed many of the people who wanted to get into Wicca but were unable to, for various reasons, at the time. In Britain the organization became known as the Pagan Front, and later changed to the Pagan Federation.

In establishing the Pagan Front, Score set out to defend the religious freedom of all pagans and to eradicate those who associated paganism with black magic and negative works. He was especially interested in all forms of healing, earning a doctor of naturopathy degree, and he developed unique methods of communicating with spirits of the dead.

Score suffered from ill health much of his life. He died in December 1979.