| Memories of a Friend Donald Kraig On March 28, 1993, three things happened in my life. First, and least important, it was my birthday. Second, after months on the market, my parents finally received a good offer on their house, the home I had grown up in, which they have been trying to sell. I predicted that this buyer would purchase their home, and the paperwork was finalized a few weeks later. Third, and most important, my friend of many years, Scott Cunningham, passed on to another existence. Scott and I fell into our friendship by chance. A family and I were renting a house in Encinitas, about 15 miles north of San Diego, California. The owners had the roof resurfaced with tar and gravel. A few days later there were torrential rains and the house leaked everywhere. Buckets went out, a vacuum that could pick up water was used, but it was too late. Much of the house was ruined. Soon the carpet smelled of mildew. I had to move, fast. I went into an occult shop in San Diego and there happened to be an add posted on the wall. Someone was seeking a roommate. I called and viewed the apartment. That was my first meeting with Scott Cunningham. I looked at the room which was for rent, measured it to make sure that I could fit all I wanted into it, and gave Scott the money for the room. Thus began my five years of sharing a two-bedroom apartment in San Diego with Scott. During that time we never had even one argument. I think that was simply because we put up with each other's foibles. At the time I made money by giving lectures on occult topics, playing keyboards in rock and roll bands, and, occasionally, telemarketing. At this time Scott's first book with Llewellyn, Earth Power, had not yet appeared, although it had been accepted for publication. Scott earned money by writing novels, many under pseudonyms, and columns about cars and trucks for auto dealerships. He used an old, red, IBM typewriter to do his work. Although his finished manuscripts looked good, the machine would frequently break down or have problems, and I remember him pounding on the thing yelling, Damn, damn, damn." No matter the problem, however, Scott always finished his projects on time. He was a true professional. Other people and I encouraged Scott to give lectures. I always figured that most of the information given in lectures could be found in books, so I would try to make my lectures fun and entertaining. I would move around quite a bit. Scott had a different style. He would usually stand or sit quietly and calmly, sharing his knowledge and wisdom with the attendees. In all the lectures I saw Scott give, I never once saw him fumble for an answer when asked a question. I was always in awe of what seemed to me to be his limitless knowledge of herb lore and theory, of magick and of Wicca. During this time both Scott and I were occasionally low on money. We helped each other out and would cheer each other up by treating the other to a movie. Scott and I both loved movies, especially good horror and science fiction. And yes, we liked the bad ones, too. We used to watch a local TV show called Disasterpiece Theatre (hosted by Sal U. Lloyd!) which showed terrible movies, from Shriek of the Mutilated to Italian imports which lost so much in the dubbing that they made no sense. We would laugh and giggle and make jokes about the embarrassments being shown on the TV. That's one thing Scott and I were very good at—making jokes. This included insulting each other and attending each other's lectures and making rude remarks from the back. Neither of us took offense because we both knew that we respected each other deeply. If you have studied many occult books you will know that some of the writers simply make things up as they go, although what they write may be based on other people's work. One of the reasons I respected Scott so much is that he thoroughly researched everything he wrote about. All the information in his books comes either through folklore he had studied in his large collection of books or as a result of his own experimentation. I remember one time that he wanted to write about corn dollies. These are designs made by knitting pieces of straw into patterns. Rather than simply copying from another book, he purchased some straw and learned the technique for himself. Unfortunately, the straw he began with came from nearby Tijuana, Mexico, and much of his early experimentation did not work due to the poor quality of the material. He left it out for a few days and one morning, when I opened the door to my room, I was confronted with hundreds of tiny moths which had hatched from eggs in the straw! For days I was slapping at them and pushing them out of my way. I owe Scott a great deal. It was through Scott that I first became affiliated with Llewellyn. My first work was providing music for the pathworking tapes by Denning and Phillips. It was Scott who put the Llewellyn employee in charge of this in touch with me. Later, a man who specialized in mail-order courses got in touch with Scott, and Scott put the man in touch with me. As a result, after years of teaching a set of classes, I began putting what was to become Modern Magick into a large, multi-lesson format. Some months after this I changed the lessons into a book. I had met the President of Llewellyn, Carl Weschcke, as a result of my knowing Scott. I chose Llewellyn to send my manuscript to, and was overjoyed when it was accepted. By this time, five years had passed and I had moved north to Los Angeles County. Scott and I still kept in touch, but we were obviously not as close as before. Then Llewellyn offered me a position as editor of the New Times and later FATE magazine. I moved from California to Minnesota. I honestly believe that none of this would have happened if not for Scott Cunningham. Scott and I were on parallel mystical paths, but they were not the same. Even so, we had many similarities in beliefs. Both of us detested the tricksters and rip-offs that used the occult to separate people from their possessions. We also both disliked the wars-of-words going on between groups and individuals who were honest, but who had differences of opinion. It seems that some groups or individuals may say that everyone is entitled to their own path, but in actuality refuse to let others go where they may. In this time of various groups trying to denounce occultism in any form, we need to stand together. It is my hope that besides the continuing presence of the information he shared in his books, people following mystical paths will begin to allow others to do as they will as long as it harms none. This would be a fine epitaph for Scott Cunningham. I started traveling from coast-to-coast giving lectures. About a year later Scott went on his first major lecture tour and became seriously ill while on the East Coast. Scott was jokingly egotistical, but was really a very modest person. Both he and his parents were surprised at the number of cards and financial support which came in to him from all over. It seemed like everywhere I went people would ask me about Scott. For me, that is easy to understand. Scott's writings, like his lectures, were clear and straightforward. More than that, they came from the heart. He talked to people, never down to them, and shared what he knew. Scott's large number of books allowed people to see him as he really was. They knew him. He was family. They loved him. Scott's last book will be about the religion and magick of Hawaii. It is scheduled to be published next year by Llewellyn. Scott and I talked about it many times. Unlike several of the self-professed experts writing on the subject, Scott traveled to Hawaii many times. He knew natives and gathered information not available to others. He felt (and I am sure) that his book will be exciting and controversial. I have heard that he considered it to be his most important book. Although I never heard that from him I do know that he considered it to be very important. He worked on it all though his long illness, and completed it just weeks before he passed. Still, I consider his two Encyclopedias to be classics, and some of his other books, such as Earth Power are incredibly important for introducing tens-of-thousands of people to natural magick and Wicca. If anybody could top that, it would be Scott. Scott was my friend, my roommate, my teacher, my advisor, and as much the butt of my jokes as I was of his. When I heard that he passed over on my birthday I knew that he must have chosen that day on purpose, just to make sure that on one day out of the year I would remember him. He needn't have worried. I'll never forget him. Good luck, my friend. Come back soon. We miss you. Part of this article appeared in Llewellyn's New Worlds (May-June, 1993). | 
