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1734 is a Craft tradition which I established in the United States during the late 1960's and early 1970's. In its essence, it contains the teachings given to me by three sources. The first of these is a person who I will call Sean, who was my first teacher and who grounded me in the oral traditions of his family. Later I engaged in correspondence with Roy Bowers (alias Robert Cochrane) who, with Sean's approval and guidance, supplemented those initial teachings. The third source of inspiration and personal guidance was Ruth Wynn-Owen, the matriarch of the Plant Bran. Sean provided the foundation, Roy provided some magical and mystical supplementation, and Ruth provided guidance for group workings. Although the name I've used for this tradition, "1734", was inspired by Roy Bowers, he is not the founder of the 1734 tradition. Roy was knowingly teaching me that which would supplement the training that Sean had begun with me. Roy did not call his tradition "1734" but rather "The Clan of Tubal Cain" and although he used some elements from that tradition to illustrate some things to me, his intention was never to teach me that way but rather to help me to understand that which I already had. The Clan of Tubal Cain has a different orientation and practices, as it should. Over the past 30 years several people have obtained some of the letters that Roy wrote to me, and/or some of the material that I wrote to supplement them or included as supplementary illustrations. Many of them, once they got that written material, chose to ignore the purpose and context for which it was developed, and instead ran off with it, hoarding it like some prized secret, deluding themselves by thinking that because they had these writings they were now "authentic witches". They refused to stay around and to learn the oral tradition which this was meant to supplement, or to understand the training that goes along with it. Some people have taken some of the techniques I used and attributed them to Roy, and have thought that my methods of instruction, and in fact the specific things that I tried to teach came from him. They did not, and the more they insist that they did, the stupider they look; especially to people in England.
Some of these same people have mixed the original material with unrelated
materials, formats and philosophies, while still calling it "1734". By
using the same name, they imply that their imports, interpretations and
errors are part of my own teachings, or the teachings of my own mentors.
Unfortunately many of these folks have set themselves up as "Authorities"
and, over time, have become accepted as such -- so that their errors (and
sometimes lies) have become accepted as facts. I've established this
web page in order to clear up any of the misunderstandings about 1734.
Joseph B
Wilson
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