He suffered from several infections and died in March 1993. In 1990, while on a speaking tour in Massachusetts, he suddenly fell ill and was diagnosed with AIDS-related cryptococcal meningitis. In 1983, Scott Cunningham was diagnosed with lymphoma, which he successfully battled. In 1980 Cunningham began initiate training under Raven Grimassi and remained as a first-degree initiate until 1982 when he left the tradition in favor of a self-styled form of Wicca. During this period he had as a roommate magical author Donald Michael Kraig and often socialized with witchcraft author Raymond Buckland, who was also living in San Diego at the time. After two years in the program, however, he had more published works than several of his professors, and dropped out of the university to write full time. He studied creative writing at San Diego State University, where he enrolled in 1978. This classmate introduced him to Wicca and trained him in Wiccan spirituality. When he was in high school he became associated with a girl whom he knew to deal in the occult and covens. Outside of many trips to Hawaii, Cunningham lived in San Diego until his death.Ĭunningham had one older brother, Greg, and a younger sister, Christine. The doctors in Royal Oak declared the mild climate in San Diego ideal for her. The family moved there because of Rose Marie's health problems. The Cunningham family moved to San Diego, California in the fall of 1959. Scott Cunningham was born at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, USA, the second son of Chester Grant Cunningham and Rose Marie Wilhoit Cunningham. He is recognized today as one of the most influential and revolutionary authors in the field of natural magic. Today the name Cunningham is synonymous with natural magic and the magical community. Scott Douglas Cunningham was the author of dozens of popular books on Wicca and various other alternative religious subjects.

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