StarBorn (Sothis) was founded by Zanoni Silverknife and Moondancer in the late 1970s. Both founders were originally trained and initiated in the Georgian Tradition: Zanoni was the founding priestess alongside the late George Patterson, and Moondancer was an initiate of the second Georgian coven.

In 1980, Moondancer, Rowan A., and Zanoni attended a Beltane ritual in the northern part of the California Central Valley. During this ritual, they experienced an unusual event resulting in a trance contact with an entity they would come to know well.

Following this event, they began developing their ideas, which eventually led to the creation of StarBorn. The “Sothis” part was later added by Zanoni to differentiate between the early concepts and the later evolution of their work.

Between 1973 and 2004, Zanoni and Moondancer collaborated as needed, transitioning from practicing within the Georgian tradition to establishing their own StarBorn Sothis tradition. Moondancer later became an initiate of Gwen Thompson’s New England Covens of Traditionalist Witches line and eventually focused solely on that tradition for coven practice. Meanwhile, Zanoni remained primarily focused on the Georgian Tradition, although she was also an initiate of several other Craft Traditions.

Originally, StarBorn was conceived not as a Craft tradition, but as a family or clan rediscovering itself through memories. They knew that while many would be involved in the Craft, others would not. This is why their early writings speak of the Clan, Clan StarBorn, CBS, etc. Over time, their focus shifted, and it morphed into more of a Craft Tradition.