| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Ronald Hutton's The Triumph of he Moon is a history of modern pagan witchcraft, examining not only its origins half a century ago but the many ideas and enthusiasms of the last few centuries that paved the way for it. He finds powerful influences in 18th and 19th-century Freemasonry, 19th-century Rosicrucian-type societies, including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as well as in the tradition of wise women, dispensers of herbal remedies and folk wisdom. Interestingly, these last, who many Wiccans would see as the main forerunners of themselves, Hutton finds to have little real significance. With the benefit of scholarly insight, he also points out the unreliability of the most influential literary and / or supposedly academic works supporting the idea of ancient European religion, such as Charles Leland's Aradia, Margaret Murray's The Witch-Cult in Western Europe and The God of the Witches, J.G. Frazer's The Golden Bough and Robert Graves' The White Goddess.
Hutton, a regular contributor to TV documentaries about Neo-Pagansism, is Professor of History at Bristol University. The Triumph of the Moon is that rarity, a very readable academic book, which will be fascinating to anyone with an interest in the history of witchcraft. --David V. Barrett --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
Important insights. (Journal of Contemporary History )
The Triumph of the Moon, which is densely argued and heavily annotated, leaves little doubt that the history which modern occultism has constructed for itself is bunk ... It all makes for riveting reading and, despite Hutton's demolition of the supposed lineage of witchcraft, I am tempted after reading his book to become a witch myself. (Robert Irwin, The Independent )
Hutton's book is excellent ... Hutton uses his historical skills to tease apart some of the themes in this popular rural romanticism, and to locate their purely modern origin. (T. M. Luhrmann, Times Literary Supplement )
An excellent study of the only religion England gave the world: pagan witchcraft. Scholarly and incisive, writing with verve and passion, Hutton exposes the Victorian fascination with the pagan ... Hutton writes a brilliant history of a faith that draws on ancient texts yet speaks to present concerns. (Kevin Sharpe, The Sunday Times ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
THIS book is to be largely concerned with religion, a phenomenon which itself has never been defined in a manner wholly and universally acceptable to scholars concerned with it; indeed, the many practitioners and commentators who will feature in this present work themselves display a range of approaches to the problem. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
It can also be used as a springboard by reading the works cited in each part so as to further an understanding of modern Craft.
Triumph of the Moon, although historical in tone, is still sympathetic to modern Witchcraft & its practitioners, pointing out that it is a valid independent religion (and discussing why), not a cult, sect etc, that its modern origin makes it no less valid, & doesn't attempt to discuss whether spells, healing etc really work, only that people use it & there are cases in which the intended result seems to have occured.
After reading it, although the romantic notion of wicca being an age old religion will be shown to be a fantasy (which deep down most people already suspected), and that it is a modern synthesis of older & new ideas, I for one found myself feeling better than ever about being a witch.
I really enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it but it's not a 'read-in-one-afternoon' type book.
Hutton brings his characteristic wit and penetrating insight to bear upon the 'history' of modern witchcraft, and the result is simultaneously a sobering and an uplifting read. This is no mere hatchet job on the always-shaky historical claims of Gardner _et al_; it is a wide-ranging and extremely intelligent study of social, intellectual and spiritual trends in Britain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which places the modern Craft in its worldly context. A succession of poets, academics, cunning folk, anthropologists, Masons and occultists are discussed, illuminating social currents of the day, and exploring the contribution of each to the great mosaic that became the modern Craft.
The myths, too, are explored: Margaret Murray, 'the burning times', Gardner's Book of Shadows and the myth of prehistoric 'Great Goddess' are all carefully examined, and gently (or not so gently) punctured. Yet I cannot emphasise enough that this is not an attack on Paganism - that it can only, in fact, make it stronger. The first (Gardnerian) witches' claims to the antiquity of their tradition may have been spurious, but Hutton makes it clear that this removes nothing from the fact that there was 'something in the water', so to speak, of early twentieth century society. Far from appearing a deceitful aberration, Gardner and others are shown to be expressive of a mood of their times, taking the logical next step in giving Paganism a structure and greater definition.
Two caveats (because I feel I ought to...): 1) The focus - both in historial chapters and in the sociological case study at the end - is upon coven witchcraft, with little space for solitary workers (although this is perfectly reasonable in terms of what Hutton is trying to); 2) From an article in 'Pagan Dawn' a little while back, I gather that Hutton's research is ongoing, and there's a possibility of a second edition at some point in the future!
Hutton is an engaging and lucid writer, as adept at discussing long-term social trends as he is at providing lively pen-portraits of the various writers and witches who parade through his pages. An enjoyable and an enlightening read for anyone with an interest in the Craft or in 20th century social history. Wonderful.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Witchcraft
- Books > History > Religious History > Christianity
- Books > History > World History
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Earth Based Religions > Witchcraft & Wicca
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Occultism > Magic
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Other Religious & Spiritual Practices > Mysticism
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Mysticism
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Earth-Based Religions > Wicca
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > History
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Spirituality > Mysticism
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
