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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
"An excellent reference edition....I highly recommend it."--Weekly Alibi
"Hutton uses his historical skills to tease apart some of the themes in this popular rural romanticism, and to locate their purely modern origin."--Times Literary Supplement, UK
"Hutton's book is excellent..."--Times Literary Supplement
"Hutton has synthesized a huge body of sources, and woven together a fascinating narrative with supreme skill. The reader is sure to be gripped by the wonderful cast of characters that he assembles...Hutton shows us that paganism is a matter of interest not only for the classicist and archeologist, but for the modern historian as well. In doing so his Triumph of the Moon proves to be a triumph of cultural history."--Owen Davies, History Today (UK, Vol. 50 No. 3
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasent change from the Frazer & Murray fantasies!,
By Mr. M. P. Duffy (Littlehampton, West Sussex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Paperback)
Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton to my mind is an essential read for any practicing wiccan or witch. It's a historical book of two halves. The first half is an exploration & history of the facets that make up modern pagan witchcraft, such as the Goddess, the God, cunning folk, high ritual magic, secret societies, paganism etc, then the second half is an account of how the different strands came together. It's the first proper scholarly investigation by a respected historian, and helps avoid the pitfalls of false histories etc.
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.
52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paganism meets intellectual rigour, & comes out rather well,
By
This review is from: The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Paperback)
As several people have already said here, the incomparable Ronald Hutton has done the Pagan community an immense service with _Triumph of the Moon_. Indeed, he achieves the near-impossible: he has produced an academic monograph on the origins of modern Pagan witchcraft capable of satisfying those on the inside (Pagans) _and_ those on the outside (academics and society at large).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.
48 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A triumph indeed.,
By erin@paganaidd.com (Wales) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Paperback)
Have you read Margot Adler? Have you studied Dion Fortune? Have you skimmed The Farrars and danced with Starhawk? Have you immersed yourself in all the books you could possibly find on Modern Paganism, Witchcraft, Druidry and Wicca and now consider yourself to be in officially educated confusion? Then throw them all away, and read this instead.On second thoughts, don’t throw them away, just keep them very very close at hand as you’ll wish to re-read and cross-reference until your eyes are spinning once you but glance at the Notes completing The Triumph of the Moon. Never mind the chapters, this book is worth buying for the references alone. Suffice to comment that it draws extensively from previously unpublished sources and stems from direct personal contact with some, if not all, the alleged greats of modern pagan witchcraft’s last half century. Hutton handles the politics of bitchcraft and the machinations of social history with great skill, and if you are searching for a possible history of modern pagan witchcraft based on fact rather than whimsical conjecture then you could do no better than to rest awhile here. In fact, overall one could do no better than to take this text as a foundation for all other forays into the field. For in wading through these mists of pagan historiography Hutton manages to hold aloft a fog lamp for the wayward seeker, providing a plethora of roads to study and arming the would-be student with a map and compass of understanding with which to explore these diverse and controversial fields yet still further. What he does not do is provide anyone with any answers, but then with religion one could argue that there aren’t any anyway.
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