The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 512 pages
• Published by: Oxford University Press, USA May 31, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0192854496
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0192854490
• Book Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 10.4 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
This spirited, amusing and immensely informative history of paganism in 19th- and 20th-century Britain centers on Wicca, the system of witchcraft Gerald B. Gardner introduced to a startled public in the 1950s. The book's first half takes the reader on a breakneck tour of Victorian and Edwardian culture, demonstrating that Wiccan belief and practice owe much to the scholars, novelists and poets who resurrected Pan and the Goddess, crafting romantic visions of a pre-Christian past. The second half proceeds at a more leisurely pace, detailing the development of British witchcraft over the past 50 years among Gardner's followers, critics and rivals. In this meticulously researched book, Hutton modestly demolishes myths perpetuated by both pagans and their hostile critics and maintains an attitude that is at once skeptical and ultimately sympathetic. He displays astounding breadth, with literary references ranging from Keats to Mary Daly, and peppers his work with insightful portraits of characters such as Madam Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, D.H. Lawrence, Dion Fortune, Alex Sanders, Starhawk and the unusual 19th-century wonder-worker and wart-healer known as Cunning Murrell. In a field generally characterized by polemical or apologetic historiography, Hutton's exceptional work is by far the most scholarly, comprehensive and judicious analysis of the subject yet published. It will remain the standard for many years to come. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Review

"An great 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 assemblesHutton 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


Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Hardcover) The world still awaits a truly comprehensive history of Neopaganism. Margo Adler's estimable DRAWING DOWN THE MOON is perhaps the closest approach to date. With THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOON, British historian Ronald Hutton has raised the bar for future efforts both in terms of depth of research and genuine insight. Though his book focuses on the antecedents and development of British Wicca, it contains a wealth of material to any reader interested in Neopaganism. Hutton is something of a bête noire for many Wiccans and other Neopagans after his iconoclastic PAGAN RELIGIONS OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH ISLES, particularly for his corrosive attacks on Robert Graves and THE WHITE GODDESS (however deserved they may have been). Hutton's work is, nevertheless, grounded in substantial research (as befits a widely-published historian) and a generally non-judgmental tone. Hutton continues his no-stone-unturned approach in this new book, but departs from simple history to offer rationales for the viability of Neopaganism as a religious path, even given its apparent twentieth-century origins. For many Neopagans outside of traditionalist Wicca, the book's focus on Neopagan Witchcraft (and in particular on Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders) may render its iconoclasm old news. Hutton's research only buttresses the deconstruction of Wicca begun in the '70s. Hutton's gift, though, is to go beyond the first order deconstruction and find unexpected bits of information amidst an impressive array of personal papers and museum holdings. For example, most informed readers will already be aware that "Old" Dorothy Clutterbuck, Gardner's supposed initiatrix, was shown to be a real person, after years of argument to the contrary. Hutton demonstrates, however--and rather conclusively to my mind--that "Old Dorothy" could not have been the person who initiated Gardner and he points emphatically to another woman who may have been hiding behind a smokescreen of Gardner's creation. Similarly, Hutton is not afraid to take on the now-taken-for-granted notion advanced by Aidan Kelly that the ritual nudity and scourging involved in Gardnerian Wicca were simply manifestations of Gardner's personal sexual kinks. Hutton ransacks Gardner's personal collection of pornography to refute this--and offers suggestions as to the real roots of these practices. The book is of greatest interest to the general (read, "non-Wiccan") Neopagan reader in two regards. First, Hutton clearly demonstrates that the cultural roots of the Pagan revival lie embedded in the Romantic movement, particularly in Romantic Era poetry. The real forebears of the movement are seen to be, not Leland or Crowley (though both are examined and acknowledged), but poets like Keats, Shelley and Swinburne, who first identified the feminine divine with Nature and who repopularized the use of classical Pagan deities like Diana and Pan, often against critical resistance. The way in which Hutton tracks the passage of these motifs from literature into religion is fascinating. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOON represents a scholarly book by an apparently non-Pagan historian (unlike Adler) who is willing to see past the herd of sacred cows he is slaughtering to point out the transcendent values of Neopaganism--Wiccan or otherwise. He is careful throughout the book never to reach categorical judgements against some deeply-held beliefs, even where the evidence might strongly point in that direction. And, in the final pages of the book, Hutton sets aside the persona of the dispassionate researcher to advocate for pagan witchcraft as "a full-blown, independent religion," one "which deliberately draws upon ancient images and ideas for comtemporary needs," a protean faith which "takes ideas from many sources and applies them in many--and often constantly altering--ways." Hutton hinted at this favorable sentiment in PAGAN RELIGIONS OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH ISLES and it is to his credit that he is willing to expand upon it here. Even speaking as an initiate in one of the traditions critically examined in the book ("1734" Witchcraft), I recommend it highly.