Customer Reviews

Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft

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Magical Religion is a collection of scholarly papers by various authors. Contributors include well known neo-pagan writers such as Judy Harrow and Otter G'Zell, some pagan scholars like Dennis Carpenter, Ph.D., and some authors who's names I didn't recognize. I found myself wishing the editor had included a brief bio, CV, or credits for the various contributors. That's a serious fault.

The first section is about "The Goddess," a popular but somewhat increasingly controversial view of Wicca and witchcraft. Significantly lacking is co-equal focus on The God. Left out is any significant mention of the harmony and equality between Goddess and God that are important to many neo-pagans. The publication date is 1996, so perhaps it is understandable many neo-pagans were still being overwhelmed by feminism, "The Goddess" and "women's spirituality" largely originating in California.

One chapter deals with pagans who try to mix Jesus with paganism, and hold to both conflicting religions. The author describes how some pagans are unwilling to give up cultural Christianity even though they also have adopted The Goddess or other pagan religious teachings. Asatru and the Norse traditions of neo-paganism is covered in another chapter.

The scholarly approach to paganism begins to bring pagan religion into mainstream theological study. One chapter deals with the psychology of being a marginal person who's values are different than the cultural norms. One chapter describes the phenomenon of summer gatherings. Still other chapters deal with the possible origins of Wiccan theology and morality. Published by a University this volume makes neo-paganism more accessible to scholars of psychology, sociology, or theology, and can be a resource for any scholar writing a research paper on the emergence of new-paganism.