The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers [Paperback]

Isaac Bonewits (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005

Men’s Spirituality Today Who are the men who’ve chosen the Pagan path? They’re fathers, sons, brothers, and lovers, warriors, healers, and poets. They come from every background and profession, and they’re blazing trails into new social, cultural, and political territories, defining themselves in a faith community traditionally seen as dominated by women—yet they’ve been there all along!

Isaac Bonewits, one of America’s leading experts on ancient and modern Paganism, breaks new ground with this fascinating portrait of the fastest growing religious movement in the Western world. Drawing on interviews with over forty Pagan men—and his own forty years in the Neopagan community—he explores the issues and desires that have led tens of thousands of men to embrace Pagan spirituality. He examines the ways in which men have created, added to, and benefited from the Pagan experience, incorporating their own rituals, rites of passage, and symbols. The Pagan Man offers novices and experienced practitioners a wide range of practical information on every aspect of the Pagan lifestyle, including

Today’s most popular Pagan traditions

Sages, wise men, and well-known Pagans of our time

Bardic circles, drumming circles, and other Pagan gatherings

Drumming, dancing, and calling down the Gods

The nine virtues, codes of chivalry, and other core Pagan beliefs attracting men and boys today

Pagans and the Goddess—women as partners and Goddesses Frank, engaging, and inspirational, this book encourages Pagan men of every stripe—Wiccans, Druids, Norse Pagans, or even Masons—to step away from the shadows and stereotypes, and joyfully celebrate their own special relationships with the Gods and Goddesses of the New Old Religions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An excellent survey of the issues and themes facing Pagan men of all traditions. -- Christopher Penczak, Author, Sons of the Goddess

Characteristically exciting, original, perceptive, and challenging. -- Ronald Hutton, Author, Triumph of the Moon

Isaac Bonewits proves, once again, that he’s one of the greatest Pagan scholars and authors in our community today. -- Dagonet Dewr, Exec. Dir., Pagan Pride Project

The questions he tackles are deeply serious but he believes we can have fun while exploring them. An excellent book! -- Philip Carr-Gomm, Chosen Chief, Order of Bards Ovates & Druids

What a glorious testament and vindication to all the dedicated men in our Pagan community. -- Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Founder, Church of All Worlds

From the Author

This book is an attempt to show all the many things that male members of what are usually thought of as "female dominated" religions have done and are doing. I also try to give a voice to those Pagan men who have told me quietly over the years that they did not dare express their real feelings where Pagan women could hear them, for fear of being labeled as "bad" Pagans. While their feelings of being an "oppressed minority" may have been exaggerated, they were (and are) genuine feelings nonetheless. Pagan men are doing an amazing number of different and exciting things within this vibrant subculture. In this book I share some of those things and offer advice to future generations of Pagan men on how to live in ways they, their brothers, and their Pagan sisters will appreciate and honor. Unlike previous works on this topic, I included materials about Pagan men and boys in a wide variety of Mesopagan and Neopagan paths, including Asatru, Voodoo, Druidism, Hellenic & Roman Reconstructionism, etc., rather than just about Wicca (Neopagan Witchcraft).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Citadel; annotated edition edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806526971
• ISBN-13: 978-0806526973
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Isaac Bonewits is one of North America's leading experts on ancient and modern Druidism, Witchcraft and the rapidly growing Earth Religions movement.

Now the Headmaster at RealMagicSchool.com, he has been a practicing Neopagan priest, scholar, teacher, bard, and polytheologian for over thirty-five years, he has coined much of the vocabulary and articulated many of the issues that have shaped the rapidly growing Neopagan community in the United States and Canada, with opinions both playful and controversial.

He is the author of Real Magic, Authentic Thaumaturgy, The Pagan Man, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism, Real Energy, and Neopagan Rites, as well as numerous articles, reviews and essays. He is a singer-songwriter with two-and-a-half albums to his credit. As a 'spellbinding' speaker, he has educated, enlightened and entertained two generations of modern Goddess worshippers, nature mystics, and followers of other minority belief systems, and has explained these movements to journalists, law enforcement officers, college students, and academic researchers.

He is the Founder and an Archdruid Emeritus of Ar nDraiocht Fein: A Druid Fellowship, (ADF, the best known Neopagan Druid organization based in North America), a 3rd Degree Druid within the United Ancient Order of Druids (the best known Mesopagan Druid order), a retired High Priest in both the Gardnerian ('British Orthodox') and the N.R.O.O.G.D. ('California Heterodox') traditions of Wicca (Neopagan Witchcraft), an initiate of Santeria (Afro-Cuban Mesopaganism) and the 'Caliphate Line' of the Ordo Templi Orientis (Aleister Crowley's Mesopagan magical tradition), as well as a member of other Neopagan and Mesopagan Druid orders. He has been a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) for several years. Having survived five previous spouses (and vice versa), he is now married to former CUUPS Vice President, tarot expert, writer, and Wiccan Priestess, Phaedra Bonewits (hope springs eternal).

Isaac wishes it officially known that he is not 'A Pagan Spiritual Leader,' but merely one of the Neopagan movement's better-known Unindicted Co-conspirators...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pagan Man - in a positive light, December 31, 2005

By 

PaganDad - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers (Paperback)

It is a truism that our society sends men a confusing array of contradictory messages about what they are supposed be, how they are supposed to behave, and what is expected of them. (And to be fair, women certainly suffer from the same phenomenon, as any checkout counter magazine rack sadly confirms). Within the Pagan community, men still feel the same tensions despite the ostensibly more open and accepting culture of Paganism. Bonewits argues that in fact some men may feel added pressures (and in the worst case some forms of discrimination) as much of modern Paganism emphasizes the feminine and that this doctrine, in hands of some, is used to justify pushing men to the margins of religious life in much the same way as some practitioners of the Abrahamic faiths marginalize women.

If this issue of alleged oppression of men in modern Paganism were the main focus of the book, it wouldn't be worth reading. Also, if it were a long tract of complaints about women, it wouldn't be worth the time. Luckily, while Bonewits does argue for the importance of men even in Goddess oriented religion, he also uses this book to present positive examples of the roles men fulfill in Pagan culture (as well as the names of some of the flesh-and-blood men who are fulfilling these roles) as artists, priests, warriors, fathers, brothers (to each other and the women in their community) and lovers. In addition to these positive examples, the book presents summary biographies of many influential men in modern Paganism without shrinking from indicating that many of these men also had their flaws. There are also several rituals for men (concerning issues more generally associated with men) that many practitioners would find of use. The book also features an excellent summary of the various streams of contemporary Pagan practice and the multifarious sources and influences upon Paganism today. This section is well worth reading for anyone interested in contemporary Paganism (and doesn't want to read all of "Drawing Down the Moon").

Lastly, I would like to assure the women of the Pagan community that this book isn't about attacking or denigrating you nor is it a book that defines men in antithesis to women. Rather, "The Pagan Man" is an attempt to give men a positive message that the masculine (but not the macho) is a part of creation that deserves to be honored. If you are man who feels confused about what it means to be "a good man" (and frankly you don't need to be Pagan for this book to be relevant) and are searching for role models, be they human or mythical, this book won't answer all your questions, but it will give you a great start on your journey and references to many resources to help you along the way.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love The Pagan Man!, December 5, 2005

By 

Chasmodai "Chasmodai" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers (Paperback)

And I love Isaac Bonewits book by that name. Originally I bought it as a gift for my partner, but while looking it over, I found I couldn't put it down. As I read the book, I found myself hoping that one day my sons will read it and learn from it, as they learn from their father. The book deepened my appreciation for every Pagan man I have ever known, and the Gods that reside within them. Things I love about this book:

*Isaac's courageous honesty in describing his experience of what being a Pagan man is like - and his use of quotes from the moving, inspirational experiences of the Pagan men he surveyed.

*The accessible language the book is written in - not a chore, it's an enlightening, insightful "pleasure read," yet it has a very satisfying "notes" section and bibliography, (which is thorough without being ponderous.)

*It doesn't "have to" be read in a linear fashion. I started with chapter 8, "Pagan Men As Fathers," because that's what interested me most in the moment, and then I enjoyed the rest of the chapters according to where my curiosity led me.

*The male insights presented on Paganism and the feminist movement - a thought provoking, discussion inspiring, exploration of the roles of enlightened men and women in modern Paganism.

I believe this book is written for Pagans at all levels of experience. Perhaps advanced Pagans will find that the academic knowledge presented isn't new, but Isaac has his own way of applying it - I am weary of reviews categorizing all Pagan books as either "novice," "intermediate" or "advanced," although occasionally I suspect that those reviewers who make such narrow categories are sometimes motivated to assert their own advanced knowledge.

This book is not just for Pagan men, but also for those who love and appreciate them. My husband will receive his gift a bit dog-eared - a word to the wise - get your own copy too!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an amazing book!, December 12, 2005

By 

J. Durham "Sage" (Malden MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers (Paperback)

I believe that any pagan, man or woman, can benifit from this book. The day that I recieved the book, I could not put it down. I literally stayed home all day and read it. Issac does a very good job at conveying the feelings and roles of men in modern paganism without a harsh tone or comming across as whiney. Another thing that I really appricated about the book is that he devotes a chapter to "queer" pagan men. He talks of us as fellow men, not as some seperate kind of feminized man.

Pagan men should read this book because you may find a lot of what Issac says to be true and it will most likely speak to your experiences and to your soul. Any pagan woman should read this as well in order to obtain a greater understanding of the minds and hearts of your spiritual brothers. Please pagans do yourself a favor and read this book ASAP!