Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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 bęte 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.

Hutton, for those who haven't read his work, is a British historian whose previous major work has been several works on Charles II through the Glorious Revolution; as well as The pagan religions of the ancient British Isles (about the documentable religions and religious practices of pre-Christian Britain), The rise and fall of merry England: the ritual year, 1400-1700 (a history of festivals and holidays in Britain), and Stations of the Sun (the ritual year in Britain and its history). Essentially the latter two look at the same overall field of evidence from two different angles, triangulating on the fact that the most ancient festivals and holidays that are claimed to stretch back to the ancient pagan past, can (virtually) all be documented to have developed in the late medieval and post-medieval world.

If you can't see the pattern here, his interest seems to have been trying to back-track elements of modern pagan tradition and mythology. It should be noted that at no time does he ever stray from his essential (and frequently stated) premise - that modern paganism is a perfectly valid modern religious format.

It is from this foundation that he finally takes the leap in his Triumph of the Moon, wherein he examines the history of modern paganism and places it into its place in a larger counter-cultural tradition stretching back at least to the Romantic period (if you've seen his article on the Great Neolithic Goddess Cult that appeared in Antiquity several years ago, you may have some idea of where the path this has taken). He discusses what he sees as the essential elements of Language (what do we mean by "paganism"), Goddess, God, Stucture (basically Freemasonic), High Magic, Low Magic, Folklore (Golden Bough and Frazer's followers), Witchcraft (such as Murray and Leland), and the Matrix of post-Victorian England in which all of these "Macrocosmic" elements were brought together and influenced by the works of Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune and Robert Graves. His short biographies of these three range from the balanced and thoughtful (Crowley) to the somewhat more aggressive (Graves).

From this birthplace, he examines the history of Gardner and his genealogy, re-examining the same old information with the perspective of (at least what looks like) objectivity - noting the different emergent groups that appear (and rather than simply assuming that they are "Gardnerian offshoots" noting the influences when they are there, but also examining their individual histories). He also notes and describes the earlier scholarly works that have preceded him into this field, from Aiden Kelly and Margot Adler to Tanya Luhrmann and others -- as well as their influences and the influences of their material on neo-Paganism as a whole.

His conclusion presents a snapshot of pagan witchcraft at the end of the 20th century in Britain. I make that specific, since covens are still a little more the norm in Britain than they are here in the US. Very nice work, all in all. He does not, in my opinion, lose his objectivity for the most part - and when he does it's to lean more towards the feelings of the people he's studied. For example, his treatment of the Neolithic Mother Goddess, in this work, while clearly showing the implausibility, does not exclude its possibility.

In short, if you are truly interested in the history of neo-Paganism, read it. It's worth it - you may not always agree with him (I know I don't), but he will give you a fresh perspective.

Hutton has written a book that truly needed to be written, unlike the vast majority of texts on the history of modern pagan witchcraft, for and against. In essence, Hutton isn't for or against; he's an historian. This approach may well annoy those looking for support for their beliefs, of course, but for those interested in a dispassionate account, this is the book to buy.

Hutton really starts with the eighteenth century, with Masonry, "cunning men", and other magic-workers of various kinds. He discusses these folks as sources for the later witchcraft revival, and gives his sources scrupulously. He then moves on to the nineteenth-century "occult revival", which is only rather sketchily handled, and to Gardner and the whole complex from which he arose.

Next, Hutton discusses Gardner in considerable detail, considering the whole "Dorothy Clutterbuck" problem and the whole complex of the first Wiccan covens. It seems not unlikely that this discussion will infuriate those who don't want to think of Gardner as a spiritual ancestor for their modern practices. At the same time, it's likely to tick off those would-be "debunkers" who want a lurid account of Gardner the evil sex-maniac. Overall, I found that Gardner came off rather sympathetically, which surprised me.

For me, the best thing about the book is the discussion of the extension of Wicca past Gardner's own influence. For example, I tend to associate the rise of Neopaganism with liberal politics, given the strong affiliations with the rise of feminism, ecological activism, and a kind of back-to-the-earth approach to collapsing the modern military-industrial dominance of (especially) American economics and politics. But Hutton demonstrates that in the first half of the century, in England, Wicca was very much a right-wing movement, not entirely divorced from movements like Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts and the Kibbo Kift. The transition from right to left, concurrent with the switch from one side of the Atlantic to the other, is fascinating, and deftly handled by Hutton.

I suppose the book is somewhat dense, if you're not used to mildly academic prose, but by academic standards it's pretty breezy reading. The book is quite accessible, as it is carefully indexed and Hutton makes clear what he's doing and why. If you are interested in a fairly direct, straightforward history of Neopagan witchcraft, this is a great book.

You will hate this book if:
1) You are absolutely certain that Wicca is a surviving ancient pagan religion, continuing underground despite centuries of oppression; or
2) You are absolutely certain that Wicca is a load of nonsense, made up by some foolish sex-crazed women, which offers no spiritual rewards to anyone with half a brain.
You will love this book if:
1) You are willing to read some rather dense, careful historical prose, in a mildly academic style; and
2) You would genuinely like to know a good deal about the ins and outs of the origins of the modern pagan witchcraft revival, and how it has developed over the last century.

Finally, a historian has written a book that details the origins of modern Witchcraft and Wicca. And said historian actually did a great deal of research and backs up his thesis with factual, primary source material, as opposed to the usual fantastical wish-fulfillment claptrap that many Neo-Pagan authors use to support thier pet theories regarding the history of Witchcraft.

Some people will be disappointed in this book, no doubt, for nowhere does Hutton mention an unbroken lineage of Witches that stretches beyond the burning times far into the dim reaches of matriarchal prehistory where all the women were strong, the men were beautiful, and the children were peaceful and never hit each other over the head with rocks whilst playing oppressive, competitive male-oriented team sports.

What this book does detail is a plausible explaination as to -why- modern Witchcraft would arise at all, and how it fits into post industrial society. I cannot praise the fact that Hutton doesn't only delve into the history of Witchcraft, but he shows us why it is important in the first place, and what it has to say about society as a whole, and Neo-Pagans in specific.

The book is well-written, if densely packed with information. It is not an easy read; if one skims, one is apt to miss essential details and lose sight of the myriad threads that Hutton traces in his search for the warp and weft of Witchcraft today. I took my time reading this book, savoring it with rhapsodic glee: it was good to find that there was an academic who had actually taken the time to prove some of my own pet theories about Witchcraft in England during the modern period.

At any rate, this book belongs on the shelf of every literate and educated Witch, Wiccan and Neo-Pagan in the world. If we Witches ever got around to opening up schools, I believe this should be a standard history text for any class that includes the study of our religious beliefs. It is always important to know where one comes from, in order to better decide where one would like to go.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It will give you all the details on how Wicca came to be created in the mid-twentieth century, based on literary, artistic, and academic fashions, the practices of fraternal orders and occult societies, old and new folk customs, and other cultural roots (real and imagined) going back to the 1700s. Hutton leaves no hope for those who wish to believe in a constantly existing Pagan religion in Britain or in a connection between the early modern witch trials and Paganism. No one can claim to be knowledgeable about the true history of modern Witchcraft who has not read and carefully studied this text.

This meticulously documented book pounds the final nails into the coffin of the claims Gardner made (and others inflated) that Wicca was an ancient surviving British Pagan religion of Witchcraft. None but the most stubbornly fundamentalist of Orthodox Wiccans can deny it any longer, though they have continued to try.

Hutton's work supports and amplifies the research into Wiccan history that I and other modern writers have done over the last thirty years. Indeed, the chapters in my book Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca on Gerald Gardner and the birth of Wicca owe a great deal to his clear exposition of complex details.

Every Wiccan should have this book on their shelves.

A PS for 2006: Many of the complaints by other reviewers here seem to me to be attempts to substitute unverified (and deliberately unverifiable) claims by modern Pagan authors to "secret evidence" they supposedly have access to that Hutton did not. Others are attempts to use misdirection by saying that Classical religions had (and Classical writers mentioned) goddesses similar to what modern Wicca has and "therefore" Wicca is ancient. No, because Gerald Gardner studied those ancient religions and read many of those Classical authors. Just using bits and pieces of something old in your invention doesn't constitute "proof" that your invention is itself old. Gardner was a brilliant creative artist who started something wonderful. Let's give him the credit he deserves and stop trying to shoot the messengers who have revealed his creative efforts. As for Hutton, I know him personally, and I know that he is far from being a "hostile enemy" to Wicca, being instead a sympathetic yet honest scholar. The Neopagan movement needs more authors like Hutton, not fewer.

The Pagan community has needed a book like this for two generations now -- scholarly, erudite, respectful, and documented well enough to meet academic standards rather than the standards of the popular press.

A friend of mine bought it for me from the UK a few months before it came out in the States, and I haven't put it down. I haven't chased down footnotes with such vigor since I got out of graduate school.

My only regret is that this book is an academic's research -- written for other academics. It's hardly dry for academic historians and folklorists, but I wonder how accessible it is to the lay audience, who need it most.

Wow, do I know I lot of people who need to read this!

Someone, and a respected historian-someone at that, has finally done it - and I only hope that there is more to come!
I came across this book in a university course and I can only say that I am deeply grateful to know that something like it has finally been written. Why didn't anyone mention it to me before huh? - I thought this was bound to be a standard work on every Wiccan's, Witch's or Pagan's bookshelf, right next to Margot Adler's "Drawing Down The Moon"!

Hutton's book is an in-depth study of the backgrounds, origins and development of modern Pagan witchcraft. Although it mainly focuses on Britain and on Wicca, it certainly provides a lot of "where-from" information on Neo-Paganism in general as well.

The first part of the book - "Macrocosm" - is a thorough study of the larger context, which in 1800-1940 Britain made it possible that something like Wicca could evolve. It deals with Romantic literature, archaeology, the 'cunning folk' and popular 'low magic', European learned 'high magic', folklore, secret societies, Theosophy, the Order of the Golden Dawn and Freemasonry etc. etc.
The second part - "Microcosm" - deals with the actual development of Wiccan traditions as they are practised today, starting with Gerald Gardner, then moving on to other important figures (such as Doreen Valiente etc.) and describing the development of other Wiccan traditions and also assumedly-independent-from-Wicca witchcraft traditions. Hutton also acknowledges the importance of the USA and how Wicca was greatly changed by the left-wing feminist attitude of American practitioners.

Although not written academically dry it is certainly no light read, just because of the sheer mass of information it includes, but it will be worth the effort, trust me.
Seldom have I read a book so packed full of things that I have always wanted to know and wondered about. I even know my share about Freemasonry now ;). The enormous research behind it and excessive end-notes satisfy even my sceptical mind. Hey, finally someone tries to PROVE what they are saying! It is therefore also a great sourcebook and basic work for further studies of your own.

However, for those who firmly believe in an unbroken continuity of Wicca from before the burning times, it is certainly a challenge, because Hutton does away with this theory most thoroughly. - But he does so in a very kind way, showing that there really is no need to justify a perfectly acceptable modern religion by means of these "ancient roots", and that, even if modern Pagans do pick and choose from actual older sources&religions, they are creating something uniquely modern, but nonetheless perfectly valid in the process.

The only two drawbacks are the tiny tiny tiny printing in the paperback, which has me longing for the hardcover edition - hopefully printed larger so that I can read it again and again without needing a magnifying glass or ruining my eyes.
The other is that for someone completely new to the subject it is probably sometimes hard to understand what it is all about, especially since Hutton includes so much detailed information.

If you've never heard of modern witchcraft, Wicca or Paganism, read "Drawing Down The Moon" first - then you can truly enjoy "The Triumph Of The Moon".

Ronald Hutton's Triumph Of The Moon is an excellent historical study and exploratory overview of Wicca. Since its history is an extremely volatile and complex subject, in his preface Hutton is wisely modest about the present limits of the information available to scholars and the scope of his abilities and intentions-no promises to absolute knowledge are made. Hutton clearly realizes that his subject is a matter of belief and faith to Wicca's adherents, and therefore his careful conclusions are largely relative and theoretical. His writing style is plain-spoken and academic, his approach studiously matter-of-fact throughout.

Since he is a historian and not a psychologist, Hutton steers away from any investigation of the archetypal witch image as a apparent constant of the human psyche and condition, focusing instead on whatever traceable elements of a genuine `witch tradition' and survival existed and exist in fact. Considering that witches appear both everywhere and nowhere throughout history, Hutton pulls off a remarkable piece of speculative detective work. He remains uncommonly fair and open-minded throughout, considering all claims equally and going so far as to express that he does not deny the possibility that the gods and goddesses of Wicca-including Pan--exist objectively. If this is a simple placating measure, Hutton handles it with aplomb.

The author states that the most important argument of his book is that Wicca is the result of a combination of cultural forces and undertones that have developed in England since 1800, including the Murray thesis as a erroneous theory and modern myth rather than as a hypothesis having any basis in fact.

But it's not difficult to believe that some remnant of pre-Christian religions existed in dynamic form during the Middle Ages, continued to be practiced and came to be identified as witchcraft by the dominant Christian establishment. This proposed pagan religion-presumably some form of nature worship-may have not been a focused, formalized religion in fact, but something more akin to Ireland's `fairy faith'-a powerful belief system that took a wide variety of forms in diverse parts of Europe.

Since veneration of different aspects of nature as a means of insuring a bountiful harvest seems to be a fairly common and probably spontaneous phenomena among man when in the early stages of development, why should some trace of this not have continued into the Middle Ages among agrarian people? Murray may have been all wrong in her both carefully and carelessly built-up specifics, but at least partially correct generally. Though Carlo Ginzburg was apparently unclear about how or if to link his discovery of the benandanti in the Fruili region to Murray's thesis, the example Hutton gives of the century-old witch community on the Welsh island of Mon is fairly impressive, especially since he is able to identify at least three other `pagan witch traditions' older than and apparently independent of Gardnerian Wicca.

Among those who helped produce `the pool of ideas and impulses' which led or may have contributed to the formation of Wicca are key figures James Frazer, James Michelet, Margaret Murray, Charles Godfrey Leland, Samuel Liddell Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner, and Dion Fortune, each of whose work Hutton carefully considers.

Hutton clearly loves his subject; the reader senses that no one would secretly enjoy discovering solid proof of a pagan survival of this kind more than he. His sympathy, however, never compromises his rigorous scholarly standards. This is a cautious, well-considered and erudite book that should educate most and offend few.

Hutton has performed an outstanding service to scholarship with this study. Avoiding politics and polemics, he provides the historical roots of a phenomenon clearly of recent invention. Pagan, Druidic and Wiccan organizations dwell on their roots from a distant past. Hutton shows their origins are in more modern literature and structured on organizations such as the Freemasons. There are, he emphasizes without rancour, no truly verifiable ancient origins for modern witchcraft. Although some readers may be deterred by the scholarly tone of this work, it is precisely Hutton's detached view of these social phenomena that has been lacking. He has filled a long-vacant niche and done it gracefully. More importantly, he's given us a valuable history that will endure.

The underlying theme is clear - the claims of modern pagans, "wiccans" and other occult groups to clear roots deep in prehistoric times is invalid. Hutton's research reveals the creation of various gods and goddesses arose from 18th Century literature. None of the Enlightenment or Romantic era writers used valid sources to claims that Pan, Diana or other "natural" deities persisted into modern times. All of the themes of "earth" or "cosmic" religions resulted from some disaffection - usually, but not always, with rigid Christianity. These literary creations found a ready readership, usually among intellectuals, later with a wider public, disillusioned in no small part by the social disruptions of industrialising Britain. A "return to nature" and its fabricated deities was an alluring solution to perceived woes. The pivotal event in translating this literary background for modern audiences, of course, was the publication of James Frazer's "The Golden Bough". Given the paucity of substance in that book, it's astonishing to learn it remains in print.

As Hutton leads us through the groves of literary invention, he frequently points out the brambles encountered. It's easy to become ensnared by enthusiasm replacing scholarship. Phrases like "without sources", "no research" and "leaping beyond evidence" occur with depressing frequency. Yet note the lack of "fabricated", "contrived", or "invented". Hutton is at pains to show that however ephemeral the origins, these writers, and their avid readers, firmly believe in what they say. What they believe in appears to vary with each individual, but that seems to be the nature of religions, ancient or modern, according to Hutton. Pan, for example, is mischievous, diabolical, sexually rampant or idyllic in turn as successive writers portrayed him over the decades.

The research underlying this study is staggering. Over fifty pages of annotated bibliography plus numerous interviews and personal correspondence support this work. He even manages to work in The X-Files and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series! Hutton's crowded reading schedule offers a hedgehog of pointers for the interested, but the book must be read closely to determine which are worth following. Some sources are more noteworthy than others, of course. If modern Paganism can be said to have a "founder" it is in the figure of Gerald Gardner. His writings, most of which fall into Hutton's scanty resource base category, initiated the wave of pagan witchcraft active in Britain and America today. Hutton shows how, despite schisms and divergences, Gardner's idea crossed the Atlantic to find ready acceptance in North America. There, merged with radical feminism, it not only took root, but rebounded across the sea to reinvigorate the British pagan movement. However, lack of cohesion leads Hutton to view it as having a "luxuriant complexity".

Hutton is at pains to avoid blemishing his study with "reactivity" or "reflexivity". The former, he explains, is influencing the beliefs or behaviour of those under study. "Reflexivity" is what the historian undergoes when examining his own motives and reactions to the information acquired. He steadfastly rejects the second while striving to minimize the first. It's a difficult balance, but he has achieved both successfully. The only real shortcoming in this book are the typos - jarring in a work published by an academic press. One might like some illustrative material to break the monotony of text. He also fails to list any Web sources. Even with the vaporous nature of Internet sites, some of the organizations he cites can be found. None of these limitations fail to intrude on a worthwhile and important study of an overlooked phenomenon. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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.