[.ca] The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan ... (ISBN 0192854496)

A scholarly tone hides a biased approach:
This book was a very enjoyable read, partly for the quality of the writing style, partly for the way it catalogues so many interesting people, events and ideas, and partly for the thrill of the hunt as I tracked down and nailed mistake after mistake. In a work of this scope a few factual errors are to be expected, but the sheer number of these errors, and the immensity of some of his misrepresentations is staggering, especially from someone who claims to be unbiased, and to have not left any significant silences. Hutton's scholarly yet entertaining tone has totally starstruck a generation of pagans who previously had seen nothing better than Llewellyn's books (note all the 5-star reviews), however his scholarship is full of big, black, holes. The main thrust of the book is to destroy any possibility of any kind of history or continuity to pre-Gardnerian "Wicca" or witchcraft. This is fine up to a point, but in his anti-Murray-ist zeal he goes so far as to conclude that not one single practitioner of any kind of pagan religion was persecuted in Europe during the time of the witch trials (1400-1700). To support this extreme claim he employs character assassination against such people as Gardner and Leland (supported on a series of shaky or downright wrong information), qoutes other authors very selectively or out of context, paints quite unrealistic pictures of historical folk-magic (for instance, describing English cunning folk as isolated and having little or no contact with each other, and getting all their skills by mail order from London, when contemporary accounts describe that in some areas there were as many cunning-folk as parishioners). He criticises the eminent scholar and historian Carlo Ginzburg (certainly a more rigorous scholar than Hutton) of being Murray-ist, but seems to have either not read, or somehow not understood Ginzburg's books which he has quoted from. He even at one point gives a list of authors who supposedly agree with him that no condemned "witches" held pagan religious beliefs - however if you actually read these authors, you will find that only one or two of them make any such claim, and in fact about half of them seem to take quite the opposite view, suggesting all kinds of connections with pre-christian religion (and giving lots of evidence in support). Hutton doesn't even attempt to address the wealth of previous work that has gone into understanding the pre-christian religions of Europe and their continuation through folk-lore and custom. Folklorists like Jacob Grimm may have written some years ago when different academic approaches were in vogue, but this doesn't give Hutton license to entirely ignore their seminal works. There is an enormously different picture to be painted if you read just the authors Hutton has cited, let alone if you expand into wider areas such as folklore and legislation. I really did enjoy reading this book, and I see it offering a good starting point for other better-prepared researchers, providing as it does such a nice catalogue of people and ideas (also, research is more fun when you have a contentious point or two to argue over). However as a book to be read and believed by Wiccans and pagans it is a tragedy. Instead of tracing the development of modern Wicca and witchcraft in an honest light, he rather stamps on these thin tenuous roots and casts a blackening smokescreen across what is already a dim enough area of history. I don't really understand how or why he would get it so wrong. Is it really just plain sloppiness, or does he have some sinister agenda? :) But then, the world of witchcraft is a strange place, full of strange people. Perhaps Hutton is no less strange than some of the people and events he writes about. (...)

Excellent work, shame about the typeset.:
This is a veyr detailed and informative history. However the paperback edition has miniscule print on low grade paper, so much so that it is hard to read for a long period of time. I would reccomend getting the hardback. The work itself is great and it's worth paying the extra to be able to read it without needing aspirin on standby.

A must-read on modern witchcraft and Wicca:
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".

How a religion is Born!:
This was an excellent historical work on modern Pagan Witchcraft. It does tend to focus on Wicca, but it does also talk about Druids, and non-Gardnarian Traditions. If you know nothing about Wicca, I recomend you start with another book, or the very last chapter serves as an excelent summary of what Wiccans belive, and though it seams weird to suggest it, you might want to read the last chapter first. Although the author is a historian and not a Pagan or a Witch, he remains respectful in his historical endevor. This book is an excelent example of how a new religion is born, and perhapse the only such history of the birth of a new faith to exist!

Deep insight into modern witchcraft:
Since I am attending a class dealing with witchcraft at the Anglistics Institute of the University of Vienna I read this book to widen my, til then, rudimentary knowledge of modern witchcraft. Never before had I heard about 'Wicca' or the people connected with it - after reading this book my lack of education in this respect was more than removed The descriptions of pagan elements and biographies of important figures in the modern witchcraft tradition are very detailed. Therefore, this book certainly is recommendable for those who are prepared to invest a large amount of time into their study of this issue. Ronald Hutton tried to be as objective as possible. For example, Alstair Crowley is not presented as a Satanist as which he is seen by some(NB I talked to a guy,who is not attending this class,about Crowley and for him Crowley was the best example for a Satanist). Yet, Crowley's objection to leading women and his "savage anti-semitism" are mentioned. The book consists of two parts:the "Macrocosm" and the "Microcosm". In the first part the belief of the Wiccans, eg their relation to-for them-divine nature, their worship of a Goddess and a God,their festivals,ceremonies and symbols are presented. Although the origins of Wicca as it is practised today are in the 18th century,Hutton writes about the romantic idea of many practitioners that it survived from the "Old religion"(after all,the worship of a goddess or seasonal festivals could hint indeed to such a pagan/ancient source). However,living in Sigmund Freud's hometown,Vienna,I missed the psycological explanation why people turned their backs on 'traditional'religions like Christianity and moved to(of course even more traditional yet revived)paganism. What were/are they searching for?Perhaps for a contrast to our technologically constucted world? The second part deals with the most important people in the Wicca tradition, first of all Gerald Gardner whose biography and carreer cover a whole chapter.I found the descriptions of the covens'actions against Hitler especially interesting(NB I've mentioned my Austrian origin).Once,Hutton mentions that "whitch covens right and left-against witch law-came together"to fight the Nazi-regime.Unfortunately,it is not clarified how 'right and left' is meant in this respect(does it have a political connotation?)nor is the 'witch law'further described,which was a problem for a newcomer like me. Also of special interest for me was the last chapter that questions the definition of Wicca;should it be described a s religion or as a sect?Is the latter definition indicated,for instance,in Wicca's focusing on sexuality?(However,as Hutton points out,it has only a symbolic function in the ceremonies and he never came across actual sexual intercourse carried out in a coven's rite.) As one had to expect, Hutton defends this tradition against beiing perceived as a sect and calls it 'revived religion'. Having read this book I could agree with him.