Sign of the Witch: Modernity and the Pagan Revival »

Dr. David Waldron is a lecturer at the University of Ballarat.

Part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series

The witch is a uniquely powerful image in Western society. It is a symbol alternately vilified, ridiculed and idealised by differing sectors of society and is a powerful symbol in Western mythology. This book traces the evolution of the modern representations of Witchcraft and Paganism from the popular imaginings of witchcraft in 16th-century England to their contemporary manifestations amongst neo-Pagan and Wiccan religious movements in America, Australia and Great Britain today. Tracing how this symbol is continually constructed and reconstructed by the neo-Pagan movement is indicative of broader social, political and cultural issues arising out of the interaction of Romantic and Enlightenment epistemes in Western society.

Central to this process is the locating of representations of witchcraft within the twin discourses of romanticism and enlightenment modernity. Beginning with the aftermath of the English witch hunting craze of the 17th century, the book examines how the witch transformed from a symbol of ridicule during the enlightenment to an idealised symbol of romantic rebellion which led to its systemic adoption by romantic religious and political movements. Along the path it examines the development of the neo-Pagan movement from 19th-century Romantic pagan revivals, to Gardner's Wiccan movement, the sixties counter culture, the rise of eco-feminist neo-Paganism and the contemporary phenomena of "teen witches" and pop commercialization.

"John W. Morehead, Senior Editor - Sacred Tribes Journal

David Waldron has done the scholarly community, neo-Pagans, and anyone interested in the study of neo-Paganism and Witchcraft a great service with this volume. In addition to its historical, cultural, and social overview of the subject matter, it makes for an interesting study in the construction of identities and symbolism within witchcraft. I highly recommend this book.

Series Editors' Preface: Ideas and Their Transformative Permutations in History Andrew Strathern Strathern, Andrew Pamela J. Stewart Stewart, Pamela J.

Ch. 1 The Historical Context of Witchcraft: Progenitors and Antecedents 3

Anti-Catholicism and the Reformation 5

The Impact of the English Civil War 13

The End of the Witchcraze 25

New Perceptions of Witchcraft and Magic 33

Ch. 2 The End of Witchcraft? The Enlightenment and the Supernatural 41

Ch. 3 Romanticism and the Pagan Revival 51

What Is Romanticism? 52

The Philosophy of the Transcendent Imagination 53

Romanticism: The Historical Dimension 60

Romanticism and Modernity 67

Romanticism and the Construction of Paganism in Nineteenth Century England 70

Ch. 4 Gerald Gardner and the Origins of Wicca 77

Gerald Gardner and the Wiccan Movement 77

Who Was Gerald Gardner (1884-1964)? 78

The New Forest Coven 80

The Critique of Wiccan History 83

The Folklore Society and Wiccan History 89

Margaret Murray's Witch Cult 93

Ch. 5 Witchcraft and the European Occult Milieu 101

Freemasonry and Nineteenth Century Secret Societies 106

Madam Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society 111

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn 113

Crowley and the Ordo Templi Orientalis 116

Wicca and the English Occult Milieu 119

Wicca and the Invention of Tradition 122

Ch. 6 New Age Witches? Neo-Paganism and the Sixties Counter Culture 133

New Age Antecedents 134

Surviving Witchcraft Folklore in the United States 138

The Counter Culture and the "Age of Aquarius" 142

Defining Neo-Paganism and the New Age 146

Jung and the Neo-Pagan Movement 148

The Integration of Neo-Paganism and the New Age 158

TheAmbivalence to Nature in Neo-Pagan Discourse 162

Play Power and Spirituality 165

From Secret Society to Counter Culture Paganism Transformed 167

Ch. 7 Eco-Feminist Neo-Paganism: Marginalization and Romanticism 169

The WITCH Movement 169

The Goddess and the Counter Culture 173

The Goddess and "The Burning Times" 176

The Witch and the Feminine 189

The Goddess and History 191

Feminist Critique of the Burning Times and Goddess Religions 194

Romanticism and the Goddess 196

Ch. 8 Eclectic Paganism: The Old Religion in the Post-Modern Age 201

The Empirical Challenge to Witchcraft Beliefs 202

The Post-Modern Response 204

Post-Modernism or Romantic Anti-Modernism 213

Witchcraft, Commodification and Popular Culture 218

Ch. 9 Commodified Paganism: Where to From Here? 227

Conclusion: The Old Religion in a Post-Modern Age? 241

Bibliography 245

Index 259