Drawing Down the Moon (106 page)

3
Egon Larsen,
Strange Sects and Cults
(London: Arthur Barker, 1971), p. 2.

4
Richard Cavendish,
The Black Arts
(New York: Capricorn Books, 1967), p. 3.

5
J. Gordon Melton,
A Dictionary of Religious Bodies in the United States
(New York: Garland, 1967), p. 267. “Manipulation and a manipulative world view is of the essence of magical existence.”

6
Susan Roberts,
Witches, U.S.A.
(New York: Dell, 1971), pp. 17–24.

7
Edward A. Tiryakian, “Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture,”
American Journal of Sociology,
No. 78 (November 1972), 491–512. Also in
On the Margin of the Visible,
pp. 257–80. “Occult” is defined on p. 265.

8
Andrew M. Greeley and William C. McCready, “Some Notes on the Sociological Study of Mysticism,” in
On the Margin of the Visible,
p. 304.

9
Raymond Prince and Charles Savage, “Mystical States and the Concept of Regression,”
Psychedelic Review,
No. 8 (1966), 59–75.

10
Raymond Prince, “Cocoon Work: An Interpretation of the Concern of Contemporary Youth with the Mystical,” in
Religious Movements in Contemporary America,
ed. Irving Zaretsky and Mark Leone (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974), pp. 255–71.

11
A. L. Kroeber, “Psychosis or Social Sanction” (1940), in
The Nature of Culture
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), pp. 309–10.

12
E. Fuller Torrey, “Spiritualists and Shamans as Psychotherapists: An Account of Original Anthropological Sin,” in
Religious Movements in Contemporary America,
pp. 330–37. Quotations on p. 331.

13
Mircea Eliade,
Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries
(New York: Harper & Row, 1967), p. 71.

14
Greeley and McCready, “Notes on Study of Mysticism,” p. 310.

15
Marvin Harris,
Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches
(New York: Vintage, 1975), pp. 251, 255, 257–58, 263.

16
Edwin Schur,
The Awareness Trap: Self-Absorption Instead of Social Change
(New York: Quadrangle, 1976).

17
Christopher Lasch, “The Narcissist Society,”
The New York Review of Books
Vol. XXIII, No. 15 (September 30, 1976), 5, 8, 12; also, “The Narcissistic Personality of Our Time,”
Partisan Review,
Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (1977), 9–19.

18
Tiryakian, “Sociology of Esoteric Culture,” p. 271.

19
Mircea Eliade, “The Occult and the Modern World,” in
Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), pp. 52–53.

20
Nathan Adler, “Ritual, Release, and Orientation: Maintenance of the Self in the Antinomian Personality,” in
Religious Movements in Contemporary America,
p. 285.

21
Edward A. Tiryakian, “Preliminary Considerations,” in
On the Margin of the Visible,
p. 3.

22
Theodore Roszak, ed.,
Sources
(New York: Harper & Row, 1972), p. 419.

23
Harriet Whitehead, “Reasonably Fantastic: Some Perspectives on Scientology, Science Fiction, and Occultism,” in
Religious Movements in Contemporary America,
pp. 547–87.

24
Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier,
The Morning of the Magicians,
trans. Rollo Myers (New York: Avon, 1968). Originally published in France in 1960 as
Le Matins des Magiciens
by Éditions Gallimard.

25
Mircea Eliade, “Cultural Fashions and History of Religions,” in
Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions,
pp. 10, 13, 16.

26
Mircea Eliade, “The Occult and the Modern World,” in
Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions,
pp. 52–53, 57–58, 64–65.

27
Edward J. Moody, “Magical Therapy: An Anthropological Investigation of Contemporary Satanism,” in
Religious Movements in Contemporary America,
pp. 380–82.

28
Edward J. Moody, “Urban Witches,” in
On the Margin of the Visible,
p. 233.

29
Marcello Truzzi, “The Occult Revival as Popular Culture: Some Random Observations on the Old and Nouveau Witch,”
Sociological Quarterly,
No. 13 (Winter 1972), 29.

30
Marcello Truzzi, “Toward a Sociology of the Occult: Notes on Modern Witchcraft,” in
Religious Movements in Contemporary America,
pp. 629, 635–36.

When I originally put together this bibliography, I described it as personal and eclectic, with no attempt to be complete. This is even more so today, given the explosion of publications on Wicca and Paganism. But it is a rough guide—particularly for a newcomer—to some of the better books on modern Neo-Paganism, Wicca, and Goddess spirituality. Many of the books footnoted in
Drawing Down the Moon
are not listed here. This list includes some of the standard works and a number of my personal favorites. It was put together with the notion that someone new to Earth-centered spirituality might like a guide to some of the choices available for further exploration.

 

Adair, Margo.
Working Inside Out: Tools for Change
(Berkeley, CA: Wingbow Press, 1984). A book that focuses on applied meditations, affirmations, and pathworking by an author who has been involved in political struggles for many years.

Anonymous.
A Book of Pagan Rituals.
(York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1978). Authors include Ed Fitch and Donna Cole-Schultz. Many of the Pagan Way rituals that provided entry points into Wicca are published here. A very good basic group of entry-level seasonal and passage ceremonies.

Apuleius, Lucius.
The Golden Ass.
Many different translations exist. Apuleius was an initiate of Isis, and the book was written in the second century C.E., so this is either the first Goddess novel or the oldest one still in print. The vision of Isis near the end of the book is poetic and inspired.

Bado-Fralick, Nikki.
Coming to the Edge of the Circle: A Wiccan Initiation Ritual
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). Perhaps the first book to look deeply at Wiccan ritual, and initiation in particular.

Bardon, Franz.
Initiation into Hermetics
(Wuppertal, Germany: Dieter Ruggeberg, 1971). A well known magical training system that many Wiccan and Pagan groups have used.

Barin, Anne, and Jules Cashford.
The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image
(London: Penguin, 1993). A scholarly work on the Goddess from ancient times up until Christianity.

Barrett, Ruth.
Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Creating Ritual in the Dianic Wiccan Tradition
(Bloomington: AuthorHouse, 2004). A primer for Dianics that comes out of Z Budapest's Dianic tradition.

Berger, Helen.
A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States
(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999). A good study of modern Paganism. Most of the emphasis is on Wicca. The book examines the coven, conceptions of community, children, and sexuality, among other issues.

Blain, Jenny, Douglas Ezzy, and Graham Harvey.
Researching Paganisms
(Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004). A very good and fascinating selection of papers in Pagan studies.

Bolen, Jean.
Goddesses in Everywoman, A New Psychology of Women
(San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984). A Jungian therapist looks at the archetypal images of the Greek goddesses, including Athena, Hera, Hesia, Artemis, Demeter, and Persephone as a method of personal exploration and growth.

Bonewits, Isaac.
Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca
(New York: Citadel Press, 2006). Like all of Bonewits's work, a down-to-earth guide, slightly irreverent at times, and very good.

———.
Real Magic
(Berkeley, CA: Creative Arts Book Company, 1979; New York: Samuel Weiser, 1989). A no-nonsense guide to magic and psychic reality by a feisty, opinionated practitioner.

Bracelin, J. L.
Gerald Gardner: Witch
(London: Octagon Press, 1960). This is the only biography of Gerald Gardner. Actually written by Idries Shah. Somewhat of an apology, and not great literature, but contains wonderful anecdotes about Gardner's life.

Bradley, Marion Zimmer.
The Mists of Avalon
(New York: Knopf, 1983). One of the only books with a Pagan theme to make
The New York Times
best-seller list. A powerful retelling of the Arthurian legend from a feminist and Pagan point of view.

Cameron, Anne.
Daughters of Copper Woman
(Vancouver, British Columbia: Press Gang Publishers, 1981). Matriarchal legends from the indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island, beautifully written.

Campanelli, Dan and Pauline.
Ancient Ways: Reclaiming Pagan Traditions
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1991).

———.
Circles, Groves, and Sanctuaries
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1992). The ways Pagans worship and the places where worship takes place.

Christ, Carol P.
Diving Deep and Surfacing: Woman Writers on Spiritual Quest
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1980). An excellent introduction to women's spirituality.

Christ, Carol P., and Judith Plaskow.
Womenspirit Rising, a Feminist Reader in Religion
(San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979). An early but excellent sourcebook in feminist theology, including selections from Mary Daly, Merlin Stone, Starhawk, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and many others.

Clifton, Chas. S.
Witchcraft Today
:
The Modern Craft Movement
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1992). Clifton gives a brief history of Wicca and then a group of very experienced Wiccan practitioners provide articles on seasonal festivals, healing, men and women, sex magic, Witchcraft and the law, and more.

———.
Witchcraft Today
:
Modern Rites of Passage
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993). This is book two of the series. It has articles by noted practitioners on rites of passage: handfastings, puberty rites, initiation, rites of dying, as well as sections on military Pagans, raising a Pagan child, and more.

———.
Witchcraft Today: Witchcraft and Shamanism
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1994). This is book three of the series. Articles explore the complex connection between shamanism and Paganism.

Crowley, Vivianne.
Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age
(Wellingborough, UK: Aquarian Press, 1989). An English Wiccan and Jungian therapist talks about the theory of Wicca. Beautifully and poetically written.

———.
Phoenix from the Flame: Pagan Spirituality in the Western World
(London: Aquarian, 1994). A lovely treatise on modern Paganism as a pluralistic and joyous religion.

Cunningham, Scott.
Living Wicca
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993).

———.
Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1988). These are simple and quite lovely books for people encountering Wicca for the first time.

Downing, Christine.
The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine
(New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1981). A Jungian therapist and professor of religious studies explores the relationship of the classical Greek goddesses to who we are and who we might become.

Eclipse.
The Moon in Hand: A Mystical Passage
(Portland, ME: Astarte Shell Press, 1991). The wheel of life through the elements and directions with poetry, stories, and visualizations.

Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Dierdre English.
Witches, Midwives and Nurses
(New York: Feminist Press, 1963). An early feminist classic. Although later scholarship has questioned some of the premises, it's a groundbreaking small booklet linking the persecution of women, the persecution of Witches, and the rise of the medical profession.

Eisler, Riane.
The Chalice and the Blade
(San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988). A provocative, controversial feminist reinterpretation of history.

Eliade, Mircea.
Occultism, Witchcraft and Cultural Fashions
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976). Intelligent and perceptive essays on occultism and Witchcraft. Check out his other writings as well, including his
History of Religious Ideas, Volumes I, II, III
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982).

———.
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
(London: Penguin Arkana, 1989). A monumental study originally published in 1964.

Eller, Cynthia.
Living in the Lap of the Goddess: New Feminist Spiritual Movements
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1995). A very interesting survey of feminist spirituality.

Evans, Arthur.
Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture
(Boston: Fag Rag Books, 1978). A classic work that helped lead to the Radical Faery movement among gays. The book attempts to find, understand, and reclaim gay history and to uncover its links to pre-Christian spiritual traditions.

Farrar, Janet and Stewart.
The Witches Way
(London: Robert Hale, Ltd., 1984). Published in the United States as
A Witches Bible, Volumes I and II
(New York: Magickal Childe, 1985). The rituals used by Gardnerians and Alexandrians, as well as chapters on the history and practice of Wicca. The late Stewart Farrar was a former journalist who became an initiate of Alex and Maxine Sanders. He also wrote
What Witches Do,
one of the better early books on Wicca.

Fitch, Ed, and Janine Renee.
Magical Rites from the Crystal Well
(St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1984). For years, entry-level Pagans were doing many of these lovely rituals without knowing where they came from.