Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 133
EAN: 9780192854490
Edition: New Ed
ISBN: 0192854496
Label: Oxford Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Oxford Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 512
Publication Date: 1995
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
Studio: Oxford Paperbacks

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
Until recently Wiccans--the name that present day witches prefer--used to claim that their religion was a recreation, even a continuation of ancient beliefs widespread in Europe before Christianity drove them out. Most of today's Wiccans are more honest, more ready to accept that theirs is a new religion, self-consciously created to serve a need not met by existing mainstream religions.

Ronald Hutton's The Triumph of he Moon is a history of modern pagan witchcraft, examining not only its origins half a century ago but the many ideas and enthusiasms of the last few centuries that paved the way for it. He finds powerful influences in 18th and 19th-century Freemasonry, 19th-century Rosicrucian-type societies, including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as well as in the tradition of wise women, dispensers of herbal remedies and folk wisdom. Interestingly, these last, who many Wiccans would see as the main forerunners of themselves, Hutton finds to have little real significance. With the benefit of scholarly insight, he also points out the unreliability of the most influential literary and / or supposedly academic works supporting the idea of ancient European religion, such as Charles Leland's Aradia, Margaret Murray's The Witch-Cult in Western Europe and The God of the Witches, J.G. Frazer's The Golden Bough and Robert Graves' The White Goddess.

Hutton, a regular contributor to TV documentaries about Neo-Pagansism, is Professor of History at Bristol University. The Triumph of the Moon is that rarity, a very readable academic book, which will be fascinating to anyone with an interest in the history of witchcraft. --David V. Barrett




Rating: - Immensely detailed and riveting history of neo paganism
Profound and sympathetic knowledge permeates the whole of this superb history tracing the origins of modern pagan beliefs back to the eighteenth century.

The first part entitled "Macrocosm" examines each component part of the new religion and how it evolved into its final form. The second part entitled "Microcosm" is about the personalities, their rivalries, and the divergent nature of the outcomes.

Hutton is undoubtedly correct that neo paganism as known today is a modern ... Read More

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Rating: - Dated and actually quite a bit biased?
Having just read Wicca Magickal Beginnings for the first time, I thought I would revisit Triumph of the Moon (and a few other works) to see what I think of it after all these years. I read Triumph of the Moon when it first came out you see and then I was relatively new to the world of paganism. My knowledge and understanding has grown quite a lot since then and I was surprised that I found many errors in the book which I never noticed the first time. Some of them have already been noted by other ... Read More

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Rating: - Brilliant. A book for open minds.
Buy it. I've had this book for a couple of years and keep going back to it (rare for me with most the books on the craft I have.) Yeah Mr Hutton writes like the accademic he is and at times you'll feel like you're sat in a uni lecture but stick with it.

This book is nothing but information that the eager pagan mind can eat up. Blows the myths and all the 'fictional' history of the craft. My favourite part is the second section that deals with the history of modern witchcraft, at present, ... Read More

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Rating: - Fantastic!
Hutton's treatment of the history of modern Paganism not only clarified the facts about paganism as a whole, it also gave me a greater understanding of what draws me to paganism. He sweeps away some of the myths around modern Paganism while recognising it as a valid spirituality. I thoroughly recommend this book to any Pagan, or indeed to any non-Pagan.

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Rating: - Fab & Must Read
It took me a long time to read this book and then I had to go back and start all over again.

There is simply no doubt that this book is a must read for anyone interested in and everyone practicing Wicca today. Get a copy, read it and keep it for reference. It provides not just an overview of the history of the people and places, but also useful information which may help you reconstruct rituals. (Although not intended in that way)

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