Assignment 5 (1-3 pages): Read and report on a scholarly paper or scholarly book chapter about an aspect of Neopaganism, Magic or Witchcraft of your choice (see Resources section). Briefly summarize the argument of the reading you selected and note any points of confusion or issues it raised for you. (Note: Any chapter in the book-length works listed in the Resources section below is acceptable. You may also check the bibliography of Witching Culture or bibliographies from other works we have read. If you find something not on the Resources list, feel free to run it by me as a possible subject for your assignment. Be sure to secure your reading ahead of time since some items may need to be ordered from Interlibrary Loan.)

Here are some suggestions:

Adler, Margot. 2006. Drawing down the moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and other pagans in America. Penguin. This has been through several editions; try to get one of the more recent ones. Adler includes several chapters on the history and practice of Wicca and on various reconstructionist paths.

Albanese, Catherine. 1990. Nature religion in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. A historical account; the last chapter deals with the twentieth century.

Ankarloo, Bengt and Stuart Clark, eds. 1999. Witchcraft and magic in Europe: The twentieth century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. This volume has chapters on Wicca, Satanism (not a form of Paganism by most accounts), and European witchcraft from an anthropologist’s perspective. There is a series of volumes on different periods under the general title Witchcraft and magic in Europe, most edited by Ankarloo and Clark.

Hutton, Ronald. 1999. The triumph of the moon: A history of modern pagan witchcraft. Oxford: Oxford University Press. This is a very detailed look at the origins of Neopaganism in the nineteenth century romantic and occult movements, and its development after Gerald Gardner.

Kaplan, Jeffrey. 1996. The reconstruction of the Asatru and Odinist traditions. In Lewis, Magical Religion, pp. 193-236.

Lewis, James R. ed. 1996. Magical religion and modern witchcraft. Albany: SUNY Press. Several of the authors are practicing pagans. Includes chapters on the Goddess and the relationship between Christianity and paganism.

Luhrmann, Tanya. 1989. Persuasions of the witches’ craft: Ritual magic in contemporary England. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. This older book is by one of the first anthropologists to study Wiccans. Luhrmann “went native” and became a coven member.