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Almost forty years since its original publication, Drawing Down the Moon continues to be the only detailed history of the burgeoning but still widely misunderstood Neo-Pagan subculture. Margot Adler attended ritual gatherings and interviewed a diverse, colorful gallery of people across the United States, people who find inspiration in ancient deities, nature, myth, even science fiction. In this revised edition, Adler takes a fascinating and honest look at the religious experiences, beliefs, and lifestyles of modern America's Pagan groups.… (more)
edwinbcn: The authors of "Die Zukunft der Aufklärung" suggest that neo-paganism is a reaction to the ongoing process of the Enlightenment. The rationality of the Enlightenment seems to call for irrationality.
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Adler's thorough study of neopagan and wiccan groups highlights the breadth and vibrancy of the movements. It was fundamental to my understanding of modern wicca. The book is lengthy, but a reader should feel free to skip to the sections that will enlighten them the most, as much of the book is long case studies of various groups. ( )
...the Thessalian witches who draw down the moon from heaven... —PLATO, Gorgias
If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. —JOB, XXXIII, 27-8
Dedication
Many people came across this book, or The Spiral Dance (or any of a number of related books), in some isolated corner of America or the world. Often they found it in a small-town library, or in a used bookstore, or stashed away on a friend's bookshelf. Upon opening its pages, perhaps they said, "I never knew there was anyone else in the world who felt what I feel or believed what I have always believed. I never knew my religion had a name." To these people, this edition is dedicated.
First words
In the last twenty years, alongside the often noted resurgence of "occult" and "magical" groups, a diverse and decentralized religious movement has sprung up that remains comparatively unnoticed, and when recognized, is generally misunderstood.
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Last words
The secret that Neo-Paganism seems to have begun to learn over the past ten years is this: If the methods for creating such experiences have been lost, the way to find them again is to create them again.
Almost forty years since its original publication, Drawing Down the Moon continues to be the only detailed history of the burgeoning but still widely misunderstood Neo-Pagan subculture. Margot Adler attended ritual gatherings and interviewed a diverse, colorful gallery of people across the United States, people who find inspiration in ancient deities, nature, myth, even science fiction. In this revised edition, Adler takes a fascinating and honest look at the religious experiences, beliefs, and lifestyles of modern America's Pagan groups.
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Margot Adler - granddaughter of the renowned psychiatrist Alfred Adler and a reporter for National Public Radio - takes a fascinating and honest look at the religious experiences, beliefs, and lifestyles of the people who call themselves neopagans. Adler interviewed a colorful gallery of diverse people across the United States who believe that each person has a different path to divinity and that monotheism is a form of religious imperialism. She attended many of their ritual gatherings and discovered, contrary to stereotypical images, that most neopagans have no gurus or masters, that their beliefs are nonauthoritarian in spirit, and that they find inspiration in ancient deities, nature, myth, even science fiction. Still the only detailed history and comprehensive report on this little-known and largely misunderstood movement, Drawing Down the Moon has been revised and expanded to include new information on men's spirituality, Druids, Norse Paganism, and a complete guide of newsletters, journals, books, groups, and festivals.
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