Origins of Modern Witchcraft: The Evolution of a World Religion
Author: Ann Moura Trade Paperback, 336 pages Publisher:
Llewellyn Publication date: October 2000 ISBN: 1567186483 More
Information:
http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=1567186483
Given all the misinformation floating around the Neo-Pagan
community about the origins of Wicca and other Neo-Pagan
religions, I was pleased when the Origins of Modern Witchcraft
arrived for review. Here was a book by the author one of the
better recent series of "101" books (Green Witchcraft I, II, and
III). A book by an author with a masters in history.
Unfortunately, my high hopes for this book were quickly dashed.
Origins of Modern Witchcraft is a readable and enjoyable romp
through historical speculation. I enjoyed reading this book even
as I picked it apart. Ann Moura has an engaging style of writing
and the historical theory she presents is interesting. She is
exploring the theory that there were two major ancient
civilizations in Eurasia, the Sind in the Indus Valley and the
Aryan invaders. The Sind were peaceful and advanced with a
life-affirming God and Goddess while the Aryans were warlike
invaders with angry, hostile Gods.
My first major problem with this book is the lack of footnotes.
The author makes grand, sweeping claims throughout this book
without providing much -- if anything -- to support them. For
example, the author states that "the people of Sind understood
the concepts of light years and the equivalent of modern
astronomy's 'island universes'...." This is a remarkable claim,
yet no support for it is provided. This volume is full of such
remarkable claims, most unsupported.
My second major problem with this book is that it is very
hostile to religions, beliefs, and practices it claims come from
the Aryans. I got the impression from reading this book that
those Aryan invaders were directly or indirectly responsible for
every ill in Western and Near Eastern societies. While I suppose
this is possible, it sounds more like scapegoating to me,
especially given the lack of references.
Origins of Modern Witchcraft is unusual in one respect, at least
for a history book; it includes a number of rituals. Each
chapter has at least one ritual related to the material in the
chapter. The rituals are well-designed and described, but seem a
bit out of place in a history book.
I enjoyed reading this book (in the same way I enjoyed reading
those outrageous "ancient astronaut" books when I was a teen),
but was not convinced by it. It presents alternative, personal
theory of history that seems designed to appeal to many Pagans,
especially those who do not know much about ancient history.
Without references to support all the amazing claims and
statements made, however, the reader has no way to tell if this
theory is likely or unlikely. Given the grand and sweeping
nature of many of the claims made in this book, I personally
have strong doubts about almost every claim made in the book.
The author is basically saying that the history we are all
taught is wrong. That is an outrageous claim to make without
providing lots of references and other evidence to back the
claim. Readers who prefer their history well-supported instead
of declaratory will probably want to pass on this book as will
those who prefer not to attempt to blame all the ills of history
and the modern western world on one ancient people.
This review is one of hundreds of reviews of Pagan, Wiccan,
occult, and metaphysical books in The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum's
Books and Reviews section at
http://www.ecauldron.com/bookstore.php
About the author:
Randall Sapphire is the founder and co-host of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum
( http://www.ecauldron.com/ ), a popular Pagan Interfaith web
site and message board. He is also an editor at The Cheap Web
Hosting Report ( http://www.cheapwebhostingreport.com/ ) and
webmaster for a number of other sites.
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