Issue 70, Spring Equinox 2000

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CONTENTS
Jan Henning
Seahenge (editorial)
John McGlynn
Calypso and Circe
John Rowan
On Visions
Crow
Not Quite Juliet (poem)
Lou Hart
Triumph of the Moon (review article)
Denise Margaret Hargrave
My Time (poem)
Plus reviews, miscellany,, etc.
© Daniel Cohen and Jan Henning 2000. Individual writings and drawings © by their creators. Please
write to Wood and Water for permission to reprint.
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MOONS and SUNS to Summer Solstice (London GMT)
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Wood and Water, volume 2, number 70. Spring 2000.
A Goddess-centred feminist-influenced pagan magazine
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Editorial, Spring Equinos 2000
Time to sound off again, I think. This time, the object of my ire is the Time Team programme on
Seahenge, which was broadcast on Channel 4 on 29th January.
[For the record, Seahenge is the name given to a 4000 year old circle of oak stumps, which became
visible at neap tide in sands off the Norfolk coast. The site — a wildlife SSSI administered by English
Heritage — has now been excavated, over protests from the local community and pagan groups; and removed
to Flag Fen, a Bronze Age site and reconstruction-village near Peterborough]
There were two fundamental aspects of the programme that enraged me. Firstly, let me get the
REALLY cheap shots out of the way. These relate entirely to the actual Time Team, and their attitude to what
they were filming and doing.
Oh, Baldrick, how art thou fallen! Yes, front-man Tony Robinson is no longer OK. The sneery tone he
took with all forms of opposition to the excavation — and particularly with the Druids and Pagans — was
completely unprofessional (and he's supporting Frank Dobson's mayoral candidacy as well — but that's
beside the point). I also disliked the insensitive blokeishness of the rest of the regular Time Team, as they
happily despoiled a deciduous wood near where I live, in order to recreate the very monument that their
colleagues were destroying (making jokes about phallic symbols as they did so).
Right — that's got the really crass stuff out of the way. This second group of points relates to the
Seahenge operation itself, as it was shown in the programme.
Archaeology is Divine Truth
It is time (and over-time) for Archaeology as a discipline to face its own shortcomings. In my last
recorded rant, I made reference to the role that academic archaeologists, historians and anthropologists played
in building up the great Aryan Supremacy- lie in the 1930s. Academics adhering to this were not onlyGermans, and some of them are still revered (usually posthumously, it's true) within their fields.
Time Team showed the English Heritage archaeologists as paternalistic — heedless of concerns and —
worse — theories from outside their field. They rode roughshod over local opinion. They also appeared to
break a restriction order by creeping onto the site at dawn to remove parts of the monument which they had
deemed "at risk" (mainly because they themselves had exposed the ancient timbers to the air). Worst of all —
1
one of them was seen attacking a woman protester and pulling her upper clothing off. This was utterly
unnecessary, as there was a (highly restrained) police presence. "Shame!" cried the protesters as the huge
inverted oak from the centre was pulled free by a monstrous machine. "This should have been the sight of a
lifetime," confided the archaeologists' team leader after it was all over, "but I just feel depressed." I have to
confess that I cracked and hurled obscenities at the TV screen at this massive piece of hypocrisy.
The Archaeologist as Frankenstein/High Priest/ judge of religious belief
The culprit here is Maisie the Dendrochronologist — and yes — she revealed herself impressively as all
three of the above. Firstly she announced that, once the ancient timber had been revealed, she could no more
leave it alone than "leave a book unread". This is the philosophy of 'knowledge at all costs', subscribed to by
Viktor Frankenstein. Secondly we saw her accepting offerings from distraught pagan women to place in the
ragged gap left when the central tree had been removed (mainly because the women had been barred from the
site by then). "What do you want to put in there?" we heard her asking, "My tears." replied one of the women.
"She wants to put her tears in," sneered Maisie at the camera, "I don't know how we're going to manage that."
Maisie was also seen warning against allowing any legality to the view that a site should remain
undisturbed for religious reasons. She used the well-known 'thin-edge-of-the-wedge' ploy to argue that all
kinds of road building and 'improvements' could be stopped on these grounds. Naturally, no-one pointed out
that if the Established Church had been involved on behalf of a sacred site, the argument might well have been
phrased differently (or even not at all!).
The Question that Wasn't Debated
Archaeologists never question their role as preservers (see Maisie above). So the question that was
never addressed during the programme was — should the site have been left alone to decay in its own time/the
time of the sea? Many pagans might argue in favour of this. Here is Emma Restall-Orr being interviewed on
the Avebury stones, for the National Geographic Channel — "A stone circle must be given its own natural
cycle of life and death ... we have to understand that there is power rising and then it decays, and we have to
honour that in the stones... "
Well — phew — I feel much better. Happy Spring!
Jan Henning
@©©©@©@@©
CALYPSO AND CIRCE
The Calypso and Circe characters of the Homeric Odyssey have much in common. They are both
Nature Goddesses living alone on islands.
They live in lush gardens, they are considered to be untrustworthy because they have the power to work
magic and they succeed in delaying the hero on his journey home. Both were early Great Goddesses and the
protagonists that Odysseus encounters in each case are their mortal priestesses.
Calypso
Calypso means 'concealer ', referring either to her occult skills or possibly to the Solar Eclipse when the
Moon temporarily hides the Sun, an explanation that would fit if Odysseus were considered to be a typical
Solar Hero.
When Odysseus first encounters Calypso she is inside her cave spinning. She is thus the personification
of Fate spinning out the destiny of mortal men on her eternal loom. Many trees including black poplar,
2
cypress and alder shade the entrance to her cave and a vine grew over the portal. The area immediately outside
was a garden given over to the cultivation of parsley and violets. These plants can be identified as her
epiphanies, emblems of her sacred presence used by her mortal priestess in herbal magic and healing.
Black Poplar
Black poplar or Populus niger is associated with death being a tree commonly found in cemeteries and
churchyards. It is associated with the Goddess in her most ungracious aspect as patroness of Death. It is rapid
growing because it has a mantle of fungus around its roots that are beneficial both to the soil and to the tree's
nutrition. The tree 'weeps' resinous amber coloured tears that have a sweet, almost sickly smell. These are the
eternal tears that the Seven Heliades cry for their lost brother Phaethon.
Alder
Alder or Alnus glutinosa is also associated with the Death aspect of the Goddess. The trees were
traditionally planted on islands in rivers or estuaries where the bodies of tribal heroes were buried. It is no
coincidence that Calypso's island is planted with alder for she is the Goddess of Death and Rebirth who
detains the hero Odysseus as she would any other mortal who strayed into her domain. What she is offering
the hero is the sacrament of Death and Rebirth but Odysseus proves unworthy and seeks assistance from male
deities like Zeus who can only offer him fame.
Parsley
Parsley or Cerum petroselinum is traditionally associated with dominant women and with death, that is
the death of male dominance. Vickery (1995 p. 275) notes how parsley was used in the treatment of
gynaecological problems and how this entire area was a mystery to men so that the growing of parsley became
associated with women and the threat of female dominance.
Despite this the ancient Greeks held the plant in great esteem and used it to crown the victors at the
Isthmian Games. The healing priestess used parsley for its carminative and diuretic effects.
Iris
The iris mentioned in the epic is probably Iris germanica, which grows in the Mediterranean area. The
plant is called after the Greek Goddess of the Rainbow. Iris is the symbol of spiritual power and majesty. The
roots of the plant were called Orris Root and were used in the production of perfumes and cosmetics, as well
as a medicine because they have diuretic, emetic and cathartic properties.
Violet
The violet or Viola odorata has heart-shaped leaves and a beautiful purple flower. The flower blooms
twice a year, in spring and in autumn. The spring flowers are sweet scented but completely barren while the
autumn flowers are fertile but have no smell. Such plants are called cleistogamous and are interesting
epiphanies because they are self-fertilising. This fact reminds us that the Goddess had no need of a male
partner in order to bring forth life as she did this parthenogenetically; she contained both sexes in her own
divine being, she was fertility perfected.
Violets were used by the healing priestess because of the essence of the Goddess within their structure
that made their products expectorant, laxative and sedative. They were used in medicine from a very earlydate because they have a mild anti-inflammatory effect and because of this their leaves were made into
plasters and poultices.
3
Circe
Circe lived on the Island of Aeaea which Graves (1961 p. 367) places at the head of the Adriatic Gulf.
Here name apparently means a 'she falcon 'or possibly a 'sacred circle'. McGrath (1997 p. 91) maintains that
Circe was the Goddess of the Dawn and a perfect counterpart to the Goddess of the Evening who is usually
represented in triad as the Hesperides. When Odysseus first encounters the Goddess she is inside her wellmade house (temple, perhaps) spinning. Like Calypso, she is Fate spinning out the destiny of mortal men.
Her priestess was a skilled enchantress who not only kept pigs but had the power to turn mortals into
pigs at will. Her island was covered with oak trees that we recognise as epiphanies of the Goddess used by her
mortal priestess in herbal magic and healing.
Oak
The type of oak mentioned in the epic is probably Quercus ilex which grows in the Mediterranean area
and is virtually an evergreen, hence symbolic of fertility. Acorns from the trees formed man's earliest food
and they remain a favourite of pigs. The oak is an oracular tree and there is no surprise that it is found on the
island because originally all oracles came under the Goddess till the function was usurped by later male
deities. The leaves of the oak were used in healing by the priestess because of their anti-inflammatory and
anti-haemorrhagic properties. There is something special about being in the presence of a majestic oak that is
positively spiritual, as if one is in communion with the powers of nature. Patterson (1996 p. 190) observes that
in an oak grove is found protection and warmth, essential requirements for communication with the natural
world.
Pig
The pig in ancient mythology represents fertility and abundance, strength and tenacity, and death and
rebirth. Davies (1998 p. 50) equates similar pairs of opposites with the physical, psychological and spiritual
needs of man, an equation which if true goes a long way in explaining the centrality of the pig in the religious
cults of various Great Goddesses including Artemis, Demeter and Persephone. It is apt that we should
discover the pig living on Circe's island for pigs eat acorns and her domain is planted with oaks. Baring and
Cashford (1993 p. 69) note that the pig belongs to the mystic rites of agriculture which were believed to help
the Goddess of Fertility give birth to new creation. The pig is an epiphany of the Goddess representing her
raw fertility and a personification of her promise of cyclical fecundity.
Moly
The moly is the magical plant that Hermes gave to Odysseus to protect him from Circe's powers.
Considerable dispute reigns about the identity of the plant but Theophrastus in his History of Plants, LX, 15, 7,
maintained that it had a round root like an onion and a squill-like leaf. This description makes it sound like a
species of wild garlic. Suhr (1967 p. 70) maintained that the moly represents the shadow of the Moon
witnessed during a total eclipse and so has a magical potency seldom afforded other lesser plants. In the
Homeric epic, Odysseus is protected against Circe's magic by his possession of the sacred herb which Graves
(1961 p. 367) identifies as a wild cyclamen but mentions that later classical tradition maintained that it was a
type of garlic.
If the later tradition is true then we have a very early reference to the traditional folk belief that garlic
protects the bearer against all sorts of magic and evil doing. The plant was originally the property of the
Goddess and has been usurped by Hermes.
4
Conclusion
The Calypso and Circe who have come down to us in the pages of the Homeric Odyssey are tamed
versions of the once all-powerful Nature Goddesses. The reputation of the Goddesses have suffered under
patriarchal tradition and male deities such as Hermes have usurped many of their sacred functions.
References
Baring, A & Cashford, J. The Myth of the Goddess (Penguin 1993)
Davies, M. Sacred Celtic Animals (Capall Bann 1998)
Graves, R. The Greek Myths, vol. 2 (Penguin 1961)
McGrath, S. The Sun Goddess (Blandford 1997)
Patterson, J. Tree Wisdom (Harper Collins 1996)
Suhr, E. Before Olympos (Helios 1967)
Vickery, R. Plant Lore (Oxford University Press 1995)
John McGlynn
i
Stewart Farrar died on 7th February. With his wife Janet, he wrote many books on witchcraft and so
introduced many people to the Craft. He also wrote occult fiction with a very positive view of the Craft. With
the deaths of Dorren Valiente and Cecil Williamson late last year, we have lost three major figures in the
Craft. These three deaths came so close together that it makes me wonder if the Craft is now so well
established that the elders are now being freed from their task, and that it is for new people to carry the work
forward.
The fifth Glastonbury Goddess conference will be held 2nd-6th August. There will be talks,
workshops, music, art exhibitions, etc. Presenters include Starhawk, Olivia Durdin Robertson, Chesca Potter,
Cheryl Straffon, and Kathy Jones. Full price is £125, but there are bursariesand work-exchange rickets
available, as well as entry to single events. More details from Goddess Conference, 2-4 High Street,
Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9DU.
The Reclaiming Witch Camp, led by Starhawk, Rose May Dance, and Dave, will also be held near
Glastonbury, July 28th to August 3rd. Cost £345 (dorm room), £275 camping. The price includes food and
there are concessions available. More details from Avalon Witch Camp, c/o Liz Rudwick, 131b Huddleston
Rd, London N7 OEH, phone 020 7281 7346 or phone Susan Farley on 01245 344082.
Queer Spirit is a new magazine (first issue due at Beltane) for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and
transvestite pagans and occultists. Cost £1.75 plus two first class stamps per issue. For more information
contact Will on 02380 554991 or write to QS, 5/2F Westridge Rd, Portswood, Southampton SO 17 2HQ.
A new magazine, The Triple Spiral, for pagan and Goddess-centred families, is planned to start in
Autumn. They are looking for articles, stories, recipes, etc. (but remember that Wood and Water is always in
need of articles and stories). For more information contact Germaine Knight, Yggdrasil, 14 Maxwell Rd,
Winton, Bournemouth BH9 1DJ.
5
ON VISIONS
I have had a vision.
I have had a vision of a world at one, where harmony prevails. In this world we are at home. The earth
is treated well, and supports us well in return. We look into each other's eyes with peace and love. A child
falls down and grazes her knee; I touch the wound with my fingers and healing happens — the wound closes
up as if by magic, and the skin is smooth and unbroken again, just needing the gravel to be brushed off. This
kind of seeming miracle is common and well understood; we rely on it all the time. There is no dissension
here. We share something in our hearts that enables us just to drop any sense of narrow separateness. This
peace is so rich and sustaining that there is no place for hatred or fear anywhere. When I have this vision my
whole heart fills with the lightness of it, and I gain the power to work with others towards achieving this
vision, of bringing this world into being. I call this the vision of oneness. I have had another vision.
I have had a vision of a world where people can change and learn and grow. Every time that dissension
arises, it is used as a way of including more diversity into our unity. Relationships between people are
continually coming into conflict, and each of these conflicts becomes a way of deepening and extending that
relationship. When groups of people work together, their differing interests are worked on until a creative
synthesis emerges. A mother wants shoes put away, but the children can't seem to do it They work on this
together, and mutually agree on a solutions all shoes left about are put into a box, and stay there for twentyfour hours. The father leaves his shoes in the hall, and they too are put into the box — it applies to everyone.
The family learns many things from this one incident. When I have this vision of the world, I feel exciting and
joyous at the way people have learned how to co-create it, and my heart fills. I call this the vision of cocreation, and I am already working to achieve it. I have had another vision.
I have had a vision of a world where the Goddess is honoured. The earth responds to being related to on
a spiritual level. The female principle is fulfilled — all people are inter-connected in a web of relationships
forming a holy network humming with power. The male principle is strong and important, but always in the
service of the Goddess. The feeling of change is in the air — the Goddess goes from maiden to mother to
crone, and refuses to stay in one place or take one form forever. When people work together, there are no rigid
demarcations — people refuse to be typed or forced into rigid roles — there is a natural fluidity in people,
which can now come out, because there is no fear in this world. Males have learned how to channel all their
valuable aggression and determination into co-operative projects — power with other people rather than
power over others. And they can contact the power within. They have learned how to work with the earth
rather than exploiting the earth — the challenge is just as great, and the excitement is just as great, and instead
of cutting off our feelings we can afford to experience them. When I have this vision, my heart lightens and I
feel free. I call this the vision of the Goddess, and I feel impelled to work with others to achieve it.
When I have a vision it inspires me. It makes me want to go out and make it happen But because I have
had more than one vision I know that there are critical questions to be asked about this.
Some people have only had one vision. In some cases this came to them in a very authoritative way, as
if it were the voice of spirit or deity, and of course this is very powerful. They feel divinely inspired or at the
very least filled with the power to fulfil their purpose. And obviously great things can come of this — people
can be energised to great achievements. The world would be a poorer place without such inspired efforts. But
there are great dangers here, too. If my vision is so strong, I can easily get a sense of nghtness about it. What
happens when I meet someone with one of the other visions?
THIS IS DIFFERENT FOR EACH VISION.
When I have the vision of oneness, I see any contrasting vision as essentially part of my scheme of
things. If they think they are opposed to me they have not yet risen to the right level of insight. They need to
grow and develop until they, too, see the oneness and the beauty of harmony. I will try to help them to drop
their sense of difference and discord, and see things my way. Now from the point of view of the other person
this is going to seem like bland oppression, like smooth manipulation, or even like soft fascism. There may be
6
a lot of frustration, because of the impossibility of any real argument or discussion So the critics will go away
disgusted, and those who are left will be left with their oneness, only now with the others firmly outside the
circle. So there is something self-contradictory about this vision. It wants oneness, but it actually gets
narrowness and exclusivity, because it cannot engage in genuine dialogue When I have the vision of cocreation, I see any contrasting vision as essentially part of my scheme of things Opposition or questioning are
high on my list of valuable things. I can engage in dialogue quite freely, because I need to incorporate all the
possible kinds of diversity into my higher unity. The only people I can't have any real communication with
are people who have the perfect answer already, and who don't need to develop any further.
From the point of view of the other person, this is going to seem like a very liberating approach,
because it is not going to deny the value of any contribution, and it is not going to distort or mis-hear it. A lot
of genuine listening is going to take place. So the critics will stay as long as they feel critical, and may
eventually see how their vision can combine with the others. So in this vision the self-contradiction is
contained within it as an essential part of it. This brings an openness which is nondefensive. When I have the
vision of the Goddess, I see any contrasting vision as essentially part of my scheme of things I can absorb
oneness, because the Goddess is the great creator and sustainer of all things, and eventually everything comes
back to Her. I can absorb co-creation, because the Goddess is essentially creative and changeable with many
forms and many functions, and many things about Her remain to be discovered. I can reach out to embrace all
these visions. From the point of view of the other person, this may well seem very threatening. Patriarchy
consciousness, patriarchal assumptions find it hard to relate to the Goddess, and are very very common. Those
who hold to male gods or to atheism are equally likely to reject the Goddess. So most people steer clear of this
vision, and do not want to come near it or discuss it. So this is a divisive vision, which polarises people into
opposing camps — again a self-contradiction in terms of the vision itself. Many of those who should be in it
resolutely exclude themselves. Each vision has a home.
This brief discussion will be enough to show that we desperately need ways of discussing and dealing
with visions. We cannot simply take our vision for granted, as if it had no side effects, no defects and no selfcontradictions. It seems to me that the vision of oneness has its strength and its home in the field of intuition,
spiritual healing, psychic skills, meditation and the like. It is actively dangerous in organisations, because it
leads to the leader (or the leading group) being seen as a living representative or representation of the One.
The standard complaint of the wife comes in here "It was said that we two would become one. We did, but it
turned that he was the one." Similarly, a research study of 200 intentional communities showed that over 80%
of them had charismatic (and usually male) leaders. There is also the question of truth. People who have this
vision often feel that they are seeing the truth. But to see THE truth is to exclude other truths, and therefore
other groups. The one truth is dangerous if translated into the social level, because it is exclusive. In contrast,
the strength and the home of the vision of co-creation is precisely in organisations, and all of the best and most
effective methods of organisation discovered by people like Argyris, Beckhard, Blake & Mouton, Likert,
Maslow, Schutz and so on all rely on such a vision This leads to the participative and innovative organisation
where people feel liberated rather than oppressed. All the members feel heard and valued. But this approach is
weak in areas like spiritual attunement, clairvoyance, linking and so forth, because it its emphasis on
separateness and autonomy, fences and boundaries. The strength of the vision of the Goddess lies in the deep
understanding which it gives of the idea of networking, of nodes which interconnect without formal rules, of
ecology, of systems, of human context. Its home is with women who have started to develop a non-patriarchal
consciousness, but some men are now relating to it too, helped by people such as Starhawk, Riane Eisler,
Elizabeth Dodson Gray and Joanna Macy, who are prepared to reach out to men and include them. Its
weakness lies in its rebelliousness — the way in which it totally excludes and opposes patriarchy, and can
have no dialogue with it. This makes it prone to the same 'holier than thou' disputes which plague the Left
wing in politics One group accuses another of not being pure enough, of making concessions to patriarchy, of
being secretly patriarchal, and so the groups get smaller and smaller, more and more fragmented. I an sure
there is much more to be said about these visions, and other visions too, but I have tried to show that we can
discuss visions without being too inappropriately logical or left-brained. We can discuss them by finding out
their heartland, their point of origin. We can discuss them by following them through to see where they trip
7
brained. We can discuss them by finding out their heartland, their point of origin. We can discuss them by
following them through to see where they trip themselves up We can discuss them by talking about areas of
strength and areas of weakness. We can discuss them by asking how they treat and are treated by folk with
other visions. And ultimately I hope we can come to the realisation that no one single vision is going to do
for every situation. Human beings are rich and complex creatures operating on many levels and in many
contexts. It would be strange if a single vision could encompass all that. Human beings and human societies
change and develop over time. It would be strange and unexpected if a single vision could be independent of
history and economics and geography and transport and all the rest. It is human to yearn after perfection, but
not to achieve it - and certainly not to achieve it for everybody at once. The task of seeing the final vision of
a world community is both necessary and impossible. It is necessary because we cannot stop short of
perfection. It is impossible because in spite of all our beauty and perfection, we are finite creatures wedded
to time and place and incapable of building any community which does not have its foundation in a dated
location. The vision of a world community stands, then, as the final necessity and impossibility of human
life, and will in actuality be the perpetual problem as well as the constant fulfilment of human hopes.
[Written on the plane coming home from the 1983 Congress held by Planetary- Initiative in Toronto,
and the AHH Annual Meeting in Montreal. ]
John Rowan
NOT QUITE JULIET
She doesn't walk in beauty like the night,
but she is beautiful and her hips and
shoulders swing the beat of my heart.
And she doesn't teach the torches to burn bright,
but Oh! her smile is worth more to me
than any diamond hidden in Africa.
She isn't like a red, red rose,
in fact, she's girl-skinned and freckled.
I'ld pay my life for every one.
All poems and prose fall short of her,
whose beauty isn't legendary,
whose wit isn't renowned.
But to me she is the whole world
and the stars
and the night sky.
Crow
8
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I
Ronald Hutton. Triumph of the Moon; a history of modern pagan witchcraft. Oxford University
Press 1999. Hbk. £25.
/ 'd rather be
A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
(Wordsworth)
This book is the latest in a series of books about Western European Paganism written by Ronald
Hutton. In considering the book it is important to understand both what it is and is not. The book is concerned
with tracing the development of ideas and practice that have lead to modem pagan witchcraft and with
"modern pagan witchcraft in South Britain (England, Wales, Cornwall and Man) with some reference to it in
the rest of the British Isles, Continental Europe and North America".
Hutton tells the reader that the book represents the first systematic attempt by a professional historian
to "characterise and account for this aspect of modem Western culture." He also refers to his own work as
exploratory and tentative and makes the point that it is not to be taken as the history. Further he goes on to say
that this book is mainly concerned with, what he calls the first of the viable modem religions and the most
popular and influential of all pagan witchcraft, i.e. Wicca. Although some reference is made in the book to
other forms of modem witchcraft, the emphasis is by far on the development of the Wiccan system.
The book is divided into two main sections; macrocosm and microcosm. Within the first section Hutton
attempts to set the scene for the development of modem pagan ideas and practice whilst the second section is
concerned with the manifestation of modem paganism via its adherents and related others such as Gerald
Gardner, Robert Cochrane, Starhawk and Aleister Crowley.
The developing language for both a modem paganism and for the manner in which that paganism is
interpreted by 'outsiders' is discussed within the context of both literature and the religious fervour of the 19th
century. The movement from the 18th century ideal of the enlightened tribesman, with his close connection to
nature, to a more savage interpretation of the nature of tribal cultures is illustrated in great detail. Hutton
makes the point that in the context of a Victorian, largely, evangelical Christianity, it is a short step taken
from this idea to associating the pagan places of Europe, and pagan celebrants such as the Druids, with
savagery and blood sacrifice. He says that this association of paganism with gore and gloom carries on until
the early twentieth century. With reference to the language of modem paganism itself he draws extensively on
the works of Keats, Byron, Shelley, Leigh Hunt and Swinburne as well as sketching the development of an
alternative view of paganism within the writings and activities of persons such as Godfrey Higgins, Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky, Schiller, Kenneth Grahame and Johann Joachim Winkelmann. Hutton argues that the
characteristic language of a committed modem paganism originated in German Romanticism and was
enthusiastically taken up by the English Romantic poets.
9
Other chapters in the first section of the book are concerned with the analysis of the figures of deity ,
the structure of ritual and the folklore that gave rise to modem paganism. Hutton's conclusions are largely
based on the idea that the concept of an all powerful female deity, the ancient 'Great Goddess', and the
'Homed God' have their germination in the ideas of the Romantic movement without there being much basis
in archaeological fact:
Hutton tells us that between 1300 and 1800 the main classical themes in poetry are concerned with
Venus as the patroness of love, followed by Diana representing female chastity followed by Minerva for
wisdom and Juno for sovereignty. However, by 1810 Minerva and Juno are replaced in the poetic fancy by
Proserpine of the changing seasons or of the dead and Demeter or Ceres as lady of the harvest. He also argues
that when Diana appears as the Moon she takes precedence. It only remains to synthesise these figures into a
composite 'Great Goddess' which, according to Hutton, takes place around 1820 through the works of
Shelley, Swinburne, and through the exposition of this theory by the classicist Eduard Gerhard and its
subsequent champions within the German Romantic movement.
At the beginning of the twentieth century archaeologists such as Sir Arthur Evans, and classicists such
as Jane Ellen Harrison lent their weight to the theory with the latter expounding the idea of a triple Goddess;
two of whom she identifies as Maiden and Mother. Hutton develops a theme of the transfer of this ancient
world 'Great Goddess' from Asia minor to neolithic Western Europe through reinterpretation of existing and
new neolithic finds. Armstrong's find of the neolithic chalk goddess of Grimes Graves in 1939 and the
subsequent investigation carried out by Gillian Vardell, published in 1991 (in which she suggests that
circumstantial evidence makes the authenticity of the found objects dubious), is an example of this. Sir James
Frazer's "Spirits of the Com and of the Wild" and Robert Graves "White Goddess" are both mentioned by
Hutton as seminal texts for the development of this theme.
Similarly, the idea of the 'Homed God ' is traced by Hutton through English classical poetry between
1300 and 1800. The most popular Gods during this period are represented as Jupiter, Neptune, Mercury and
Vulcan. Hutton says that most of these lapsed into obscurity at the end of the eighteenth century and were
superseded by Apollo until about 1830 and then reports the inflation of one of the relatively minor gods; Pan.
His increased importance is related to a consecutive rejection of the industrial urban landscape and the rise of
an idyllic view of the English countryside and of its rural inhabitants. Pan reached his apogee in the mid
twentieth century to be replaced by a more composite figure; the 'Homed God' the acceptance of whom as
Heme or Cernunnos were largely influenced by the works of Sir James Frazer and the burgeoning fascination
and conflation of English folk customs and fairy stories with a supposedly unbroken tradition of rural
paganism by such worthies as Cecil Sharp, Vaughan Williams, Richard Jeffries, John Masefield, Thomas
Hardy and Rudyard Kipling. Hutton charts the "conception of a rural England as an organic continuum with
ancient roots, preserving timeless wisdom."
The trappings and ritual of modem pagan Wicca are traced both through the arts of the cunning man
and woman and the increasing interest in occultism during the 19th century.
The activities of cunning men and women are drawn in some detail and are, to Hutton, responsible for
the low magic kind of kitchen or hedge witchcraft just as the increasing interest in occult magical practices,
such as those of Eliphas Levy, feature significantly in the high magic aspects of modem witchcraft.
However, the emphasis for development is on the plethora of secret societies drawn from Freemasonrysuch as the Ancient Order of Shepherds, the Horseman's Word and the Toadmen of East Anglia. Hutton tells
us that Freemasonry was the source of the huge increase in secret societies within eighteenth century Europe.
He traces its use of ritualistic formula of passwords, 'Charges', oaths, secret signs, back to the stone masons
guilds of the middle ages (with their cry of "so mote it be") and the further development of the lodge masonic
system in Scotland at the beginning of the 17th century with the rise of the organisation called the Mason's
Word. Hutton tells us that it is with the Mason's Word that we find the use of the Pentagram, and records of
initiation rituals. He outlines the development of English Masonry with its associated 'five points of
fellowship' at which bodies should touch during a ceremonial embrace, the consecration of lodges with com,
wine and oil and the association with folklore riddles such as the postulant being initiated 'neither naked nor
10
clothed', 'neither standing nor lying'. In the period between 1775 and 1812 , we are told, initiation rituals of
freemasonry took on an enduring form with the candidate blindfolded, bare breasted, challenged with a sword,
being led by a 'cable tow' and processed sunwise around a circle. Masonry, Hutton says, was referred to as
'the Craft'.
Having set the scene for deity, ritual and connection with Nature, Hutton goes on to examine the
background to the witchcraft 'revival' touching on such figures as Dion Fortune, Ernest Westlake (the founder
of tiie order of Woodcraft Chivalry) and the connections between prominent members of that organisation
and its subsidiaries (including the Woodcraft Folk) their 'pagan' leanings and Victor Neuberg, sometime
magical partner of Alistair Crowley. Crowley himself is given greater coverage and the reason for this
becomes more apparent as we enter into the second half of the book.
Microcosm is, as its name suggests, far less concerned with the exposition of a grand theme and more
closely with tracing the influence of some of the major figures in the magical and pagan revivals. Extensive
coverage is given to Gerald Gardner and his 'High Priestesses'. Gardner is portrayed by Hutton in a
sympathetic light as a "pioneer of Malay archaeology, numismatics, maritime history and folklore and an
author of respected monographs in these fields"
Hutton doubts the oft told version of Dorothy Clutterbuck as Gardner's initiatrix into witchcraft but
rather attributes this position to a High Priestess referred to as Dafo. He tells us that that not only was Dorothy
Clutterbuck a well known Tory and church-going Anglican with no contemporarily observed relationship with
Gardner but also that his own perusal of her diaries, covering the years when she was allegedly operating as a
witch priestess, bear no relevance to paganism or the occult. He suggests that Gardner's references to
Clutterbuck are rather the results of either his sense of humour or designed as a screen for Dafo.
Hutton also uncovers evidence suggesting that Gardner did indeed meet with Aletster Crowley and that
he had, in fact, received the first seven degrees of the OTO and was primed by Crowley to revive the OTO in
England and became its nominal European head but, that being unable to start an order he returned to the
promotion of witchcraft.
Gardner's relationships with most of his high Priestesses and with Doreen Valiente in particular are
examined in some detail. Doreen's dissatisfaction with borrowings from Crowley and subsequent rewriting of
the liturgy of what was to become Gardner's Book of Shadows ( a term borrowed from the Occult Observer in
1949), utilising "all her considerable talents as composer of poetry and ritual" is especially noted as are the
sources for the term athame and the Eko Eko Azarak chant (and its differently sourced second half). Hutton
attributes Gardner with the construction of a major religion, i.e. Wicca, influenced by the theories of Margaret
Murray and complete with the resacralization of sexuality, the ritual use of the Charge and working tools, a
body of seasonal rituals, roles of High priest and High priestess, degrees of initiation and the mention of a God
and Goddess in the final draft of the Book of Shadows; Cemunnos and Ardrea (supposedly a misspelling of
Aradia.)
Other chapters of the book are concerned with notable figures such as Robert Cochrane, Sybil Leek,
Alex and Martine Saunders, and less notable ones such as David Farrant. There is some discussion about
other forms of traditional paganism claiming an older ancestry than that of Gardener and it is worth noting
Hutton's stated intention to consider some of the other forms in the future and in the meantime for him to have
noted that there seems to be at least, one case of a traditional paganism, active prior to Gardner, with
independent verification. However, these chapters are characterised by the dissection of claim and counter
claim of hereditary roots and of the self promotion and consequent denial of the main protagonists. There is
some analysis of the systems themselves but the focus is rather on the actual people involved and the various
attempts to promote one form of modem pagan witchcraft over another. The return to a grander theme arrives
with Hutton's description of the impacts of American feminist witchcraft.
The origins of American feminist witchcraft are cited as the group WITCH (Womens International
Conspiracy from Hell) formed in New York in 1968. A brief description of the activities of Mary Daly,
Andrea Dworkin and Merlin Stone follow which basically posits the idea that an idealisation of historical
witchcraft with women as an active principle was used as a vehicle for feminist polemic. Zsusannah
11
Budapest's development of a Dianic, i.e. women only, style of witchcraft is briefly mentioned but all these
figures are treated fairly summarily.
Hutton sees Daly and Dworkin's version of witchcraft as that which is not necessarily religious but
rather leans towards a view of an inherent power within women, whilst Budapest's version is religious but
entirely different from the polarity based working of English Wicca. Daly and Dworkin and Merlin Stone are
characterised as drawing on secondary research from by now, very familiar figures such as Margaret Murray
and Robert Graves. However, Merlin Stone's primary research is not really discussed. The influence of James
Lovelock, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon, Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade are also
mentioned here as is Charlene Spretnak. The work of Marija Gimbutas is also mentioned in the context of this
chapter and Hutton says of her ideas "It may be worth pointing out that at the time of writing they are by no
means disproven, and may well never be. The controversy has centred on the issue that the evidence is
susceptible of alternative interpretations."
The brief nature of most of this overview changes when Hutton considers the next important figure in
American feminist witchcraft. Hutton seems quite content to say of Gardner "Even if he had compiled the
rituals himself and founded the first modem pagan coven, however, it would still not be wholly just to
describe him as having 'invented' or 'made up' modem pagan witchcraft. In religious terms it might be said
that he was contacted by a divine force which had been manifesting with increasing strength during the
previous two hundred years, and that it worked through him to remarkable effect." But he does not apply the
same leeway to Starhawk. The favourable religious interpretation applied to Gardner above seems to have no
place here, even though it can be argued (and indeed, Hutton himself does argue it ) that Starhawk's influence
is at least as far reaching as Gardner's and may also have been divinely inspired.
Whilst he credits her with the inclusion of a new modem image of the Homed God and concomitant
masculinity, the section that deals with the Spiral Dance has Hutton occasionally addressing questions to
statements drawn from the book in what is almost a fantasised dialogue between him and her.
For instance, "She bids readers recognise that we are 'made of the same materials as the stars, the
eucalyptus, the jaguar and the rose." "Yes but we are also made of the same materials as the louse, the
tapeworm, and the typhoid bacillus " And, again, "Energy is love, and love is magic" So how then do
spells work? "To cast a spell is to project energy through a symbol" And he concludes; "Is there then anyactual tmth in what she is saying? Apparently it doesn't matter." Later he characterises Starhawk as a creative
and original writer but not an original thinker. "Her genius lay in taking ideas from others and combining
them in powerful new ways."
Hutton goes on to recount the demise of the single 'Great Goddess' myth in archaeological and
academic circles in Britain during the 1970's and he also provides feminist alternatives to what he calls;" a
view of the history of witchcraft which had been manufactured in the United States" citing Christina Lamer
and both Rachel Halstead and Lynette Mitchells' essays in Trouble and Strife magazine. He also sees 1970s
American feminist witchcraft as one of the strands that tie ecology and environmental concerns into a modem
witchcraft. The 1980s, according to Hutton, saw further development of, in particular, Wicca as a modem
valid religion, promoted by both newly formed bodies such as the Pagan Federation (formerly Pagan Front)
and highly articulate and dynamic individuals such as Prudence Jones and Vivienne Crowley.
During the 1990s he charts the changing public face of modem witchcraft, with the severing of ties with
the trappings of an historical past, as the 'burning times' myths so beloved by American feminist witchcraft,
and the idea of a continuity of active pagan religion were exploded by leading academics in the fields of
anthropology and history. Popular culture such as Wycliffe, Robin of Sherwood, and The X Files and their
treatments of witchcraft as a life affirming religion are given as illustrations of how much has changed during
the last 50 odd years.
At this point the book appears to end but there is a subsequent denouement where, Hutton decides to
address a further five features of modem pagan witchcraft based upon his own observations. At this stage the
fact that he is mainly addressing the Wiccan tradition is most apparent as whilst this part of the book is largely
positive in its outlook towards modem witchcraft there are basic assumptions which do not relate to some of
12
the branches of traditional paganism (who do not call themselves witches) such as; the scourge always being
found amongst a witch's working tools; the eclectic working with a number of different deities, daemons,
angels spirits, called to work in the same ritual; the 'threefold law' and the (stated Wiccan) tradition of ritual
nudity. However, as Hutton himself says these comments are based upon his own observations.
The book concludes with an overview and estimate of demographic data relating to paganism and
modem pagan witchcraft in general. Hutton estimates there to be some 17,000-20,000 initiated pagans in the
British Isles in the late 1990s, of which about 10,000 are witches, and between 90,000-120,000 non initiated
pagans of whom the majority come from upper working class or lower middle class strata of society. He says
he finds modem pagan witches to have "a higher than usual amount of independence and self-organisation
and to be unusually lively, independent and adventurous people who demand a proportionately exciting and
unusual religion, which affords them the maximum scope for self-development."
This is an extremely difficult book to read at one or two (or even a number that can be counted on
fingers and toes of ) sittings. This is due in part to three things; the sheer volume of information contained
within it; the style which is, occasionally, very heavy handed and the fact that in construing his argument
Hutton tends to visit the same writers in different chapters, weaving backwards and forwards across a time
frame. Whilst his attempt to describe the development of a modem pagan (usually Wiccan) witchcraft is
scholarly and well researched the chapters which rely on an exposition of literary figures are somewhat
inconclusive (and could probably generate an entire 'tome' in themselves) whilst the references to
Freemasonry reflect back to a medieval period where much of the trappings of Freemasonry itself can be
found. Unfortunately this is outside the remit of the book which is squarely placed in the 19th and 20th
centuries and there is, therefore, a suspicion on the part of the reader that prior centuries would also contribute
useful information for the development of the central theme. However, on the whole, the argument is well
developed and copiously illustrated and Hutton makes no claims for it to be definitive. For those who are
Wiccans, this book will probably be particularly interesting, dispelling as it does some of the persistent myths
which have surrounded Wicca as an 'Old Religion'.
Lou Hart
Melissa Raphael. Introducing Thealogy: Discourse on the Goddess. Sheffield Academic Press 1999.
Pbk. £12.99.
"In this book I have understood thealogy, then, to be a historically and intrinsically feminist discourse
and project — a prophetic attempt to name and reclaim female divinity and to use the power generated by that
reclamation to the ends of the single process of personal/spintual/pohtical transformation." (p. 22)
At the same time we understand that the purpose of this book is to introduce students, teachers, and the
general reader, to the contexts and main elements of thealogy, "here understood to be not just a general
discourse on goddesses of the world religions, but as a contemporary- feminist discourse on the divine, here
identified as 'the Goddess'." (p. 9)
It is interesting that Melissa Raphael takes these two themes as the basic subjects of a book which is
designed as part of a series introducing the elements of feminist theology to a general readership and to
students and teachers. The Goddess as such is becoming part of the intellectual mainstream of this country.
The author deals with history, politics, feminist witchcraft, and ideas of the Goddess. She also talks
about the boundaries of theology.
It is excellent that such a book has been made available. If I were to quibble with anything it would be
her attitude to feminist theology' in its Christian and Jewish aspects. From my point of view I see thealogy and
feminist theology as being very close together, being intertwined and being productive of a sense of personal
renewal for women.
I refer specifically to the deconstruction and revisionist methods of feminist theologians in discussing
the bible; in particular, the insights that Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, for example, has brought to us all in her
13
outline of the hermeneutics of suspicion and the tools that such feminist theology gives to theologians.
Melissa Raphael does not refer to this, but I have found in my work that there is a coming together of women
who are studying feminist theology and those who are into Goddess religion, and that they benefit from each
other in their quests.
Asphodel
Karen Rails-MacLeod. Music and the Celtic Otherworld Polygon: Edinburgh 2000 Pbk £14 99
This book contrives to be simultaneously inspiring and irritating. It has excellent opening and closing
chapters, but the middle section remains too-obviously someone"s PhD thesis. It is, however, refreshing to
know that original work of this kind, in this field, is being done; and indeed, is deemed of sufficient interest by
the publisher to bring to a wider audience.
The Introduction includes a survey of some fascinating recent developments in musical theory, which
could serve to bolster the age-old theory of "music in the universe and the role of humans in it" (i.e. Music
may not be an exclusively human construct). Rails-MacLeod states that she intends to explore "the spiritual
dimension of music from a Celtic perspective", using selected references from a corpus which she has
gathered from (mainly) Early and Middle Irish literature.
It transpires that the 'selection' of instances in the book is rather narrow, and that the same examples
are used over and over. I became quite impatient with St. Patrick's cagey response to the music of Cascorach,
a sidhe performer; since it was used many times in the main sections of the book. Yet Rails-MacLeod states
that she has a "collection" of such tales which, for space considerations, she cannot include. Maybe not — but
a wider selection would have been nice.
The main section of the book comprises five chapters which survey otherworld music in the contexts of
Performers, Instruments, Effects, Places and Times. These chapters are strictly formulaic, each being divided
into instances from pagan and christian literature, and from 'ordinary' life. The sections are further subdivided
into wholly otherworld, liminal and everyday experiences. Whilst the method covers the ground efficiently, it
too can become tedious, and s e n e s to remind us that this work started life as a PhD thesis.
I feel that I am being a little uncharitable to a work which I found both enjoyable and useful (indeed,
inspiring at one or two points), but I completed my reading of it with a nagging feeling of something essential
missing. On reflection, I decided that this missing ingredient was the Personal Experience of music in an
otherworldly context. Rails-MacLeod is a professional academic, not a shaman. She is, however a musician (a
CD — Celtic Odyssey is mentioned in her University entry); and it would be nice to know if she has herself
experienced anything fey whilst performing/listening.
One advantage of a truly academic work is the reliability and quantity of footnotes and reference works.
Rails-MacLeod's booklist is extremely generous and very useful. I was also particularly happy to see her
generous tribute to the late Alan Bruford, a man sadly missed in folk circles as well as in her academic
context. And — Karen — if you're out there, I'd be happy to share direct musical work in a shamanic context.
Jan Henning
14
I&r
MY TIME
Now is the time
Of the pale maiden green of Spring
And the dawn blush
Of apple blossom on the boughs
!
Now is the time
When the mint green meadows are all
Silvered with webs
Rippling like rivers of bright silk
Now is the time
You will see my face reflected
In cool waters
Pearl-white as the moon at midnight
Now is the time
For you to seek until you find
Me blowing softly through your mind.
My time is now
Denise Margaret Hargrave
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