Book 6

Drawing Down the Moon

by Margot Adler 

So unlike all of the other books I've read so far, I'm really not looking forward to reading this one. I feel like in this IDGAF initiation process you need to challenge yourself, and this book will certainly do that for me. At least, I'm expecting it to be a challenge for me to get through. I've chosen this as a "challenge book" because I think that it's a good one to read, based on what I've heard about it, but I've also heard it's dry kind of scholarly.

I picked up this edition from a used book store (actually, my wife picked it up for me because she saw it and knew I had planned on reading it) and I think it's the most recent one. This one came out in 1997, but it's first printing was in 1979, just to give you an idea of the books age. I have to say I'm kind of happy to be able to read an actual book again rather than stare at my iPad's screen and press a button to flip the page.

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Update August 2

I'm about 40ish pages in so far, and I'm very happy to report that I'm actually quite enjoying this book! 

Her writing style is very readable and not nearly as scholarly as I had been anticipating, which is fantastic! I also like the way she's broken up the book into sections. So far I've just gotten through the "background" part of the book where she talks about very sort of fundamental questions a lot of people may have about paganism and what it is. I'm finding it just a little dated sometimes because we've certainly come a long way in accepting more alternative religions since this book was written, but a lot of the issues she talks about and the things she explains are still very much relevant today. 

She talks about how people might stumble upon the pagan path and a lot of things in this particular section resonated with me. I think that many people still come in to paganism in much the same ways that they did when she wrote this book, which I find to be really interesting. She also stressed that it's not really a religion of converts, which is something that often gets overlooked, I think. 

Overall from this first introductory section I think that she does an excellent job at explaining things to people who might be curious about what paganism is but have never really given it much thought. I also think it would be a good read for someone unfamiliar to paganism because she does such a great job at explaining the common misconceptions and prejudices that some might have. I often found myself nodding in agreement with her, or being able to relate to something. 

At one point she recounts a time when she was helping a farmer to collect fish, and he explained to her that "magic is simply the art of getting results" (pg 7). I found this to be an extremely simplistic yet accurate description, and one that I probably never would have gone with prior to. She later goes on to give her view of magic, saying that it is "a convenient word for a whole collection of techniques, all of which involve the mind" (pg 8). Again, this is something I never thought of before, but upon reflecting on this, it's so true! 

I also really enjoyed her definition of religion, which is broadly used and "refers to any set of symbolic forms and acts that relate human beings to ultimate conditions of existence, cosmic questions, and universal concerns" (pg 11). 

The other thing I found kind of fascinating is that on page 33 she states "so far, Neo-pagans have not been successful at forming lasting communities". I can't believe that so many years later this still rings true! I definitely think this is a major downfall of paganism in general. 

So, like I said earlier, I'm pleasantly surprised with this book. I'm actually really curious about the rest of it now, having read the first bit and enjoyed it so much. We shall see what the rest of it brings!

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October 13

Just wanted to come on here to update that I have infact finished this book. I've been done it for a while now, but I just haven't been back to make a final update about it. Quickly, I'll just say that I enjoyed it far more than I thought I was going to, and it was a much easier read than I was anticipating. I learned a lot about the early days of Paganism/Wicca from this book, which was really neat. I definitely want to go and do a bit of digging for some authors and things she's mentioned in this book when I have a spare moment or two. All in all though, I'm really glad I read this book, and I would encourage others' to read it as well!

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Update October 19

So I obviously read a lot between my first real update and the end of the book, so I have a feeling this update might be a bit lengthy, just to warn you.

Right off the bat, I noticed that she referenced Isaac Bonewits a lot. I feel like that at the time this book was written, his work was probably some of the only solid source materials she had to work with. I find this really interesting as that's not a name you typically come across a lot nowadays, but I think that his stuff would be interesting to read now for similar reasons that this book (Drawing Down the Moon) is interesting to read now. I definitely plan on picking up some of his stuff in the near future, just to see. 

I found, "the word Witch is not merely a word, but an archetype, a cluster of powerful images" (p42), very interesting. She was talking about why people at the time tended to stray away from that term when describing their spiritual beliefs, and why it might bring up negative connotations for a lot of people. I think that the way she describes the word there is a very unique way to view the term, but one that actually really resonates with me. When I hear the term "Witch" now, I still instantly get an image of the old crone woman with the crooked nose, long, silver hair, in jet black robes wearing a pointed hat bent over a bubbling cauldron. I've been Pagan now for some time, yet I still get that image because it's been ingrained in me to think that way, and I think that I'm not alone in this. I won't get in to "Witch" as an archetype here because I think that if I did, this would end up being an essay rather than my thoughts about a book.

Not far from this was something else that struck a cord with me. She was still discussing or unpacking the term "Witch" when she wrote: 

"There is something connected with the word "Witch" that is atemporal, primordial, prehistoric, something perhaps "older than the human race itself." The story of the revival of Wicca is a story of people who are searching among powerful archaic images of nature, of life and death, of creation and destruction. Modern Wiccans are using these images to change their relationship to the world." (p44-45)

A "story of a people searching these powerful archaic images" to change their relationship to the world. Interesting. I've never viewed it this way, but I can totally see where she's coming from with this. I think it was at this point in the book that I went "aah, this is why so many people recommend this book!" 

I found a lot of the history in this book very interesting, and there were authors I'd never heard of before, like Margaret Murray. I really would like to track down some of the articles and things she references some time, I know I've said this before, but I really do think it would be beneficial to see where things came from and compare them to where we stand today. I like this version because she was adding little bits here and there doing just that - updating things that may have changed over the years. Like, for example, the fact that she added a small section on Odinism/Asatru/Norse Paganism because at the time the book was initially published there were groups calling themselves one of these things as a rouse or disguise for being Natzis. She didn't want to publish them in the book because she didn't want people getting the wrong impression. 

She talks a lot about some of the groups that were around at the time and what they were doing, like the Church of All Worlds, Feraferia, and the Algard Tradition. I thought it was kind of neat to read about them and then to go see if there are still any members associated with these groups still kicking around. I also thought that she had a disproportionately long section on Dianac Wicca for some reason. I thought that maybe it was because it was a hot button issue at the time. 

Overall though, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a great history lesson for me, and because of that it's piqued my curiosity about some of the authors and groups she mentioned. I still find myself being a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, and at how easy it was to read, most of the time. I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking to dig for some roots of how modern-day Pagan paths came into being and would even use it as a great jumping off point for some more scholarly discussions. 

I'm so glad I read this book!