Magic and Witchery in the Modern West

Shai Feraro is Lecturer at the Oranim College of Education, Israel, and the Secretary of the Israeli Association for the Study of Religions. He has published on modern Paganism and Goddess Spirituality in relevant journals and anthologies, and is the co-editor of Contemporary Alternative Spiritualities in Israel (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). Ethan Doyle White is the author of Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft (2016), and has published on Wicca, modern Paganism, and related topics in journals such as Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, and Folklore.

“Magic and Witchery in the Modern West is a well-deserved celebration of the pioneering scholarship of Ronald Hutton. The first scholar to seriously research contemporary Wicca … . Perhaps the most noteworthy component of this edited volume is its interdisciplinary nature. … This volume illustrates major developments within the academic study of Paganisms and Witchcrafts … . the book is an encouraging demonstration of the great potential for ongoing scholarly inquiry into Paganism and Witchcraft.” (S. Brennan Kettelle, Nova Religio, Vol. 25 (3), February, 2022)“The strength of the volume is in the variety of scholarly approaches to modern Witchcraft, demonstrating the rich potential for research in this still emerging set of magico-religious cultures. … Magic and Witchery in the Modern West provides a useful addition to research on contemporary Witchcraft and Paganisms, while honoring its most important scholar. … For scholars interested in the ways in which ideas about nature inform spiritual and religious traditions, this text provides several useful, grounded examples … .” (Amy Hale, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Vol. 15 (3), 2021)“This volume honors the British historian Ronald Hutton … for his efforts to spark academic interest in the hitherto neglected fields of modern witchcraft and paganism. … This is a stimulating read.” (Gabriella Voss, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 47 (1), March, 2021)“Feraro and Doyle White’s anthology is clearly a valuable contribution to the field. Most of its contributions are of high scholarly quality, and the volume does an excellent job in celebrating Triumph and in expanding upon its methods and motifs while applying these to hitherto neglected aspects, recent developments, or parallel traditions of Wicca.” (Bernd-Christian Otto, International Journal for the Study of New Religions, Vol. 11 (2), 2020)

• 1. Twenty Years On: An Introduction; Ethan Doyle White and Shai Feraro.- 2. The Goddess and the Great Rite: Hindu Tantra and the Complex Origins of Modern Wicca; Hugh B. Urban.- 3. Playing the Pipes of PAN: Pagans Against Nukes and the Linking of Wiccan-Derived Paganism with Ecofeminism in Britain, 1980–1990; Shai Feraro.- 4. Other Sides of the Moon: Assembling Histories of Witchcraft; Helen Cornish.- 5. The Nearest Kin of the Moon: Irish Pagan Witchcraft, Magic(k), and the Celtic Twilight; Jenny Butler.- 6. The Taming of the Fae: Literary and Folkloric Fairies in Modern Paganisms; Sabina Magliocco.- 7. “Wild Nature” and the Lure of the Past: The Legacy of Romanticism among Young Pagan Environmentalists; Sarah M. Pike.- 8. The Blind Moondial Makers: Creativity and Renewal in Wicca; Léon A. van Gulik.- 9. “The Eyes of Goats and of Women:” Femininity and the Post-Thelemic Witchcraft of Jack Parsons and Kenneth Grant; Manon Hedenborg White.- 10. Navigating the Crooked Path: Andrew D. Chumbley and the Sabbatic Craft; Ethan Doyle White.- 11. Witches Still Fly – Or Do They? Traditional Witches, Wiccans, and Flying Ointment; Chas S. Clifton.- 12. Afterword; Ronald Hutton.