This book explores the ways in which changing views on gender and the place of women in society during the latter half of the twentieth century affected women's participation and standing within British Paganism. More specifically, it examines how British Wiccans and Wiccan-derived Pagans reacted to the rise of 'second-wave' feminism and the Women's Liberation Movement in the UK with a special emphasis on the reception of feminist theory hailing from the USA and to the emergence of feminist branches of Witchcraft and Goddess Spirituality during the 1970s and 1980s. The book draws on primary sources never before analyzed in an academic context and makes a valuable contribution to the growing body of knowledge on gender and religion during the twentieth century, as very little research has been conducted on the relations between the history of modern Paganism and that of second-wave feminism in the UK.

Examines how British Wiccans and Wiccan-derived Pagans reacted to the rise of 'second-wave' feminism and the Women's Liberation Movement in the UK Uses primary sources never before analyzed in an academic context Makes a valuable contribution to the growing body of knowledge on gender and religion during the twentieth century

Autorentext

Shai Feraro is an Adjunct Lecturer at Oranim College of Education, Israel. He has published two edited collections with Palgrave in the past: Contemporary Alternative Spiritualities in Israel (2016); and Magic and Witchery in the Modern West (2019).

Inhalt

1. Introduction - The 1950s-1960s: Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders.- 2. The Women's Liberation Movement and the Rise of Matriarchy Study Groups in the UK during the 1970s-1980s.- 3. The Arenas: Glastonbury, Greenham Common, Summer Festivals and London.- 4. Individual Case Studies of British Goddess Women and Dianic Witches Connecting British Wiccans and Feminism.- 5. Main British Wiccan Authors React to WLM and Feminist Witchcraft.- 6. Women and Gender Issues among 1970s-1980s Wiccans and Wiccan-derived Pagan: An Analysis of the Magazine Scene.- Conclusion.