Coven of the Moon : an anthropological study

The years since 1960 have seen the rise of a number of religious, political, social and cultural movements within the United States. A number of well-known examples come to mind: the Black Power movement, the American Indian movement, the Women's Liberation movement, the Environmentalist movement, and the Witchcraft or Wicca movement. It is the latter with which this thesis shall be concerned.Through the study of various religious and political movements Virginia Hine and Luther Gerlach, both anthropologists have developed a paradigm which purports to delineate the internal dynamics of such movements from their inception to full development. Five key factors were identified to be present and to operate ". . before a collectivity of whatever size becomes a true movement" (Hine and Gerlach, 1970:XVII). These are: 1) an organization of a segmented, polycephalous, idea-based network (S.P.I..N.); 2) face-to-face recruitment along lines of pre-existing social relationships; 3) personal commitment to the goals of the movement generated through an act or experience; 4) an ideology which provides for unity, as well as for segmentary diversity; and 5) a real or perceived opposition from the established social, political, 'cultural., or religious order within which the Movement originated (Hine and Gerlach, 1968:23-24; 1970:XVII, 199; Hine, 19'77:19-23).It is the premise of this thesis that the Wicca or witchcraft phenomenon can be analyzed in the context of the above, and thus demonstrate that it is a true movement ass Hine and Gerlach would have it. The goal of this thesis, therefore, is to establish, on one hand, a general understanding of the Wicca movement in the United States today, utilizing Hine anti Gerlach's theory, and on the other hand, to identify specifically the behaviors of a particular segment of this movement as represented by an organized group of witches located in eastern Pennsylvania. Its belief system, Wicca, and social organization, a coven, are basic features born of similar groups. In this level of analysis the witch as a person and as a ritual practitioner shall be assessed objectively. An intermittent fieldwork conducted among a Pennsylvania coven provided the data for this task. Thus, collectively, the goals set forth were realized through literature search and field study.Thesis (M.A.