Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today

55 BILLION PAGES EXIST ON THE INTERNET, AND YOU'VE FOUND THIS BOOK, MAYBE NOT BY CHANCE
A REAL 1ST EDITON 1ST PRINTING THAT IS NOW 45 YEARS OLD (1979) AND VERY WELL-PRESERVED
PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS NOT THE 1981, 1986, 1987, 1997, OR THE 200OS (ALTERED VERSIONS) OR SOFTCOVER
HERE ARE "SOME" OF THE SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: WITCHCRAFT, THE DRUIDS, PAGANISM, ASTROLOGY, GRIMOIRE, NATURAL MAGIC, ORGONE ENERGY, THE DIVINE MOTHER, THE BOOK OF LIGHTS AND SHADOWS, GODDESS WORSHIP, METAPHYSICS, THE TAROT, REINCARNATION, ALCHEMY, MYTHOLOGY, PSYCHIC PHENOMENA, ESP, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION, MYTHOLOGY, APHRODITE, APOLLO, ATHENA, GODS AND GODDESSES, COVENS, RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS, THE COVENANT OF THE GODDESS, THE EARTH MOTHER, THE ELF QUEEN, THE GOD OF THE WITCHES, GOTHIC WITCHCRAFT, PSYCHIC HEALING, THE KEY OF SOLOMON, MEDITATION, MYSTICISM, NATURAL WITCHCRAFT, THE NATURE RELIGION, SHAMANISM, EGYPTIAN AND GREEK MYTHOLOGY, OSIRIS, RITUAL, THE SACRED FIRE, TANTRA, WITCHCRAFT IN THE MIDDLE AGES, THE OLD RELIGION OF WITCHCRAFT, POSEIDON, ANCIENT RITUALS, THE OCCULT ARTS, SPIRITUALITY, LUNAR RITUALS, AND MORE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY MS. ADLER, A HIGH PRIESTESS

We gaze up at the same stars; the sky covers us all, and the same universe encompasses us. What does it matter what practical system we adopt in our search for the truth? Not by one avenue alone can we arrive at such a tremendous secret.
—SYMMACHUS, 384 C.E.

This is a very in-depth and accurate work on Witchcraft, Paganism, and the study of the older occult religions. The later portion of the book contains a collection of fascinating magical rituals. It delves beyond just paganism and branches out into esoteric wisdom, Astrology, and Divination, as well as ancient mythology and ritual magic. It's an actual 1st printing that has been well-kept for many decades.
The old Pagan nature religions are alive again, with a style and a vocabulary for the modern age. Here is the first comprehensive report on a movement that is little known and, when recognized, largely misunderstood —a movement that looks to the pre-Christian European past and exalts ceremony, poetry, myth-making, and ritual. Margot Adler spent five years studying the literature and traditional lore of this movement, talking to Druids, Witches, and other believers in the Pagan way. Her landmark book brings together a colorful, diverse gallery of people who believe that each person has a different path to divinity and that monotheism is simply a form of religious imperialism. A far cry from most of the "new age" religions that we hear so much about, the Pagan revival is nonauthoritarian, even anarchistic, in spirit. Pagans follow no gurus or masters. They have few leaders and few dogmas. Most of them worship deities found in ancient myths and regard them as poets who have regarded the muse as a source of creative inspiration. Members of these religions believe in all stereotypes about witchcraft and the occult. They have no connection with Evil or, for that matter, with popular religion. Some find inspiration in Minoan and Sumerian reconstructions, some in a satiric religion based on Eris, goddess of chaos; others build rituals around visions from science-fiction novels. Why is there a Pagan movement now? Drawing Down the Moon is a study that is both sympathetic and critical of its theoretical and philosophical bases and its ties with feminist thought, ecological groups, and the search for historical roots. It examines the politics and lifestyles of modern Pagans in the "real" world —their attitudes toward science, progress, urban and rural living, and spiritual matters.

"Margot Adler [is] one of the most competent and critical students of the pagan cults. ... This is by far the best and most comprehensive study of paganism I have seen."
—Theodore Roszak, in Person/Planet

"Margot Adler's book is an amazing performance. She has taken a curious part of American culture hidden from public view and shown us the length and breadth of it with lucid writing, reportorial imagination, and philosophic understanding. I totally trust her account. This is the most original job of social-phenomena reporting I've read in years."
—Susan Brownmiller

"I am impressed, respectful, and enthusiastic. What a tremendously difficult job Margot Adler undertook, and how well, fairly, and fascinatingly she has done it. I keep miles from occultist sects, but she hooked me right away."
—Ursula K. Le Guin

All sentient beings have the Right to worship Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How they wish, provided that they do not violate the similar rights of others. All Sentient Beings have, as well, the Right (some say Duty) to develop their Talents, mental, physical, psychic, and others, to the highest degree possible, subject as always to the equal rights of others. In this complex interplay of Rights, the Children of the Aquarian Age may be distinguished from their ancestors of previous Ages. According to astrological tradition, the term "Aquarian Age" implies an increased concern about how the individual can live by his or her own lights while guaranteeing the same freedom to all others.

The overall condition of this book is good despite its age of 45. It does have some normal shelf wear and age to the covers and spine. The outer page ends have some aging from being placed in and out of bookshelves for years. There is some light sunning on the upper boards, but nothing too drastic. The interior pages are naturally age-toned but remain in well-preserved condition.

Margot Susanna Adler (April 16, 1946 – July 28, 2014) was an American author, journalist, and lecturer. She was a correspondent for National Public Radio for 35 years, became bureau chief of the New York office, and could be heard frequently on nationally syndicated All Things Considered and Morning Edition on National Public Radio (NPR).