Ship of Fools: Casual religious studies courses/resources?

Thread: Casual religious studies courses/resources? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

I would really like to do more religious studies. I did full course RE GCSE but it was not offered at A Level - and I don't think I want a whole degree in it. Neither could I do a full Open University course as I'm a university student as it is! I would however like some recommendations for either small, self-guided courses or books/resources for religious studies. I am particularly interested in attitudes towards the veneration of Our Lady within pagan polytheism that was around at the time of the early church, and within modern polytheistic Neo-Paganism. I am also interested in polytheistic Neo-Paganism in general, particularly surrounding patronal deities and modern worship practice of them. Book recommendations for these subjects would be very welcome.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

M Esther Harding Woman's Mysteries and Marina Warner Alone of All Her Sex are both great trigger books - fascinating reads and opening up all sorts of vistas. And Ean Begg Cult of the Black Virgin.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Thanks for the recommendations - will investigate!

Posted by Tea (# 16619) on :

Jade:

You might like to consider putting the historian Ronald Hutton's The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft on your reading list. Your university library might well have it.

Hutton demolishes claims that have been made for the antiquity of Wicca. Yet he is more than a mere debunker, because he supplies a full and sympathetic account of the growth of Wicca as a modern religion.

I found Hutton's book helpful not just as a study of neopaganism, but also as a good example of how a historian can help us make sense of religion.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

It's maybe wandering off slightly (but that can be a Good Thing) but I found Tanya Luhrmann's Persuasions of the Witch's Craft fascinating. It's an anthropological study of the various contemporary (1980s) magic users including, but not limited to, Wiccans.

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