Embracing the Witch and the Goddess: Feminist Ritual-Makers in New Zealand

Embracing the Witch and the Goddessis a detailed survey of present-day feminist witches. It examines the attraction of witchcraft for its practitioners and explores witches' rituals, views and beliefs about how magic works. The book provides a detailed portrait of this undocumented section of New Zealand society and compares the special character of New Zealand witchcraft with its counterparts in the United States, Great Britain and Australia. Kathryn Rountree traces the emergence and history of feminist witchcraft and links the craft with the contemporary Goddess movement. She reviews scholarly approaches on the study of witchcraft and deals with the key debates which have engaged the movement's adherent and their critics, and ultimately presents what Mary Daly declared was missing from most historical and anthropological research on witchcraft: a "Hag-identified vision."

Kathryn Rountree is senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at Massey University.