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The God of the Witches
This book is intended for the general reader as well as for the student of anthropology. In this volume I have followed one line only of anthropological enquiry, the survival of an indigenous European cult and the interaction between it and the exotic religion which finally overwhelmed it. I have traced the worship of the Horned God onwards through the centuries from the Paleolithic prototypes, and I have shown that the survival of the cult was due to the survival of the races who adored that god, for this belief could not have held its own against the invasions of other peoples and religions unless a stratum of the population were strong enough to keep it alive...Dr Margaret Alice Murray
148 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
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1112 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Alice Murray
95 books64 followersEgyptologist and Anthropologist. Known mostly for her theories on the Witch Cult which the witch trials were an attempt to destroy a pre-Christian surviving religion.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 30, 2015
Controversial? Yes.
Inaccurate? Probably.
A Good Read? Definitely!
If you can find your balance between those three points, you'll have a blast reading it.
Inaccurate? Probably.
A Good Read? Definitely!
If you can find your balance between those three points, you'll have a blast reading it.
February 7, 2008
Well, er... This is entertaining enough as the potential basis for a fantasy novel, but as far as actual scholarship goes, it's pretty lacking. Murray's theory that there was some kind of unified pagan religion in Europe prior to the advent of Christianity is iffy enough (I don't doubt there were pagans, but I don't think it was anything as widespread and organized as she seems to believe), but when she posits that Joan of Arc and Thomas a Beckett were pagan sacrifices, things get pretty wacky.
May 26, 2008
Let's be perfectly honest. Margaret Murray is batshit insane. In the days before wikipedia, Ms. Murray would be the reason why we'd argue that everyone was indeed
not
an authority on everything. Lightly trained as an "Egyptologist" (Edward Said would have a field day with that), Murray launches into a rambling, crazy treatise on a magical Horned God and pre-Christian pagan European universal maternalist religion that was marginalized as witchcraft in the darkest parts of the medieval period. It's hilarious in a "oh my God i hope no one believes this sort of way" (a la Da Vinci Code), but really, home girl is cray-cray.
August 26, 2015
Stumbled across it looking for something else. Very glad I found it.
First off, understand that this study of witchcraft in Europe is highly controvercial. While a best seller in its day, it has since been discredited by some more modern historians. Nevertheless, it is a classic sample of anthropology. Plus, it is written in a clear, accessible style = making it access and interesting read for all.
Murray was a prominent British Egyptologist and anthroplogist. In this book, she therorized that the trials against a witch-cult in the early modern period of Christianized Europe and North America were "an attempt to extinguish a surviving pre-Christian, pagan religion devoted to a horned God." She traces the worship of this Horned God from paleolithic times to the medieval period. Thus re-defining "witchcraft" as a surviving religion nearly as old as humankind now met up in a power struggle with the (new) Christian religion. And makes a case in the last section of the book that the deaths of spiritual leaders such as Thomas a Becket, Joan of Arc, and Gilles de Rais were ritual in nature.
What I enjoyed is that is got me thinking about about an ancient and vital religion renamed "witchcraft." And how a newer religon might try to supplant an older one.
First off, understand that this study of witchcraft in Europe is highly controvercial. While a best seller in its day, it has since been discredited by some more modern historians. Nevertheless, it is a classic sample of anthropology. Plus, it is written in a clear, accessible style = making it access and interesting read for all.
Murray was a prominent British Egyptologist and anthroplogist. In this book, she therorized that the trials against a witch-cult in the early modern period of Christianized Europe and North America were "an attempt to extinguish a surviving pre-Christian, pagan religion devoted to a horned God." She traces the worship of this Horned God from paleolithic times to the medieval period. Thus re-defining "witchcraft" as a surviving religion nearly as old as humankind now met up in a power struggle with the (new) Christian religion. And makes a case in the last section of the book that the deaths of spiritual leaders such as Thomas a Becket, Joan of Arc, and Gilles de Rais were ritual in nature.
What I enjoyed is that is got me thinking about about an ancient and vital religion renamed "witchcraft." And how a newer religon might try to supplant an older one.
September 23, 2017
say what you want about margaret a. murray but she single-handedly invented the genre of "youtube conspiracy theory" and where would we, as a species, be without that?
February 18, 2021
Hard to rate this one, because I found it highly enjoyable to read - both inspired and inspiring, containing the kind of esoteric imaginings that can alter the course of your life - and yet, at the same time, I appreciate that it's somewhat off the mark historically (to put it politely). So, for that reason, I've rated it three, although my heart would give it four.
It's worth four stars (says my heart) for the simple reason that Margaret Murray debunked the popular caricature of the witch as a deranged, steeple-hat wearing, broomstick-riding crone; instead, she offered a gynocentric view of the craft, relating it (erroneously) to a harmless fertility cult descended from the pagan rituals of ancient Europe.
My advice would be to read this with benign and constructive scepticism, to think of it not only in terms of history but also in terms of mysticism, and to keep in mind the context of anthropological theory at the time of its publication (1931). It's also worth considering the substantial influence that Murray's work has had on successive generations of witches, up to the present day. Fiction often resonates with the fundamental modalities of human existence, informing the psyche and giving rise to newly evolving realities.
It's worth four stars (says my heart) for the simple reason that Margaret Murray debunked the popular caricature of the witch as a deranged, steeple-hat wearing, broomstick-riding crone; instead, she offered a gynocentric view of the craft, relating it (erroneously) to a harmless fertility cult descended from the pagan rituals of ancient Europe.
My advice would be to read this with benign and constructive scepticism, to think of it not only in terms of history but also in terms of mysticism, and to keep in mind the context of anthropological theory at the time of its publication (1931). It's also worth considering the substantial influence that Murray's work has had on successive generations of witches, up to the present day. Fiction often resonates with the fundamental modalities of human existence, informing the psyche and giving rise to newly evolving realities.
December 29, 2021
This book was a bonkers ride. Totally understandable how it inspired so many neopagans, but also totally absurdly not in line with modern understanding of the past and of so many disparate pieces of evidence that Dr. Murray brought to bear for her thesis. Loved it all tho, what a ride.
July 18, 2019
The early and ending sections were a little tough for me to connect with, in part because so much seemed based on conjecture, but the middle bits, where she discusses the ways witches have historically been viewed and treated in western Europe, were fascinating. A refreshingly feminist approach for 1931.
October 10, 2009
Carlo Ginzburg acknowledged the essential correctness of Murray's ideas in Ecstasies, and now her ideas her respectable!
December 2, 2011
Aunque historiadores y antropólogos anglosajones han desacreditado la obra de Murray, haciendo énfasis en sus inconsistencias y falta de rigor académico (y uno se pregunta si eso lo saben los editores del FCE que deciden seguir publicando la traducción y decidieron incluirla en la colección de 70 aniversario de la editorial), "El dios de los brujos" no deja de ser un libro sumamente legible y una piedra fundacional en el retorno a la luz pública de las religiones precristianas europeas. Curiosamente, este renacimiento religioso tiene como una de sus bases un libro que pretende, en buena medida, explicar de manera racional la creencia en lo que los teólogos e inquisidores cristianos llamaron "brujería" y "cultos al diablo". Aunque sus críticos la acusaron de manipular sus fuentes, me parece que Murray tuvo un acierto importante al plantear la hipótesis de que los encargados de perseguir y enjuiciar a los devotos del dios con cuernos (Cerunnos, Pan, etc.) "tradujeron" la visión pagana de las "hadas" (los pueblos precristianos, i.e., los descendientes de los pictos y otros pueblos que habitaban Europa occidental antes de la llegada de los celtas), convirtiéndolos en adoradores del "demonio". Con base en esta lectura "al revés" de los juicios en contra de los brujos y brujas europeas, Murray planteó las posibles formas que tomaba el culto al dios con cuernos, sus ceremonias, sacerdotes y ritos. Én el último capítulo, basándose en la tesis de Frazer sobre el sacrificio ritual de los reyes en la antigüedad, Murray explica las muertes o asesinatos de William Rufus (hijo de Guillermo el Conquistador, primer rey normando de Inglaterra), Thomas Becket, Juana de Arco y Gilles de Rais, como ejemplos del sacrificio cíclico del dios con cuernos (o el humano que lo representaba y que era adorado en su nombre). A pesar del descrédito de las tesis de Murray en el ámbito académico, su influencia popular es indudable, desde películas de terror como "The Wicker Man", hasta novelas paganas, como "The Mists of Avalon" de Marion Zimmer Bradley y, por supuesto, el resugir de las religiones ancentrales (o una nueva religión basada en los remanentes de éstas) en Europa contemporánea.
April 13, 2020
Vaya agradable sorpresa encontrar esta obra. Es un tipo de ensayo bastante accesible, no ficción, que inicia con un breve repaso de la evolución de la idea de dios, un dios surgido de naturaleza desde la edad de piedra. Es muy recomendable, ya sea que les interese la antropología, la teología, la historia de la brujería, o sean simplemente curiosos.
July 27, 2011
Uno de los libros básicos de Murray en los que Gerald Gardner se basó para la construcción de la Wicca.
Basado en la hipótesis de un culto monoteista a un dios con cuernos en todo el mundo en tiempos primitivos en europa y oriente próximo que se ha mantenido vivo y sin cambios durante toda la edad media hasta la actualidad.
Como mínimo se trata de un trabajo arriesgado. Peca del defecto común de las obras de antropología del siglo XIX y principios del XX: el turismo antropológico. Da igual de donde vengan los ejemplos o cual sea su contextualización, que si a mi me vienen bien para explicar mis teorias, los tomaré igualmente.
Incurre en algunas faltas bastante graves y actualmente es una obra superada. No obstante no ha perdido un ápice de su valor histórico para con su relación con la brujería moderna.
Altamente interesante de leer desde un punto de vista crítico y actualizado a las teorías antropológicas modernas.
Basado en la hipótesis de un culto monoteista a un dios con cuernos en todo el mundo en tiempos primitivos en europa y oriente próximo que se ha mantenido vivo y sin cambios durante toda la edad media hasta la actualidad.
Como mínimo se trata de un trabajo arriesgado. Peca del defecto común de las obras de antropología del siglo XIX y principios del XX: el turismo antropológico. Da igual de donde vengan los ejemplos o cual sea su contextualización, que si a mi me vienen bien para explicar mis teorias, los tomaré igualmente.
Incurre en algunas faltas bastante graves y actualmente es una obra superada. No obstante no ha perdido un ápice de su valor histórico para con su relación con la brujería moderna.
Altamente interesante de leer desde un punto de vista crítico y actualizado a las teorías antropológicas modernas.
September 24, 2011
Staying at Linda's paternal grandmother's trailer near Tampa during August was physically unpleasant owing to heat and humidity. The only relief was staying inside her small home, going to a nearby pool or walking to the mall. It was at that blessedly airconditioned mall that I purchased and read this book.
Margaret Murray was first and foremost an Egyptologist. Her interest in the history of witchcraft--or, as she might say, of traditional European religions--was a hobby, a hobby towards which she applied her professional skills and ample imagination.
I have since read other scholarly work about ancient European religions in general and about witchcraft in particular. Murray is not the be-all or end-all in speculation about the matter. She is, however, a grand organizer of disparate data in the tradition of Frazer and Mead and quite a lot of fun to read.
Margaret Murray was first and foremost an Egyptologist. Her interest in the history of witchcraft--or, as she might say, of traditional European religions--was a hobby, a hobby towards which she applied her professional skills and ample imagination.
I have since read other scholarly work about ancient European religions in general and about witchcraft in particular. Murray is not the be-all or end-all in speculation about the matter. She is, however, a grand organizer of disparate data in the tradition of Frazer and Mead and quite a lot of fun to read.
October 24, 2015
Murray's thesis set forth in this book, first published in 1931, is that the witchcraft of the early modern period in Europe was a continuation of the ancient paganism of pre-Christian times. For the most part, subsequent scholars have rejected this view. There is a discussion of this in the Wikipedia entry for Margaret Alice Murray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare.... Nevertheless, I found this book to be a quite interesting read.
September 15, 2016
Pese a haber sido cuestionada en el ámbito académico, no deja de ser admirable una obra semejante en una época en la que la mujer estaba relegada completamente (o casi) de cualquier espacio de investigación. No es un trabajo que atienda a los documentos sin editar en su época, ni cumple los parámetros historiográficos actuales, sin embargo, sí que merece ser reseñado como un ensayo que refleja una teoría antropológica del momento.
April 1, 2024
Found myself a 1952 edition. Good source for my own research into the Horned God. Despite the many, dare I say ignorant, reviews on here concerning this book, if one knows how to read between the lines of what is stated herein, this work will be worth your while. Copiously footnoted, referenced and bibliography provided.
July 5, 2007
No doubt it's all nonsense. But fascinating nonsense!
August 17, 2024
I had heard of this title and this author, but I had not known she was one of the early female archaeologists.
And here she tries to use science, as it existed at that time - geology being one of the newest sciences, and anthropology slightly less so - to explain magic.
Were the fae just smaller physical specimens like remnant populations of Neanderthals who lived in caves or half hill houses? And the stories about them were passed down and eventually became myth? perhaps… I mean, it sounds cool, right?
She also tries to argue that a history of pagan worship continued through all the ages and across many places.
> In this volume I have followed one line only of anthropological enquiry, the survival of an indigenous European cult and the interaction between it and the exotic religion which finally overwhelmed it. I have traced the worship of the Horned God onwards through the centuries from the Paleolithic prototypes, and I have shown that the survival of the cult was due to the survival of the races who adored that god, for this belief could not have held its own against the invasions of other peoples and religions unless a stratum of the population were strong enough to keep it alive...Dr Margaret Alice Murray
>
but she totally lost it when she tried to argue that a man accused of heinous crimes might fake confess - yes - it was me I murdered - checks notes - 800 local children. Maybe he did that because they promised to NOT disinherit his children? Not because he had agreed to be a stand in for the sacrificial murder of the King.
Five years after his death, his daughter inherited all of his estates. That’s a thing worth lying for, right? And if you do it SO BADLY - eight hundred children? and the locals didn’t notice? yeah… nah.
2 stars
And here she tries to use science, as it existed at that time - geology being one of the newest sciences, and anthropology slightly less so - to explain magic.
Were the fae just smaller physical specimens like remnant populations of Neanderthals who lived in caves or half hill houses? And the stories about them were passed down and eventually became myth? perhaps… I mean, it sounds cool, right?
She also tries to argue that a history of pagan worship continued through all the ages and across many places.
> In this volume I have followed one line only of anthropological enquiry, the survival of an indigenous European cult and the interaction between it and the exotic religion which finally overwhelmed it. I have traced the worship of the Horned God onwards through the centuries from the Paleolithic prototypes, and I have shown that the survival of the cult was due to the survival of the races who adored that god, for this belief could not have held its own against the invasions of other peoples and religions unless a stratum of the population were strong enough to keep it alive...Dr Margaret Alice Murray
>
but she totally lost it when she tried to argue that a man accused of heinous crimes might fake confess - yes - it was me I murdered - checks notes - 800 local children. Maybe he did that because they promised to NOT disinherit his children? Not because he had agreed to be a stand in for the sacrificial murder of the King.
Five years after his death, his daughter inherited all of his estates. That’s a thing worth lying for, right? And if you do it SO BADLY - eight hundred children? and the locals didn’t notice? yeah… nah.
2 stars
November 30, 2021
God of the Witches is an interesting piece of anthropology. Murray was known principally as an Egyptologist and later decided to deal with some confusions regarding European pagan beliefs.
It's a good read for research purposes. The level of scholarship is what one would expect (the book was published in 1933 so the research was done prior), and Murray is open about the research she did, meaning this isn't a "oh, let's be pagan!" guidebook. People looking for a how-to re returning to nature images might be put-off. Also, Murray's prejudices comes through now and again.
A put-off to many readers will be the amazingly poor formatting and structure errors in the book (bizarre sentence breaks, ditto paragraph breaks, odd punctuation, footnotes showing up in the middle of a page, ...). They threw me until I got use to them (there's so many you get used them about 30-40 pages in). A big flaw is the constant reference to "plates" meaning images and none are found in the document. My guess is book was haphazardly put together based on an incomplete copy from another source.
Still, a worthwhile read for those wanting background/worldbuilding data for stories set in paleo to renaissance Europe.
It's a good read for research purposes. The level of scholarship is what one would expect (the book was published in 1933 so the research was done prior), and Murray is open about the research she did, meaning this isn't a "oh, let's be pagan!" guidebook. People looking for a how-to re returning to nature images might be put-off. Also, Murray's prejudices comes through now and again.
A put-off to many readers will be the amazingly poor formatting and structure errors in the book (bizarre sentence breaks, ditto paragraph breaks, odd punctuation, footnotes showing up in the middle of a page, ...). They threw me until I got use to them (there's so many you get used them about 30-40 pages in). A big flaw is the constant reference to "plates" meaning images and none are found in the document. My guess is book was haphazardly put together based on an incomplete copy from another source.
Still, a worthwhile read for those wanting background/worldbuilding data for stories set in paleo to renaissance Europe.
May 1, 2020
My first impression is WOW, this week I will pull the bibliographic data and compare her presentation to her research. I was constantly enthralled with the horned God Enkidu, really well I guess that explains much and I will spend the week reviewing and comparing. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for your hard work and diligence presentation one after the other. This does remind me even today during twitter live chat people make the comment about God Bless Us or you or President Trump and I always ask them what is your gods name. Of course they do not know and say “God”, the. Their is only one God, okay good well what’s your one Gods Name, I believe in the trinity... the father, son and Holy Spirit... okay 3 gods but what are their names....and so the discussion goes depending upon my limits of the day when I’m aggravated I say well doesn’t that go against the very first commandment. Anyway I’ll write after I do some research. Today book reading were complementary and I didn’t even know upon selection. “The Age of Manipulation: The con in Confidence, the Sin in Sincere. Bahhhhhbahhhh
NOT!
NOT!
June 12, 2023
I wish I could remember why I read this book. It predates this careful chronicling that I’ve been doing. I think I started God of the Witches even before Bukowski’s On Writing. I want to say it’s because I needed a deeper understanding of the nature of witchcraft. It’s also possible that it was mentioned in Robert Graves’s The Greek Myths. If it wasn’t, the descriptions of death-king ritual echo much of what Graves wrote on early Greek paganism.
This was not an easy read, nor was it written in a way that left me with any solid conclusions other than the only reason that orthodox religion is to triumphantly ubiquitous today is because its agents actively sought out and exterminated the pagans, to the point of inventing the presence of heresy to justify the work of the inquisitors.
Anyway. I am not a witch.
This was not an easy read, nor was it written in a way that left me with any solid conclusions other than the only reason that orthodox religion is to triumphantly ubiquitous today is because its agents actively sought out and exterminated the pagans, to the point of inventing the presence of heresy to justify the work of the inquisitors.
Anyway. I am not a witch.
December 9, 2023
I started this book in September and I’m just finishing it up in December. The book was not long but took some time for me to read. Overall I did enjoy the book. The author was original an egyptologist but started to pursue a study of the horn god. Is there some controversy about her finding, yes but at this point I don’t think it really matters. Margaret Murray has made her mark on Wicca. Gerald Gardner published this book Witchcraft Today which is inspired by Margaret’s theory regarding the witch cult theories.
March 4, 2024
Certainly obvious that this was written over a century ago, and for that alone it is interesting to see the information regarding the craft from that time. It does go a bit off the rails, but once again it was written over a century ago, so total accuracy is not to be expected. The author is certainly educated in the craft, and provides historical records with her own bias, opinions, and interpretations regarding their connection to the craft.
November 14, 2019
Captivating
This books develops a captivating view on paganism. The last chapter seems a little far fetched but nonetheless very interesting in its hypothesis up to the point that it makes you wonder it a true. Excellent read.
This books develops a captivating view on paganism. The last chapter seems a little far fetched but nonetheless very interesting in its hypothesis up to the point that it makes you wonder it a true. Excellent read.
June 30, 2024
Libro che tratta argomenti molto interessanti e da cui ho tratto molto, ma che mi è pesato un po’ leggere per via della poca scorrevolezza e la struttura praticamente ad elenco di alcune pagine.
Sicuramente mi ha spinto a leggere più libri sulla stregoneria.
Sicuramente mi ha spinto a leggere più libri sulla stregoneria.
February 3, 2023
Saggio antropologico pubblicato originariamente nel 1972 e decisamente interessante.
September 4, 2023
Highly intriguing book, antiquated now and many of the assertations are unfounded, but inspiring all the same even if complete b*ll*cks.
November 3, 2023
The claims are improbable but the book is fun.
February 24, 2024
Muy interesante al inicio, cansado en lo referente a los juicios de brujas y el final sobre Juana de Arco y Gilles de Rais, exagerado.
Read
May 6, 2024Kind of hard to follow, didn’t know where the subject was heading half of the time, just not for me
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews