Her Hidden Children

Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America

First edition cover of Her Hidden Children.
Author	Chas S. Clifton
Language	English
Subject	Religious studies Pagan studies
Publisher	AltaMira Press
Publication date	2005
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover and paperback)
Pages	189
ISBN	978-0759102026

Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America is a historical study of Wicca and Contemporary Paganism in the United States. It was written by the American academic Chas S. Clifton of Colorado State University-Pueblo, and published by AltaMira Press in 2005.

Her Hidden Children was reviewed in a number of academic journals.

Background

In 1999, the English historian Ronald Hutton of the University of Bristol had published his own study of Wiccan history, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft.

Reception and recognition

The book received generally positive reviews from a number of academic journals.^[1][2][3]

References

1. Ashcraft, W. Michael (2007). "Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. (book review)". Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft. 2 (1): 82–84. doi:10.1353/mrw.0.0043. ISSN 1556-8547. S2CID 162516806. Clifton's book does not cover everything. He excludes Pagans who look to ancient cultures, like the Celts, for their symbols and rituals. He also leaves out feminist spirituality, which is closely linked to Wicca and Paganism. But he does an admirable job of providing for the first time a formal history of the movement.
2. Pizza, Murphy (2007). "Her hidden children: the rise of Wicca and paganism in America (book review)". The Pomegranate. 9 (2): 200–201. doi:10.1558/pome.v9i2.200. ISSN 1528-0268. Her Hidden Children is an important and welcome contribution to academic and non-scholar Pagans alike.
3. Bloch, Jon P (March 2008). "Her hidden children: the rise of Wicca and paganism in America (book review)". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 47 (1): 171–173. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00399_8.x. ISSN 0021-8294. Clifton, an English Professor at Colorado State University, provides an account of the rise of Wicca and Paganism in the United States that focuses not on social upheaval so much as on popular cultural symbols and artifacts, key individuals, and popular texts as instrumental in the said rise...Clifton's is a book that could enliven courses in popular culture, as well as courses in religion.

Bibliography

• Clifton, Chas S. (2006). Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Oxford and Lanham: AltaMira. ISBN 978-0-7591-0202-6.