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Dancing with Witches
Witchcraft is as old as time but few really know what it consists of beyond magic, spells, and enchantment. As this insightful volume reveals, witchcraft above all is the renewal of an ancient tradition. It describes the practices of the religion and features many witches who offer unique knowledge of the occult and mystical worlds. The experiences of the author, a leader of a coven of witches who follow the Old Religion and close associate of the revolutionary wicca Gerald Gardner, as well as her unique experiences in voodoo and obeah round off this essential guide to contemporary witchcraft.
- GenresWitchcraftWiccaWitches
224 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 7, 2025
Aleister Crowley was a misogynistic, abusive, self-hating homosexual; Patricia Crowther performed quasi-blackface in public performances, used language considered racist by today’s standards, and was **vehemently** opposed to self-initiation in witchcraft; Gerald Gardner was an absolute homophobe and, too often, was an outright liar, especially regarding his so-called “academic credentials”; and Doreen Valiente was extremely unaccommodating and often unforgivably rude. Does this mean that I shouldn’t read their books because their behavior, thoughts, and/or language doesn’t align with modern-day morals and ethics? No. Yet while they are considered as joint founders of modern Wicca and are widely read, Lois Bourne—at least on the surface—appears to be the least read author.
I’ve read numerous reviews of Lois Bourne’s “Dancing with Witches,” and I was determined to read it myself. It is true that Bourne didn’t question Gardner, either his sources or his beliefs. Indeed, she claimed to have never met a homosexual witch, so she opined that, “…Gerald was probably correct…” (pg. 39) in his bigoted assessment of them. In our excessively self-sanitized world, this statement is enough to consign this book—indeed all of the author’s books—to the dust bin. However, although this book was published in 2001, it should be remembered that Bourne was born in 1928 and lived in a very different world from the present one.
When I read the above quote in this book, it reminded me of a transcribed conversation that I previously read of interview of an elderly former slave in the 1930s. When asked how he felt about his enslavement, he responded, “That’s just the way it was.” Certainly, neither him nor any other former slave wanted to return to those horrible days; they were in fact happy that those days were gone forever. But that was the reality that they lived in. Even when I was growing up in the 1980s, things were also very different. There was an unbelievable amount of both racism and homophobia—that’s just the way it was.
I don’t have to like everything that Bourne says. Indeed, I question everything that **everyone** says. In higher education, it’s not unusual for students and professionals alike to read things that are at times outdated and just plain nonsense, just so that we/they can fully understand the history of a movement and beliefs. I therefore encourage everyone to read these classics, and this IS a classic in Wiccan literature. It’s a time capsule of a different era; an era prior to complete religious freedom that was extremely dangerous for pagans.
When this book was written, there **was** religious freedom for pagans, you might argue. Yes, but only because of women like Lois Bourne. Just because Bourne was initiated into a coven (circa 1958) after the Witchcraft Act 1735 was repealed in 1951, pagans still faced ongoing discrimination and harassment. It was people like Bourne who faced these proverbial firing squads: intimidation, stalking, harassment, slander, loss of jobs, loss of family and friends, and etc. With that in mind, I recommend all people interested in the history of paganism to read this book in the context in which it was written. By that, I mean that people should understand that Bourne—just like Crowley, Crowther, Gardner, and Valiente—was born in a different era and social milieu that she had to navigate. And it was through that lived experience that the religion of Wicca was born.
Bourne traveled widely and of the numerous stories that she told, I found her story about the obeah Mother Tomas of Jamaica the most fascinating. Like Scott Cunningham who was a natural-born academic writer, Lois Bourne also missed one of her true callings in life: that of a cultural anthropologist.
Bourne offers so much insight into the early years of Modern Wicca, and this lived experience is so important for people today to read. Practicing pagans today don’t have to deal with the same abuses, so it’s easy to forget how critical it was for people like Bourne to path the way. It reminds me of the story my momma used to tell me about how in 1969, she participated in a “Slack-In” where all the women at her college protested—by wearing slacks to their college one day. Why? Because the college forbade women from wearing pants. It seems incredulous today, but women were really limited during that era; they were not considered equal. Women like Bourne had it much worse. Not only were they oppressed as women, they were also oppressed religiously. Bourne’s stories about practicing witches and pagans around the world are fascinating.
This book is well-written and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who has a serious interest in Wiccan history and modern witchcraft.
I’ve read numerous reviews of Lois Bourne’s “Dancing with Witches,” and I was determined to read it myself. It is true that Bourne didn’t question Gardner, either his sources or his beliefs. Indeed, she claimed to have never met a homosexual witch, so she opined that, “…Gerald was probably correct…” (pg. 39) in his bigoted assessment of them. In our excessively self-sanitized world, this statement is enough to consign this book—indeed all of the author’s books—to the dust bin. However, although this book was published in 2001, it should be remembered that Bourne was born in 1928 and lived in a very different world from the present one.
When I read the above quote in this book, it reminded me of a transcribed conversation that I previously read of interview of an elderly former slave in the 1930s. When asked how he felt about his enslavement, he responded, “That’s just the way it was.” Certainly, neither him nor any other former slave wanted to return to those horrible days; they were in fact happy that those days were gone forever. But that was the reality that they lived in. Even when I was growing up in the 1980s, things were also very different. There was an unbelievable amount of both racism and homophobia—that’s just the way it was.
I don’t have to like everything that Bourne says. Indeed, I question everything that **everyone** says. In higher education, it’s not unusual for students and professionals alike to read things that are at times outdated and just plain nonsense, just so that we/they can fully understand the history of a movement and beliefs. I therefore encourage everyone to read these classics, and this IS a classic in Wiccan literature. It’s a time capsule of a different era; an era prior to complete religious freedom that was extremely dangerous for pagans.
When this book was written, there **was** religious freedom for pagans, you might argue. Yes, but only because of women like Lois Bourne. Just because Bourne was initiated into a coven (circa 1958) after the Witchcraft Act 1735 was repealed in 1951, pagans still faced ongoing discrimination and harassment. It was people like Bourne who faced these proverbial firing squads: intimidation, stalking, harassment, slander, loss of jobs, loss of family and friends, and etc. With that in mind, I recommend all people interested in the history of paganism to read this book in the context in which it was written. By that, I mean that people should understand that Bourne—just like Crowley, Crowther, Gardner, and Valiente—was born in a different era and social milieu that she had to navigate. And it was through that lived experience that the religion of Wicca was born.
Bourne traveled widely and of the numerous stories that she told, I found her story about the obeah Mother Tomas of Jamaica the most fascinating. Like Scott Cunningham who was a natural-born academic writer, Lois Bourne also missed one of her true callings in life: that of a cultural anthropologist.
Bourne offers so much insight into the early years of Modern Wicca, and this lived experience is so important for people today to read. Practicing pagans today don’t have to deal with the same abuses, so it’s easy to forget how critical it was for people like Bourne to path the way. It reminds me of the story my momma used to tell me about how in 1969, she participated in a “Slack-In” where all the women at her college protested—by wearing slacks to their college one day. Why? Because the college forbade women from wearing pants. It seems incredulous today, but women were really limited during that era; they were not considered equal. Women like Bourne had it much worse. Not only were they oppressed as women, they were also oppressed religiously. Bourne’s stories about practicing witches and pagans around the world are fascinating.
This book is well-written and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who has a serious interest in Wiccan history and modern witchcraft.
January 23, 2020
Great insight on Bourne's friendship with Gerald Gardner but also a unique look at how witchcraft is practiced in England, Spain. She talks of all her travels and experiences. Her reflections on Obeah in Jamaica were intriguing.
September 24, 2016
An in depth account of her friendship with Gerald Gardner which was fairly interesting but there's a tone in Lois Bourne's writing that is almost condescending.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews