The Women’s Liberation Movement and the Rise of Matriarchy Study Groups in the UK During the 1970s–1980s

Abstract

This chapter shows the ways in which feminist theories produced in the United States influenced the British scene. It was during this period, as America was evolving into the new center for Pagan thought and activity, that the religion of Wicca came under the influence of radical and cultural feminisms, resulting in the formation of the separatist and lesbian-oriented Dianic Wicca and the more inclusive Reclaiming tradition. During the latter half of the 1970s certain radical and cultural British feminists began to show interest in the study of matriarchy and Goddess Spirituality themselves, and drew heavily on American radical and cultural feminists—as well as matriarchy proponents and Dianic and feminist Witches such as Z Budapest and Starhawk.