The Feminist Book of Lights & Shadows (1976)

The cover of Zsuzsanna Budapest’s book titled The Feminist Book of Lights and Shadows. There is a sketch of the Goddess Diana dressed in a robe with spiritual energy crowning over her head. The writing reads, a ritual around birthing big full bellies, big full moons, worshipping by the coming of life, the bearer of life. Under the author's name reads: the vessel and the babe. The original price of $5 is indicated at the bottom right corner.

The practice of witchcraft regained its momentum during the 1970s Women's Feminist Movement. Before then, the use of witchcraft was done in private, and ultimately, there were little to no media coverage on profound witch activities in America other than the retelling of the Salem Witch Trials in late 17th century.

Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay, better known by her alias Z Budapest, is a Hungarian born hereditary witch. She gained the status from her mother who was a psychic and sculptor. Her mother's work mainly focused on the Roman Goddess Diana, who is known for being the goddess of the hunt, moon, and underworld. Budapest immigrated to Chicago in 1959. When her husband went on vacation with their two sons and his mistress in 1970, she knew that living as a housewife would not satisfy her. So, she took a trip to southern California and remained there, where she discovered her newfound religion.

Influenced by the traditions of Wicca (contemporary Paganism) and Budapest's maternal lineage, Dianic Wicca was born. Dianic Wicca incorporates Goddess-centered cosmology with feminist-focused spirituality. Similarly, it celebrates the eight annual Wiccan holidays based on the lunar cycle, called Sabbats. These celebrations serve to link the divine individual with the natural world. Budapest is best known for being the founder of the Susan B. Anthony Coven Number 1 in 1971. She gave herself the role of High Priestess within the coven, and their first official meeting was hosted inside her home and consisted of only seven women. As the coven grew to hundreds of members, Budapest expanded their meeting location to the Malibu mountaintops. The group gathered on Sunday mornings to honor the Goddess and discuss rituals for rites of passage such as naming newborns, healing from injury, finding love, etc. In addition, Dianic Wiccans practiced the use of "negative magic" by hexing and cursing men who cause harm unto women. Budapest boasted that "witches threw the best parties"; needless to say, they performed rituals that celebrated the sisterhood of their coven through food, music, poetry, drama, and psychedelics.

The spells and rituals that the group wanted to initially publish can be found here, in The Feminist Book of Lights & Shadows, along with explanations and listings of materials needed for the rituals. In 1979, the book was republished under a compilation of Budapest's other works, titled The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries. A year prior to publishing the book, Budapest was arrested for providing tarot card readings to costumers in her occult shop. This event allowed Budapest to gain nation-wide publicity, and it became a historical marker for feminists, witches, and fortunetellers. Budapest claimed herself as "the first witch to go on trial in 300 years." Her roaring coverage in the media laid the foundation for the California Supreme Court's legalization of fortunetelling in 1985.

Feminists like Budapest dedicate most of their careers to help women "liberate their souls and heal from wounds of patriarchy." However, as she considers transgender men and women as an injustice to spiritual womanhood, her 1970s feminist ideology is seen as controversial among modern witches and new-wave feminists. Today, Zsuzsanna Budapest is working on a television series called "Baba Boogie and the Berkeley Broads," where a conflicted immortal tries to find a new generation of feminists so she can die peacefully.
This 2nd edition (yellow cover) book is a rare find as it is no longer being printed.

This book can be found in Special Collections in McCain Library room 305. The library is open Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information about this title, contact Jennifer Brannock at .

Text by Jannie Nguyen, sophomore Political Science major
**Items of the Month featured in 2023 and part of 2024 will be the work of Southern Miss students who took HON 303, a seminar held in Fall 2022 focusing on archives and special collections.

Notes

Apel, Thomas. "Diana." Mythopedia, April 15, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/diana (Accessed 3 October 2022)

Budapest, Zsuzsanna Emese, et al. The Feminist Book of Lights and Shadows. Feminist Wicca, 1976.

Netburn, Deborah. "This Feminist Witch Introduced California to Goddess Worship." Sep. 18, 2021, Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-18/this-feminist-witch-introducedcalifornia-to-goddess-worship (Accessed 3 October 2022)

White, Ethan Doyle. "Wicca." Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wicca. (Accessed 3 October 2022)

Wigington, Patti. "Dianic Wicca." Learn Religions, Sep. 9, 2021, https://www.learnreligions.com/what-isdianic-wicca-2562908 (Accessed 2 October 2022)

Young, Katherine. Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Routledge, 2002: 243-279, EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohostcom.lynx.lib.usm.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=421181&site=ehost-live  (Accessed 2 October 2022)