Contents:
Dion Fortune: The Sea Priestess; Moon Magic; The Goat-Foot God
Hermann Hesse: Demian; Steppenwolf
Caitlin & John Matthews: Ladies of the Lake
Jose Arguelles: The Transformative Vision: reflections on the nature
and history of human expression
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki: The Tree of Ecstasy
The Sea Priestess by Dion Fortune (1890-1946)
When estate agent Wilfred Maxwell is recovering from severe asthma
his mind opens up to new psychic currents.Then he meets the ageless Vivien
Le Fay Morgan, and helps her turn an old fort by the sea into a temple.Vivien
is a priestess of Isis from an ancient Moon cult.She initiates Wilfred
on the inner planes in her magical rituals.She teaches him the esoteric
significance of the magnetic ebb and flow of the moontides.After Vivien
mysteriously disappears Wilfred marries the homely Molly.Because "All women
are Isis", Molly is able to learn the rituals and perform them with Wilfred.The
mystic powers of the sea are evoked by this novel and they pervade the
whole story.This would be my favourite novel by Dion Fortune, because of
the atmosphere created and her best coverage of magic rituals.
During their Moon rites, Morgan would sing this highly evocative song:
O thou that wast before the earth was formed-
Ea, Binah, Ge.
O tideless, soundless, bitter sea,
I am thy priestess, answer unto me.
O arching sky above and earth beneath,
Giver of life and bringer-in of death,
Persephone, Astarte, Ashtoreth,
I am thy priestess, answer unto me.
O golden Aphrodite, come to me!
Flower of the foam, rise from the bitter sea.
The hour of the full moon-tide draws near,
Hear the invoking words, hear and appear-
Isis unveiled, and Ea, Binah, Ge!
I am thy priestess, answer unto me.
I am the soundless, boundless, bitter sea;
All things in the end shall come to me.
Mine is the kingdom of Persephone,
The inner earth, where lead the pathways three.
Who drinks the waters of that hidden well
Shall see the things whereof he dare not tell-
Shall tread the shadowy path that leads to me-
Diana of the Ways and Hecate,
Selene of the Moon, Persephone.
"And as I looked, I saw her begin to change from silver into gold, and
a glowing aura of all the colours of the rainbow sprang out around her.Her
sleeping eyes opened into an amazing animation of life, and she glowed
with life like a glorious dawn.Then the tide that had flowed from me to
her turned and flowed back from her to me, and I felt my life returning
to me, but different, for it had been made one with the life of the Goddess.
"Then she sang, and I knew that this was Isis, unveiled and dynamic:"
I am the star that rises from the sea-
The twilight sea.
I bring men dreams that rule their destiny.
I bring the dream-tides to the souls of men;
The tides that ebb and flow and ebb again-
These are my secret, these belong to me-
I am the eternal Woman, I am she!
The tides of all men's souls belong to me.
The tides that ebb and flow and ebb again;
The silent, inward tides that govern men-
These are my secret, these belong to me.
Out of my hands he takes his destiny.
Touch of my hands confers polarity.
These are the moon-tides, these belong to me-
Hera in heaven, on earth, Persephone;
Levanah of the tides, and Hecate.
Diana of the Moon, Star of the Sea-
Isis unveiled and Ea, Rinah, Ge.
"Isis Veiled, I knew, was Our Lady of Nature, just as Isis Unveiled
is the Heavenly Isis.Ea was the soul of Space and parent of Time, older
even than the Titans.Binah, the Dark Sterile Mother of All, was the Great
Sea whence life arose, the female principle and pre-matter.And Ge [Gaia]
herself was the magnetic earth that is like an aura to our globe and in
which move the tides that the Easterns call the Tattvas.These things I
knew, for Morgan had already told me, and I realised that I was mow watching
them."
Moon Magic by Dion Fortune
Vivien Le Fay Morgan returns as Lilith Le Fay, a modern day priestess
of the great goddess of Nature, and as such claims divine right in the
face of man-made laws.Through telepathy she contacts Malcolm, an unhappy
physician, and they begin working rituals together as priest and priestess
of Isis.Malcolm falls in love with Lilth, but she is not interested in
physical union.Her aim is a higher union, achieved through recreation of
magical rituals from ancient times.
The Goat-Foot God by Dion Fortune
After his wife's funeral, Hugh Paston tramps the streets of London
until he comes to a second hand bookshop.He finds some books on the
occult and strikes up a conversation with Jelkes the owner.He feels drawn
to the shop and over the next few days he becomes friendly with Jelkes.They
talk about occult matters, of which Jelkes is knowledgeable.Hugh becomes
interested in Pan and he feels that if he could invoke the goat-foot god
he could revitalize his aimless life.
With Jelkes he finds an ancient monastery in the countryside which he buys to turn into a temple to Pan.Jelkes introduces Hugh to the young artist Mona who will help him.The monastery is haunted by the spirit of a monk who also sought Pan, and he attempts to possess Hugh, who manages to maintain his balance of mind.Hugh and Mona draw closer together, and perform the rite of Pan.
Although this book does not go into rituals as deeply as does The Sea Priestess,it contains a fair amount of occult lore.The book is pervaded by an atmosphere of mystery and magic.Central to this story is a major theme of Dion Fortune's teachings: that the problems of human loving can be solved by the couple becoming representatives of the God and Goddess.
"Came the voice of Destiny,
Calling o'er the Ionian Sea,
'The Great God Pan is dead, is dead.
Humbled is the horned head;
Shut the door that hath no key-
Waste the vales of Arcady.'
Shackled by the Iron Age,
Lost the woodland heritage,
Heavy goes the heart of man,
Parted from the light-foot Pan;
Wearily he wears the chain
Till the Goat-god comes again.
Half a man and half a beast,
Pan is greatest, Pan is least.
Pan is all, and all is Pan;
Look for him in every-man;
Goat-hoof swift and shaggy thigh-
Follow him to Arcady.
He shall wake the living dead-
Cloven hoof and horned head,
Human heart and human brain,
Pan the Goat-god comes again!
Half a beast and half a man-
Pan is all, and all is Pan.
Come, O Goat-god, come again!"
(From 'The Rite of Pan')
Demian by Hermann Hesse (1877-1962)
This is the story of Emil Sinclair and his search for self understanding
and development.As a boy he was aware of two worlds.The world of his family
where reigned goodness,order,clarity and cleanliness.There also were duty
and guilt, confessions and forgiveness.In the other world were servant
girls and workingmen, ghost stories and scandalous rumours; the slaughterhouse,
the prison and cows in labour.He is drawn into the latter world of chaos
when he lies to the bully Kromer, who blackmails him.He is saved by the
mysterious new boy in school, Demian.
Sinclair scurries back to the safety of his family, though he is fascinated by Demian, who has knowledge and maturity way beyond his years.Demian gets Sinclair thinking about good and evil, and suggests that Cain was not evil.Demian re-appears at various points in the story, helping Sinclair to understand new life experiences as he grows.
Sinclair does a painting of a bird coming out of an egg which he sees in a dream.Demian leaves him a note which reads:"The bird is struggling out of the egg.The egg is the world.Whoever wants to be born must first destroy a world."This refers to Sinclairs childhood world and his illusions.
Sinclair has periods of depression and despair, but it is all part of the learning process.Eventually he meets Frau Eva,Demian's mother.She is a positive anima figure who leads him deeper into his soul.She teaches him about love:
"Love must not entreat" she added,"nor demand.Love must have the power to find its own way to certainty.Then it ceases merely to be attracted and begins to attract.Your love, Sinclair, is attracted by me.When it begins to attract me, I will come.I will not bestow a gift, I must be won."
Sinclair's destiny is linked to the destiny of nations as war breaks out.The book ends with him wounded in battle, but he will be able to call on Demian and Frau Eva in times of need.
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
Harry Haller is fast approaching fifty and his life has hit a brick
wall.One day he finds in the street the Treatise on the Steppenwolf, which
helps explain his predicament.Part of him is staid, proper and middle class,
while the other part is like a wild wolf.He can't reconcile these two conflicting
sides of himself.
He then meets the exciting and elusive Hermine who aids him in his crisis.Hermine points out to Harry that he has learnt some very difficult things such as the study of music and philosophy, but he has ignored many of the simple pleasures of life, such as dancing and paying a woman a compliment.She helps him learn some of the non-intellectual pleasures of life.The laid-back saxophone player Pablo and the amorous Marie help Harry break down his inhibitions.
The novel comes to a climax when Harry visits the Magic Theatre(price of entry your mind) after the revels of a masked ball.Here, dream,fantasy and reality all merge, breaking up Harry's normal perceptions and personality, allowing him to recreate himself.He realizes that he has many selves, and he is no longer tied down to his respectable middle class self.This novel is a poetic exploration of the soul from darkness to light, from ignorance to revelation.I know of no other novel like it.This book is special to soul seekers and those pursuing self-transformation.
Ladies of the Lake (1992) by Caitlin and John Matthews
Most re-tellings of the Arthurian legends have focused on the men,
giving the women a subordinate role.All this changed with Marion Zimmer
Bradley's novel The Mists of Avalon, which emphasised the role of
women in Arthurian days.Ladies of the Lake is about nine women
from the Arthurian tradition.Not active on the outer or physical level
like the men, these women are powerful and active on the inner levels.Each
one represents archetypal powers from the Celtic tradition.There is Igraine,Guinevere,Morgan
and Nimue, to name a few.For each one there is a visualisation exercise,
allowing the reader to access their power and purpose.I find these visualisations
very helpful for accessing the inner worlds of the Celtic tradition.This
book allows one to get more insights out of the Arthurian and Celtic
traditions.
The Transformative Vision: reflections on the nature and history of human expression Fort Yates:Muse,1992) by Jose Arguelles
The publisher classifies this book under Art History/Planetary Psychology.These words can only hint at the depth and range of the ideas in this book.Arguelles analyses the roots of human existence and the present crisis of civilisation.With such understanding the way forward is made clear.
He calls the feminine element psyche (breath)and the male element techne(skill).Since the Renaissance techne has come to dominate,giving us a purely mechanical existence at the expense of psyche, which has become unconscious.There is no recognised relation between the two, and modern life "is the life of the waking dead, and it is no real life at all."Arguelles shows how art has manifested this split, culminating in the total sterility of civilisation and art today.He mentions visionaries and prophets such as William Blake,D.H.Lawrence, Rainer Maria Rilke and Dane Rudhyar who have seen beyond the split and pointed the way to an integrated life.
"For the revitalized artist of whatever sex, the intrinsically feminine psyche no longer is the disembodied muse of the Romantic poet but is incorporated once again as the vitally functioning intuitive structure of being.Correspondingly, woman is no longer the 'lesser faith',fides minor, hence feminine, but the goddess, the matrix, the openness of nature through which spirit finds the vessel appropriate to its expression.Man and woman are no longer master and slave, nor are they at war with each other, but they realize in and through their uniqueness the fullness of the universe.They are representatives on earth of the primary cosmic principle; both must live in harmony with each other, or else they jeopardize the precarious balance of the cosmos."(p.287)
"The true artist unites psyche and techne within him/herself, and "themselves become the path that must be traveled in order for humans to realize their full humanity.The vision-seed has already been planted in their fertile consciousness.Through these beings of transformed vision the earth and the heavens may experience reunion, and the world may be returned to a mythic space to be divined and explored by humanity in full consciousness."(p.293)
This book is a knock out! Arguelles has tremendous insight into the human condition and the crisis that is modern civilisation.He also points the way forward to a time when women and men can live in cosmic harmony.
The Tree of Ecstasy:an advanced manual of sexual magic (Aquarian Press, 1991) by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki
Dolores is a long standing member of the Servants of the Light, an occult science group located on Jersey,Channel Islands, England.She has written a number of books on ritual magic, and produced a tarot deck.The Tree of Ecstasy shows how to use sex energies responsibly to achieve expanded awareness.
The first part outlines sex attitudes and practices down through the centuries.In ancient times sex was generally honoured and had a positive place in religion.It was Christianity that turned sex into a thing of fear, loathing and disgust.Dolores wants people to see sex in a positive light.She says:"Never lose sight of the fact that humanity was given its sexuality as a divine gift."
She bases her sex magic on the Tree of Life from the Qabalah.She makes clear these rituals are not for the beginner or the weirdo, but for committed partners in an ongoing relationship.There is a week's preparation for each ritual and at least one month between them.Rituals are given for each sphere of the Tree, designed to activate the related energies.For the sphere of Malkuth, after proper preparation, the man becomes Pan and the woman the nymph Syrinxe.This ritual releases the energies of Malkuth or earth, i.e. the eros of Nature.For Yesod the Moon sphere, the woman becomes the Daughter of the Moon and the man the Hunter.Other pairs are Merlin and Nimue, Isis and Osiris, Shiva and Shakti, working through the Tree.
These rituals involve nothing kinky.They are for dedicated spiritual
seekers.They put back the holy into sex and sex into the holy.If knowingly
directed, sex energies can be used for linking to the entire cosmos, as
shown in this book.