“I called it magic – Kathleen Raine called it poetry – J. R. R. Tolkien called it enchantment – others have called it a variety of things – from mysticism to mumbo jumbo. All I know is that it works – and that for better or worse I have lived most of my life by it.”
The esoteric autobiography of Gareth Knight covers six decades of magical work, beginning with his induction into the Society of the Inner Light in the early 1950s, his resignation and founding of his own magical group, and subsequent return to the Society. It traces his series of legendary Hawkwood meetings working with Arthurian, Rosicrucian, Celtic and Greek archetypes, the powers of Merlin, the Tarot, the Qabalah, the Goddess and Tolkien’s elves. His journey takes in the Christian mystical tradition and the shining allure of Faery – all told through the warmth, wit, wisdom and humour of one who has never been afraid to plough his own furrow.
“If you have ever wanted to glean some understanding of the mind, and motivation, of an adept Mage-of-Light – this is THE book to read. It is the best account of its kind to be published in over a century.” — Inner Fire Journal
Gareth Knight is one of the world’s foremost authorities on ritual magic, the Western Mystery Tradition and Qabalistic symbolism. He trained in Dion Fortune’s Society of the Inner Light, and has spent a lifetime rediscovering and teaching the principles of magic as a spiritual discipline and method of self-realisation. He has written around fifty books covering topics as diverse as Qabalah, history of magic, Arthurian legend, Rosicrucianism, Tarot, Faery, the Inklings (Tolkien, C.S.Lewis et al) and the Feminine Mysteries, as well as several practical books on ritual magic. The Gareth Knight Group, a magical fraternity which he founded in 1973, is now run by his daughter Rebsie. He has lectured worldwide and contributed extensively to Inner Light, the journal of the Society of the Inner Light, and Lyra, the Gareth Knight Group journal.
- ISBN: 978-1-908011-15-2
- 224 pages
- cover photos by Rebsie Fairholm
- perfect-bound paperback: 229mm x 152mm
- black and white text, with illustrations and photographs
- published 1st November 2011