Margaret Lumley Brown

A re-issue of a remarkable little novella published in 1918, which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle praised as "a unique experience". It comprises a fictionalised account of a psychic upheaval the young Margaret went through in 1913 while living in a disturbed house in Bayswater, London, with her sister. A casual experiment with table-turning triggered an intense and terrifying haunting, beginning with odd patches of shadow and light and soon developing into a full blown poltergeist manifestation - household items vanishing and reappearing in odd places, writing appearing on window blinds, and malevolent presences who began to materialise in various disturbing forms. Margaret Lumley Brown went on to become a significant figure in the Western Mysteries revival, and her remarkable mediumship gift was sparked by the experiences described in Both Sides of the Door. This re-issue includes an Introduction by Gareth Knight and an essay by Rebecca Wilby explaining the locations and historical background to the story.

The Arthurian Formula, was the last major work of Dion Fortune and formed the corner stone of the inner work of her Society of the Inner Light for the following twenty years, supplemented by the remarkably gifted psychic Margaret Lumley Brown. It later formed the basis for work by Gareth Knight with the Company of Hawkwood and allied groups in later years, inspiring his book The Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend. Dion Fortune's contribution explores the remote sources of the Arthurian legends and the mission of Merlin, played out in the polar relationships between Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot in both human and faery dynamics and leading to aspects of the Grail. Margaret Lumley Brown develops the threads in the labyrinth formed by the archetypal patterns of the knights and ladies, including particular reference to Morgan le Fay. Gareth Knight's commentary pulls together these strands with an overview of the various traditions behind the Arthurian Formula - of Glastonbury, Atlantis, the world of Faery, Merlin, the Troubadours, the cult of Queen Venus and their application in the practical mysteries of today.