Nevill Drury

First published in 1978, Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic begins with an analysis of the Castaneda material from the viewpoint of its inherently magical content. The author examines the symbiotic gestures, the magical actions and the mind-altering techniques employed by the brujo Don Juan, and then goes on to draw comparisons with two other schools of thought: the psychedelic development of the 1960s and the Western Magical Tradition. The essential aim throughout is to show that there is a basically Western shamanism which uses Western symbols and is easily accessible. The shamanistic practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn are examined in this context. Considerable emphasis is also placed on mythological aspects associated with out-of-the-body experiences and their relevance to both the Don Juan Mescalito imagery and the Qabalistic and Tarot symbols found in Western Magic. This book will be of interest to students of religion, history and literature.

First published in 1979, Inner Visions discussion the nature of contemporary magical thought – encompassing the Tarot and the Qabalah – and considers its impact on the creative imagination. The author presents a fusion of the creative, magical and mythological undercurrents which are part of the ‘new consciousness’, and traces the influence of surrealist art and the expansive psychedelic period on the art and music of the 1970s. He looks, for example, at the relationship of the fantasy art on record sleeves to the electronic inner-space music which it often accompanies, and shows that this form of modern music represents one facet of the contemporary reaction against scientism and of the search for what Roszak has termed the visionary sources of our culture. The author concludes that a major mythological impulse is emerging in our culture and that magical and surreal approaches represent a profoundly invigorating and inspiring attitude linking the individual to the cosmos. This will be a fascinating read for anyone interested in magic, mythology, art, music and literature.

First published in 1978, Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic begins with an analysis of the Castaneda material from the viewpoint of its inherently magical content. The author examines the symbiotic gestures, the magical actions and the mind-altering techniques employed by the brujo Don Juan, and then goes on to draw comparisons with two other schools of thought: the psychedelic development of the 1960s and the Western Magical Tradition. The essential aim throughout is to show that there is a basically Western shamanism which uses Western symbols and is easily accessible. The shamanistic practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn are examined in this context. Considerable emphasis is also placed on mythological aspects associated with out-of-the-body experiences and their relevance to both the Don Juan Mescalito imagery and the Qabalistic and Tarot symbols found in Western Magic. This book will be of interest to students of religion, history and literature.

First published in 1979, Inner Visions discussion the nature of contemporary magical thought – encompassing the Tarot and the Qabalah – and considers its impact on the creative imagination. The author presents a fusion of the creative, magical and mythological undercurrents which are part of the ‘new consciousness’, and traces the influence of surrealist art and the expansive psychedelic period on the art and music of the 1970s. He looks, for example, at the relationship of the fantasy art on record sleeves to the electronic inner-space music which it often accompanies, and shows that this form of modern music represents one facet of the contemporary reaction against scientism and of the search for what Roszak has termed the visionary sources of our culture. The author concludes that a major mythological impulse is emerging in our culture and that magical and surreal approaches represent a profoundly invigorating and inspiring attitude linking the individual to the cosmos. This will be a fascinating read for anyone interested in magic, mythology, art, music and literature.

Originally published in 1978, The Occult Sourcebook has been compiled primarily for the many people who are for the first time becoming engrossed by the numerous and often confusing possibilities underlying the occult sciences. It consists of a series of articles on key areas, providing the reader with easy access to basic facts, together with a carefully planned guide to further reading. Critical comments on the recommended books allow the reader to select those which best suit their interests. The authors have also included a ‘Who’s Who of the occult’ to provide short biographies of some of the more amazing figures who have already travelled down the mystic path. The book offers a programmed system of exploration into the realms of the unknown. It will be invaluable to the increasing number of people who are concerned with the exploration of enlarging human consciousness.

Originally published in 1982, The Shaman and the Magician draws on the author’s wide experience of occultism, western magic and anthropological knowledge of shamanism, to explore the interesting parallels between traditional shamanism and the more visionary aspects of magic in modern western society. In both cases, as the author shows, the magician encounters profound god-energies of the spirit, and it is up to the individual to interpret these experiences in psychological or mythological terms. The book demonstrates that both shamanism and magic offer techniques of approaching the visionary sources of our culture.

Originally published in 1978, The Occult Sourcebook has been compiled primarily for the many people who are for the first time becoming engrossed by the numerous and often confusing possibilities underlying the occult sciences. It consists of a series of articles on key areas, providing the reader with easy access to basic facts, together with a carefully planned guide to further reading. Critical comments on the recommended books allow the reader to select those which best suit their interests. The authors have also included a ‘Who’s Who of the occult’ to provide short biographies of some of the more amazing figures who have already travelled down the mystic path. The book offers a programmed system of exploration into the realms of the unknown. It will be invaluable to the increasing number of people who are concerned with the exploration of enlarging human consciousness.

Originally published in 1982, The Shaman and the Magician draws on the author’s wide experience of occultism, western magic and anthropological knowledge of shamanism, to explore the interesting parallels between traditional shamanism and the more visionary aspects of magic in modern western society. In both cases, as the author shows, the magician encounters profound god-energies of the spirit, and it is up to the individual to interpret these experiences in psychological or mythological terms. The book demonstrates that both shamanism and magic offer techniques of approaching the visionary sources of our culture.

This is a re-release of Stephen Skinner's first book on magic (written jointly with Nevill Drury) which is organised as a collection of essays. At the time it broke a lot of new ground, and was enthusiastically reviewed by Colin Wilson who wrote, The authors of this book represent a new phenomenon: the serious study of the practice of magic. ... What is so interesting about this latest wave of occultism is it is more sober and rational than any of its predecessors. These practicing magicians have decided that there is something in magic, something as objective as radio waves. They have set out to investigate it in a spirit in which Yeats romanticism combines with scientific empiricism. They seem determined to get to the bottom of it, or at least, to go further in understanding it than any of their predecessors have attempted. After setting the scene with essays on the Gnostics, the Rosicrucians and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the book moves on to modern magicians such as Austin Osman Spare. In fact, apart from one privately printed monograph, this was the first book to explain Spare's genius and his system of sigil magic, long before his Zos-Kia cultus became popular in the occult world. The connection between magic and the hippie culture is examined in the context of Carlos Casteneda, and original material on Surrealist art and astral projection rounds off the book.

A rare combination of personal and academic, this book showcases the myriad avenues for transcending the boundaries of reality through direct sensory experience. The Varieties of Magical Experience: Indigenous, Medieval, and Modern Magic provides a comprehensive volume that examines magic in all its aspects. Through detailed case studies, verbatim accounts of personal experiences, and first-hand experience from the authors' own active participation in many alternative religious rituals and ceremonies, this unique book reveals how magic can be a universal phenomenon that crosses cultural, historical, and spatial boundaries. The work is organized in five sections that embrace several broad themes: indigenous magical and shamanic practices; medieval witchcraft; sorcery and hermetic magic; and contemporary Western magical practices, including the role of sexuality, trance, and meditation. The introductory section explores the idea of magic, other realities, and the employment of all the senses, while the final section discusses contemporary issues of ecology and cybermagic. The authors give voice to the powerful emotions and feelings that result from a magical encounter, providing engaging and accessible information to general readers, while those well versed in the opaque world of magic and occultism, consciousness studies, and imaginal and disembodied realms will appreciate the book's content at a deeper level.

The shaman is an enigmatic figure - a healer, magician and visionary who moves between the everyday world and the realm of gods and spirits. "The Shamans Quest" describes the spiritual journeys of four shamans from different corners of the world - the arctic snows of Canada, the central Australian desert, the sacred mountains of Japan, and the forests of north-western South America. From the North comes a tale of the Inuit shaman Enoyuk and his magical adventures with different gods and spirit-helpers. In the South we enter the world of the Aboriginal elder Kalu, with his sacred desert Dreamings, and in the East we meet Saimei, a Japanese shamaness who lives in a world of kami spirits. And in the West we encounter Baiya, a shaman from the Amazonian forest who undertakes visionary journeys so he may perform tasks of spiritual healing. In "The Shamans Quest" these four shamans finally come together at the mythic centre of the world, and it is a very special purpose which has brought them here - for they have come to witness the healing of the Earth. Exploring universal themes of spiritual renewal, "The Shamans Quest" shows us how we can find the Great Song of Life and learn to value the sacred qualities of Nature and the Universe.

Wisdom Seekers: The Rise of the New Spirituality explores the origins and precursors of the New Age movement, its consolidation within the American counterculture of the late 1960s, and its development into an international spiritual perspective in contemporary Western society. The book considers the influence on the New Age of metaphysicians like Emanuel Swedenborg, Mesmer, Madame Blavatsky and Gurdjieff; pioneering thinkers like Freud, Jung and William James; and the contribution to New Age thought of Indian spiritual traditions and transpersonal psychology. Wisdom Seekers also describes the way in which the New Age paradigm has absorbed the most recent discoveries of quantum physics and consciousness research, and it explores the New Age focus on personal spiritual experience rather than formal religious doctrines.