The Magical Tradition of Gareth Knight and Dion Fortune

The History of the Avalon Group

The Western Magical Tradition has its roots in many ancient mythologies and in the esoteric teachings of world religions. But it was Dion Fortune (1890 – 1946) who almost single-handedly laid down the foundations of the Western Mysteries as we know them today.

Her biographer Gareth Knight was trained in the Society of the Inner Light which she founded and led. His own magical fraternity, renamed The Avalon Group in 1999, is now led by Wendy Berg (pictured left) who was personally trained by him and has worked alongside him for many years. She is well qualified to help others to follow the path of this tradition.

Wendy has nearly thirty years' experience of all aspects of the Western Mystery Tradition and is an authority on Egyptian, Celtic, Arthurian and Grail magical traditions. She blends a thorough knowledge and experience of the Qabala and formal ritual magic with Christian Mysticism and modern Paganism. Her current magical focus is the development of Star Magic.

Wendy is co-author with Mike Harris of Polarity Magic: the Secret History of Western Religion (Llewellyn Publications, 2003) and was a major contributor to Alan Richardson's Spirits of the Stones (Virgin Publishing Ltd, 2001)

Her most recent books are the forthcoming Red Tree White Tree: Faeries and Humans in Partnership (Thoth Publications) and the forthcoming Walking with Gwenevere: A Practical Guide to working with Faeries (Llewellyn Publications)

The Aims of the Avalon Group

We are a fully contacted working group, one of the Greater Mystery Temples which serve the folk soul of Britain, and through it, the rest of the world. We work with contacts stretching from Avalon to Atlantis and beyond, building bridges between the spiritual worlds and material creation. We work in partnership with various Inner plane beings, who inform our work and render our rituals, meditations and prayers the most effective tools possible.

• Our aims are to bring about changes in consciousness, and to foster an increased awareness of the spiritual realities.
  
  
• To co-operate with those who work on the Inner Planes in fostering harmony and balance amongst all creation, whilst developing our own full potential as human beings.
  
  
• To engage in magical ritual as a means of impressing upon the collective unconscious the perfect patterns which are in accordance with Divine Will.

Practical Magic

Dion Fortune described magic as 'the art of making changes in consciousness in conformity with the will.’ It is a discipline in consciousness, but externalised through ritual, which is our prime activity. We use Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, Native American Indian, Saxon, Hebrew or other mythology as appropriate, whether pagan or Christian, and the work of previous 'Avalonians' is of particular relevance to us. We strive to assist in the seeding of the collective unconscious with patterns of harmony and order which the Inner hierarchies are then able to use as they see fit under God. Alongside this is the work of each individual upon him or herself to become a fit instrument in the task of building the New Jerusalem.