LIST OF BOOKS WRITTEN OR EDITED BY GARETH KNIGHT

in date order of first publication

A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism [1965]
This is the first book I ever wrote. It analyses the Tree of Life in full detail, including the Paths that interconnect the Sephiroth with particular attention to their Tarot attributions. Originally published in two volumes it is now available in a single big paperback edition from Red Wheel Weiser – complete with an important new introduction which makes due apology for any errors or differences of perception that may have occurred over the forty years since it first appeared. As it stands it provides a snapshot of the Qabalistic teachings of the Society of the Inner Light as they were in 1962 which in effect are largely the work of Margaret Lumley Brown and other mediums who took over from the late Dion Fortune. My own contribution is largely on the symbolism of the Tarot. It was intended as a kind of supplement rather than a replacement for Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah of the early thirties. It has given sterling service however, over the years, as a textbook for students of the Servants of the Light esoteric school, amongst others.

 

Occult Exercises and Practices [1969]
An early little primer that has gone through many editions and translations over the years. It seeks to be an introduction to the absolute beginner wondering what occultism might be all about, and giving some practical exercises to try. It falls into four sections, on physical, astral, mental and spiritual exercises.

 

The Practice of Ritual Magic [1969]
A companion volume to the above but outlining the basics of ritual which were largely unknown at the time. It owes a lot to the ideas of W.G.Gray, author of Magical Ritual Methods, whose works I published at much the same time. Ideas which have since become almost common knowledge on the fourfold principles of the magic circle and the seasons of the year.

 

Experience of the Inner Worlds [1975]
A major work upon which I based the training of all my personal students over a period of 25 years running the Gareth Knight Group (now Avalon Group). It is based on a sequence of symbols for meditation: the Sphere of Light, the Fiery Spear, the Serpent Flame, the Holy Grail, the Sea of Light, the Table Round, the Upper Room, the Light of Christ, the Winding Stair that accompany chapters on the history of the Western Esoteric Tradition, including Old and New Testaments, Alexander the Great, the Mysteries of Isis and Mithra, medieval Holy Spirit movements, Christian Platonism, Sufi love poetry, Templars and Crusaders, Troubadours and Courts of Love, the Arthurian and Holy Grail legends, Spiritual Alchemy and principle Renaissance magicians. Also with practicalities of modern occultism such as inner plane communications, ideas about "the Masters", the symbolism of the Sepher Yetzirah, Hebrew Letters and Cube of Space, concluding with a summary of personal occult work undertaken over the previous ten years with a small home group.
Now also available as a PDF file from Rite Magic.

 

The Occult, an Introduction [1975]
A general introduction to the whole subject, intended for the enquiring lay person rather than the committed student. Presented in two parts. The first a potted history of the Western Esoteric Tradition, and the second a mini-encyclopaedic approach giving the definition of various aspects of the subject in an alphabetic glossary running from Alchemy to Yoga, along with suggestions for further reading.

 

A History of White Magic / Magic and the Western Mind [1978]
Rather surprisingly commissioned by a major religious publisher seeking to come to terms with what magic is all about. It comprises a more comprehensive coverage of the history of the Western Esoteric Tradition than that outlined in the previous books. It was intended as an outgoing approach to the general public presenting magic as an art and science in its own right with universal applications – a technology of the imagination acting as a middle ground between science and religion, which properly used can bring about personal fulfilment and spiritual regeneration. Reissued in America under the title Magic and the Western Mind in 1991 as an exposition of ancient knowledge and the transformation of consciousness.

 

The Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend [1983]
The first fruits of a remarkable series of public workshops at Hawkwood College. This one based upon the archetypal themes, images and characters of the Arthurian cycle and their place in the Western magical tradition. It derives from a remarkable series of inner teachings received by Dion Fortune and expanded by Margaret Lumley Brown, demonstrating how the Arthurian legend may be structured into a workable mystery system comprised of three primary grades of attainment. The first that of Arthur and the Round Table Fellowship, the second that of Merlin and the Faery Women, and the third that of Guenevere and the forces of Love, leading to the Greater Mysteries of the Holy Grail.

 

The Gareth Knight Tarot Deck [1984]
This set of Tarot cards was originally intended to accompany A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism but colour printing being so expensive in those far off days, it ran into financial problems until rescued, twenty odd years down the line, by the great Tarot collector Stuart Kaplan. The artwork is by Dutch artist and astrologer Sander Littel, the power of whose linework did not fully strike me until I once reproduced the Trumps designs in black and white outline for a series of lectures. Had it been published when it was produced it would have been one of the first modern Tarot decks to appear for a very long time on what was then a very desolate scene. It now joins a vast array where the student is spoilt for choice!

 

The Rose Cross and the Goddess / Evoking the Goddess [1985]
The second fruits of the legendary Hawkwood College workshops of the early 1980s developing from a weekend devoted to the Mysteries of Isis. It approaches the search for the Eternal Feminine from various angles: the Magic Circle Maze Dance, the Heroic Quest for the Hesperides, the Rosicrucian Transformation Process, The Mysteries of Isis concealed in the Roman comic erotic novel The Golden Ass, the perspective of Tibetan Mayayana Buddhism, and the Return of the Goddess and Initiation of the Earth in our own times. Reissued in America in 1993 under the title Evoking the Goddess.

 

The Treasure House of Images / Tarot and Magic [1986]
The third fruiting of the Hawkwood College workshops, taking the Tarot head on as a magical system rather than as a divination device. Covers the fascinating history and development of the modern Tarot from its 15th century beginnings through to the massive explosion of its popularity since the late 1960s. Then analyses the basic archetypal principle behind each card, with practical examples of magical work with them in recently conducted pathworkings and rituals. Published in America in 1991 under the title Tarot and Magic.

 

The Magical World of the Inklings [1990]
The last of the Hawkwood College workshop spin-offs and arguably the most academically prestigious of my books. The works of Tolkien, Lewis, Charles Williams and Owen Barfield have made a profound impact upon the contemporary world. In the case of each author I examine how each one has created a "magical world" which initiates the reader into the hidden and powerful realms of the creative imagination. Owen Barfield, the last surviving member of this great quadrivium wrote to say: "… because of the combination of information, understanding and insight on which it is founded, The Magical World of the Inklings is more than outstanding. It is not in the same league with anything else I have come across."

In 2001/2 the work was reissued in America in four separate parts, as The Magical World of C.S.Lewis; The Magical World of J.R.R.Tolkien; The Magical World of Charles Williams; and The Magical World of Owen Barfield. Those covering Tolkien and Barfield being somewhat expanded.

 

The Magical World of the Tarot [1991]
Having provided a book on the magical aspects of the Tarot it seemed to me a novel idea to approach it once again head on as a divination device. I therefore produced a nine lesson correspondence course that I tried and tested on a bevy of students, followed up by public workshops on both sides of the Atlantic. The aim was not just to be another course on how to use a fortune telling device, but to combine basic instruction on the mechanics of divination with magical visualisation techniques to make work with the Tarot an ever expanding medium of personal development and self instruction. The lesson material is supplemented by question and answer sessions with the original students, and a critique of some of their readings, so the system is not only user oriented but has demonstrably been well and truly road tested.

 

Dion Fortune's Magical Battle of Britain [1993]
This is the first of my Dion Fortune related books, acting in the role of editor and commentator. When the 2nd World War broke out in 1939 it called a halt to many of the activities of Dion Fortune's Fraternity, with restrictions on public meetings and difficulties of travel, to say nothing of the London blitz, in which her headquarters was bombed in 1940. Undeterred, she kept in touch with all her students and associates with a series of weekly letters that in effect provided the nucleus of a widespread meditation group from October 1939 to October 1942. In the course of these she gave out a deal of practical information that otherwise might have been withheld and they provide a fascinating record of her life in these difficult times, including how best to meditate when under physical aerial attack! Following the tragic events of 9/11 in New York an American edition was published, by popular request, in 2003.

 

An Introduction to Ritual Magic [1997]
This book divides equally between me and Dion Fortune. It consists of a selection of articles by her on the subject of ritual, culled from the Inner Light Magazine that ran from 1927 to 1940, each one of them matched by one of my own on the same subject, updating and expanding on what she felt able to say in the more secretive ambience of the pre-war period. Topics include Types of Mind Working, Mind Training, the Use of Ritual, Psychic Perception, Ritual Initiation, the Reality of the Subtle Planes, Focusing the Magic Mirror, Channelling the Forces, the Form of the Ceremony and the Purpose of Magic. It concludes with a couple of free standing articles by Dion Fortune on Talismanic Magic and Astral Forms and a specimen ritual by myself.

The Circuit of Force [1998]
The principle of polarity, or the Circuit of Force, was, in Dion Fortune's opinion, one of the lost secrets of western occultism and she wrote a revealing series of articles in the last issues of her magazine that caused a certain nervousness in some of her more staid contemporaries. They cover her research into tantrik yoga, the psychic centres, raising kundalini, auto-suggestion and the astral light, séance room phenomena, and the sexual dynamics of magnetic interchange. Not published in book form until now, I took the opportunity to provide a series of commentaries to fill in the details of how the Mysteries developed from ancient Dionysian and Orphic rites, ways for westerners to approach eastern yoga, techniques of animal magnetism, powers of the etheric vehicle, and an analysis of practical occultism as revealed in Dion Fortune's novels.

 

Magical Images and the Magical Imagination [1998]
A little book that is a logical extension and complement to my earlier Practice of Ritual Magic. It aims to give an easy to follow classification of various types of magical image, along with instructions for their use as agents of self realisation and spiritual growth. In short, the theory and practice of creative visualisation and meditation ranging from the circulation of force within the aura to the development of a full magical system of "path working". Topics covered are the Magical Imagination, Cosmic Charts and Maps, Landscapes and Journeys, Temples and Shrines, Guardians and Guides, plus in the second edition of 2003 the Threefold Way of the Lesser Mysteries and the Sevenfold Way of the Greater Mysteries.

 

Principles of Hermetic Philosophy & The Esoteric Philosophy of Astrology [1999]
These two titles are the last known works written by Dion Fortune distributed in her Monthly Letters to members and associates of her Fraternity between November 1942 and March 1944. Her intentions are summed up in her own words as "an attempt to gather together the fragments of a forgotten wisdom and explain and expand them in the light of personal observation." She was uniquely equipped so to do and in these later works to a private audience feels less constrained by traditions of occult secrecy and tends to take a more practical approach than her earlier published works. I supplement her observations with an attendant commentary following each chapter to amplify her explanations and practical exercises with a series of full page illustrations.

 

Spiritualism and Occultism [1999]
As well as being an occultist of the first rank Dion Fortune was an accomplished medium, and thus able to explain the methods, technicalities and practical problems of trance mediumship from first hand experience. She describes exactly what if feels like to go into trance and the different types of being one may meet with beyond the usual spirit guides. The main text of this work appeared in the Inner Light Magazine in 1929/30, later published in volume form as Spiritualism in the Light of Occult Science. This complete text is reproduced here, together with my selection of other related writings by her, including scripts of trance sessions, grouped in the form of loosely linked Commentaries expanding and illustrating the main text.

 

Merlin and the Grail Tradition [1999]
This is a collection of essays and talks given by me over the years covering the subject of Merlin, archmage of the land of Logres, whose shadowy compelling presence plays a key part in the tales of Arthurian legend and the Quest of the Holy Grail. Titles comprise The Archetype of Merlin, Merlin and the Grail, the Blue Stones of Merlin, Megalithic Temple Contacts, The Inner Realms of Arthur, Dr John Dee – the Elizabethan Merlin, Dr John Dee's Hieroglyphic Monad, Dion Fortune and the Grail, and a couple of practical workings The Spreading of the Blessing of the Holy Thorn, and The Catechism of the Grail.

 

Dion Fortune and the Inner Light [2000]
My return to the Society of the Inner Light in 1998 enabled me to access the archives to produce a comprehensive esoteric biography of Dion Fortune in which much comes to light that had not before been revealed. It covers:

I: her formative years (1890-1922) from her visions in childhood, psychological counselling, her teacher Theodore Moriarty, her initiation into the Golden Dawn, her trance experiments with Maiya Curtis Webb and Frederick Bligh Bond.

II: the foundation years (1922-1926), her meeting with her life time colleague and benefactor Thomas Loveday, their establishment of a base at the foot of Glastonbury Tor, her contacts with a group of inner plane Masters, and reception of teaching that provided the foundation for her life's work.

III: forging the Fraternity (1926-1928) in a time of testing and dedication, her presidency of the Christian Mystic Lodge of the Theosophical Society, her dispute with Moina Macgregor Mathers and expulsion from the Golden Dawn, her marriage to Dr Thomas Penry Evans and their plans for an esoteric clinic, and the launching of the Community of the Inner Light that was to become a teaching Fraternity.

IV: the Fraternity at work (1928-1938) a remarkable period of development including friendship with the young Israel Regardie, establishment of their headquarters in London, the contribution of Colonel Seymour to the work, her writing of The Mystical Qabalah and a series of occult novels, culminating in semi-public performance of Rites of Isis and of Pan, much lecturing and discussion groups.

V: the years of transformation (1939-1946) in coming to terms with the problems of running a group in war time, with considerable planning for the work that lay ahead in post-war reconstruction on inner and outer levels.

VI: the post mortem inheritance, (1946-1999) a brief analysis of the continuance of her work by her senior students, within the society and without, over the subsequent fifty years, with an Appendix of her astrological birth chart and its interpretation.

 

Principles of Esoteric Healing [2000]
Shortly after her marriage to Dr Thomas Penry Evans in 1927 Dion Fortune began to receive a series of inner communications from a contact they came to know as the Master of Medicine. Their initial idea to found an esoteric clinic never came to fruition but a mass of material was gathered in the course of their little publicised healing work, which combined esoteric knowledge with professional medical expertise. Recovering much of this from scattered files I have been able to edit and arrange their approach to esoteric healing, which takes into account the whole human being, physical, etheric, astral, mental and spiritual, with principles of diagnosis based upon the Tree of Life. Apart from its application to the healing arts, much of the material is of wider application, demonstrating techniques for the development of psychic and intuitive faculties in reading the aura.

 

Pythoness: the Life and Work of Margaret Lumley Brown [2000]
Margaret Lumley Brown was a leading member of the Society of the Inner Light, taking on many of Dion Fortune's mediumistic functions. Naturally gifted as well as highly trained, she raised the arts of seership to an entirely new level and has been hailed with some justification as the finest medium and psychic of the 20th century. Much of her work lies at the back of my own Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend and Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. Gathered here is a four part record of her life and work, including an account of the frightening way in which her unusual abilities developed after psychic experiments in a haunted house. It also includes a series of articles written by her (most of them originally commissioned by me) on such subjects as dreams, elementals, the faery kingdom, healing and Atlantis, and examples of her mediumship as the archpythoness of an occult fraternity with trance addresses on topics as diverse as elemental contacts, angels and archangels, Greek and Egyptian gods, and the Holy Grail. It concludes with a section devoted to the occult side of poetry, including the psychic effect of rhythmic sonics.

 

Esoteric Training in Everyday Life [2001]
Another book of collected articles written by me over the years. In addition to the title article it covers The Meditation Process, the Tree of Life as Image of God, The Tree of Life as Model of the Universe, Reflections on Life and Spirituality, The Importance of Coleridge, and The Impact of Psychology on Esoteric Societies. The underlying theme is how our daily lives can be made a training ground for adepthood.

 

Practical Occultism [2002]
The last of the books delving into the Dion Fortune archive, this one based upon her early work Practical Occultism in Daily Life which she wrote as a general elementary guide to recalling past incarnations, working out karma, divination and the use and abuse of mind power. I have taken the opportunity to have her provide her own commentary and expansion upon this from material hitherto available only to her immediate circle, including instruction on astral magic, the discipline of the Mysteries, inner plane communicators, black magic and mental trespassing, nature contacts and elemental shrines. It concludes with The Literature of Illuminism, Dion Fortune's guide to the books she found most useful in her own development, and an interpretation of Fiona Macleod's haunting work of faery magic The Immortal Hour by Dion Fortune's close friend Netta Fornario.

 

The Abbey Papers [2002]
I have never particularly sought to set myself up as a channel of inner plane communication but in this case the initiative seemed to come from within, over a period of 90 days, when I was working on Dion Fortune's war letters. Nagging away at me compulsively, much as I believe some poets are pressured by their muse, eventually I sat down to do something about it to see what would happen. To my surprise it all started to flow quite readily, providing a complete system of esoteric development based upon the inner construct of a mystic abbey. As a fore runner to this was a section on ways of approach to magical images, and a concluding section on the dynamics of a magical vortex. The communicators seemed to be the same ones who had worked behind Dion Fortune and Margaret Lumley Brown in their day.

 

Dion Fortune and the Threefold Way [2002]
A collection of articles written by me for the Inner Light Journal over the previous decade. This one selecting articles specific to Dion Fortune herself, comprising, besides the title article, thoughts upon the Arthurian Formula, the Master of Medicine, Dion Fortune and Professor Ronald Hutton's Triumph of the Moon, Watchers of Avalon and the Church of the Graal, Changing Light on the Medium and the Message, the Lady of the Lake, and Dion Fortune and the British Mysteries.

 

The Wells of Vision [2002]
A companion collection of articles for the Inner Light Journal, on a wider variety of subjects, including Speaking with Angels, Sir Walter Ralegh and the Princess Pocahontas, the Wells of Vision (an unlooked for contact apparently with the spirit of H.G.Wells), More Light on the Western Front, Treading the Paths of the Tree of Life, Awen – the Power of the Magical Cauldron (my preface to Mike Harris' book of the same name), Qabalah and Occult Tradition (originally a talk given at a conference hosted by Warren Kenton at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), Anna Kingsford, the Passionate Pioneer, and Star Magic.

 

Granny's Magic Cards [2004]
At first sight a venture into children's fiction but one that should also be suitable for grown ups. Two children meet the Joker of their granny's magic pack of cards and, assisted by his dog, meet many of his friends on a hair raising cycle of adventures that takes them into many strange worlds, that will not be unfamiliar however to anyone acquainted with the Paths of the Tree of Life and the Major Arcana of the Tarot.
Now also available as a PDF file from Rite Magic.

 

Dion Fortune and the Lost Secrets of the West [2006]
The latest collection of my contributions to the Inner Light Journal over the past five years. Not available as a printed book but going direct into PDF file available from Rite Magic. Titles include, as well as the title article, Fantasy, Belief and Reality; Is there a Psychic in the House?; The Dweller on the Threshold; Chrétien de Troyes; Dion Fortune and the Mystical Qabalah; The Magical World of Dion Fortune; The Western Esoteric Tradition; The Elemental Tides; Journey to the Moon; Do you believe in Fairies?; The Red Rose and the White.

 

The Arthurian Formula [2006]
At long last, the original text of a body of teaching concerning the Arthurian legend mediumistically received by Dion Fortune in 1941/2, which, supplemented by Margaret Lumley Brown, formed the basis of the advanced work of the Society of the Inner Light until 1960, and upon which my own Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend was based. Now presented in full, with an introductory commentary on the Glastonbury Tradition, the Atlantis Tradition, the Faery Tradition, the Merlin Tradition, the Troubadour Tradition, the Queen Venus Tradition, the Modern Mystery Tradition, all of which are assumed knowledge in the main text. Plus an overview of useful academic and esoteric texts and a set of Appendices giving Dion Fortune's early Glastonbury Script, and clairvoyant visions of Atlantis, with additional material on Queen Guenevere and the Faery and Grail traditions by Wendy Berg – leader of the Avalon Group and co-author of Polarity Magic.

The Occult Fiction of Dion Fortune [2007]
A detailed review of the complete occult fiction of Dion Fortune, starting with the short stories The Secrets of Dr. Taverner, and proceeding through The Demon Lover, The Goat-foot God, The Winged Bull, The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, which illustrate the practical side of Dion Fortune's teaching presented through her textbooks. As she herself said, "The Mystical Qabalah gives the theory but the novels give the practice. Those who read the novels without having studied the Qabalah will get hints and a stimulus to their subconscious. Those who study the Qabalah without reading the novels will get an interesting intellectual jig-saw puzzle to play with; but those who study The Mystical Qabalah with the help of the novels get the keys of the Temple put into their hands." It is my hope that this little book will help some readers to turn the key in the lock.

 

Magic and the Power of the Goddess [2008]
New name for a classic work forged out of Gareth Knight's lectures and practical workshops, formerly entitled The Rose Cross and the Goddess and Evoking the Goddess (for genesis of which see entries above). Subtitled Initiation, Worship and Ritual in the Western Mystery Tradition. Review comments of the new impression more than justify its reincarnation :
"…perhaps the best in the list of impressive titles that have flowed from Knight’s prolific pen…"
"In many ways the book was, and still is, ahead of its time…"
"…a way of transformation and spiritual service that is applicable to any religious or mythological tradition…"
"…could well be taken as a course of training in and of itself …"
"…a masterful résumé of magical practice…"
For full details consult publisher's website www.DestinyBooks.com

 

The Faery Gates of Avalon [2008]
A mind blowing re-take on the function of the ladies of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table. How in the earliest Arthurian romances they were faery women acting as guides, guardians and lovers to the knightly heroes, inciting or enticing them onto quests that were in reality initiations into Faeryland. Now, from an esoteric point of view, the stories of Erec, Yvain, Lancelot, Perceval and Gawain retold from the Old French of Chrétien de Troyes who got them in turn from Welsh and Breton story tellers steeped in Celtic myth and legend. What is more, how "opening the faery gates" can be possible and relevant to us today, and how best to go about it.
For full details, consult publisher’s web site www.rjstewart.net

 

OBTAINING THE BOOKS

Books these days go in and out of print for a variety of commercial reasons. If your usual bookseller cannot help try Thoth Publications who currently publish or hold stocks of most of my books. Otherwise look for used copies on the internet via Bookfinder or a similar service.