Thursday, May 5, 2022

Dion Fortune's Rites of Isis and of Pan. Society of Inner Light. Occult. Ceremonial Magick. Gareth Knight

Dion Fortune's Rites of Isis and of Pan. Society of Inner Light. Occult. Ceremonial Magick. Gareth Knight
Dion Fortune's Rites of Isis and of Pan. Society of Inner Light. Occult. Ceremonial Magick. Gareth Knight

I'm enjoying "Dion Fortune's Rites of Isis and of Pan" edited by Gareth Knight. The book contains the actual ritual texts penned by Dion Fortune for her "Rite of Isis" and "Rite of Pan" and offers insights about her initiatory Order, the Society of Inner Light. These Rites are also examined within the context of Dion Fortune's fictional novels "The Winged Bull", "The Goat-Foot God", "The Sea Priestess" and "Moon Magic."



Dion Fortune encoded much practical magical lore within her novels, leaving it up to the reader to work out how to make use of it. Behind the novels were two major rituals, the Rite of Isis and the Rite of Pan, which Dion Fortune occasionally performed in public in the 1930s as part of her drive to open up occultism beyond the closed walls of esoteric fraternities. Now for the first time, these important magical workings have been released from her society's archive in their complete and original form. Edited and explained by Gareth Knight, this book contains the full text of the original Rite of Isis and Rite of Pan which formed the basis for Dion Fortune's Moon Magic, The Goat-Foot God, and The Sea Priestess. Further archive material elucidates the practical magical principles found in The Winged Bull. The book is supplemented by several articles written by Dion Fortune in the 1930s which shed further light on the practical content of her novels, including the essay Ceremonial Magic Unveiled, a review of the work of Israel Regardie in which she gives her views on the controversies within the Golden Dawn and frankly describes her own falling out with Moina MacGregor Mathers.