Shadow Worlds: A history of the occult and esoteric in New Zealand

by Andrew Paul Wood

A vigorous strand of interest in the occult, the spooky and the mysterious has been part of New Zealand's history since 1840. Shadow Worlds takes a lively look at communicating with spirits, secret ritualistic societies, the supernatural, the New Age — everything from The Golden Dawn and Rosicrucianism to Spiritualism, witchcraft and Radiant Living — and introduces the reader to a cast of fascinating characters who were generally true believers and sometimes con artists. It’ s a fresh and novel take on the history of a small colonial society that was not quite as ploddingly conformist as we may have imagined.

Genres: Nonfiction

424 pages, Paperback

Published July 13, 2023

Reviews

[Lenny SB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly researched. Title should rather be a superficial overview in part. Large chunks of NZ occult history completely missed out. Famous occultists persons such as the Zalewski's of the Whare Ra tradition not interviewed for much better coverage. An extremely large influence in NZ occult Golden Dawn history negated by lack of interview. Also a failure to interview Dr Roel van L. whose has comprehensive knowledge of Occultism in Aotearoa not done. Outside of the Whare Ra Golden Dawn tradition, negated are the influences of the early Pan Pacific Pagan Alliance and the early Wellington Wiccan Association & Pagan Alliance NZ not covered. Neo Pagan occultism and Wicca having larger occult population than the Golden Dawn in NZ. The Wellington Wiccan Association having active temples and coven working groups for example. The Temple of Baphometr and Voudon Temple of the Temple & Drum .. which membership had some of the first Haitian initiates in Aotearoa (Paula & Lori) and it influence via Circlecaster journal. Nor the Senatorius Sacerdos Harpyiae Order (from the Temple of Baphometr) nor numerous other A:.A:. and other Aleister Crowley OTO groups in Aotearoa are not covered. Neither the publication of The Fool & The Ecliptic, nor Circlecaster nor the Watcher (Order of the Left Hand Path) are not mentioned. Magic Pentacle an important occult journal attached to the Society of Guardians, also neither mentioned. The author would of got many starting points from any of those journals. Nor are the various occult and Wiccan traditions from the UK that made it to NZ covered. The Sussex Tradition of Simon Goodfellow into NZ not mentioned, nor is Barbara (?) whom initiated Alex Sanders (Witch King UK) and immigrated to NZ and her influence.. nor any of the various Alexandrian and Gardernian covens and Women's spirituality covens in NZ spanning from the 1970s etc etc.

[Harry Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brought some interesting historical figures to my attention, but too little is made of the actual beliefs being discussed. Where that does happen, the author is usually dismissive or cynical, or misrepresents the system or group in question. Sometimes this includes his own speculation (apparently the famous Alan Bennett 'blasting wand' incident Crowley recorded was an example of magnetic or electric trickery?!). Another head scratcher involved equating post-Spare Chaos Magic to the alt-right, centred around a desire to "watch the world burn" (??). A frustrating read really. Looking forward to following up on some of the books that detail the Whare Ra saga in more depth.

[Sarah McMullan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well researched, eloquently written with a streak of wit and charm that belies the depth of the material.
The most up to date book of it's kind, it builds on what was started with RobertEllwood's ISLANDS OF THE DAWN.(Something Wood repeatedly acknowledges.)
Weaving local knowledge with hard facts and the love of a good yarn, this detailed book is one you will find yourself returning to time and time again.
(And the Fiona Pardington cover is quite something as well! Not surprising considering the authors considerable background in art.)

[Ms. Koirala · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads dry asf and meandering like a highschool level essay. Not sure if I read the same book as the reviewer Sarah McMullin 🤔 or if she's a friend/family member of the author hyping the book.

Could have done with more substance and less white guilt and constant hand-wringing. Gods below, literature is abysmal these days.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

After typing in a long review - the whole thing was lost.
I will post when I have the inclination to redo!

In a nutshell:
The good - layout, photos, quotes, chapter lengths
The bad- acronyms galore, characters galore
The ugly - political, division , assumptions made!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book about organisations and individuals associated with occult practices in New Zealand from the time of European settlement to the present day. As many of the organisations setting up shop in NZ originated overseas, usually in the UK or US, it also provides a great overview of the rise of these occult organisations in the Western world.

Wood has written a very readable and interesting book that progresses in a mostly chronological manner, starting with Theosophy, ending with Satanists, and covering a myriad of others in between, such as the Golden Dawn, Anthroposophy, Wicca, Pagans, spiritualists, and many more.

What surprised me most was probably the sheer number of these groups, and the way they seem to regularly schism over ideology in the same way as orthodox religions. Their rituals and symbolism are also fascinating, with many of them overlapping and borrowing from one another, and some of their ideas are now very mainstream new age concepts that no-one blinks an eye at.

Wood also speculates on the reasons behind the continued existence of the occult which he suggests distills to a yearning for spiritual experience.

This book has really just scratched the surface of this topic and there is obviously a lot more to be written about but it certainly piqued my interest.

[Boba Man · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an unfortunate entry into a widely studied realm, it almost reads as if the author loaded Islands of the Dawn into a chatbot and then changed a few facts for his own fanatical fiction. Many important, historic people are confused with others and certain dates are way off - one that springs to mind is Dr. Robert Felkin son being confused with his brother? These aren’t easy mistakes to make, seeing as there are countless scholarly articles and historic records on these people now in 2023 that he could have paid to refer to in fact not fiction. He also fails to mention many important and major aspects of esotericism in Aotearoa’s grand history. Alas, it seems we still only have scholarly journals and Islands of the Dawn to refer to on the matter, for now.

[Helen Cummings · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed account of the background into many spiritual societies and the people involved in the history of Aotearoa. Interesting but a bit too much minutiae for me however it did make me realise how many wacky individuals there are out there!

[Dead John Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

And you thought you knew New Zealand?

Welcome to the dark side .....

Apart from NOT being the "clean and green" bucolic paradise that it likes to present itself as, it could be better described by the character Lula Fortune in David Lynch's Wild At Heart who said:

“This world is wild at heart and weird on top".

Nowhere more so than dear old Aotearoa apparently.

If you've ever heard of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley you may be surprised to know that their last standing temple on this earth is tucked away in a sleepy NZ North Island town. That same sleepy town was also the birthplace of Steiner Education in NZ and Weleda health and beauty products, both of which can be traced back to the Golden Dawn temple.

Now to the book.

Exhaustively researched and crammed full of names, places, and dates, it would appear that NZ is one of the most receptive countries in the world for adopting esoteric, spiritual and non-conformist views and running with them. More surprising is how many of these ancient esoteric organisations still exist today.

Another interesting rabbit hole here is how "satanism" and Norse mythology is now tied to extreme right wing racist, fascist, and Nazi views but wasn't in its original form.

I am so glad I read this book as it gives a context to so much other peripheral weirdness I have come across in NZ, it is a formidable read and can be quite hard going at times but the odd gems thrown up more than make it worthwhile.