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The Keys to the Temple: Unlocking Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah Through Her Occult Novels
How to use the brilliant insights from Dion Fortune's occult novels to master the art of the embodied imagination, discover your vitality, and open up to the clarity and love that arise from the root of your being.
Dion Fortune's esoteric novels were written as guides to magic and inner development to be used along with her great nonfiction work, The Mystical Qabalah.
This book shows how to work with her most popular fictions, exploring how the stories and characters can help you integrate the secrets of the Tree of Life and discover what Fortune called "the keys to the temple."
The book contains an exploration of Fortune's writings, experiential practices, and a hands-on workbook section, you will learn to utilize the wealth of esoteric wisdom found in The Mystical Qabalah, The Goat-Foot God, The Sea Priestess, The Winged Bull, and Moon Magic.
"This wonderful evocation of Dion Fortune's esoteric novels offers initiatory and practical pathways to the neophyte and reader!" - Caitlin & John Matthews, authors of The Lost Book of the Grail
Dion Fortune's esoteric novels were written as guides to magic and inner development to be used along with her great nonfiction work, The Mystical Qabalah.
This book shows how to work with her most popular fictions, exploring how the stories and characters can help you integrate the secrets of the Tree of Life and discover what Fortune called "the keys to the temple."
The book contains an exploration of Fortune's writings, experiential practices, and a hands-on workbook section, you will learn to utilize the wealth of esoteric wisdom found in The Mystical Qabalah, The Goat-Foot God, The Sea Priestess, The Winged Bull, and Moon Magic.
"This wonderful evocation of Dion Fortune's esoteric novels offers initiatory and practical pathways to the neophyte and reader!" - Caitlin & John Matthews, authors of The Lost Book of the Grail
- GenresOccultNonfiction
301 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2022
8 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2017
I'd recommend The Keys to the Temple for mid-level to advanced students of the Qabalah. As simple as the authors have made it, they still assume that you know the worlds, paths and general theory. If you haven't studied The Mystical Qabalah, this won't make any sense at all.
If you have the background and the interest, The Keys to the Temple may be of great interest to you. This book contains one of the clearest explanations of the path of the spiritual journey that I have ever read.
Let's start from the top. What is the Qabalah? "The Qabalah is a spiritual system that has been practiced secretly in Europe since at least the 12th century though it draws on deep roots within Judeo Christian tradition. loc 3117.
The Mystical Qabalah and Israel Regardie's classic A Garden of Pomegranates: Skrying on the Tree of Life were my stepping stones into another way of viewing reality.
I have read criticisms of the books, that they're too cerebral or dry theory. "However when most people encounter the book they are confronted by a dense-seeming text with long lists of apparently unrelated facts: the idea that this is linked with the vivid imagery and dynamism of the novels can be difficult to understand." loc 172. I agree that it is "dense" but since it was my introduction to the stuff, I didn't know any better.
Dion Fortune went a step further and wrote fictional novels to put Qabalistic theory into the real world. The Keys to the Temple takes these books apart by plot, character, theory and then gives practical exercises for personal meditation on the works.
That last part, the practical exercises, is the most important in my mind. It's like learning to ride a bike. You can read books about it and watch other people riding bikes or talk about riding bikes. But, it's not until you ride yourself that you get the experience and thrill of it.
With this book, the authors have handed you a bike and shown you the door of the garage. It's just up to you to ride out there. "Anyone can read this book, but only those who do the work will gain anything from it. The secret of magic is that it is experiential." loc 2374.
Fortune was also deep into Jungian psychology. "She came to significant conclusions when contrasting psychological and magical approaches in prompting change. Fortune was a forward thinker, and the first to acknowledge that ideas and theories could develop for the better. Her stories seem almost to anticipate the direction psychology would travel, into area that might now be described as spiritual psychology." loc 3117. And this was in the early part of the 20th century. She truly was a woman ahead of her time.
I'm excited about this book and its potential. The Western Mystery tradition never gets its own shelf in the book stores. The new textbooks, what few there are, are mixed in with the New Age/New Thought works. But, that's not quite right. It's truly a category all of its own.
I think the time has come for these practices to be re-introduced to the world. The Keys to the Temple is a step in the right direction.
If you have the background and the interest, The Keys to the Temple may be of great interest to you. This book contains one of the clearest explanations of the path of the spiritual journey that I have ever read.
Let's start from the top. What is the Qabalah? "The Qabalah is a spiritual system that has been practiced secretly in Europe since at least the 12th century though it draws on deep roots within Judeo Christian tradition. loc 3117.
The Mystical Qabalah and Israel Regardie's classic A Garden of Pomegranates: Skrying on the Tree of Life were my stepping stones into another way of viewing reality.
I have read criticisms of the books, that they're too cerebral or dry theory. "However when most people encounter the book they are confronted by a dense-seeming text with long lists of apparently unrelated facts: the idea that this is linked with the vivid imagery and dynamism of the novels can be difficult to understand." loc 172. I agree that it is "dense" but since it was my introduction to the stuff, I didn't know any better.
Dion Fortune went a step further and wrote fictional novels to put Qabalistic theory into the real world. The Keys to the Temple takes these books apart by plot, character, theory and then gives practical exercises for personal meditation on the works.
That last part, the practical exercises, is the most important in my mind. It's like learning to ride a bike. You can read books about it and watch other people riding bikes or talk about riding bikes. But, it's not until you ride yourself that you get the experience and thrill of it.
With this book, the authors have handed you a bike and shown you the door of the garage. It's just up to you to ride out there. "Anyone can read this book, but only those who do the work will gain anything from it. The secret of magic is that it is experiential." loc 2374.
Fortune was also deep into Jungian psychology. "She came to significant conclusions when contrasting psychological and magical approaches in prompting change. Fortune was a forward thinker, and the first to acknowledge that ideas and theories could develop for the better. Her stories seem almost to anticipate the direction psychology would travel, into area that might now be described as spiritual psychology." loc 3117. And this was in the early part of the 20th century. She truly was a woman ahead of her time.
I'm excited about this book and its potential. The Western Mystery tradition never gets its own shelf in the book stores. The new textbooks, what few there are, are mixed in with the New Age/New Thought works. But, that's not quite right. It's truly a category all of its own.
I think the time has come for these practices to be re-introduced to the world. The Keys to the Temple is a step in the right direction.
May 16, 2020
The Keys to the Temple: Unlocking Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah Through Her Occult Novels
The non-fiction works of Dion Fortune, occultist, writer, and one-time member of the Golden Dawn, have mystified, educated, and enthralled readers for many years. Her common sense and winning personality shines through the pages of her books and somehow makes readers feel she is speaking to them. Many of her readers no doubt wonder what her works of fiction are like and why she decided to write fiction at all. Was it just to entertain, or was it to further educate her readers via an alternate vehicle? Luckily for those who would like to answer these questions and do not have time or ability to analyze literature, Billington and Rees have done the work for them.
Both authors are well qualified to analyze Fortune’s works. Ms. Billington is a druid and a writer. Ian Rees is a psychotherapist, which comes in handy since Forture’s works so often harken back to the tenets of Jung and Freud.
The authors guide readers by discussing elements of Fortune’s life and non-fiction and then as they state: “Find their reflections in the stories.” In addition, they draw comparisons to how these same issues are reflected in the lives of Fortune’s readers.
It would be impossible for the authors to analyze every one of Fortune’s tenets and every one of her books in this one text. However, they do offer readers examples of how to read Fortune’s novels by supplying them with the basic knowledge needed and by modeling the procure so that readers can create their own knowledge. In addition, the authors include a bibliograpny and footnotes to scaffold the readers learning process.
This book meets a need that has been lurking in the shadows for many years. However, to take advantage of this learning process, readers must first read and study Fortune’s non-fiction writing so that they have a baseline of knowledge necessary to participate in the learning experience.
https://rougeskireads.com/
The non-fiction works of Dion Fortune, occultist, writer, and one-time member of the Golden Dawn, have mystified, educated, and enthralled readers for many years. Her common sense and winning personality shines through the pages of her books and somehow makes readers feel she is speaking to them. Many of her readers no doubt wonder what her works of fiction are like and why she decided to write fiction at all. Was it just to entertain, or was it to further educate her readers via an alternate vehicle? Luckily for those who would like to answer these questions and do not have time or ability to analyze literature, Billington and Rees have done the work for them.
Both authors are well qualified to analyze Fortune’s works. Ms. Billington is a druid and a writer. Ian Rees is a psychotherapist, which comes in handy since Forture’s works so often harken back to the tenets of Jung and Freud.
The authors guide readers by discussing elements of Fortune’s life and non-fiction and then as they state: “Find their reflections in the stories.” In addition, they draw comparisons to how these same issues are reflected in the lives of Fortune’s readers.
It would be impossible for the authors to analyze every one of Fortune’s tenets and every one of her books in this one text. However, they do offer readers examples of how to read Fortune’s novels by supplying them with the basic knowledge needed and by modeling the procure so that readers can create their own knowledge. In addition, the authors include a bibliograpny and footnotes to scaffold the readers learning process.
This book meets a need that has been lurking in the shadows for many years. However, to take advantage of this learning process, readers must first read and study Fortune’s non-fiction writing so that they have a baseline of knowledge necessary to participate in the learning experience.
https://rougeskireads.com/
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews