The Path of the Blue Raven

by Mark Townsend

The Path of The Blue Raven is the story of a struggling man who all his life has wrestled with questions, searched for meaning and discovered it in unexpected places. Although representing the beginning of a new adventure in one man's life, this book is not just his story for it also offers a beautiful and breath-taking collection of real-life stories of others who walked a similar path and have found great healing and blessing through nature based spirituality. To many cultures, the raven was and is a symbol of initiation into a new path. In sharing his own journey, the author introduces readers to a world of like-minded people who have stepped off the mainstream path onto the path of personal magic. As the ex-Catholic monk Thomas Moore says, 'The soul has an absolute, unforgiving need for regular excursions into enchantment. It requires them like the body needs food and the mind needs thought.' This book offers pilgrims (of any path) a way back to the rich and deep inner magic of childhood dreams.

Genres: Spirituality, Paganism, Religion

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2009

Reviews

[Lee Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, brutally honest peek into the life of a Vicar (Church of England) who first found himself estranged from his priesthood, and then found God. Disillusioned with institutionalized religion, and by circumstance dissolved of his duties as a priest, Mark Townsend became free to pursue God into the world of nature-based spirituality.

Townsend now finds organized religion a barrier to the divine, not a door. Townsend hasn’t rejected Jesus; he still finds the person of Jesus “intensely exciting” and continues to embrace the Christ spirit, but in a more down-to-earth way. He quotes Richard Rohr to say, “One of the most successful ways Christians have avoided doing what Jesus said was to simply worship him. It’s easier to bow down and shout constant hallelujahs than to get our hands dirty by following him out into the world of brokenness and mess.”

In a broken and messy world, Townsend now finds a new way—a pagan way—of interpreting the scripture. The story of Jesus, he explains, merely makes true what already is. The Incarnation? We’re all already filled with divinity. The sacraments? We’re all in some way the body and blood of God (humans filled with deity).

Townsend never fit the mold of a traditional priest in the first place; his life-long practice as a magician (he is a “conjurer”), his frequent bar visits, his occasional colorful language, his determination to respect the feelings and beliefs of others, these things hardly endeared him to strict Christians. Townsend is imperfect and genuine, a person we can identify with. He knows his magic isn’t real, has never pretended it is, but he finds in it a world of enchantment able to awaken us to an appreciation of greater magic, greater enchantment. That’s the subtitle of his book: From Religion to Re-Enchantment. Townsend invites us to live with him a fully authentic life, whatever the cost.

Although foreign to my own version of Christianity, I found this journey both enjoyable and intriguing.

[Scott Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been such an inspiration and an epiphany for me, the author so courageously honest, and his journey so fascinating, I would love to give it 5 stars. I can't, though, because 1) it is rife with glaring usage and grammatical errors any competent editor should have caught and corrected, and 2) it really should have been written a year or two later than it was. A memoir should be a record of things past, but this was written more in media res, and so feels inconclusive.

That said, if an Anglican Vicar's journey into Druidry sounds intriguing to you, I highly recommend this book.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and honest, but I really could have done without all those other people's pieces in the last section of the book telling us how they searched 'spirituality' on google and ended up as Druids or whatever. And, btw, Druidry sounds much like another 'organised' religion to me.... looser than Christianity maybe, but organised all the same. Whatever has happened to people's belief in their own, unique, ideas and spirituality?

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is Mark Townsends' raw honesty at how he moved out of the Anglican Church and into earth-based spiritualities, which he compellingly describes in the first part of the book. The weakness of the book is the final part, which Mark gives over to a variety of voices who come from different Pagan and Pagan-adjacent perspectives. Although there's nothing wrong with these individual contributions (apart from one which really commits to the anti-Semitic trope of the 'angry God of the Old Testament') they create an uneven reading experience and lessen the impact of Mark's personal story. I disagree with Mark's universalism - with his image of the one white ray refracted into many colours, and the mosaic made of many stones - as I think it unintentionally assumes a privileged position of the "big picture" and devalues the uniqueness and difference of each religious tradition. However, personal testimony of lived experience is always powerful, and I appreciated Mark's pursuit of the Blue Raven in spite of these theological differences.

[Darlene Hull]

An interesting read about one man's journey of faith. Much of this I can relate to. The conclusion perhaps not so much, but it was an honest depiction of his experience, sometimes quite raw. I enjoyed walking this with him.

[Blue Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very unique personal story of how the author became disillusioned with the church and how he found his place in the world.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very thought provoking and parts of it rang bells with me. Mark Townsend's anguish shows through at times, but his brutal honesty is inspiring.

[Broken Publishing · Rating 3 out of 5]

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