Review: Nevill Drury [ed.], Pathways in Modern Western Magic. Richmond, CA: Concrescent Scholars 2012, ISBN: 9780984372997

by Gordan Djurdjevic

Pathways in Modern Western Magic is a fine anthology of texts covering a wide range of topics related to the subject matter evident from its title. There is no doubt that many will find this collection of texts informative, interesting, and appealing. My major criticism is for the most part based on my inability to exactly gauge the targeted audience for the book since it appears to me that some of the texts are lacking in academic rigour when it comes to methodology, self-reflexivity, and engagement with the relevant scholarly literature. On the other hand, the texts often do not reflect the immediacy that is associated with writings based on actual practice. Thus, it would appear that in its emic orientation the anthology is too informal for academia and simultaneously in its etic approach too abstract to the community of practitioners. There are exceptions to these statements and I am stating them somewhat too strongly in order to make a point. My assumption is that the idea behind the anthology is to include both types of writings, academic and insiders’, and while this approach certainly has some advantages and satisfies, in varying degrees, needs and expectations of both groups, to some extent the end result is a certain unevenness in the quality and the general perspective. In what follows I will make brief comments on each individual essay in the collection.

“Introduction” (Nevill Drury) does a decent job in delineating the methodological approach and thematic range of the anthology. The author provides some valid criticism of certain dominant academic trends in studying modern western magical organizations (for example, exposing the flaw in Tanya Luhrmann’s extrapolation of the procedures used in the study of pre-literary societies in order to interpret a contemporary British esoteric group). The grasp of academic literature on the subject could nevertheless have been more extensive and the theorizing about the nature of magic more substantial. I was in particular un-persuaded by the suggestion that the attempts at divinisation of the practitioner represent a hallmark of the Left-Hand Path (“The task of the magician aligned with the Left-Hand Path is ultimately to transform the individual into a god” – emphasis in the original). This is in fact one of the standard goals in esoteric practice and it has been its feature since at least antiquity, as for example in the theory and practice of theurgy. 

“Lifting the Veil: An Emic Approach to Magical Practice” (Lynne Hume) is quite good: it is clearly written, focused, and it engages the relevant literature on the subject in a substantial and informative manner.

“The Visual and the Numinous: Material Expressions of the Sacred in Contemporary Paganism” (Dominique Beth Wilson) suffers from the lack of clear distinction between the emic and etic approaches to its subject matter. More specifically, Tom Harpur and Melvin Kimble are introduced as contemporary authors who exemplify, in their work, Rudolf Otto’s concept of the mysterium tremendum, and one wonders if those are the most exemplary writers to discuss in this connection. The Celtic underworld is described as the place of those “outside the norm”, which is a dubious notion. Pagans are described as those who believe that through the access to the divine they can gain understanding of the cosmic whole, which is both a tautology as it leaves unclear why this is a distinction that applies only to pagans. It is also unclear why the belief in reincarnation is a pagan trait. I am also not quite clear why the altars are defined as “spaces” rather than objects as I am not persuaded that the use of ritual and related objects in paganism is limited only by one’s imagination and creativity, since one would assume that the tradition and social conventions also play some role in the process. In general, I find this essay to lack in conceptual clarity and expository cohesion, which is not to say that it does not have its merits.

“Encountering the Universal Triple Goddess in Wicca” (Nikki Bado) is another fine, clearly written, interesting, and well-argued chapter.

“Away from the Light: The Dark Aspects of the Goddess” (Marguerite Johnson) is a chapter that I find somewhat problematic as it does not engage its subject in a manner that could be described as contributing some new perspective.

“Neo-Shamanism in the United States” (Andrei A. Znamenski) is a well-written, intelligent, and informative essay. The author balances rather well both the appreciative and critical approaches to the phenomenon of neo-shamanism. The only criticism is that the bibliography does not cover the scholarly literature on the subject as widely as one might have expected. 

“Neo-Shamanisms in Europe” (Robert J. Vallis) is an excellent essay: it is highly informative and comprehensive, it engages a broad spectrum of both scholarly and practitioners’ literature on the subject, and it contributes original thinking and interpretation of the material.

“Seidr Oracles” (Jenny Blain) is a solid, well written, and in general interesting and informative essay.

“Right-Hand Magical Practices in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” (Nevill Drury) resembles a summary rather than anything else. Its thesis is simultaneously too simple and too obvious for an academic article and there is not much analytical engagement with the subject. I find the qualification of the Golden Dawn as a Right-Hand group somewhat misplaced because this epithet is neither inherent in the group’s own self-representation nor it is a valid conceptual category in the scholarship of Western esotericism. In particular, I find this expression as used to describe the Golden Dawn paradoxical, since in fact it coincides with the author’s own definition of the Left-Hand Path (see above), for here we find him claiming that “the key aim of the theurgic magician in the Golden Dawn was […] an experience of the universal Godhead.” Such a lack of precision in using descriptive vocabulary is also evident in the remark regarding Dion Fortune, where she is described as a “magical novelist” or when we read that the Golden Dawn practitioners’ task was “to attain states of archetypal mythic awareness.” The essay is in its final instance adequate and informative but given the importance of the group it describes, it should have been more substantial and engaging. 

“The Thelemic Sex Magick of Aleister Crowley” (Nevill Drury) is a useful overview of the topic but it does not deal with the subject in a significantly new or scholarly fashion. Just as an example of the latter weakness, it is highly unusual to make constant references to Francis King as an authority on Tantra! Despite this, there is no denying that the chapter is well written and informative.

“The Draconian Tradition: Dragon Rouge and the Left-Hand Path” (Thomas Karlsson) is an interesting essay but there are at least two problems with it: one consists of an attempt to argue that the left-hand path is distinct from the category of religion, where the concept of religion is treated in a rather narrow and in fact almost exclusively Christian/Abrahamic sense; another problem concerns the appropriation of religious figures and concepts from other cultural traditions, in particular Indian, where the whole process strikes one as doubtful (an example of which is the treatment of Kali as a dark goddess, while in fact to her devotees she is more of a motherly figure). 

“Claiming Hellish Hegemony: Anton La Vey, the Church of Satan and the Satanic Bible” (James R. Lewis) is an essay of high quality, as is to be expected from an author with such credentials as James Lewis. Despite its excellence, I have two critical remarks. One is stylistic: I find the essay too spacious and am convinced that it would have been more effective if more succinct. My other remark concerns Lewis’ apparent surprise at the fact that even the Church of Satan carries over some structures of belief and behaviour inherited from the dominant religious culture, which Lewis believes were adopted subconsciously. I would argue that this should come as no surprise at all since the Church of Satan models itself consciously on Christianity and simply reverses the scale of values.

“Modern Black Magic: Initiation, Sorcery and the Temple of Set” (Don Webb) is among the most interesting essays in the collection. Obviously written from an insider’s point of view, it nevertheless surveys its territory with intelligence and gentle humour and it is a pleasure to read. 

“The Magical Life of Ithell Colquhoun” (Amy Hale) is a very strong and interesting essay. My one criticism is that many statements lack supporting evidence. For example, even the main thesis, that the work of Colquhoun was an expression of the search for enlightenment is not backed by any relevant quotation or reference. 

“Two Chthonic Magical Artists: Austin Osman Spare and Rosaleen Norton” (Nevill Drury) is a solid essay on two interesting and influential artists who were immersed in the world of the occult throughout their life. The essay is informative and well written. I take issue with the opening statement according to which it is rare to have visionary artists and magical practitioners who have also developed a substantial individual cosmology. William Blake, Salvador Dalí, Ithell Colquhoun, Remedios Varo, Lenora Carrington, Max Ernst, Xul Solar et al. have done something comparable and it could in fact be argued that a creation of such cosmology is a regular outcome of visionary and magical practice amongst artists. I am also not persuaded that the adjective “chthonic” describes their oeuvre in the most appropriate way, but these are the matters of individual opinion and I do not intend to press this point too strongly. In general, the essay is good and very much informative, particularly with respect to Norton.

“Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted: Chaos Magics in Britain” (Dave Evans) is a somewhat dissatisfying account on one of the most influential forms of contemporary – or near-contemporary – magical theory and practice. The essay itself is intelligently written and it does provide a good deal of relevant information but it does not fully satisfy in presentation of its subject mater, either from an insider’s perspective or from an academic point of view. 

“The Computer-Mediated Religious Life of Technoshamans and Cybershamans” (Libuše Martinková) is an interesting piece of writing on the subject of the religious potentials of computer technology and the realm of cyberspace as these are engaged with by some current practitioners of shamanism. The paper has its potential but is unfortunately undeveloped: while it raises a number of important questions, acknowledging the need for academic research into the topic as an aspect of contemporary religiosity, it leaves those questions unanswered and the concomitant issues unexplored.   

“The Magic Wonderland of the Senses: Reflections on a Hybridised Tantra Practice” (Phil Hine) is an exemplary essay in which both the practitioner’s understanding of the subject and the familiarity with the original sources and the academic approaches to the same are mutually reinforcing each other with excellent results. I take issue with the remark that the occultist appropriation of Tantra necessarily and always represents an instance of imperialist agenda, but generally speaking, this is one of the strongest and most interesting essays in the anthology.