To the Heart of the Rainbow

In the esoteric world things are not always what they seem. And sometimes for very good reason. One of which is the tradition of providing practical instruction in some other guise – sometimes in the form of fiction. Here the secret is to stimulate the imagination to go into areas that it otherwise might not think existed. It is a technique that has been followed by many esoteric teachers and not least my old mentor Dion Fortune.

Here is my own contribution to the genre. How to experience the power of the Paths of the Tree of Life without having to mug up on all the theory! It is simply a matter of lowering the barriers of disbelief and intellectualisation and being borne along on the flow of story. It follows that what may seem to be a children’s story is a highly appropriate vehicle – for you need to have the willing acceptance of the eyes and ears of a child to register certain things – “of such is the kingdom of heaven”. So identify with one of the children, (or even the dog!), and you never know what might happen!

This is now published as To the Heart of the Rainbow (along with evocative illustration by Libby Travassos Valdez) by Skylight Press. It will shortly be available through all the usual trade channels but in the meantime you can get your copy now, hot off the press, straight from the printers. Simply go to http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/to-the-heart-of-the-rainbow/12312714
Price is £12.79 or $18.43 or you can get it cheaper still by file download.

You can find further details from Skylight Press, who will shortly be publishing various out of print titles by me, including The Magical World of the Inklings, A History of White Magic, and Experience of the Inner Worlds. Whilst on the site, take a look at This Wretched Splendour by Rebecca Wilby. Reading play scripts is not everybody’s cup of tea, but this may be somewhat different. Remember what I said about things not always being what they seem? This also is packed with esoteric clout.

It is in reality an autobiographical snapshot of the last days of one of Dion Fortune’s early contacts, a master by the name of David Carstairs. It is said that old soldiers never die, they only fade away, but this one has positively refused to fade away over the past ninety odd years. He features as a respondent in The Abbey Papers that came to me when I was working on some DF letters in 1993 and later came strongly through to a student as recorded in An Introduction to Ritual Magic that I co-authored with the late Dion Fortune.

Not content with that, he followed up by inspiring the writing of this play, and even more astonishingly seemed to pull the strings to get produced within weeks, at the Playhouse Theatre, Cheltenham and at the Grace Theatre, London. If to read it can be a moving experience, to see it performed can be mind blowing and inspiring, witness the critical acclaim it received at the time. For more details of which go to the Skylight Press web site http://www.skylightpress.co.uk

2010 Dion Fortune Conference

The annual Dion Fortune Conference which has become a regular fixture in the esoteric calendar moves this year from Glastonbury to Bristol - subtitled Magic and Mysticism.

Venue is the Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Bristol, Avon BS3 1QG and it takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday 2nd October.

Speakers this year are:
Bob Gilbert - Dion Fortune in the Light of the West
Geraldine Beskin - The Psychologist and the Psychopath (Dion Fortune & Aleister Crowley)
Marian Green - In the Footsteps of Dion Fortune
Ina Custers-van-Bergen - The Transformation of the Archetype

Ticket price is £30 which includes buffet lunch and refreshments.

For further details and information on how to pay e-mail naomi.ozaniec@gmail.com