The Magic of Malkuth

"Apprenticed to Magic: The Path to Magical Attainment" is a short book by W E Butler, a British esotericist who worked with Dion Fortune and Gareth Knight. The book was originally published in 1962. Fortune's system combined Theosophy with the Golden Dawn. A working knowledge of the Hermetic Qabalah might help in understanding Butler, but most of the book is pretty straightforward. It's written in the form of letters to a neophyte on the magical path. 

Casual readers might be disappointed, since Butler never *really* reveals how to do magic, attain siddhi powers, get rich quick, or whatever it is people think magic does. Indeed, the book is frankly boring at times. I couldn't bring myself to read literally every word of it. 

Hmmm... 

Some kind of magical resistance? 😮

So what *does* Butler reveal, then, in this teaser trailer? There is a very obvious (and very British) tendency to moderation. The material world is not evil, but one of many divine manifestations. Constant astral travel is discouraged. We are supposed to live most of our life in *this* world. Experimenting with the kundalini is explicitly prohibited. Active proselytization is strongly discouraged. The occultist should keep his or her activities secret. Dabbling in politics is another no-no. 

Even the divine forces are experienced in an "earthly" manner, something magicians better remember, or else their false egos will swell with pride and all kinds of mischief follow. Or as Butler puts it: all magic is carried out in "Yesod of Malkuth" in the "World of Assiah", which means you are simply using the rainbow aura of the etheric aspect of the physical world. "This should prevent you from assuming that you are far advanced". 

I think I could live with such non-advancement. 

Most of the book describes various meditation and visualization techniques. Butler believed in something akin to chakras. One goal of the training is to create a Body of Light and transfer your consciousness into it. The Body of Light is objectively real and can "travel" through the astral realms while the physical body is asleep. 

One chapter criticizes the Protestant aversion against ritual and vestments. Obviously, an esoteric group influenced by Anglo-Catholicism (?) and the Golden Dawn would have a more positive view of such things. Indeed, ritual seems to be an important part of the work of a magical lodge. On one point, Butler does confirm our deep seated stereotypes about secret fraternities. Yes, they really do wear cowls that hide their faces! 

The number of potential readers for "Apprenticed to Magic" must be pretty small, but something tells me W E Butler didn't really mind...