3 Review(s)

A fascinating analysis of the most important work of occult philosophy in the 20th Century. Dion Fortune's The Cosmic Doctrine is a foundational text which has been required reading for students of the occult since it was first published in 1956. In it she attempts to explain the meaning and evolution of the cosmos from the first beginnings to our lives today. However, the The Cosmic Doctrine isn't an easy book to read. It's conciseness makes it hard going, for every sentence requires close attention, but the challenge it offers to its readers goes well beyond this. In a phrase that has become famous in occult circles since its publication, The Cosmic Doctrine is intended to train the mind, not to inform it; it attempts to communicate to the reader an unfamiliar way of thinking, and so a great deal of patience and hard work are required to grasp what it has to say. Some of the difficulties, however, can be smoothed out by reframing and rephrasing the ideas Fortune presents, and this is what this book aims to do. John Michael Greer provides a learned and elucidating commentary on this classic text to allow students and teachers alike to more easily digest and understand this fantastic book.