In this re-issue of Neville Drury’s 1978 publication we have a detailed survey and assessment of explorations of ‘inner space’ from the mid-19th century in Europe to the journeys of Carlos Castaneda with Don Juan in the Mexico of the 1970s.

It is a first rate primer on the different movements, East, West and shamanistic that have attempted to formulate a ‘road map’ for inner journeys.

Despite profound differences in methods, structures and requirements, many aspects are surprisingly similar and appear to be universal.

The entities the inner traveller will meet may be referred to as archetypes, gods, demons, Allies, animal totems, and many other things beside.

The author has qualifications in anthropology and has written and co-authored many esoteric works on aspects of shamanism and the mystic life. He is also a mystic venturer to the interior by way of Tarot and various other methods.

The book is in three parts. The first part covers the ‘inner mythology’, outlining the symbolism to be found in various streams of mysticism and magic.

The author describes the journeys of Don Juan and Castaneda in detail and analyses the symbolic and mythological signposts therein. A thorough survey is also given on the practice of astral projection, from shamanistic use to the modern day pioneers.

The work of Sylvan Muldoon, Robert Monroe and Oliver Fox (aka Hugh Callaway) is described in detail.

A chapter that I found very interesting surveyed the work of the thoroughly modern psychedelic wanderers. The author describes the hallucinogenic experiments of Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (now Baba Ram Dass), Ralph Metzner, and John Lilly.

All were seeking a framework for inner space. They used such existing structures as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which certainly accounts for the huge popularity for Eastern mysticism which burgeoned in the West in the 1960s and 70s, and continues to this day.

Comparisons are made between the different methods and what constitutes a viable framework for the journey within.

The second part examines the Western occult tradition. Here we see the Kabbalah in all its complicated glory fitting with perfect ease into the highly structured and hierarchical needs of the new magicians and alchemists.

Author Drury is unequivocal about the rise of systems such as Theosophy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. They arose from a reaction against exoteric Christianity and a need for the esoteric experience. Masonry and Kabbalah, along with Egyptian mythology are the important building blocks.

It is hard to imagine a discussion of this nature to be simple, yet Mr Drury has given an understandable account of the Western tradition. An intriguing chapter is devoted to that ‘Great Beast’ Aleister Crowley.

I can see clearly the differences between the East and West as producing a similar result from opposite actions. In the East one lets go or surrenders; in the West the power to go within is firmly grasped through structured ritual. There is a choice.

The author advances a framework for voyages into inner space, terming it ‘yoga for the west’. He takes useful elements from each of the streams he has surveyed.

Some techniques are shamanistic, some from Eastern mysticism, and Mr Drury also uses the guideposts from the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The Tarot symbology is also featured.

In the third section; ‘The Book of Visions’, an archetypal journey is taken through the Major Arcana that is well worth the read. The material is well-supported by chapter notes and a wide-ranging bibliography that takes in magic, shamanism, sorcery, hermeticism, Alchemy, folkways, mythology as well as the more modern esoteric practices of the 20th century psychedelic explorers.

Neville Drury uses a clear rational style in his writing, free of judgmental dictums or emotional overtones. The material within is all necessary reading for inner voyagers if they are not to succumb to the pitfalls that have caused many to stumble.

Not everyone is ready for these sorts of journeys, but it is a boon to have the information available from others who have taken the plunge.

This is not a book for everyone. I suspect that many survivors of the 1960s will find it endlessly fascinating to read this cool-headed account of the fantastic goings-on in the hippy culture.

Present day esotericists will also find plenty to satisfy. To find an intelligent assessment and survey of inner planes and places in one volume is convenient and refreshing.

Modern magicians, alchemists, shamans, and all others who value the inner journey will find plenty to learn and reflect upon in this book.

Once I put aside my prejudice about the Carlos Castaneda phenomenon and settled in for some serious reading, it was an enthralling document to absorb. I will be dipping into this book again and again.

– Reviewed by Jennifer Hoskins in New Dawn No. 91