Bravo! An intelligent view of complicated subject matter! This is an eclectic look at specialist areas of esoterica. It is very similar to a book I wrote five years ago, so I found this was a subject I could really get my teeth into.

This book is very well researched and comprehensively referenced. It is an overview of the Western Hermetic, Gnostic, Mithraic, and Kabbalistic traditions, and the ancient earth wisdom of Western shamanic indigenous peoples. It does, however, go to some lengths to leave out Eastern shamanic traditions which provided the basis for much Hermeticism.

Ironically, its front cover illustration depicts a man with Asian features and garb in the background. I also found it curious this otherwise well researched work describes Pythagoras’ companion Abaris as a “Celtic Shaman” when the surviving accounts of him, by both Porphyry and Imblicus, describe him as a Hyperborean (which literally means relating to, or typical of, peoples who live in the Arctic or high altitudes) from the East.

Contrary to this, the authors describe him as being from the West. Yet it is understandable they would lean to their field of speciality. Caitlín and John Matthews are considered to be the foremost experts on the esoteric wisdom of the Celtic traditions.

A “walker between the worlds” is defined by the authors as “...any person, whether seeker, initiate or adept, who passes from the world of everyday reality into the world of spiritual reality and back again. This is accomplished through the practice of meditation, magical rituals, and ceremonies through which our everyday world and the Otherworld are comprehended as one reality.”

They define the term Western Mysteries as, “…a body of esoteric teaching and knowledge constituting a system of magical technique and belief that dates from the beginning of time … these Mysteries have evolved into a variety of practical ways to explore the sacred continuum of life.”

From these premises they have built a workable reconstructed system of magical methods.

I enjoyed the “Practice Methods” in each chapter. These are 21 basic practical exercises tailored by the authors “…to reawaken mystical awareness and reconnect with the ancient mystery traditions of our ancestors…,” even though many of these appear to be based on Altai-shamanic and Hindu Samadhi techniques.

What I especially enjoyed was the way Caitlín and John Matthews show that Earth wisdom and high magic complement and do not contradict each other. The authors convincingly demonstrate that these methods of magic, often thought to be the anathema of each other, do in fact supply missing pieces of the puzzle for one another.

In Walkers Between the Worlds the authors reveal the development of both these traditions that were never far beneath the surface of Western culture and religion and how they so completely complement each other.

Walkers Between the Worlds is written in two parts:

• Part One is a discussion of ancestral shamanic wisdom as the Earth centred traditions of the indigenous peoples.

• Part Two is a discussion of the alchemical nature of Western Hermetics, Gnosticism, Mithraism, Kabbalah and how this celestial harmony is symbolised by the labyrinth, seen as a symbol of the path of initiation for the mysteries. The inward spiral represents the path of the ancestors. The outward spiral represents the Western Mysteries taking us on an outward bound journey to the cosmos. This allows the authors to use the apt metaphor of moving individual consciousness into cosmic consciousness.

This book is a wonderful resource for deepening one’s understanding of the personal path being followed. There is an in depth bibliography that makes Walkers Between the Worlds an excellent resource as well as a personal workbook.

– Reviewed by Rev. Dr. S. D’Montford in New Dawn No. 95