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Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Tavener is a psychic Sherlock Holmes.
Review: Dr. Tavener is a psychic Sherlock Holmes. In this book, Dion Fortune puts together different stories of strange tales, pulled together and solved with the wit and wisdom of Dr. Tavener, who knows how to read the signs and come up with the cure. Hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, light mystical reading
Review: The Secrets of Dr. Taverner is a fun book, with lots of esoteric philospophy lacing a Sherlock Holmeslike psychologist. The sperate stories take place in a "nursing home" -i.e a mental hospital. run by Taverner in a most eccentric way. The doctor uses his training as an initiate of the Western Mysteries to solve his clients "issues". These issues run the gammut, between vampirism and faery lineage, to psychic manipulation and past life transgressions. OF course, the book is absolutley studded with examples of the author's aristocratic prejudices. Once or twice I had to stop and exclaim to my self "God! Could this woman be WHITER?!!" That being said, Secrets really is a good book. Like all of Fortune's work, once you get over the initial shock of reading the words of an early 20th centurie bourgoise, its thourougly enjoyable
Rating:
Summary: Fun, light mystical reading
Review: The Secrets of Dr. Taverner is a fun book, with lots of esoteric philospophy lacing a Sherlock Holmeslike psychologist. The sperate stories take place in a "nursing home" -i.e a mental hospital. run by Taverner in a most eccentric way. The doctor uses his training as an initiate of the Western Mysteries to solve his clients "issues". These issues run the gammut, between vampirism and faery lineage, to psychic manipulation and past life transgressions. OF course, the book is absolutley studded with examples of the author's aristocratic prejudices. Once or twice I had to stop and exclaim to my self "God! Could this woman be WHITER?!!" That being said, Secrets really is a good book. Like all of Fortune's work, once you get over the initial shock of reading the words of an early 20th centurie bourgoise, its thourougly enjoyable
Rating: 
Summary: THE DOCTOR IS IN!
Review: THE SECRETS OF DR. TAVERNER is perhaps the best known work of fiction authored by renown Esotericist and Psychiatrist Violet Mary Firth (a.k.a. Dion Fortune). Dr. Taverner runs a very UN-conventional nursing home. He uses the ancient, arcane knowledge that he has learned as an Initiate of an esoteric secret order in his diagnosis and treatment of mental disturbances. Modern psychiatry could learn a lot from Dr. Taverner. While the book is actually a series of short stories, Fortune has expertly woven them into a meaningful tapestry of lessons-by-example, much like the texts I recall from my grammar school catechisms. Dr. Rhodes, a novice to the occult and the narrator of these tales, develops many insights and skills of his own as he witnesses and experiences the esoteric "therapies" that Taverner brings to bear in his unique treatment regimens for disturbances that allegedly have mental underpinnings. Along the way, the reader learns that it's often the things we DON'T see that can make or break an individual's sanity.Despite Fortune's spiritual enlightenment, she was also a victim of the times in which she lived. I've read all of Fortune's other published works of fiction and, in my opinion, DR. TAVERNER is perhaps the only one of her novels that is largely free of the racist and nationalistic baggage that was so common in class-conscious, post-WW-I England. I suspect this just an artifact of the story's setting but it was a refreshing relief none-the-less. As with Fortune's other novels, DR. TAVERNER represents a primer for the seeker looking to reclaim lost spiritual knowledge - a "How To" guide that reveals ancient and arcane secrets and practices sacred to Western secret societies and mystical orders. If you are a fan of Fortune's other work, you will love THE SECRETS OF DR. TAVERNER.
Rating:
Summary: THE DOCTOR IS IN!
Review: THE SECRETS OF DR. TAVERNER is perhaps the best known work of fiction authored by renown Esotericist and Psychiatrist Violet Mary Firth (a.k.a. Dion Fortune). Dr. Taverner runs a very UN-conventional nursing home. He uses the ancient, arcane knowledge that he has learned as an Initiate of an esoteric secret order in his diagnosis and treatment of mental disturbances. Modern psychiatry could learn a lot from Dr. Taverner. While the book is actually a series of short stories, Fortune has expertly woven them into a meaningful tapestry of lessons-by-example, much like the texts I recall from my grammar school catechisms. Dr. Rhodes, a novice to the occult and the narrator of these tales, develops many insights and skills of his own as he witnesses and experiences the esoteric "therapies" that Taverner brings to bear in his unique treatment regimens for disturbances that allegedly have mental underpinnings. Along the way, the reader learns that it's often the things we DON'T see that can make or break an individual's sanity. Despite Fortune's spiritual enlightenment, she was also a victim of the times in which she lived. I've read all of Fortune's other published works of fiction and, in my opinion, DR. TAVERNER is perhaps the only one of her novels that is largely free of the racist and nationalistic baggage that was so common in class-conscious, post-WW-I England. I suspect this just an artifact of the story's setting but it was a refreshing relief none-the-less. As with Fortune's other novels, DR. TAVERNER represents a primer for the seeker looking to reclaim lost spiritual knowledge - a "How To" guide that reveals ancient and arcane secrets and practices sacred to Western secret societies and mystical orders. If you are a fan of Fortune's other work, you will love THE SECRETS OF DR. TAVERNER.
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