Sea Priestess

Rating:
Summary: The Sea Priestess is You
Review: As an astrologer, professional metaphysician, expert Tarot symbolist and VisionCoach, I am somewhat embarrassed at how adamantly I recommend this rare jewel of a book to my clients. Unassuming in its title, it carefully hides in the traditional esoteric manner, some of the greatest wisdom you will ever encounter on the subject of what it means to really be a woman. When I hear enthusiastic discussion about rights and entitlements and equality, I often think of the tale Dion Fortune tells of the beautiful, enthralling and mysteriously ageless woman who lives by the sea, the Sea Priestess. This book is a written ritual. It is sheer magic. If you but read it and really understand it, and you are a woman, you will never, ever be the same. This book is all about power. It's the real thing. Fortune is a seminal writer in the field of metaphysics whose name you should know and whose books you should read if you are serious about this field.

Rating:
Summary: The Sea Priestess is You
Review: As an astrologer, professional metaphysician, expert Tarot symbolist and VisionCoach, I am somewhat embarrassed at how adamantly I recommend this rare jewel of a book to my clients. Unassuming in its title, it carefully hides in the traditional esoteric manner, some of the greatest wisdom you will ever encounter on the subject of what it means to really be a woman. When I hear enthusiastic discussion about rights and entitlements and equality, I often think of the tale Dion Fortune tells of the beautiful, enthralling and mysteriously ageless woman who lives by the sea, the Sea Priestess. This book is a written ritual. It is sheer magic. If you but read it and really understand it, and you are a woman, you will never, ever be the same. This book is all about power. It's the real thing. Fortune is a seminal writer in the field of metaphysics whose name you should know and whose books you should read if you are serious about this field.

Rating:
Summary: A Veil is Lifted!
Review: Dion Fortune first published THE SEA PRIESTESS in the 1930s. At that time, because of its themes of ritual magic and pagan symbolism, the book was deemed sufficiently controversial that no established publishing house in England would touch it. Ms. Fortune was forced to publish her work of her own accord and by her own means. This, by the way, was an act of extreme courage on the part of Ms. Fortune since witchcraft statues were still on the books in 1930s England and women of independent means were still considered an aberration. Fortunately for us, both the times and the courage of publishing houses have changed and this lost treasure is now available to us once again.

THE SEA PRIESTESS is one of several fascinating novels written by renowned Esotericist, Psychologist and Psychic, Dion Fortune. But within her fiction, as the author's own words in one of her other novels (see THE GOAT FOOT GOD) hint, "... there are some very curious things if you read between the lines." She then goes on to say, "Writers will put things into a novel that they daren't put in sober prose, where you have to dot the I's and cross the T's." On the surface, THE SEA PRIESTESS tells the story of a seemingly privileged man, trapped in one-dimensional life of illness, duty and servitude, who embarks on a perilous journey toward spiritual enlightenment. He is guided in his quest by a woman. A powerful woman who represents the very spiritual principle he hopes to find and, with whose help, he can be set free. But at a deeper level, THE SEA PRIESTESS represents a primer for the seeker looking to reclaim ancient spiritual knowledge - a "How To" guide that quite eloquently reveals some of the esoteric secrets and practices long held sacred by Western secret societies and mystical orders - several of which Dion Fortune was a member.

Along the way, this book reminds us is that, in the tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of years of human history, the Christian perspective is the newcomer, the anomaly. When juxtaposed against the entire backdrop of history, the last two thousand years are but a blip on the radar screen. Yet since the dawn of humankind, there has existed a universal mother goddess throughout the world. She has largely been forgotten in modern times. This book also reminds us of the inherent dualism of nature. Nature and therefore the ancient goddesses that represent nature, have aspects that are both creative and destructive. What has been forgotten in modern times is that every coin has a flip side, every light casts a shadow and that balance is an essential component of the cosmos.

Engaging, and deeply philosophical, THE SEA PRIESTESS holds value for even the casual seeker of enlightenment. In addition, the book is well written and entertaining. I would suggest you try reading it while sitting by the sea. You will find your imagination stirred to new heights.

Rating:
Summary: A VEIL IS LIFTED!
Review: Dion Fortune first published THE SEA PRIESTESS in the 1930s. At that time, because of its themes of ritual magic and pagan symbolism, the book was deemed sufficiently controversial that no established publishing house in England would touch it. Ms. Fortune was forced to publish her work of her own accord and by her own means. This, by the way, was an act of extreme courage on the part of Ms. Fortune since witchcraft statues were still on the books in 1930s England and women of independent means were still considered an aberration. Fortunately for us, both the times and the courage of publishing houses have changed and this lost treasure is now available to us once again.

THE SEA PRIESTESS is one of several fascinating novels written by renowned Esotericist, Psychologist and Psychic, Dion Fortune. But within her fiction, as the author's own words in one of her other novels (see THE GOAT FOOT GOD) hint, "... there are some very curious things if you read between the lines." She then goes on to say, "Writers will put things into a novel that they daren't put in sober prose, where you have to dot the I's and cross the T's." On the surface, THE SEA PRIESTESS tells the story of a seemingly privileged man, trapped in one-dimensional life of illness, duty and servitude, who embarks on a perilous journey toward spiritual enlightenment. He is guided in his quest by a woman. A powerful woman who represents the very spiritual principle he hopes to find and, with whose help, he can be set free. But at a deeper level, THE SEA PRIESTESS represents a primer for the seeker looking to reclaim ancient spiritual knowledge - a "How To" guide that quite eloquently reveals some of the esoteric secrets and practices long held sacred by Western secret societies and mystical orders - several of which Dion Fortune was a member.

Along the way, this book reminds us is that, in the tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of years of human history, the Christian perspective is the newcomer, the anomaly. When juxtaposed against the entire backdrop of history, the last two thousand years are but a blip on the radar screen. Yet since the dawn of humankind, there has existed a universal mother goddess throughout the world. She has largely been forgotten in modern times. This book also reminds us of the inherent dualism of nature. Nature and therefore the ancient goddesses that represent nature, have aspects that are both creative and destructive. What has been forgotten in modern times is that every coin has a flip side, every light casts a shadow and that balance is an essential component of the cosmos.

Engaging, and deeply philosophical, THE SEA PRIESTESS holds value for even the casual seeker of enlightenment. In addition, the book is well written and entertaining. I would suggest you try reading it while sitting by the sea. You will find your imagination stirred to new heights.

Rating:
Summary: Enchanting
Review: For those of us with a certain relationship to the Moon, this book is a treasure. Fortune's theme is expressed vividly and wonderfully in this book about the unveiling of the hidden nature in men and women. The initiation sequence leaves me breathless everytime. Of course, there's also about 50 pages left after that, which makes the book feel uneven. Also, the class and race attitudes of the 1930's are apparent in some minor passages. Don't let the fact that the bbok was written in by a bourgiose professional in the 30's deter you-this is truly a wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: Not sure what I think
Review: I was prepared to really like this book after reading the previous reviews, but I have to say I'm disappointed. I enjoyed the old-fashioned description & writing style very much initially, but found myself getting more and more impatient while reading it & feeling that it was "dated". I expected something along the lines of Mists of Avalon, or Heart of the Fire... one of those novels that begins as a "fun read" but turns into something more profound & touches one spiritually. I purposely selected this book to begin my study of Dion fortune (I am a Phd student in Esoteric Philosphy, and a Wiccan Priestess), knowing that it was a novel rather than a studybook, expecting to be entertained as well as expanded somewhat. My feeling is that Dion Fortune probably was trying to convey some personal experience or past life through this story (I'm not sure, because I havent yet read her other books fully, although I have a stack of them in my "to read" pile)..
This book might open doors for some people, but for me it really didnt. Luckily, I was reading another book on Atlantis at the same time, so I was compelled to follow through and finish the Sea Priestess..otherwise I might have put it down. Back in the 30s when it was written, I'm sure it was major, but now it really seems dated to me. If you are interested in the history of the occult in the last 150 yrs, then definately read it, or if you are really really drawn to the sea & sea magic, then read it.
Eek I'm sorry, but I just didnt connect much with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not sure what I think
Review: I was prepared to really like this book after reading the previous reviews, but I have to say I'm disappointed. I enjoyed the old-fashioned description & writing style very much initially, but found myself getting more and more impatient while reading it & feeling that it was "dated". I expected something along the lines of Mists of Avalon, or Heart of the Fire... one of those novels that begins as a "fun read" but turns into something more profound & touches one spiritually. I purposely selected this book to begin my study of Dion fortune (I am a Phd student in Esoteric Philosphy, and a Wiccan Priestess), knowing that it was a novel rather than a studybook, expecting to be entertained as well as expanded somewhat. My feeling is that Dion Fortune probably was trying to convey some personal experience or past life through this story (I'm not sure, because I havent yet read her other books fully, although I have a stack of them in my "to read" pile)..
This book might open doors for some people, but for me it really didnt. Luckily, I was reading another book on Atlantis at the same time, so I was compelled to follow through and finish the Sea Priestess..otherwise I might have put it down. Back in the 30s when it was written, I'm sure it was major, but now it really seems dated to me. If you are interested in the history of the occult in the last 150 yrs, then definately read it, or if you are really really drawn to the sea & sea magic, then read it.
Eek I'm sorry, but I just didnt connect much with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Pure Magic!
Review: Take a powerful journey through the eyes of a priestess. Discover the magical being within nature, and the mysteries between man and woman. If you are open to experiencing this knowledge, this book will make you feel the pulsing presence of life and its magic. Written by a Queen among authors, Dion Fortune has left this gift (and others) for those who are ready to learn about the essence of life. Open your soul and take the journey. Dion has laid down the path for you.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels on magical rituals
Review: When estate agent Wilfred Maxwell is recovering from severe asthma his mind opens up to new psychic currents .Then he meets the ageless Vivien Le Fay Morgan and helps her turn an old fort by the sea into a temple.Vivien is a Priestess of Isis from an ancient Moon cult.She initiates Wilfred on the inner planes in her magical rituals.She teaches him the esoteric significance of the magnetic ebb and flow of the moontides.After Vivien mysteriously disappears Wilfred marries the homely Molly.Because "All women are Isis", Molly is able to learn the rituals and perform them with Wilfred.The mystic power of the sea is evoked in this novel and pervades the whole story. Some regard this as not only Dion Fortune's best novel, but the best occult novel ever written.

Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Pagan Novel of Nature-centered Goddess Worship
Review: Wow!

I recently started looking through deTraci Regula's book, The Mysteries of Isis: Her Worship and Magick. In the preface to that book, she mentions that her beliefs and practices were first sparked by two books written by Dion Fortune: The Sea Priestess and Moon Magick. Remembering that I owned these books but had never read them, I got them down from my book shelf. A quick look at them revealed why I had not read them before. Both books were first professionally published in 1950's England and The Sea Priestess was actually first written and self-published in the 1930s. Also both books have a male central characters and the Priestess is a woman who comes into his life further along in the book after you have endured the stories of his life and why he is who is he is at this point in his life.

In style and structure, it is obvious that The Sea Priestess was a book written by another generation. Before wandering into the worlds of magick, we, the readers, must first learn the reasons that Wilfred Maxwell never followed his dreams to leave his small family business and his small life in this small British town. However, we soon find that it is his development of asthma that opens up his psychic abilities and brings to him his first past-life flashes. Then his dream begins coming to him as the daring Vivien Le Fay Morgan makes her entrance into his otherwise boring life and gives him a reason to once again begin to create his own life apart from the opinions of family and community. Suddenly we are in the middle of a book about a mysterious yet openly Pagan woman who follows a Hermetic path. What I believe is most notable is that her beliefs are clearly stated in a book that originally pre-dates by at least a decade the repeal of the Witchcraft Laws in England and the publication of Gardner's works on Wicca. I found myself taking out a highlighter and marking passages that very much reflect my own beliefs, such as the following:

'" 'Do you not know the Mystery saying that all the gods are one god, and all the goddesses are one goddess, and there is one initiator? Do you not know that at the dawn of manifestation the gods wove the web of creation between the poles of the pairs of opposites, active and passive, positive and negative, and that all things are these two things in different ways and upon different levels, even priests and priestesses, Wilfred?'"

- and -

" 'What are the gods?' Said she. 'God knows,' said I. 'I think they are natural forces personified, ' said she. 'So to be made one with the gods is to become the channel of natural forces. And that is not as rare as you might think.'"

The book also quotes the basic Magickal Law of "As above, so below," from the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, although it is referred to in the book by a slightly different name. I also noticed a line in the description of the One where phrase "whence all life proceeds and to which all life returns" mirrors the line in Doreen Valient?'s "Charge of the Goddess" which goes "from me all life proceeds and unto me they must return". There is much more and I am sure there are many more things I have not noticed, yet all this is included in what was presented as a work of fiction.

After reading the book, I can easily see how it could have impacted deTraci. I personally had a feeling of finding a wonderful treasure. It is a fresh, clean presentation of the most basic of Wiccan, Goddess-centered, Natured-based beliefs in a way that is obviously based on and tied to High Magick, Atlantean and Arthurian magical practices. Yet the book still leaves them open for interpretation and without dogma. And as I look back on it, even the structure of the book is magickal because like any initiate must, there is the toil through the beginning introduction before one gets to the true Mysteries and then we are finally shown how they can be passed on to others. A true classic.