Experience of the Inner Worlds [Paperback]

Gareth Knight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

Knight goes back to the fundamentals of the mystical traditions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. He teaches us how to distinguish between magic and mysticism, natural and revealed religion, monism and theism.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gareth Knight is one of the world's leading authorities on modern esoteric studies and the Western Mystery Tradition, with a career as an author, publisher and lecturer which spans more than 50 years. His other books include "A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism", "Magic and the Power of the Goddess", "The Magical World of the Inklings", and a biography of Dion Fortune, "Dion Fortune and the Inner Light". --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Weiser Books (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877287872
• ISBN-13: 978-0877287872
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,745,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for the serious occultist!, March 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Experience of the Inner Worlds (Paperback)

Gareth Knight provides a welcome change from the "me too" New Age books that populate the shelves of most popular book stores. In Experience of the Inner Worlds, he provides a thorough explanation of Western mysticism and magic, including interesting historical, mythical and religious background for the concepts presented.

The book approaches the occult from a Christian perspective, although many will argue that such a thing is not possible. As one progresses through the book, however, it becomes clear that this provides a solid, and therefore critical, foundation for all of the ideas presented. All but the most ardent anti-Christians will appreciate this book, though, since Knight draws on a wide variety of belief systems to make his points.

Like many New Age books, Experience of the Inner Worlds includes exercises for the student to perform. These are not empty rituals which are only provided to make the reader feel that he got his money's worth. They are practical exercises which are presented in such a way that the student can build on what he has already learned. Much work is left to the student, and it is nearly impossible to perform the exercises without learning something beyond what is contained in the book.

For the serious, open-minded student of the occult who wants to cut through the fluff, this book is required reading

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Esotericism meets Christianity, May 24, 2006

By 

Dragan (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Experience of the Inner Worlds (Paperback)

I was surprised to discover a good portion of this book being an esoteric/religious history lesson. This is not to put this information in an unfavourable light, no far from it. The main thrust of this history lesson is towards an esoteric Christianity; inclusive of this is the church dealing with mysticism, the occult and especially magic. Gareth Knight gives us an interesting argument towards not rejecting these (as the church has done), by mentioning that if we pursue these with a pure heart, we shall be all the less likely to fall into the trappings of those who had negative motives in the past. It should be noted that having said this Gareth Knight does also give us the usual warnings associated with this type of work.

I could but not notice that Gareth Knight is critical of us in the west for leaning towards the esoteric teachings of the East. He states that we in the West should embrace our own Western Esoteric heritage; of this I would have to disagree, even as a student of Western Esotericism, as the teachings of the east have much to offer. I was quite surprised to discover that Gareth Knight is somewhat critical of the Theosophical Society, reason being its leanings away from Christ and towards Eastern Esotericism. Can we then draw the same conclusions as to H.P Blavatsky? Surprising too was Gareth Knights criticism of C W Leadbeater "... `The masters and the path'...the author's embellishments often make it painful reading. The exaggerated devotion to..." pg 128. Surprising to me, due to thinking all these supposed great esoteric authors are peas in a pod and very supportive of each other.

There are numerous topics and equally numerous other esoteric and religious authors mentioned and discussed in this book, from St John of the Cross, C.S Lewis and Dante etc. I would recommend using the `Search inside this book' feature that Amazon provides to view this books contents and read some of this book. There is some very good information regarding the chakras on pages 58-63. Very good in that Gareth Knight describes the chakras inclusive of position, colour and musical notes etc. Each chapter of this book concludes with a practical lesson, mostly visualisations. A highlight of this book for me was information given in chapter 5 regarding secret hermetic and alchemic symbols. This is information that I have not found in any other book to date.

This book concludes with some practices of magic inclusive of Path Working (visualisations and imagination), the Tarot and the Qabalah. So you may be wondering about the cover of the book? Pg 241 `Contact with Inner `Cosmic Doctrine' Group' "An inner group working on Cosmic Doctrine can be contacted by ascending blue light shaft (13 Path) carrying cup, first projecting starting point from heart centre. One will come to Tarot Trump II (high Priestess). Place cup before this figure and proceed behind throne and through veil between Pillars, into small room with rectangular conference table. There you will meet others there."

Pages 223-236 gives us discourses with two entities named X and Y through these magical rites. These entities make specific mention of the `Christ Force'. Mention is also here made of `The Cosmic Doctrine' By Dion Fortune. You will have to read this discourse to make up your own mind. I do find that the flavour of these discourses have a similar ring as contained in Robert Monroe's book `The ultimate Journey'; here Robert Monroe ventures to `Electronic World's' via astral travel. I personal loved Robert Monroe's first 2 books and found `The ultimate Journey' to be on another level (pretty trippy actually - still one should not pass judgement here, as there are other esoteric sources that also make mention of electronic kingdoms or worlds). I did notice that Gareth knight includes Robert Monroe's `Journeys out of the body' in his Bibliography, as a matter of interest. It would seem that you would have to read `The Cosmic Doctrine' or do the `Online Course in Mystic Christianity' that another reviewer has mentioned, to make greater heads or tails of these magical exercises and of this book. I do have the `Cosmic Doctrine' by Dion Fortune and also `The Circuit of Force' & `Principles of Hermetic Wisdom' By Dion Fortune and Gareth Knight. I purchased these books to read at a future date, but now will intend to read these with the added incentive of trying to understand this present work; I may then potential return to add further comments to this review.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required text for Magical Christianity, September 13, 2005

By 

Michael K. Kivinen (Wyoming, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Experience of the Inner Worlds (Paperback)

This book should appeal to any student of the Western Mystery Tradition, Esoteric Christianity, Mysticism, Qabalah or the history of esotericism and occultism. It grew out of Mr. Knight's relationship with a psychic and mystic Anglican priest, Anthony Duncan, who, inspired by Knight, wrote "The Christ, Psychotherapy and Magic: A Christian Appreciation of Occultism." The sequence of meditation symbols outlined cursorily in Duncan's essentially channeled "The Lord of the Dance" provides the basis for the ten chapters and exercises in "Experience of the Inner Worlds." American publisher Samuel Weiser's ambivalence about the book's overtly Christian orientation is implicit in its omission of the original British subtitle, "A Course in Christian Qabalistic Magic." Knight eschews Eastern concepts that have dominated occultism since at least the late 19th century in favor of insights from Judeo-Christian and (to a lesser but still significant extent) Sufi mysticism. Throughout the work he conveys a respect for, commitment to, and genuine understanding of the Christian tradition that one rarely encounters in much more readily available occult literature, although his attitude is by no means hidebound. He calls the Christian Church the most complete expression of truth but not its sole repository. A major theme is that many "heretical" or controversial ideas and practices that have recurrently surfaced throughout church history and especially among mystics--the Divine Feminine, the Divine Spark within human beings, and the relationship between occult phenomena and Pentecostal "gifts of the Spirit"-represent truths that have been inadequately integrated. (Writing as an Episcopal priest in 1947, Alan Watts made a similar point in his "Behold the Spirit" when he said "The growth of sects and cults is nearly always a sign that the Church is falling short of catholicity. Christian Science, for example, is the result of the Church's neglect of spiritual healing.") Considering its comparative brevity (about 250 pages) and high readability, the book's scope is vast, treating as it does the Cube of Space, the Hebrew alphabet, the Crusades, the Grail mythos, Jungian psychology, inner planes communication, meditation and ritual. It is one of the required texts for the "Online Course in Magical Christianity" [...] which was founded by Nicholas Whitehead who studied under Knight and whose "Patterns in Magical Christianity" also incorporates and elaborates the symbols from "Lord of the Dance." Although "Experience of the Inner Worlds" stands on its own, its impact is more profound when one studies it through the "Online Course" which provides lessons, supplemental readings and supervision at no cost besides a commitment of time and study.