The Occult: The Ultimate Book for Those Who Would Walk with the Gods [Paperback]

Colin Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2003

Colin Wilson's great classic work is the essential guidebook to the mind-expanding experiences and discoveries the 20th Century. This new edition has an new introduction by Colin Wilson.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Occult is the most interesting, informative and thought-provoking book on the subject I have read" Sunday Telegraph

About the Author

Colin Wilson is a highly respected and erudite writer. He has written many books, including The Outsider and Mysteries both fiction and non fiction on the occult and the paranormal. This book is probably his "tour de force". He lives in England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Watkins Publishing Limited; 2 Sub edition (August 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184293080X
• ISBN-13: 978-1842930809
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Wilson's most engaging researches.., September 15, 2004

By 

Takis Tz. (InYourHead) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Occult: The Ultimate Book for Those Who Would Walk with the Gods (Paperback)

Having read quite some books written by C.Wilson, i know that going through the ones where he's conducting research is always a great experience.

"The Occult" is famed for being probably the premiere book on its subject: the history of magic, its definitions, the paranormal, the limits of human powers and the analysis of the "hidden powers" humans possess, certain forays into specific areas (like clairvoyance, means to achieve it, etc.) , loads of examples from throughout history on people who've influenced this field, as well as a comprehensive review of views that prevail over all these areas.

This is without the slightest doubt a gripping book. Even if you have only a surface interest on all this, Wilson has a way of pulling totally into the matter, absorbing you and letting you get to the very depths of it.

But if you happen to actually care about this field -and it's indeed a field where imagination can really gallop wild- then this book is quintessential to start from.

The market is saturated with books that deal with the "occult" or specific areas of it, but before you should even bother with any of these you should start here. Alone the vast list of sources that will be introduced to you is enough to make the book nothing else than a treasure.

But its main asset is that Wilson approaches the subject with his usual hardcore seriousness and efficiency, and lets remember, this is a topic where charlatanism is often the rule. But it's the scientific approach that puts C.Wilson ahead of the pack. The gathering of evidence through exhaustive reading of anything regarding the issue, the evaluation of it, the personal analysis as well as that of others, the comparisons thereof, the analytical history of the subject.

I find it hard to believe that one would read this and emerge the same person. Close to impossible I would say.

Believing that this book researches the very probable future of human evolution, an evolution that might be very much nearer than most of us think and which has tremendous implications about what we could become, i think the "Occult" is an absolute must.

I listed down over 20 books for immediate reading after this one, books that i found reported in it. Not to mention that i found interest in areas that i hadnt suspected as being as intriguing as Wilson revealed them to be.

If you decide to buy this book be warned that it's a hefty 800 page volume, but be also informed that it's the fastest 800 pages you'll ever read as the author is one of the most easy to comprehend researchers i've read. Many others confirm this as well as you can find out by browsing through reviews of Wilson's books here in Amazon.
Powerhouse stuff...

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An unbiased investigation, April 27, 2004

By 

Jack Purcell (Placitas, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Occult: The Ultimate Book for Those Who Would Walk with the Gods (Paperback)

Colin Wilsons investigations into arcane matters span over several decades of his life. I don't believe this is the best of his works, but it's the best survey of the history of the occult in his library of contributions. A reader seeking an honest examination of best available facts and history probably won't find a better place to begin than with this one.

I believe Poltergeist is probably his best, but the range of investigation is far narrower.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Walking with gods, December 20, 2005

By 

Suetonius (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Occult: The Ultimate Book for Those Who Would Walk with the Gods (Paperback)

I first came across the thoughts of Colin Wilson in one of his novels, 'The Philosopher's Stone', where the hero - let's call him Will Colinson - relates:

'I developed remarkable powers as an algorist - a lowly branch of mathematics concerned with devising methods for solving problems.'

Mr Wilson considers himself an authority on mathematics, so you might think that something sensible is being said here. In fact it is a category mistake, like saying that bars are a lowly branch of music. If he can do this in a subject I know something about, it makes me think twice about trusting his judgment in areas where I know less. For not only is he an authority on mathematics and science, he is also an authority on philosophy, criminology, history and the paranormal.

This book is a long, discursive account of magic and magicians from the Stone Age to the 20th century, written in a souffle-like style which many readers find agreeable. Anyone who ever claimed to do magic is in, and some get in who never claimed to. If you would walk with the gods this is the easy route, but watch out for the boggy patches. On almost every page there are odd misconceptions delivered ex cathedra. The French Revolution was caused by Marie Antoinette's shopping sprees which bankrupted the French state. Numa, a legendary king of early Rome, was 'Emperor' when Roman territory was about ten miles across. The Spanish Armadillo was a better swimmer than the Great Seal - no, he doesn't say that but I suspect he would if he'd read '1066 and All That'. Call it nit-picking, but this rings alarm bells for me. He is a sort of intellectual magpie: a person of very wide reading with no discernible critical sense, least of all in relation to himself. Maybe that helps when you walk with the gods.

If you're confident of spotting all the howlers and discounting them, you may be able to find some firm ground here. The author is industrious; there is a lot of information and it's possible that some of it is not too inaccurate. It's even possible that one or two of his notions are worth a moment's consideration. The problem is deciding which.