Anthony D. Duncan

The Christ, Psychotherapy and Magic is a Christian priest's appreciation of occultism, with a particular focus on the Qabalah. Far from condemning occult thinking, he finds it has much common ground with the Christian perspective and contemporary developments in psychotherapy. Drawing on the works of Dion Fortune, Gareth Knight and others, he appraises the theology and assumptions of occultists and examines how Christian mysticism coheres with the Tree of Life. While his ideas may be challenging and thought-provoking for many occultists as well as for many Christians, his spectrum is broad and his criticisms carefully considered. He also provides a lucid overview of the Tree of Life which makes the book an incredibly valuable introduction to the Qabalah, especially as a guide for aspiring Christian Qabalists. Originally published in 1969, this book came about through Anthony Duncan's friendship with occultist Gareth Knight, and directly inspired Knight's major work Experience of the Inner Worlds. "Now at least one clergyman has got the point and in this book urges his fellow Christians not to dismiss occultism either as a cranky fad or as 'a black art'." - The Guardian

Something odd is happening to John Faversham, a scientifically minded Englishman of the late 20th century. By chance, he acquires a volume of poems by a minor 19th century poet, who turns out to have lived in his house. Moreover, one of the poems records a vivid dream which has recently been troubling John. How does he come to share a disturbing dream with a long-dead previous owner of his house? As Anthony Duncan's novel unfolds, we discover the roots of the story in the events of the English Reformation in the 16th century. This sometimes startling tale powerfully displays dynamics of sin and redemption, working across time. But the author avoids any easy moralism. The novel is all the more powerful in its compelling depiction of life's knotted fabric, in which good and evil cannot be easily untangled.