Christopher S. Hyatt (1943–2008)

This book consists principally of a longish interview "Regardie Pontificates" from forty years ago, conducted by Christopher S. Hyatt. The two men are both taken with their own capacity to twit conventional mystics. They spend a fair amount of time deprecating "cosmic Foo-Foo" and "sweet and light occultism." But they also discuss concerns about the rightward shift in US culture that began in the 1980s, and which they correctly foresaw continuing in many respects.

Regardie's "four great show more loves" are said to be H. P. Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn, and Wilhelm Reich (52), and he offers insights on each, along with some other figures and movements that he didn't prize quite as highly, such as Mary Baker Eddy, the drug counterculture, and "Rajneesh" (later, Osho).

One of Regardie's distinctive contributions to the culture of ceremonial magic and occultism, beginning with the books he wrote in the 1930s, was an advocacy for the use of secular psychotherapy as a preparation for and aid to magical practice. He was usually not prescriptive about particular schools of therapy, although he eventually centered his own practice in the Reichian mode. In this case, though, he was specifically dismissive of Jungian therapy. Having undergone a year of Jungian treatment, he said, "It gave me a philosophy which still has its place in my life, but as a therapy I think it's utterly useless" (24).

The introduction for the book is supplied by J. Marvin Spiegelman, a friend and sometime neighbor of Regardie's. (Both Spiegelman and Hyatt mention having received Reichian therapy from Regardie.) Speigelman was another advocate of synthesizing esoteric philosophy with psychological practices, and was himself a Jungian analyst. The first part of the introduction focuses on some of the additional Regardie essays appended to the interview, and then it offers five pages of detailed notes on particular passages from the interview itself.

The appended essays include "Selected Introductions" for works by four other authors and Regardie's own biography of Crowley, along with "Selected Articles" mostly on therapeutic topics, and one about contemporary alchemy. Between the time of the interview itself and its publication in this book, Regardie died. The book accordingly contains an "In Memoriam" page announcing ambitions to establish a library, meditation room, and memorial in Regardie's honor, and to organize a connected "elitist Golden Dawn group" under Hyatt's direction. show less

It is easy to assume from the outside that Satanism is merely ceremonial anti-Christian devil worship, and drug use and homosexuality are something between personal choice recreations and tolerable societal ills. Hyatt combines over 400 pages of articles from William S. Burroughs, Austin Osman Spare, Timothy Leary and more to intellectualize such activities as some of the manifold paths to realizing full human potential. It is in the analysis of the life and motivations of Aleister Crowley show more and the candid, in-depth interview with Israel Regardie that the savage breaking of taboos is seen as a tool. The interview by Hyatt with Regardie and the following Crowley analysis by psychologist Richard Kaczynski are the core of the book, literally and figuratively. This strips the mystique off occult activity and rebellious behavior and describes them within the confines of a methodology. To quote Kaczynski in "Taboo & Transformation": "The ceremonial magick championed by Crowley...is, in a nutshell, alchemy: The transformation of one's base character into gold. ...If psychological triggers can precipitate spiritual change, then the taboos socially programmed into us can act as triggers for major spiritual transformation." show less

This isn't so much a discussion of 'The Magic of Israel Regardie' as 'the half-assed opinions of Christopher Hyatt, who lived and worked with Israel Regardie, with a brief discussion of what he thinks Regardie thought about magic and the occasional name-drop of Regardie thrown in for good measure.' I say that with love.

The recording comes across like a long-ranging discussion between Christopher Hyatt and some dumb stoner kid about magic, aliens and the Golden Dawn. That said, any Regardie show more is better than no Regardie and you do get some sense of Hyatt's working relationship with him.

It's an interesting discussion in its own right and covers many topics including Crowley, Thelema, Rosicrucianism and the various uses of magick with a k as a tool of self-improvement, empowerment and psychotherapy. There's a wonderfully nutty discussion of the extraterrestrial origins of mankind, according to the work of Zecharia Sitchin, and how we were created by aliens as a slave race.

I enjoyed listening to this a lot more than I'm letting on. It's an obscure recording and an interesting discussion. Scholars of Israel Regardie would be better served by going to Regardie's work directly — if you want to know about a tree, go to the tree. But there's much of value here if you accept it for what it is.

It doesn't matter if you believe in magick or not. We're all just space-monkeys, really. show less

This is a fascinating book, but I suspect that to truly appreciate it you need to have a background in hermetic magic and an understanding of the concept of the Holy Guardian Angel as understood in Thelema (the latter of which I can not claim to have). In order to carry out the central ritual -- an elaborate working involving sex magic (either as part of a heterosexual couple, homosexual couple, or solo) -- you need to be committed enough to do some serious prep work and allow at least a show more year for the full effects to radiate out into your life. It's a book for advanced magicians -- or those who aspire to become so.

This book will not provide readers with "magical" tips for enhancing lovemaking, teach how to cast spells using sexual ritual, or other popular topics.

I have no idea why the word "Tantra" in the title. This book does not teach Tantra, nor does it seem to draw on it in a meaningful way, so unless I missed something significant. I'm surprised that respected authors like these seem to have used it as a buzz word to garner attention. (I can't think of any other reason to put it in the title unless to show up in search engine listings.)

The final chapter, "Sexual Magic: A Chaos Perspective" provided some intriguing food for thought about the importance of escaping from the psychological traps which can plague and undermine our personal development, especially in the area of relationships. show less