Banyen Blog

Gareth Knight was a magician and ritualist who opened up ceremonial magic and ritual to a wider world.  He spent his lifetime unearthing and teaching the principles of magic as a spiritual discipline and method of self-realization.  He taught many students over his long career and is the author of thirty books, including Tarot and Magic, Experience of the Inner World, and Magic and the Power of the Goddess.

As a young man he became interested in the occult and trained in the esoteric school founded by Dion Fortune.  He was initiated into the higher mysteries in 1959, and published his first book, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, in 1965.

These were the Top 15 best-selling new releases at Banyen in 2021. Perhaps some inspiration for your reading list in the new year!

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position.

Tutu emerged as one of the most prominent opponents of South Africa’s apartheid system of racial segregation and white minority rule.  After apartheid’s fall, he was selected by Nelson Mandela to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses committed by both pro- and anti-apartheid groups. Tutu also campaigned for gay rights and spoke out on a wide range of subjects, among them his opposition to the Iraq War and his criticism of South African presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma.  As a result of his activism he won several awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malidoma Patrice Some was a spiritual teacher and healer who brought the wisdom traditions and ritual practices of West Africa to the Western world.
 
The name Malidoma can mean “to make friends with the stranger or enemy.” Following that sense, Malidoma served as an ambassador from the tribal realms of Africa to the world of modernity. He had access to traditional practices of wisdom and healing, and also had a rare intelligence that made him able to shape meaningful pathways between ancient ways of knowing and the needs and longings of contemporary cultures.
 

In this interview with Banyen Books, Ervin Laszlo discusses his new book The Wisdom Principles: A Handbook of Timeless Truths and Timely Wisdom.