Secrets of Western Tantra

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Secrets of Western Tantra
by Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D., New Falcon Publications,

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Secrets of Western Tantra is one of those curious books which at first glance, appears to be a mish-mash of concepts & ideas: Reich, Thelema, Jungian psychotherapy, Tarot, chakras, occult eugenics, tantric themes in popular culture, Golden Dawn ritual and even a chapter on "practical" sexual magic from Phil Hine. The question is, does this all workAnd I must say it does, largely, I feel, due to Dr. Hyatt's ability to synthesise what appear at first to be disparate themes into a coherent whole. Dr. Hyatt manages to deliver quite complex ideas with a light touch and occasional playful humour. By using popular themes which will probably be familiar to most people who pick up this book (i.e. kabbalah, tarot, chakras) he presents what might best be described as a transpersonal approach to sexual magic. The broad objective here is self-discovery and transformation of the individual, presented in an accessible and down-to-earth manner. Dr. Hyatt describes his own formative "visions of the Goddess" which I felt was a helpful way of getting across the kind of processes that the developmental quest can take one though. It also gives one an insight into the inner life of the author - and how Dr. Hyatt's personal experiences have shaped his ideas.

I must admit to not having tried the practical exercises in this book. However, I have spoken to a few colleagues who have done so, and the consensus appears to be that Dr. Hyatt's exercise programme is highly effective, but well deserves Robert Anton Wilson's assertion that this book should be labelled Handle with Care.

The appendices of Secrets of Western Tantra present a variety of supportive perspectives on the main text. Israel Regardie is represented by an essay on "Occult Eugenics". He discusses the use of ritual magic in the planning of one's offspring. If I read this correctly, then the process of continued meditation or ritual focused on a particular planetary influence prior to, after, and probably during conception will magically determine the disposition of one's child. Anyone care to try this proposition out? Next we have a short description of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and The Middle Pillar from Joseph Lisiewski. Lon Milo Duquette discusses the Christian concept of sin vs Thelema & Liber Al. S. Jason Black discovers the hidden hand of tantrik and Taoist themes in cultural icons from Iggy Pop to Dr. Strange. Finally, Phil Hine presents an overview of how sexual magic can be related to distinct magical practices such as divination, evocation, invocation or sorcery.

Overall, this is a very interesting book and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who is interested in magical development. Even if you don't like the symbol systems which Dr. Hyatt uses, there are enough cues to develop one's own variants of his exercises. - Andrew Johnson