Pagan, Shinto & Spiritual Book Reviews October 2016

Fittingly for the run-up to Samhain, this month’s books include books on Pan the “Dark Lord” of the forest, and the “Dark Goddess.”

The full list of this month’s reviews is as follows….

• Rebecca Beattie, Pagan Portals – Nature Mystics: The Literary Gateway To Modern Paganism
• John Breen and Mark Teeuwen, A New History of Shinto 
• Philip Carr-Gomm & Richard Heygate, The Book of English Magic
• Melusine Draco, Pagan Portals – Pan: Dark Lord of the Forest and Horned God of the Witches
• Brendan Howlin, Pagan Portals – The Urban Ovate: The Handbook of Psychological Druidry
• Jane Meredith, Journey to the Dark Goddess: How to Return to Your Soul 

Rebecca Beattie, Pagan Portals – Nature Mystics: The Literary Gateway To Modern Paganism
(Moon Books 2015)

Looking for some classic Pagan literature, or to find out more about the lives of authors influenced by Paganism? This little guide by Rebecca Beattie could be for you. In Pagan Portals – Nature Mystics, Beattie introduces ten (mostly) Romantic authors who convey Pagan-influenced ideas and themes in their works, from household names (D.H. Lawrence, J.R.R. Tolkien, William Butler Yeats) to less familiar writers (Mary Webb, May Butts).

Beattie is not the first person to analyse these authors from the Pagan perspective, but Nature Mystics is definitely worth reading if you are particularly interested in this subjects. Beattie’s accounts of the authors’ lives, works and Pagan-infused philosophies as revealed in their texts are detailed, informative and intriguing. For a book of this size and scope they feel pitched exactly right: reasonably in-depth without being stodgy. It certainly made me want to go out and add some of the books mentioned to my wishlist. And for those starting out on serious study of Pagan themes in literature, this would be a genuinely useful resource.

In Nature Mystics, Beattie proves herself to be an excellently researched, thoughtful and engaging writer. I hope this small volume is a taster of more to come from this author…