Theos-Talk Archives (March 1995 Message tl00134)

Hi Todd Katz:

About your inquiry concerning P.G.  Bowen, the Occult Way and
A.E., I came across "The Candle of Vision" by A.E.  in the late
1970s, and it seemed to me that this was written by a man with
his own access to the inner planes.  In 1986, I found Bowen's
"The Occult Way" in our Theosophical Society Branch library in
Miami and was even more impressed.  I began to investigate who
these people are just as you seem to be doing now.  I have looked
up the old information I have, and hope it will be of help to
you.  Included are various names and addresses.

You may also like to know that the 1936 and 1939 editions of "The
Occult Way" contain an entire section that is omitted from the
TPH revised 1978 edition.

Dr.  Ian Cowan, General Secretary of The Theosophical Society in
Ireland, 31 Pembroke Road, Dublin 4 wrote in 1986: "The Hermetic
Society which Russell founded is no longer represented in
Dublin...  I think it may be rather difficult to find many
persons with direct experience of studying under A.E.  or
Bowen...A previous General Secretary, Miss Dorothy Emerson, was a
member of Bowen's group and studied with him.  She is, however,
rather old, and although she is quite glad to speak about it if
visited, I do not know if she would be able to correspond.  If
you wish to contact her, her address is: Alexandra Guild House,
30 Leinster Road West, Dublin 6."

I received no response from Ms.  Emerson and cannot say whether
she is still living.

Mr.  Leslie Shepherd, 1 Lakelands Close, Stillorgan, Blackrock,
Co.  Dublin, Ireland, who is also familiar with this line of
teachings wrote in 1986: "I am confident that there is no
esoteric school based on the Bowen teachings at the present time.
Bowen left the TS to join the Dublin branch of the Hermetic
Society (Anna Kingsford) but dissolved the Society in 1939 with
the onset of World War II, dying the following year.  His
disciple Mrs.  E.A.  Ansell took his teachings to London in 1926
under the aegis of the Ancient Order of Druid Hermeticists, which
was amalgamated with An Druidh Uileach Brathreachas twenty years
later.  So far as I know, the organization and its splinter
movements have long since disappeared."

Following up various leads I finally did contact a resurrected
Hermetic Society, called "The Hermetic Society Bournemouth, C/O
Douglas E.  Western, 115 Southbourne Overcliff Drive, Bournemouth
BH6 3NP.  He and I had a correspodence for several years but
never met.  Douglas Western had revived the Hermetic Society and
made an attempt to keep several of Bowen's lesser known writings
in print in addition to maintaining the group.  He died in 1990,
but I have the address of his daughter-in-law who you might write
to, and see if anyone has carried on this line of work.  She is:
Ruth Western, 4, Crossway, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 3LW, United
Kingdom.  Two others who were in this group, although I do not
have their addresses are, Andrea Rushton and Phyl Harris.

The following from Douglas Western may be of interest to you,
writing about "The Occult Way": "Here, at last, I had come across
a Teacher writing, not from information - but with an inner
knowledge - ever since then I have revered him as my Guru.  Here
let me correct you - he was not the pupil of AE - he was a
co-worker in the same field, one who took over the
responsibilities of AE and his group when the latter left Dublin
and came to live in the South of England.

The Occult Way, is the work, the author tells us, that he was
commanded by AE to do when taking over The Hermetic Lodge in
Dublin - there is nothing to compare with it, it stands alone and
is for me The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.  His other important work
is "The Sayings of the Ancient One"; published by TPH London,
here we have six Lessons in true occultism.  The devotional type
of student does appear to respond better to this work than to The
Occult Way.  "The Way Toward Discipleship" (may be out of print)
is positively the simplest version of the genuine occult doctrine
treated, that exists.  It was written with intense care, with the
intention of giving the simplest statement of the subject
possible to human words, without running counter to the essential
law."

There was a book published in 1988 which contains much information
about A.E.'s writings, and you might want to look at it if you have not
already done so: R.  and N.  Iyer, "The Descent of the Gods"
(London-Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988).  Also, this publisher,
Colin Smythe and an associate Henry Summerfield, have much information
about A.E.  and perhaps also about Bowen.

One of the things that attracted me to Bowens work, and
encouraged me to make these inquiries, was the parallel I saw
with the practical teachings of Gurdjieff.  Teachings having to
do with self-awareness.  So, if you are as much interested in the
practical teachings, as in the historical lineage of A.E.  and
Bowen, you may want to look into Gurdjieff, if you have not
already done so.  Also, there are plenty of Gurdjieff groups
around with whom to work (but be careful, there are a lot of
charlatans, rogues and self-deluded idiots purporting to give out
Gurdjieff's teachings).

One of the reasons I am happy to put out this information Todd,
in addition to attempting to meet your needs, is that I am myself
interested to know if anyone else has chosen to carry on the
Bowen-A.E.  Hermetic tradition.  Hope to hear from some others of
you on this net with more information.

Sy Ginsburg