The Benighted Path
Richard Gavin
There is an illimitable darkness that resides both deep within us, and in the space outside of the biosphere of earth. A current of shadow that leads to an ecstatic revelry, a potent transfiguration of self via the overwhelming power of awe and terror.
While Richard Gavin is best known as an author of occult horror "The Benighted Path" represents a work of philosophical occult inquiry into the nature of this Dark Way. He guides us along that shimmering and shapeshifting path, outlining its presence in world culture's along the way. From Nordic shamanism to Hindu Tantra, English witchcraft to Haitian Vodou, Egyptian magic to Kenneth Grant, Gavin delves into a wide range of pools from which the Benighted Path springs.
It is a complex work, the Benighted Path, one that addresses that shadow realm with an awareness that is ingrained. It finds itself along the way outlining a practice of sorts. The formulae given away embedded within the narrative, a folklore of Blood Lamps, Haunted Wood, and Primeval Nights whispered in that absolute darkness of self initiation.
Gavin guides us through that archetype of descent, the Katabasis, like Virgil leading Dante through the dark corridors of Hell, Odysseus' journey to the land of the dead, or Gilgamesh's descent into the underworld, Gavin is our psychopomp in the shadow realms. Burning with that illuminated verdant anti-light he takes us on a journey that is both personal and comprehensive.
There is a strong influence in the Benighted Path of its editor David Beth, co-owner with Jessica Grote of Theion Publishing, who have released this exceptional volume. The work makes reference both directly and indirectly to Beth's work Voudon Gnosis and is informed by his similar love of the work of German philosopher Ludwig Klages and his concept of Night Consciousness.
The power of the Benighted Path, and where its true knowledge lies, is in its ability to not just address but to delve into the importance of fear, terror and awe as they relate to the practice of the Dark Way. I have often said that if you are walking the Left Hand Path and not scared shitless you are doing it wrong.
My one disappointment in the narrative of the work is that it doesn't address more fully the role that taboo plays in self-initiation and the Dark Way. It brushes right up against the concept of taboo but then moves on without giving it full consideration. Taboo, facing those things which one personally finds repulsive (through instinct or cultural training) is an immeasurably important part of the work of those who walk in darkness.
The book itself is an incredibly beautiful binding. A kind of shimmering red cloth that on inspection shows the lightest pattern of a dark blue hidden in the fabric. Inset with historic black and white illustrations it was also released in an ultra rare "Auric Edition" bound in black leather with a slipcase in an edition of 70 (including an extra page with a conjuration of the daemonic Mara and the seal of the Night-Mare Gnosis), for which I can only dream as a bibliophile, as it is long sold out.
The Benighted Path is a book for those who seek to understand the darkness they were born to. A guidebook for those who have no choice but to live in the shadows, and wish to understand more fully this realm of darkness. It is a handbook for the children of the night.
Get it at Theion Publishing.
