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Dion Fortune's "The Sea Priestess"

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Christina
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Dion Fortune's "The Sea Priestess"

Post by Christina » Thu January 8th, 2009, 2:06 pm

I wasn't sure where to put this as it really spans many eras although set in the early-mid 20th Century. It can't really be described as 'fantasy' as such, either. It is more mystical and than mystery....so, in the end I put it here. The eponymous heroine, is reincarnated in Morgan and now Vivien Le Fay of Arthurian legends. An ageless, timeless woman who leads a dull, middle-aged man through a whole journey of discovery.
The author, a psychic, psychologist and mystic draws upon so much ancient wisdom, which combines Kabbalah, Paganism and ritual magic so brilliantly. I have not read the other books in the series - The Goat-Footed God, Moon Magic etc. - but would like to do so, and would be interested to hear anyone else's views of them. :)
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Margaret
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Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
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Post by Margaret » Fri January 9th, 2009, 6:01 am

Wonderful book! You're right, it seems to be almost completely unclassifiable. It doesn't even seem precisely like a novel. If I had to put it in a slot, I suppose it could go in historical fantasy, but it has the feel of a book the author wants readers to believe is mystically channeled truth slipped into the framework of a novel, rather than made-up fantasy or even altogether fiction. I didn't know it was part of a series!
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
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Christina
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Post by Christina » Sat January 10th, 2009, 11:14 pm

Yes, Margaret, you're so right! It doesn't easily fit into a slot and since Dion Fortune also wrote many non-fiction books (one of which - The Mystical Kabbalah - I have and find difficult to fully understand) I think there is so obvious a link between her fiction and her beliefs. Oh, yes, there are others in the series and people who have read the others speak very highly of them. The character of Vivien Le Fey, I believe, runs through them all :-)
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