The Magical Revival
{{Short description|1972 book by Kenneth Grant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = The Magical Revival
| image = Magicalrevival cover.jpg
| caption = First edition cover
| author = Kenneth Grant
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| subject = Occult
| publisher = Frederick Muller Ltd
| release_date = 1972
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = 244 pp (first edition)
| isbn = 9780584101751
| isbn_note = (first edition)
| oclc = 410033
| dewey = 133.4
| congress = BF1611 .G67 1972
| followed_by = Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God
}}
The Magical Revival is a nonfiction book written by British occultist Kenneth Grant, first published in 1972. It is the first of his "Typhonian Trilogy", which comprises this work and two others—Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God (1973) and Cults of the Shadow (1975). In this work, he introduced his theory that American horror author H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos was psychic revelation presented as fiction,{{cite book | title = The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind The Legend | isbn = 1-57863-269-2 | oclc = 52091921 | first1 = Daniel |last1 = Harms | first2 = John W. |last2 = Gonce III | page = 102 | publisher = Red Wheel/Weiser | year = 2003 }} an idea which he would ela{{shy}}borate and extend further in his later works.
Grant wrote in this book that there was an unconscious conn{{shy}}ection between Lovecraft and occultist Aleister Crowley, arguing that both of them channeled their work from the same occult forces altho{{shy}}ugh Lovecraft was not consciously aware of the alleged otherworldly sources of his literary inspirations.{{cite book | title = The Illustrated Beast: The Aleister Crowley Scrapbook | first = Sandy | last = Robertson | year = 2002 | page = 95 | isbn = 1-57863-258-7 | publisher = Red Wheel/Weiser }} This idea—that what is ostensibly presented as fiction is often a vehi{{shy}}cle masking deeper realities—has precedence in the inclusion by Crowl{{shy}}ey of numerous works of fiction in the official reading syllabus of his magical order, the A∴A∴.{{cite book | title = The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind The Legend | isbn = 1-57863-269-2 | oclc = 52091921 | first1 = Daniel |last1 = Harms | first2 = John W. |last2 = Gonce III | page = 124 | publisher = Red Wheel/Weiser | year = 2003 }}
Reception
According to Professor Joshua Gunn of the University of Texas, The Magical Revival has been criticised by many occultists and historians alike for its "creative history making".{{cite book | title = Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century | first = Joshua | last = Gunn | publisher = University Alabama Press | isbn = 0-8173-1466-0 | oclc = 57285914 | url= https://muse.jhu.edu/book/1053 | url-access= registration |year = 2005 | page = [https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/20005 238]}} On the other hand, British author Colin Wilson gave a far more favourable review in his biography of Crowley, praising that The Magical Re{{shy}}vival is "probably the best history of modern magic in existen{{shy}}ce".{{cite book | title = Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast | first = Colin | last = Wilson | author-link = Colin Wilson | publisher = Aquarian Press | isbn = 9780850305418 | oclc = 18558569 | year = 1987 | chapter = Epilogue |access-date= November 8, 2022 |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KXHKDwAAQBAJ | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=KXHKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT189 163] }}
Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology called it "a very informative survey of occult theory and practice in modern tim{{shy}}es".{{cite book | title = Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810349155 | url-access = registration | isbn = 0-8103-4915-9 | oclc = 1035691609 | publisher = Gale Research Inc. | year = 1991 | editor = Shepard, Leslie | editor-link = Leslie Shepard | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810349155/page/685 685] |via= Internet Archive |access-date= November 5, 2022}} Routledge Library Editions: Occultism listed it as one of the source books in its chapter on sexual magic, commenting: "A survey of the subject from a distinctly Crowleyan viewpoint, this includes very intere{{shy}}sting and significant material on Crowley, Austin Spare, Dion Fortune and witchcraft."{{cite book|title=Routledge Library Editions: Occultism |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=1V59EAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA81 81] |chapter=Sexual Magic |isbn=9781000807509 |author=Various authors | publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2022 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1V59EAAAQBAJ |access-date= November 8, 2022 |via= Google Books}}
Translations
In 1983, the Japanese edition of The Magical Revival, translated by Professor {{ill|Yasuo Uematsu|ja|植松靖夫}} of Tohoku Gakuin University, was published under the title Majutsu no fukkatsu ({{nihongo2|魔術の復活|help=yes}}; {{lit|Revival of Magic}}).{{Cite web|url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BN01087611|title=CiNii 図書 — 魔術の復活 |website=CiNii |year=1983 |lang=ja|access-date = November 9, 2022 |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108230119/https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BN01087611/ |url-status=live}}{{Ref label|A|a|none}}
References
= Notes =
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a. {{Note label|A|a|none}} {{oclc|672582161}}; {{NCID|BN01087611}}
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= Citations =
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Category:1972 non-fiction books