Dion Fortune is one of the great names of the 20th century reawakening to the great mysteries. Her books Psychic Self-Defense and The Mystical Qabbalah provided great insight into the theories of the Western Mystery Traditions, but it is in her fiction works that we find the practical applications.

The Sea Priestess tells the story of one man's exposure to the mysteries in the form of a mysterious woman and their joint exploration of the rites of Isis and the ancient gods.

Written in England between the great wars, the language can at times trip up the contemporary American reader, but it is worth soldiering on, for the story is both compelling and revealing, as the characters seek to invoke Isis and Osiris in their great work, which is described in detail in later chapters. This is, of course, the true purpose of the book: To show how the drawing down of the moon, the Great Invocation, should be performed.

It is just as Fortune wrote in her introduction: "Those who study the Mystical Qabbalah with the help of the novels get the keys of the Temple put into their hands."

This book, and its companion Moon Magic belong on the bookshelf and in the mind of anyone who would practice High Magic and the Great Work.