The Benighted Path
Primeval Gnosis and the Monstrous Soul
(2nd Edition)
by Richard Gavin
Aiming at guiding the reader into the hidden mysteries of the Night Primeval, The Benighted Path is one of the most intriguing and sophisticated elaborations of a nocturnal magical vision.
Twisting beyond the placid boundaries of civilisation is an ancient occult pathway. Its voyagers do not march the linear road of human progress and spiritual ascent but instead orient their souls to the luminous, haunted darkness of the Depth. Many have glimpsed this eerie dimension when sleep has delivered them onto the back of the charging Night-Mare, and recollections of these brief visitations survive in countless tales of terror and in the folklore of locales rumoured to be fey or cursed. Rare, however, is the individual who willingly pays the tariff and passes irretrievably through that twilight of existence in order to become Benighted – for the bounties are plentiful.
Drawing on the shadow aspects of a variety of traditions, including the Death Cult of Ancient Egypt, Traditional Witchcraft, and folklore, Gavin masterfully conjures a chthonic esoteric theory and praxis as a result of more than two decades of personal occult work.
The Benighted Path is an intense exploration of the liminal, the powers of the land, and inner shadow spaces designed to awaken the aspirant’s true Monstrous Soul. Only so empowered the Benighted may offer their adoration to the Gorgon and partake of the Sidereal Feast.
Enriched by appropriate conjurations, ritual instructions, and a treatise on the Faustian pact, this work should be of great interest to any practitioner of Traditional Witchcraft, chthonic magic, and earth-based esotericism.
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Table of Contents
AUTHOR’S NOTE
THE BENIGHTED PATH
PRÉCIS: To the Benighted
CHAPTER I - Night Primeval
CHAPTER II - Katabasis
CHAPTER III - The Night-Mare’s Tread
POEM - Vinum Metus
CHAPTER IV - Sacred Horror & The Dreadful Assembly
CHAPTER V - Realizing the Monstrous Soul
POEM - Medusa (A Roundel)
CHAPTER VI - Adoration of the Gorgon
CHAPTER VII - Haunted Nature, The Romance of Ruins
APPENDIX I: Praxis: The Sidereal Feast
APPENDIX II: The Pact Writ Anew:
Faustian Genius in the Rising Dark Age
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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Cloth Hardcover Edition - Limited to 890 copies
160 pages. Printed and bound in Germany. Dusk-blue fine cloth binding, silver embossed cover, lettering on rounded spine. Printed on high quality 115gsm wood-free paper, Surbalin deep-black endpapers, headbands, black ribbon bookmark.
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“It is a complex work, The Benighted Path, one that addresses [the] 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…
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.”
The Skeptical Occultist - read the full review here
“As an unconventional tome, The Benighted Path does not readily accede to a typical review, not at least in the general accepted sense. A review implies encapsulation. Rather than attempt to reduce this project I will merely touch on a few salient features as they came to the forefront of my encounter with its force and significance. The Benighted Path is a project, and a tool; a guide for qliphothic endeavor. But how it operates as a magickal work depends upon the viewer’s vantage point…
A purely linear or diachronic reading of The Benighted Path does the study and oneself a great disservice. Gavin’s work is highly discursive and winds about with subconsciously articulated convolutions in and upon itself constantly pushing the reader’s sense of contiguity to its limits. The work is purposefully suggestive and allusive.”
Robert Podgurski - read the full review here
“…one of the most remarkable books I’ve read and it had the most fascinating effect on me… Fear and darkness go hand-in-hand for humanity. There is good reason for that fear, for in the darkness lurks Reality, and it may not be the safe and tame place one’s more gentle dreams evoke. But The Benighted Path sends out a Call to all of Night’s true children, and gives them insight into techniques they can use to step into that darkness and embrace the dreadful and awe-ful Gorgon waiting there for her kin.”
The Entity in the Chapel - read the full review here
Book Review by Foolish Fish - watch on YouTube here
Interview with Richard Gavin on the Hermitix podcast - watch on YouTube here
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About the Author
Richard Gavin is a critically-acclaimed writer and occultist over two decades, who works in the areas of horror and the primordial, oftentimes illuminating the nexus where these fields intersect. His previously published works include The Benighted Path & The Infernal Masque with Theion Publishing and The Moribund Portal: Spectral Resonance and the Numen of the Gallows for Three Hands Press. In addition, he has authored four books of macabre fiction, as well as poetry, criticism, and several occult essays for publications such as Starfire Journal and Clavis.
