The most recommended Western esotericism books

Drawing from a year of entries in his running journal and writing beautiful, compressed prose, Gardner explores the relationship between the inner and the outer world of a runner. A veteran of the sport—he’s been at it for decades—and something like a disciple of its spiritual esoterica, he captures those running moments that so many of us struggle to articulate: “One of the reasons you slog through the summer is to be in shape when a day like this appears. A day when you step away from your body and take the body in, this gliding presence no longer yours, though once, you think, it might have been.” Poverty Creek Journal is a meditation on the profundities of a body in motion.

This pick is for the history nerds like me. This book provides, in a single volume over ten selections from foundational tarot books from the last two hundred years. This book is definitely for the enthusiast who wants to go back to the study texts that are out of print or to go back to the beginning of occult Tarot. This book includes ‘old school’ fortunetelling techniques not seen in a long time. I love some old fashion fortunetelling techniques. This is also a recently published book, so you can show off a fresh hot big book on Instagram to make the followers go “ooooo.” 

Where The Alchemist is considered the beginner's book on esoteric wisdom, The Puppet Master's Secret is the PHD book about Fractals and what it means to be one, how it feels to be one, as well as the possibilities an awakened Fractal may consider after an incarnation.

This book hits home hard as I'm a Fractal of my Overself as well. The author is a personal friend who used some of our conversations in this book, making it a private biographical adventure for me. This book is meant to assist other Fractals on their journeys to decide if they want to become their own individuals.

I’ve read a lot of books on creativity, and this one stands out for its more scientific and historical approach.

No surprise; it’s written by the NYT’s Science Reporter, and it comes with the sources, case studies, and expert insights you’d expect from someone who works for the country’s newspaper of record. It covered some of the biological and evolutionary support for creativity, which was something I haven’t seen much of elsewhere; and since biological writers are up against the mechanized ones, this will help you see your key advantages.

The audiobook was over 11 hours long, but it didn’t feel like it, and I found myself sitting in the car to continue listening after I’d arrived at my destination more than once. 

The Crowley-Harris Thoth Tarot remains one of the greatest tarot decks ever conceived in respect of the artistry employed in its design and the esoteric depth conveyed by its underlying system of metaphysics. Supervised personally by Aleister Crowley, one of the most important esotericists of the past century, this essay - suitable for advanced students - remains a tour de force in the evolving tradition of the esoteric tarot.

Sorcerers is the tale of teenaged Eliot, who’s growing up in Philadelphia in the 1950s and strives to learn magic. Let’s not confuse this with the magic found in Harry Potter, the Narnia books, or in any of today’s fantasy worlds; Eliot studies basic stage-magic tricks and gains entrance to the Sorcerers, a club of aspiring teen magicians. Some Sorcerers are adept and elegant; others graceless gawks. As the novel develops, there's mystery, and to everyone's surprise, some of what might be termed "real magic" and strange power. This is a bildungsroman about human possibility, which is what prompts me to recommend it here. It's subtle and unusual, with a deep understanding of humanity and spiritual development. I've not encountered many novels that attempt what this one does. 

The history of Ramptha by Ramptha himself, channeled through one of his descendant's bodies (author J Z Knight). Ramtha was a Lemurian warrior who fought the Atlanteans over 35,000 years ago.

I found this book after my Near Death Experience during which I was awakened to my memories of all my previous lives. While reading this book, my body shook uncontrollably with heightened vibrations, a sure sign that my soul recognized the history and I was part of it in a Past Life.

This book gives insight about the original world, of one of the times of humans and their fall, also about enlightenment and what it means. In this book I also discovered, and confirmed, who I used to be in that lifetime.

Lobsang Rampa was a Tibetan Monk that took over the body of an Englishman in order to accomplish his destiny in teaching Westeners the Wisdom of the Ancients.

I found this book at 18 years old while searching for the meaning of life, needing to know that what I experienced and could do was not an overactive imagination. As I read the book, a great calmness settled into my soul. All the information related was confirmation that I knew all these concepts already. Now I had the terminology to go with it. It was such an exciting discovery.

If you wish to learn ancient knowledge in a nutshell, this is the book to start with.

John and Caitin Mathews have a vast body of work on the subject of spirituality. This is one of their first and, in my opinion, one of their best.

I recommend this title to anyone who feels a deep connection to Celtic heritage and the old Gods and Goddesses of early British and Welsh ancestry. I was especially entranced by the pathworking techniques, a guided visualisation journey into the ‘otherworld’ of our native ancestors. Having undertaken several of these guided visualisation journeys, I had some deeply personal and life-enhancing experiences that I still vividly recall some thirty years later.

A great introduction to the Western Mystery Tradition.

Founder of Waldorf Schools and Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner was the greatest occult seer and philosopher of the modern age. His ideas about spirituality changed my world when I discovered him while researching my first book on psychedelic shamanism. In this book, he takes us through our cosmic history. He reveals that we currently possess four “bodies” (the physical, astral, etheric, and the I), and we are developing a fifth (the “spirit self”). He explores reincarnation, both of each of us individually and of the Earth as a whole. He explains that there are different super-sensible beings that work upon us all of the time, and that one of them, Ahirman, is destined to incarnate in this century. A fantastic inquiry into the deepest mysteries with practical advice for today.