Holythorn Press
Esoteric Publisher
Flowering Dusk: Things Remembered Accurately and Inaccurately
Holythorn Press is delighted to announce that we will be publishing Flowering Dusk by Ella Young in 2024. We are also honoured that Dr. Christina Oakley-Harrington has agreed to contribute an Introduction.
Born in Ireland in 1867, where she lived for almost half her life, Ella was a visionary writer, revolutionary, folklorist, and poet. A close friend of Maud Gonne and AE she was a well-known member of the vibrant Dublin literary and occult scene of the early 20th century. All her life she had very close contact with spiritual beings who guided and shaped her life and work. Going to America in 1925 where she spent the rest of her life, Ella also contacted the nature beings in the redwood groves near her home in Halcyon, California. The community centred on The Temple of the People was a hub of creativity which included John Varian, Henry Cowell, Ansel Adams, and other prominent American modern artists and writers. She taught a course in Irish mythology at the University of California at Berkeley for many years, and also published very popular versions of Irish legends for children.
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Previously published only once in 1944, Flowering Dusk is not a linear autobiography, but a series of memories, vignettes and reminiscences which have a vividness and immediacy which is both charming and compelling.
News and Events
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Glastonbury Occult Conference 2024
Dr. Sally North will be speaking on Druid and Christian Magic in Medieval Ireland.
Descriptions of what druids actually did are relatively sparse, if we discount writers from the classical world who dealt mainly with the druids they encountered in Gaul and Britain. Dr. North will discuss the druids as described in Irish medieval texts which describe their magical activities in some detail, including the actual spell chants used for battle magic.
The Irish saints were not averse to using magic of their own - though they called it miracles – frequently cursing and smiting their enemies. There are some fascinating points of contact and of difference between the two seemingly opposed groups which this talk will discuss, again, using medieval sources from “Vitae” or Lives of the Saints.
University College Cork - Study of Religions Research Seminar Series will take place on Wednesday 15 February from 5-6pm (Irish & UK Time/GMT) on MS Teams:
Dr Sally North: "A Labyrinth of Images: WB Yeats and the Celtic Order"
This seminar will explore the secret order which Yeats founded in 1896 with the assistance of Maud Gonne, George Pollexfen, Æ, and fellow initiates of the Golden Dawn. We will look at the techniques Yeats used to contact the Tuatha de Danaan and the ancient Irish heroes using selected extracts from his unpublished “Explorations” and initiatory rituals.
The talk is now available on youtube.
University College Cork - Study of Religions Research Seminar Series will take place on Wednesday 5th of April from 5-6pm (Irish & UK Time/GMT) on MS Teams:
James North: AE Russell, the Dublin Theosophists and the Irish Avatar.
This talk considers the spiritual, political and cultural programme of 1890s Irish Theosophy. It shows how the vision of a spiritual awakening connected with the West of Ireland was of enduring importance AE, and how several remarkable and forgotten figures in the Dublin circle led by AE took the inspiration of Irish Theosophy from its cradle in Dublin as far as India and the West Coast of America.
The talk is now available on youtube.
About Holythorn Press
Holythorn Press is a small publishing company based in Ireland and London. Our emphasis is on esoteric books which are not only informative, but also well-designed and high quality. We are passionate about bringing to the public books and ideas which were previously kept private, or, have been forgotten and are deserving of a new generation of readers. In addition we will be publishing new writing on esotericism and culture, including, but not limited to: history, poetry, art, and philosophy.