Butler, Walter (Ernest) (1898-1978)

Author of books on magic and other occult subjects. He was born August 23, 1898, in England. In 1924 he married Gladys Irene Newell. After serving in the British Army (1917-29), he worked for many years as an engineer (1929-56). From 1956 to 1963 he was a member of the technical staff in charge of physical chemistry, department workshop, at University of Southampton, England.

He began experimenting with magical studies as a child and studied yoga while stationed in India with the British Army. In England, he became associated for a time with occultist Dion Fortune and her Fraternity of the Inner Light. In 1954 Butler was active in the Southampton Group of the Churches' Fellow-ship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies. His teachings and many books formed the substance of the magical Servants of the Light Association. His The Magician: His Training and Work(1959) is a classic text for basic magical training.

Sources:

Butler, Walter E. Apprenticed to Magic. 1962. Reprint, Wellingborough, England: Aquarian Press, 1990.

——. How to Read the Aura, Practice Psychometry, Telepathy, and Clairvoyance. New York: Warner Destiny Books, 1978.

——. An Introduction to Telepathy. 1975.

——. Magic: Its Ritual, Power, and Purpose. London: Aquarian Press, 1952.

——. The Magician: His Training and Work. London: The Aquarian Press, 1959. Reprint, North Hollywood, Calif.: Wilshire Book, 1959.