Magic and Mystery in Tibet

Much has been written concerning Tibet and its secret lore, but precious few authors have actually visited ‘The Land of Snows’ and a vanishingly small number were vouchsafed the privilege of studying with Tibetan masters during the culture’s heyday, long before its present domination by China. Alexandra David-Néel is one of this select group, and Magic and Mystery in Tibet is her account of the various mystical traditions she encountered while traveling in Tibet during the early 1900s. A woman of prodigious energy and courage, she spent 14 years in this Forbidden Land, at one time disguising herself as a beggar to secretly visit Lhasa, the first western woman to make the journey. A practising Buddhist (and latterly a Lama in her on right), David-Néel was privy to many aspects of Tibetan culture that remained hidden from other travellers. Her description of the people, their beliefs, her conversations with sages and sorcerers, all paint a fascinating picture of Tibetan occult/ mystical theories and psychic training practices. Many of these skills she mastered herself, from meditation techniques, and elaborate magical rites, through necromancy, psychic abilities such as ‘sending messages on the wind’ and creating ‘tulpas’ (manifested thought-forms), to methods of breathing and mental concentration that control pain, extend physical endurance, and generate prodigious bodily heat, allowing an adept to go naked through the snow without discomfort. This is a fascinating, unique account of the spiritual core of a now-threatened culture. A must-read for anyone interested in Magic, the Occult, and the mystical traditions of Tibet.