Conference

The second Gareth Knight Conference
Glastonbury, 25 March 2023

Gareth Knight was one of the foremost authorities on the Western Mystery Tradition and modern ritual magic, and the private working group he founded in 1973 has continued in the same spirit ever since. The Gareth Knight Group is a fully contacted working group, one of the Greater Mystery Temples which serve the folk soul of Britain. This conference celebrates Gareth Knight's work and showcases our past, present and future work, with talks on a range of esoteric topics. The day will conclude with a guided meditation.
The cost is £20 for tickets sold in advance. If there are still tickets left on the day they can be bought on the door for £25.
The conference is taking place at the Assembly Rooms, High Street, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9DU.
Doors open at 9:30am. Please arrive promptly for registration, as the talks will begin at 10:00am. There will be a break for lunch, plus refreshment breaks. Tea and coffee will be available. The conference is scheduled to end at 5:30pm.
Tickets are available from Skylight Press. You will be taken to their website to make your purchase.
Please see below for the latest information about what's on the programme.
Refunds can be requested up until the day of the conference, if you're not able to make it. Your ticket price will be refunded minus a £2 admin fee. Unused tickets cannot be refunded after the event.
Introduction and Welcome
Rebsie Fairholm
A short introduction to the Gareth Knight Group and the speakers.
The Gareth Knight Guide to Magic
Rebsie Fairholm
Rebsie Fairholm first joined the Gareth Knight Group in 1995 and has been running it since 2013. She is a graphic designer and publisher and founded Skylight Press, continuing the ethos of Helios Book Service. She has a wide range of esoteric interests including Anglo-Saxon magic, Grail mythology, megalithic sites and plant oversouls. She is currently exploring Greek and Minoan magic.
Gareth Knight's approach to magic was unique. Having received his magical training in Dion Fortune's Society of the Inner Light, he was then forced to plough his own furrow and to develop his own set of magical values and working practices. Rebsie will explore some of these, with an emphasis on the practical, and how they can help to illuminate our own spiritual paths.
A Personal Journey with a Christian Mage – Life in the GK
Group 1980s – 2000
Jon Poston
Jon Poston was a member of the GK Group from 1981 for 15+ years. He also set up and ran the Company of the Inner Abbey study course. He is currently an Anglican priest with an interest in Poetics of the Imagination and land based story and myth work as gateways for spiritual encounter.
Through the story of his own involvement in the GK Group Jon will take us into what it was like working with Gareth Knight, the Christian roots of the work and its breadth, and the transformative nature of working in a dedicated and committed esoteric group.
Black Diamonds – The story of a GK Group ritual on the impact of British coal mining
J R Petrie
Julie is a longstanding member of the Gareth Knight group. She spent her professional career as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, with many years NHS experience. She is also an academic student of myth and the sacred having completed a Masters degree in Myth, Cosmology, and the Sacred. Her main magical interests are the mythology of J.R.R. Tolkien, the relationship between psyche and cosmos, and the divine feminine. She is a miner’s daughter.
Julie’s talk focuses around an example of a GK Group ritual on the topic of coal mining and draws upon Julie’s ancestral contacts. The purpose of the rite is healing, of people, of animals, and of the land.
The Magical Landscape
Dr Steven Critchley
Dr Steven Critchley is the Director of Studies of the Servants of the Light school. He has academic interests in Neoplatonism, particularly in the work of Thomas Taylor the Platonist (1758-1835). He works publicly as a Spiritualist Medium and has a background in Wicca, Traditional Craft, Esoteric Christianity as well as teaching about the Mystical Qabalah and the western esoteric tradition in general.
The Land of Logres, the matter of Britain, can be encountered as a folkloric and literary phenomenon, particularly in Arthurian literature. However, there are dimensions on Logres that can be worked with on inner levels of the soul in practical theurgic work. In this talk, the “Matter of Britain” will be explored as an inner aspect of work in the esoteric tradition of Britain and as part of what is often called the “etheric plane.” Practical aspects of working with the “Magical Landscape” will be considered in the light of knowledge shared with us by our ancestors and the tarot keys.
Guided meditation
Rebsie Fairholm
The conference will conclude with a short meditation led by Rebsie.