Robert John "R J" Stewart (born 1949) is a Scottish-born composer, author, and teacher. He has written over 40 books on

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

ism,

Ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an ex ...

and

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a ...

. His books include a series on the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

and

faery A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

traditions. From 1980 to 1988, Stewart wrote two books about

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

, translating and exploring medieval texts on the topic (now published in one volume as ''Merlin: the Prophetic Vision and Mystic Life'', by Penguin Arkana). He also created the ''Merlin Tarot'', (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

) comprising a book and a deck of cards (painted by Miranda Gray) depicting scenes from ancient Merlin texts. This deck and book have been translated into Japanese, French, Italian, and German. From 1988 to the present, R J Stewart has taught workshops and classes on

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and Classical mythological traditions, music and consciousness. In 1993, he co-wrote ''Celtic Bards, Celtic Druids'', (Published by Cassell, Blandford Press) with harper and storyteller

Robin Williamson Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinbur ...

, founder of

The Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially in the British co ...

. R J Stewart teaches the Faery (Fairy) Tradition which he has explored in the books: Living World of Faery, Earthlight, Power within the Land and the Well of Light. This later book has great relevance for the increasingly important practice of "Earth Healing" which has great relevance in our modern-day crisis. As folk musician “Bob Stewart”, he made famous a folk instrument of his own design referred to on his albums as a ‘concert psaltery’. The instrument is similar to a

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

, and has groups of strings laid out left to right, in triad chord groups rather than as chromatic scales. Although this can make the instrument difficult to play at speed, complex chord progressions can be easily interwoven around a basic melody.

Discography

*Bob Stewart – ''The Raggle Taggle Gypsies O'' *''The Journey to the Underworld'' *''The Unique Sound of the Psaltery'' *''Advanced Magical Arts'' *''Calling in the Elements''

Bibliography

*''The Way of Merlin'' *''The Miracle Tree'' *''Living Magical Arts'' *''Advanced Magical Arts'' *''The Underworld Initiation'' *''The Living World of Faery'' *''Power within the Land'' *''Earth Light'' *''The Spiritual Dimensions of Music'' *''Celebrating the Male Mysteries'' *''Celtic Gods, Celtic Goddesses'' *''Walker Between Worlds''

References

External links

Stewart's website
biographical page at Stewart's second website {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Robert John 1949 births Living people Scottish composers Scottish writers