Walter Ernest Butler (23 August 1898 – 1 August 1978) was a working

occultist 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 ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and the Founder and first Director of Servants of the Light in Britain.

Early life

His first training in the mysteries was with Robert King, a bishop in the

Liberal Catholic Church The name Liberal Catholic Church (LCC) is used by a number of separate Christian churches throughout the world which are open to esoteric beliefs and hold many ideas in common. Although the term ''Liberal Catholic'' might suggest otherwise, it ...

, who trained him as a

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

. Butler later became a priest in the Liberal Catholic Church. While in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, he studied with Indian mystics and also came into contact with

Theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

mystic Annie Besant, who politely rejected his requests to study with her. He returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and joined

Dion Fortune Dion Fortune (born Violet Mary Firth, 6 December 1890 – 6 January 1946) was a British occultist, ceremonial magician, novelist and author. She was a co-founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light, an occult organisation that promoted ph ...

Society of the Inner Light A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. So ...

in 1925, where he continued to train and participate until sometime toward the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Career

In 1962 he met

Gareth Knight Sir Gareth (; Old French: ''Guerehet'', ''Guerrehet'') is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to ...

and, with Knight, began to develop a correspondence course in

Qabalah Hermetic Qabalah () is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Bu ...

for Helios Books. During this time he also rejoined the Society of the Inner Light, where he met Michael Nowicki and

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (born 11 June 1929) is a British occult author, third generation psychic, and esoteric practitioner. As an associate of Walter Ernest Butler, she succeeded him as Director of Studies of the Servants of the Light. Early ...

. By 1973, the Helios Course in the Practical Qabalah had gained popularity and was spun off to form the Servants of the Light, for which Ernest was the first Director of Studies. He remained director of studies until shortly before his death, when he passed that responsibility to

Personality and personal life

W. E. Butler worked many years as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

. Later on he was a member of the technical staff at

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

.Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5 September 2018
/ref> By the 1970s, Butler was living in a Tudor cottage with limestone walls and a thatched roof, Little Thatches, which was located in Hillstreet, Calmore, Southampton . Janine Chapman met Butler in the 1970s, noting that he had a Yorkshire accent, and commenting on a "paternal sort of goodness about him". She moreover highlighted that he had "the very pale white skin of a Celt, a round face, thin lips, and a kindly smile."

Bibliography

*''Magic: Its Ritual, Power and Purpose'', 1952 *''The Magician: His Training and Work'', 1959 *''Apprenticed to Magic'', 1962 *''Magic and the Qabalah'', 1964 *''How to Develop Clairvoyance'', 1968 *''How to Read the Aura'', 1971 *''How to Develop Psychometry'', 1971 *''How to Develop Telepathy'', 1975 *''Practical Magic and the Western Mystery Tradition'', 1986 *''Lords of Light: The Path of Initiation in the Western Mysteries'', 1990

Sources

Footnotes

Sources

* * * Knight, Gareth (2002)
Servants of the Light biography of W. E. Butler
Retrieved 30 September 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, W. E. 1898 births 1978 deaths British occult writers Hermetic Qabalists Society of the Inner Light English engineers