The Astral H.D.: Occult and Religious Sources and Contexts for H.D.s Poetry and Prose

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Modernist poet H.D. had many visionary and paranormal experiences throughout her life. Although Sigmund Freud worried that they might be symptoms, she rebelled, educating herself in the alternative world of the occult and spiritualism in order to transform the raw material into a mythical autobiography woven throughout her poetry, prose, and life-writing. The Astral H.D. narrates the fascinating story of how she used the occult to transform herself, and provides surprising revelations about her friendships and conflicts with famous figuressuch as Sigmund Freud and the Battle of Britain War Hero Hugh Dowdingalong the way.

Reviews

The Astral H.D. offers a welcome account of H.D.s relationship to the complexities of the occult tradition, and sheds light in to some of the darker regions of the poets personal archive. It includes historical and literary material that is important for scholars engaging with the wider ranging questions occasioned by the study of modernism and religious culture. * Modernism/modernity *
An excellent guide to H.D.s occultism: her reading, her associative processing of that reading, and her appropriation and adaptation of it in her later poetry This book is extraordinarily well-researched, meticulous, and thorough. It is a challenge to read, purely because of the breadth and scope of H.D.s reading in the occult, but Robinson has full control of this mass of material. * Literature & Theology *
An important and useful addition to the scholarship on H.D.'s involvement in spiritualism and the occult. * Donna K. Hollenberg, Professor Emerita of English, University of Connecticut, USA *
The Astral H.D. will inspire new critical assessments of H.D.s great war epic, Trilogy, as well as some of her lesser known poetry, such as Vale Ave and the poems of Hermetic Definition. Robinsons grasp on the occult literature H.D. was reading in her later years is impressive, and he illuminates beautifully some of the more esoteric source material of her extensive library. * Lara Vetter, Associate Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA *
In The Astral H.D., Robinson undertakes a fascinating investigation into the myriad complexities of H.D.s engagement with the occult. Robinsons thorough and erudite scholarship marshals a wealth of archival research and provides deft readings of H.D.s most challenging texts. An invaluable resource for H.D. scholars, this volume will also be essential reading for all those interested in how an accomplished writer might appropriate, adapt and deploy a complex constellation of hermetic images and ideas. * Elizabeth Anderson, Impact Research Fellow, University of Stirling, UK, and author of H.D. and Modernist Religious Imagination *
Positioned as a supplement to Susan Stanford Friedmans Psyche Reborn (1981), this book focuses on H.D.s late long poems, particularly the spiritual and esoteric texts that influenced her in her last decade of writing. Tracing her marginalia in these books, Robinson asserts that occultism not only inspired her poetry but also offered her a framework to think about her life events, allowing for an extensive project of weaving together her memories, dreams, visions, fantasies, and future. By locating the sources of H.D.s gnosticism, hermeticism, and Rosicrucianism, this book provides detailed readings of Trilogy (1973), Helen in Egypt (1961), and Hermetic Definition (1971). * American Literature *
The Astral H. D. is a deft work that manages to both broadly survey the esoteric material that informed H. D.s spiritual questingwhat she termed her work or her researchesand acutely place this work in the context of her writing (p. 23). Robinsons approach to this material is detailed and multifaceted. Employing historical, biographical, and critical methodologies, he draws his analysis from a range of material including archival sources, such as the writers notebooks and marginalia from her original copies of occult books. He also turns to the writings of the key occult figures to whom she was drawn (for example, Yogi Ramacharaka, Jean Chaboseau, and Robert Ambelain). While most H. D. scholars will be aware of the poets interest in the occult, they may be surprised to learn of the intricacies of H. D.s research. The reader of The Astral H. D. should expect to gain significant knowledge of key concepts, terms, symbology, and critical debates within the occult sources that were most important to the poet. While this material is challenging for anyone who is not well-versed in occult practices and teachings, Robinson addresses it with care and precision. Complex ideas are made especially accessible when placed in direct conversation with prominent themes in H. D.s literature It is the nuanced and detailed nature of Robinsons study that truly marks this books contribution to the field. * Tulsa Studies in Womens Literature *

Author Bio

Matte Robinson is Assistant Professor of English at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada.