Roberto Assagioli: A transpersonal magician? Connections with W.E. Butler and Western esotericism

This article continues an earlier argument that Western Esotericism contributed to transpersonal psychology by comparing the work of Roberto Assagioli, founder of psychosynthesis, with that of ritual magician Walter Ernest Butler. It presents ritual magic as a spiritual practice and highlights parallels between Assagioli's psychological methods and Butler's magical practices. The paper draws on scholarship in consciousness and transpersonal psychology.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In a previous article (Rush, 2016), I argued that Western Esotericism had contributed to the development of transpersonal psychology. In the present article, I continue this argument by focusing on Roberto Assagioli and comparing his work with that of his contemporary Walter Ernest Butler. Assagioli (1888–1974) was an Italian psychiatrist and the founder of psychosynthesis, whilst W.E. Butler (1898–1978) was a ritual magician and representative of the Western Mystery Tradition in the UK. I argue for ritual magic (as opposed to stage magic) as a form of spiritual practice, before highlighting some of the parallels in the psychological work of Assagioli and the magical work of Butler. This paper is based on an article originally submitted for the PGDip in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University and was presented at the BPS Transpersonal Psychology Section conference at Cober Hill, Scarborough, UK, in 2023.