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The Zelator
The truth about the small group of magi who believe they have been reincarnated at key moments to conspire to change the course of events, guiding mankind towards higher levels of consciousness. Reveals the conspiracy by Leonardo, Newton, Goethe and other members of the initiate tradition to influence the course of history by magic.
672 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 20, 2014
The Zelator is a book that dropped in to my hands by accident. Bored, on a business trip to Toronto, I was browsing a low cost bookstore and came across the book. It sounded intriguing and so I bought it. This is the third time that I have subsequently read the book and, each time, I see more – I understand more. It is a veritable treasure trove of esoteric insights that have to be gleaned from the book – absorbed almost – from its pages. I suspect that much more is to be learned, considered and discovered in its pages.
The book is based on the diaries of an initiate – Mark Hedsel (most likely a pseudonym) – and edited along with an introduction and copies footnotes by David Ovason. The writing style seems a little dated and Hedsel uses ‘we’ as opposed to ‘I’ throughout which I assume to mean the combination of his higher self and his ego though I am still not quite sure. It is in place, tough to read as Hedsel often gets into streams of detail – some of which on the surface seems superfluous but which you eventually realise is absolutely relevant. Despite the heavy going, this book is an incredible read.
My overall reaction to the book to be honest is a cross between envy, nostalgia and a feeling of unworthiness. Why? Well, while Hedsel’s life overlaps my own his was quite a different era when the oral tradition was still very prevalent. He studies under several teachers the like of which I have never met and I think he was very fortunate to have done so. These days, it’s all internet and remote study for us solo students. Additionally, one suspects that he had the benefit of a classical education as opposed to what even in my day passed for a basic education; adequate but lacking the richness of the classics. Finally, there is a quiet authority about his words in which he hints and guides showing the way without necessarily providing the answers.
Hedsel’s book is about initiation and about a specific path of initiation – that of the Fool. In the book, he makes no mention nor does he allude to any particular practices save meditation, yet he talks of magic. Unaffiliated with any particular school as the Fool he moves from teacher to experience following his own questions to an answer and, as he does so, he experiences a number of initiation experiences – fission – in which he sloughs off dark matter on his way towards the light. He in a sense is an example of how it might be done as a solo practioner.
I will be honest and say I adore this book. I will read it many more times seeking greater insight and following its clues and pointers. It is among the very small group of books that I regularly consult and I can highly recommend it.
The book is based on the diaries of an initiate – Mark Hedsel (most likely a pseudonym) – and edited along with an introduction and copies footnotes by David Ovason. The writing style seems a little dated and Hedsel uses ‘we’ as opposed to ‘I’ throughout which I assume to mean the combination of his higher self and his ego though I am still not quite sure. It is in place, tough to read as Hedsel often gets into streams of detail – some of which on the surface seems superfluous but which you eventually realise is absolutely relevant. Despite the heavy going, this book is an incredible read.
My overall reaction to the book to be honest is a cross between envy, nostalgia and a feeling of unworthiness. Why? Well, while Hedsel’s life overlaps my own his was quite a different era when the oral tradition was still very prevalent. He studies under several teachers the like of which I have never met and I think he was very fortunate to have done so. These days, it’s all internet and remote study for us solo students. Additionally, one suspects that he had the benefit of a classical education as opposed to what even in my day passed for a basic education; adequate but lacking the richness of the classics. Finally, there is a quiet authority about his words in which he hints and guides showing the way without necessarily providing the answers.
Hedsel’s book is about initiation and about a specific path of initiation – that of the Fool. In the book, he makes no mention nor does he allude to any particular practices save meditation, yet he talks of magic. Unaffiliated with any particular school as the Fool he moves from teacher to experience following his own questions to an answer and, as he does so, he experiences a number of initiation experiences – fission – in which he sloughs off dark matter on his way towards the light. He in a sense is an example of how it might be done as a solo practioner.
I will be honest and say I adore this book. I will read it many more times seeking greater insight and following its clues and pointers. It is among the very small group of books that I regularly consult and I can highly recommend it.
October 10, 2007
This is the book that truly got me started on this journey.
July 11, 2012
This is a fantastic book. I'v read it three times and have researched much of the material. It's informative, relevant and accurate. The information presented changed my life!
December 12, 2021
Right. Another book I've had on the boil for about 3 years or so, clearly not in a hurry to read.
This is a regurgitation of piles and piles of esoteric books, dressed up as a seeker of initiation into arcane knowledge in more or less contemporary times. Did I do the right thing in reading this cover to cover, noting books not conveniently laid out in an index but rather referred to in endless notes at the rear of the book (almost as large as the book itself)? Cross referencing images, statuary, art etc references in the book, seeking a more removed view of what was being commented on at the time? Did I entirely trust this book? It is a monumental journey through esoteric and occult knowledge, absolutely. I could only digest bite size bits of this book (5 pages or so at a time), and clearly I left it for long periods of time, always returning, losing the thread of the 'story', such as it was, but delighting in the little explosions of arcane word-play throughout western tradition.
And yet.
I mean, is it all just word association, this whole western magic tradition? Wandering around in a labyrinth of words and seemingly random associations. A friend of mine inadvertantly put me on to this. It's clearly his favourite book, he claims to have read it about 20 times. I was a bit more skeptical. Would any study of western occult tradition make any sense outside of the west?
I don't know. This is a big book of 'initiation', and I think Colin Wilson's blurb on the back of my edition warrants notice, in as much as he referrs to the possible tongue-in-cheek nature of this book. Do I randomly, from this point forward, save a cover-to-cover re-read in favour of randomly opening up a page and grabbing an out-of-context bite-size few pages of kabbalistic lore to chew on for the next few days? For sheer story-telling, give me the Illuminatus Trilogy any day. Was it sheer mental masochism that eventually got me through the book? Probably.
And yet.
It is quite a feat to digest that much arcane lore, and present it in such a prolonged cascade of wordage. Clearly a broad area of interest, despite the inclusion of sources that really don't deserve any serious attention. I mean, mesmerism, really? But something clearly got me through it. So I'll give it that. And it does certainly sweep over some fascinating topics, for all that. Worth re-reading 20 times or more? Not for me, alas.
This is a regurgitation of piles and piles of esoteric books, dressed up as a seeker of initiation into arcane knowledge in more or less contemporary times. Did I do the right thing in reading this cover to cover, noting books not conveniently laid out in an index but rather referred to in endless notes at the rear of the book (almost as large as the book itself)? Cross referencing images, statuary, art etc references in the book, seeking a more removed view of what was being commented on at the time? Did I entirely trust this book? It is a monumental journey through esoteric and occult knowledge, absolutely. I could only digest bite size bits of this book (5 pages or so at a time), and clearly I left it for long periods of time, always returning, losing the thread of the 'story', such as it was, but delighting in the little explosions of arcane word-play throughout western tradition.
And yet.
I mean, is it all just word association, this whole western magic tradition? Wandering around in a labyrinth of words and seemingly random associations. A friend of mine inadvertantly put me on to this. It's clearly his favourite book, he claims to have read it about 20 times. I was a bit more skeptical. Would any study of western occult tradition make any sense outside of the west?
I don't know. This is a big book of 'initiation', and I think Colin Wilson's blurb on the back of my edition warrants notice, in as much as he referrs to the possible tongue-in-cheek nature of this book. Do I randomly, from this point forward, save a cover-to-cover re-read in favour of randomly opening up a page and grabbing an out-of-context bite-size few pages of kabbalistic lore to chew on for the next few days? For sheer story-telling, give me the Illuminatus Trilogy any day. Was it sheer mental masochism that eventually got me through the book? Probably.
And yet.
It is quite a feat to digest that much arcane lore, and present it in such a prolonged cascade of wordage. Clearly a broad area of interest, despite the inclusion of sources that really don't deserve any serious attention. I mean, mesmerism, really? But something clearly got me through it. So I'll give it that. And it does certainly sweep over some fascinating topics, for all that. Worth re-reading 20 times or more? Not for me, alas.
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April 10, 2020I find it hard to rate this sort of book. I find them very interesting, but some information is way over my head, some I have doubts about but what’s left gives me food for thought. I can’t rate low because I’m sure it must be excellent information if you are at the right level to receive it, but conversely I can’t rate high either because I’m in no position to judge it effectively. It’s worth saying that I didn’t buy this book for myself; it was left in my home by a visitor a couple of years ago and has sat on my shelf waiting for my curiosity to be piqued enough to pick it up and investigate the contents......
January 28, 2020
Really long and detailed. Read this if you're really interested in Zoroastrianism philosophy.
November 3, 2021
Review in progress. Stay tuned.
April 4, 2022
"As we were already conversant with the methods of mediaeval arcane symbolism, we did not always come to the same conclusions as [Hedsel/Ovason]. Even so, as we read the enthralling book, we found ourselves in the familiar position of having in our mind far more questions than answers." (p. 387)
July 12, 2023
Interesting true life look at the world of the occult. Not saying that the occult is true though.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews