Although renowned as one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was also a devoted exponent of the western mythical and magical traditions. Yeats met with students of the occult in Dublin in the 1880s and was later introduced by his friend Charles Johnson to the Theosophical Society. Yeats subsequently left the Theosophists and in 1890 was initiated as a ceremonial magician into the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - arguably the most influential esoteric order in the western magical tradition – and for a time became its leader.
Yeats exercised a profoundly Celtic influence on his fellow occultists and his love of Irish folklore is reflected in this book, which was first published in 1893. The Celtic Twilight brings together many of Yeats' most enchanting and mystical tales - a dazzling array of sorcerers, faeries, ghosts and nature spirits - which draw their inspiration from the visionary heart of Irish folk-tradition.