Pagan Book Reviews

Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld
Patrick Harpur
Pine Winds Press, 2003
329 pages

If you have even the smallest interest in the Otherworld, read this book.

Harpur examines phenomena ranging from UFO sightings to black dogs and phantom cats to fairies and crop circles (and more). He regards them not as purely literal, but as denizens of what he terms daimonic reality. Daimonic reality seems in its nature to be metaphorical, but it has a very real effect on our world as well.

Drawing on Jung and Yeats, travelling to the Anima Mundi, Collective Unconscious, and Imagination-with-a-big-I, the author reveals the appearances of daimons which have evolved over time to meet our own changes, how the beings known as fairies who used to show themselves to us as diminunitive humanoids in green coats, now appear as alien humanoids in silver spacesuits–and why they’ve changed.

Harpur isn’t a debunker; he doesn’t attempt to disprove the Otherworld’s existence; rather, just the opposite. Harpur provides a unique and substantial set of theories regarding the long-running tradition of the Otherworld that has long fascinated humanity.

This is a truly well-written piece of work. It is academic rather than New Age, and the research provides a solid base for his theories. It’s not a dry read, though newbies may find it to be a bit difficult, but it’s well worth the investment of time and money. Those who identify as Otherkin will find some useful ideas on metaphorical reality that can be applied to being Other.

I can’t even begin to do it justice; all I have to say it–read it!

Five pawprints out of five.

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