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

This article examines the parallels between Roberto Assagioli, an Italian psychiatrist and founder of psychosynthesis, and Walter Ernest Butler, a British ritual magician associated with the Western Mystery Tradition. It argues that Butler's ritual magic functions as a spiritual practice emphasizing service, transformation, and the integration of conscious and unconscious processes, drawing heavily on Jungian psychology and esoteric traditions such as Kabbalah. The comparison highlights shared concepts including the role of the Higher Self or Superconscious, the restructuring of personality, and the use of symbolic frameworks like the Tree of Life. The article suggests mutual influence or common sources between Assagioli's psychosynthesis and Butler's magical work, proposing that 20th-century ritual magic contributed to the development of transpersonal psychology.