REVIEW: AVALON WORKING
Magick in the Landscape: Mark Nemglan’s Promise and Delivery
This is the last book from Scarlet Imprint that I will ever buy. As someone who has supported the publisher since its inception in 2007, I step away with a heavy heart due to their increasing drift toward extreme views, as proudly articulated in recent podcasts, and their ongoing grievances about “cancel culture.”
While this turn in their ideology is troubling, it speaks more broadly to contemporary occulture, as I already discussed here.
However, none of this detracted from my interest in Avalon Working — a book that resonated deeply with me as someone who has spent much of my life in Glastonbury, mostly as a visitor and for a short while as a resident, and has always felt a profound connection to its landscape and mythology.
Mark Nemglan‘s Avalon Working captures something rare about Glastonbury. The book portrays the town not just as a mystical site but as an initiatory landscape, where the land itself has agency, guiding the practitioner toward transformation. This perspective, which sees Glastonbury as a living, breathing entity, is compelling. The blend of scholarly insight with personal experience allows the reader to engage deeply with Avalon’s lore without feeling overwhelmed by New Age fluff, which so often clouds discussions of the place.
Still the book is not without its flaws. At times, the tone can veer into patronising territory. The insistence on untranslated Brythonic incantations adds a layer of frustration, particularly when the significance of these phrases goes unexplained. Nemglan’s choice to leave the reader in the dark about the meaning of these words is a misstep, especially in a tradition that prides itself on gnosis — to know. While I understand the reasoning behind it, a call for the true seeker to embark on the path towards the Mysteries without too much hand-holding, I really would have appreciated some deeper insights into the source of his magical system, even if only to tell us it’s all “UPG”, or Unverified Personal Gnosis.
That aside, however, the way Avalon Working ties Glastonbury into a broader esoteric framework is impressive. Nemglan draws fascinating parallels between Glastonbury and other sacred landscapes, suggesting that this land, like those of ancient temples and sanctuaries, is both ritualistic and sorcerous.
His vision of Glastonbury as Albion’s spiritual omphalos is well-argued and rooted in a rich historical context. Yet, the book’s scholarly achievements sometimes feel overshadowed by the esoteric practices it asks the reader to perform. The pilgrimages, rites, and visualizations detailed in the text often lack practical grounding, leaving the reader unsure of how to connect fully with the land in the way the author envisions. If Nemglan were to offer an in-person workshop in Glastonbury, I’d be definitely interested in it.
For those who come to Avalon Working hoping for a deeper dive into Arthurian lore, there will likely be some disappointment. Nemglan keeps the focus firmly on Avalon as a spiritual nexus, often glossing over elements of the mythology that could have enriched the narrative. While he does touch on figures like Merlin and Arthur, the treatment is superficial compared to the depth given to Glastonbury’s ritual landscape. Readers looking for an evocative, poetic take on the Arthurian legends might leave wanting more.
The book has a tactile beauty — its physical design with green and red elements feels almost ceremonial. This attention to crafting beautiful objects with their books is something I will surely miss about Scarlet Imprint, as it’s undeniable they produce some of the best-looking and -feeling books in the genre. Yet beyond its aesthetic and Nemglan’s devotion to Glastonbury, the content doesn’t always live up to its potential. The absence of detailed maps to guide the reader through the locations mentioned in the text is a glaring oversight. The book’s photographs, tucked at the end and disconnected from the narrative, help immerse the reader in the geography or the magick of Avalon, but as someone who knows well how breathtaking the landscape of Glastonbury is, I was left wanting more.
In conclusion, Avalon Working is a thought-provoking read that will appeal to serious magical practitioners and those with a deep love for Glastonbury’s mystical past.
Nemglan’s vision of Glastonbury as a ritual landscape is one that speaks to the soul, and his historical knowledge shines throughout the book. But for all its strengths, the book’s inaccessibility at times — and the frustration of feeling talked down to — cannot be ignored. Despite its shortcomings, it remains a valuable contribution to the literature of Avalon
