The
Modern Occultist
Interview #18
King Arthur Pendragon
The Trials of Arthur: The Biker
Who Would Be King
Hilaritas Press,
2026
Co-written with CJ
Stone
MODERN
OCCULTIST
In 1986 you walked into a solicitor's office and made it official: not a stage name, not a nom de guerre, but a legal Change of Name Deed, John Timothy Rothwell becoming Arthur Uther Pendragon on paper, on your passport, on your driving license.
Forty years
on, with twenty-six court appearances (and a Crown Court witness statement from
Professor Ronald Hutton behind you) does the name still feel like something you
stepped into, or has the man and the myth simply become indistinguishable at
this point? And for a new reader meeting you for the first time in this
edition, what would you want them to understand about the difference between
believing you are the once-and-future king and choosing, deliberately, to
become him?
KING ARTHUR PENDRAGON
The two are indistinguishable because once you truly believe you are the once and future king you are left with no other choice other than to deliberately become him. The very thought once entertained like any manifestation, takes on a life of its own and once you resolve to follow through, it’s done. And what’s done cannot be undone.
Or alternately, King Arthur returned and did naught save sit on his backside and do nothing about it? That was a reality I most certainly could not entertain, I knew very little of Arthur at the time but the King Arthur I believed in, then and now, would and or could never let that happen.
I have long
held. The hardest thing in life is making a choice; the simplest is following
it through.
MO
The book is unusually honest about the omens that confirmed your path, particularly the encounter at Stonehenge, in the dark, in 1986, with a bird's wing brushing your forehead. Professor Hutton's foreword treats Druidry's lack of an unbroken lineage back to the Iron Age as simply a fact to be stated plainly, not a problem to be argued away.
How do you
personally hold the tension between the historical record, which Hutton lays
out so carefully, and the lived, felt certainty of that night at the Stones?
Does modern Druidry need an ancient pedigree to be real, or is authenticity
something a tradition earns through the sincerity and consequence of its
practice rather than its paperwork?
KAP
There are in modern times many differing Druid Orders some teaching, some geographical and some based firmly in the revivalist movement of the seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen hundreds then there’s Warrior Orders like mine who draw their inspiration from the druids of yore who instilled fear into the Roman armies, and were known and respected log before the first Romans came to these Isles. It is these and the early Proto-druids before them who laid out the markers we see to this day at places and Temples such as Stonehenge. The Priest caste that envisaged and built such structures and celebrated the Longest the Shortest and equal days it is said by learned people such as Professor Ronald Hutton left no written works, and with the Greatest respect I would agree to differ. for they left it ‘written’ into the very landscape itself. The Temples and monuments themselves are the written language of our Ancestors. Many Pagan are aggrieved because here in the UK they claim that the Christians stole our sites, and it is true that many churches and alike were built on pre Christian Pagan sites. But I am of the opinion that it is the Very site itself that is Sacred and it matters not if you build a Temple, a Church or a synagogue etc. upon it. It is the Genus Loki, the spirit of the place that hold it Sacred and if we are following in the work of those Druids who went before in leading the people in Ritual and Celebration, who cares that we have no written record of what went before and also in the words of Professor Ronald Hutton, “If there’s no tradition then we’ll start one.”
MO
This new Hilaritas edition arrives after a winding twenty-three-year publishing journey, Thorsons, then Big Hand Press, a self-published 2023 edition with alterations you've said were made “for magical purposes” as much as accuracy, and now this fully collaborative fourth edition.
Without
breaking the magic, can you tell us anything about what changes across the
years since 2003, factual, tonal, or otherwise, have mattered most to you, and
why getting this particular version right, in close collaboration with your
editors, felt important enough to keep revisiting the book for over two
decades?
KAP
Neither Chris or I were ever happy with what was in reality a work in progress, we had over the years and over the different issues our disagreements over what should and what should not have been included and in what order. but also our pride in what we had achieved working together. It’s a testament to out similarity in style of writing that the two chapters I wrote alone slipped right in and the reader would be hard pressed to spot which two they are. We (That’s the collective as well as royal) were never happy. Until now that is. This then, the fourth edition is the book that we envisaged when we embarked upon this project. The Book as it should always have been.
There were a few inaccuracies, some of which we only found out later that we have, with the benefit of hindsight changed, and a number of reordering and renaming of Chapters along with various additions along the way, but it never felt complete until now. Subtle changes, a word here a word there a single sentence put in or taken out for effect to change and thereby alter the Intent with which it is delivered to the reader. We did all this and much and more beside as Churchill (A Druid) is often miss-quoted when speaking of the previous Arthur of Myth and Legend. We tinkered with it yes for effect and make a more pleasurable reading experience. But also because we all though (and that goes to the Publishers and proof readers also) that we should do the best we possible could. We owe it to the legend and to the Giants (of literature and word and deed) upon whose shoulders we sit.
MO
Your battles, the Newbury Bypass, the fight to reopen Stonehenge for free solstice access after the Battle of the Beanfield, the endless run-ins with police and councils, were fought as much on spiritual as political ground. The book frames each era as getting “the Arthur it deserves,” with yours forged specifically in the wreckage of Thatcher-era Britain.
Looking at
Britain and the wider world now, in 2026, what does the Arthur this particular
moment deserves look like? Is the mission still fundamentally the same one you
took up in the eighties, or has “Truth, Honour and Justice” needed to mean
something different as the fights themselves have changed?
KAP
I often say
for the purpose of clarity and generalization that there are three Arthurs and
with them three Arthurian age . There’s a Pre-Roman archetypal Welsh, a Post
Roman ‘Dark age’ British and a post Thatcher and that I am for point of
reference the post Thatcher. Yes this Arthur began his ‘fight’ in the wreckage
of Thatcher-era Britain as you put it but the fight continues to this day in
the post Starner era, incidentally it was a young barrister by the name of Kier
Starmer (Yes that one) who assisted me in the preparation of a case taken to
the European court of Human rights in Strasburg listed as King Arthur v The United
Kingdom and he wrote an article prior to that about my legal exploits at
Stonehenge for the Socialist Lawyer which we have managed to include in the
Book. There will always be more to do in the Ancient virtues of Truth of Honour
and of Justice and though the tactics and the causes may change the reasons to
take up the fight may not…..
MO
CJ Stone has described your collaboration as a genuine meeting of minds that took years to find its shared voice, the two of you eventually settling on writing in the “Royal We.” That's an unusually intimate way to build a book, the subject and the chronicler working out not just facts but tone, together, over decades.
What has it
meant to have your story told by someone who was there for so much of it rather
than reconstructing it from the outside? And is there a story that never made
it into any edition of the book, one you've always meant to tell, that you'd
like to share with our readers here?
KAP
Chris was there “by my side” for some of this tale, and spoke and discussed much of what occurred with others who were present and had intimate knowledge of how when and why things happen and I of course have memories and details to add and share. Very early on we decided to talk about the King in the third person and often when writing, I still do. It makes life simpler to talk about myself in such a manner and as ‘our’ writing styles and sense of humor is so similar it made perfect sense.
There are many tales, that did not make their way into the book and I shall in deed relate one such tale here for your readers.
Following on from an article I wrote for a Pagan publication “A Witches Athame” that appears in the appendix of the book where I discuss the legality of “our” Ritual tools, here in the UK and the carrying of them in public places. An Archdruid and leader of a Druid Order passed into the Summerland’s and his Archdruidess approached me as I had been the one who had encouraged him to form his Order and one of the first Senior Druids to recognize him. Apparently their were several contenders for the now vacant position to lead the Order. I went down to the Coast where the Order existed and along with the Arch druidess called a meeting on the beach. Suffice here to say I opened the circle and to everyone’s surprise (probably including my own) raised the Arch Druidess and former High Priestess to the position of Authority within the Order, stating that any may challenge that decision, there and then or remain silent. Needless to say none did. I had effectively forced her upon them by strength of will.
That however merely sets the scene for what later occurred. Some years later after returning from a Druid Ceremony “her” Swordbearer (and that of the Order) was arrested with his covered sword when the police were called to attend a shop he had walked into. I had recently ‘won’ the right to carry my Sword as a Druid Swordbearer and received a phone call from the Archdruidess asking my advice.
Later after much discussion and preliminary legal proceedings I appeared in Court as a “Mackensy Friend,” a legal term for a lay (unqualified) legal adviser. When I quoted legal president, the Clerk of the Court interrupted me thinking I had made an error and use my own name Pendragon v the United Kingdom.
“No that’s right” I replied it was in fact me that set the president.
We won that case and the Swordbearers Sword was in deed returned.
Now here is the lesson, No matter how much ‘Magic’ you lay down you can only do what you can do, and you never know where it’s going.
The young Swordbearer sometime later turned up in Glastonbury and was convinced by a number of local Druids, including another Archdruidess that Druids were Pacifistic in nature and that there was no need for such Swords. A stance I strongly disagree with. This led to the Swordbearer handing his Sword over to the local police to be destroyed under the Amnesty Act.
So you see,
you may never tell where Magical interventions may lead, or where other
interventions may take it. As is of ‘times said, be careful what you wish for.
MO
In your
personal opinion, and to the benefit of new students and initiates, how would
you describe “Occult Philosophy”?
KAP
It is ALL
about intent and by such intent to manifest reality. Example, I believe I am
King Arthur, so I had a choice believe it and do nothing or Will it and thus
manifest it as a reality. The rest as they say is history but don’t take my
word for it. Read the book and judge for yourself.
MO
What was
your personal start on your own journey on this path (or chosen profession)?
KAP
A near death experience in my early teens when I realized that instead of the fear I expected to feel, that I was ready for whatever would come next.
MO
To this
magazine, the concept of “modern occultism” can (and should) be equally viewed
from both the academic and practical sides. What would you recommend to a
person only now coming along to these subjects, and is uncertain if an
objective academic career, or a true “practical path” may be right for them?
KAP
I would say
simply, go with the heart not with the head. If you truly believe ‘deep down’
that something is the right thing for you. Go for it. If on the other hand you
fell you should follow a certain path but are unsure if it’s actually “for you.”
Then it is not…
MO
What is one
book, film, lecture, or teacher that helped shape your journey and personal
philosophies that you would recommend to a new student or occult practitioner
(or historian / academic)?
KAP
I would say
The Lord of the Rings trilogy and “nonviolent direct action” as taught
and demonstrated by Gandhi.
MO
And
finally, what is one daily activity that you believe is a must for all seekers
of the occult philosophies and/or arts?
KAP
To wake up …..
(Every day, Modern Occultist News will present "This Day in Occult History" and your "Daily Occult Review" and will dive into the birthdays, rituals, breakthroughs, and crucial moments that shaped today’s many esoteric traditions. From the Hermetic revival to Witchcraft, from Crowley to cyberspace, we’ll bring the best stories and latest trends to today’s own modern occultists everywhere.)
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