Gwendolyn Taunton

Author, Writing and Editing

Gwendolyn Taunton - Author

Gwendolyn Taunton's Bio:

Gwendolyn has an extensive academic background in Philosophy, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Information Technology. In 2009 she won the $10,000 Ashton Wylie Award for Literary Excellence for her first book Primordial Traditions, which was presented by the Mayor of Auckland. She has previously been employed as a graphic designer & web developer for the University of Canterbury, the Ministry of Research, Science, & Technology, and a government embassy in New Zealand. She has also assisted the University of Singapore with web design. Gwendolyn's natural habit is a spacious home in rural Australia, filled with books, animals, exotic plants, and religious antiquities. She is strongly pro-environment and is concerned with animal welfare.

Gwendolyn Taunton's Experience:

  • Editor at Primordial Traditions

    2006 - 2010 | Global

    Primordial Traditions was the winner of the 2009 Ashton Wylie Award for Literary Excellence. This new second edition of the original award-winning collection features a selection of essays by Gwendolyn Taunton and other talented authors from the original periodical Primordial Traditions (2006-2010).

  • Author at Eternal Wisdom: The Esoteric Gnosis of Perennial Philosophy

    | Global

    Eternal Wisdom explains the connection between art, mythology, spirituality, and religion through the language of symbols. These concepts are taken outside of the context of religious philosophy to explain how these ideas should be revised to achieve a positive cultural outlook for the increasingly bleak modern era.

  • Author at Nietzsche: The Antichrist & the Antipolitical

    2022 | Global

    Friedrich Nietzsche has had an enormous influence on the arts, politics, and even the occult realm. Moreover, this influence has not waned in the contemporary era. Despite this, Nietzsche remains widely misunderstood, primarily when he discusses religion and politics. Nietzsche: The Antichrist & the Antipolitical highlights the finer points of Nietzsche’s opinions on religion, culture, and politics from an unbiased and neutral perspective.

  • Author at The Path of Shadows

    March 2018 | Global

    The Path of Shadows escorts the reader deep into the hidden subterranean world of the chthonic traditions of ancient Greece. The word chthonic refers to the interior of the earth, from where life is born and to which it returns in death. The chthonic traditions represent the paradoxical complexity inherent in life itself, which venerate the earth, the afterlife, final judgment, and the occult. The Gods connected to these primordial forces exist in all traditions – sometimes they are represented as benevolent figures, and at other times malevolent ones. The Path of Shadows concentrates on the Hellenic Gods, but also explores their relationships to other religions and cultural influences.

  • Author at Fate and the Twilight of the Gods

    2018 | Global

    Fate and the Twilight of the Gods: The Norns and an Exegesis of Voluspa contains two sections, the first of which elaborates on the Norns (Nornir) and the concept of fate. In the Traditions of Northern Europe, fate is usually represented as a Goddess consisting of three aspects, known collectively as the Norns, who control the fate of the cosmos, and remain distinct from both the Aesir and the Vanir, but are nonetheless able to control the destinies of mortals and Gods alike. Respectively, the most common names for the Norns are Urdr, Verdandi, and Skuld – each of whom has a special function, weaving a tapestry of words in which the warp and weft of threads become a metaphor for human lives. Together, the three Norns offer a fascinating insight into the nature of magic, language, and metaphysical predeterminism in the Northern Traditions.The second half of the book examines Ragnarok, and provides an exegesis of Voluspa - the prophecy which outlines the inevitable destruction of the world, and the ‘Twilight of the Gods’.

  • Author at Sovereign Thought: The Philosopher and the Kingdom: From Ancient Greece to the Arthashastra

    February 2023 | Global

    Everything has a point of origin, and the formation of civilization is no exception. For Western culture, the vestigial epoch of cultural birth in Greece contains the best archaeological heritage of societal development, meticulously preserved by scholars. Equally unprecedented is the spectacular rise of Chanakya/Kautilya and the Mauryan Empire in India, which is one of antiquity’s most astonishing political systems and continues to exert an enormous influence worldwide. Both ancient Greek and Indian civilizations have left an enduring legacy through Socrates, Plato, and Chanakya/Kautilya. In the West, Plato (and, by default, Socrates) is regarded as the most influential philosopher in history, so much so that many philosophical concepts are mere ‘footnotes to Plato.’ No less extensive is the influence of Chanakya, whose ideas are still studied today. In the West, Chanakya is often referred to as the ‘Indian Machiavelli’ due to his political treatise, the Arthashastra.

Gwendolyn Taunton's Education:

  • Massey University

    2001 – 2003
    Information Systems
    Concentration: Web Technology

  • University of Cantebrury

    BA (Hons)
    Concentration: Religious Studies, Philosophy

  • Excel Institute

    NZQA Level 7 Computing
    Activities: Database programing, Web Development

Gwendolyn Taunton's Interests & Activities:

Writing, Reading, Photography, Digital Art, Ecology, Orchids, Herpetology, Mythology, Spirituality, Archery, Philosophy, Swimming