A Vision: An Explanation of Life Founded upon the Writings of Giraldus and upon Certain Doctrines Attributed to Kusta Ben Luka

Georgie Hyde-Lees, Yeats’s wife, is significant for more than just being the partner of a renowned poet. Born in 1892, she was introduced to Yeats through mutual friends in the occult community. Their marriage in 1917 marked a profound shift in Yeats’s personal and literary life. Her influence on Yeats was not merely as a muse but as an active participant in his spiritual and intellectual explorations. Georgie introduced Yeats to automatic writing, a form of spiritual communication in which one records the communications of the spirit world while in a trance. Much of the material for A Vision came from Georgie’s automatic writings. Their collaborative spiritual sessions served as the bedrock for A Vision.

Maud Gonne, an English-born Irish revolutionary, suffragette, and actress, was the muse and longtime unrequited love of W. B. Yeats. Their relationship was complicated, with Yeats proposing to her multiple times and facing rejection. She remained a dominant figure in his poetry, inspiring some of his most notable love poems. Beyond her relationship with Yeats, Gonne was deeply involved in the Irish Nationalist movement, playing a significant role in shaping Ireland’s political landscape. Her passionate activism and her tumultuous relationship with Yeats added layers of complexity to his works, including indirect influences on A Vision. While the work does not directly focus on Gonne, understanding her impact on Yeats provides context to the emotional and political underpinnings present in his writings.

Though a fictional character, Michael Robartes is crucial in A Vision. A mystic who discovers an esoteric system that reveals the cyclical nature of history and human temperament, Robartes is the conduit through which Yeats introduces readers to the central philosophy of the work. Drawing from Yeats’s encounters with mysticism and the occult, Robartes embodies the poet’s intellectual and spiritual inclinations. As the primary figure elucidating the complex system of moons, gyres, and cycles, Robartes is both a guide and a representation of Yeats’s quest for understanding in a rapidly changing world.