Here’s a review of The Secret Teachers of the Western World at the New York Journal of Books. I am glad the reviewer pointed this out: “This narrative of the history of these ideas could be stultifying or confusing for non-specialists and the curious. Luckily Mr. Lachman creates a history of ideas that fascinates and excites.” That’s what a good history of ideas should do.
Archive for Iain McGilchrist
Secret Teachers at the New York Journal of Books
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, blondie, consciousness, counter culture, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gary valentine, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, mysticism, new age, occult, philosophy, religion on March 15, 2016 by Gary LachmanLegalise Consciousness: A Secret Interview at Legalise Freedom
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, Carl Jung, Colin Wilson, consciousness, counter culture, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, hermetic, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Madame Blavatsky, occult, Phenomenology, philosophy, Rudolf Steiner on February 25, 2016 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to an interview I did recently with Greg Moffitt at his Legalise Freedom website. I’ve done interviews with Greg before; they’re always a pleasure because he always reads the books and asks intelligent questions. This time its about The Secret Teachers of the Western World, the rivalry between our two modes of consciousness and their possible collaboration.
Speaking Hermetically at Rune Soup
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, blank generation, blondie, Colin Wilson, consciousness, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gary valentine, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Jean Gebser, new age, occult, Phenomenology, philosophy on January 28, 2016 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to a recent interview I did with Gordon White at his excellent website RuneSoup. Gordon did his homework and our talk covered a great deal of ground. We focused on my new book The Secret Teachers of the Western World but our conversation ranged far and wide with much in between. Check it out when you can and be sure to listen to some of Gordon’s other chats.
An Interview for the Jean Gebser Society
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, blank generation, blondie, Colin Wilson, consciousness, counter culture, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gary valentine, Gurdjieff, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Jean Gebser, mysticism, new age, occult, Ouspensky, Phenomenology, philosophy, Rene Schwaller de Lubicz, Rudolf Steiner on January 19, 2016 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to a recent interview I did with Aaron Cheak for the Jean Gebser Society. Gebser is one of the most important philosophers of the last century, and as you most likely know, I write about him in several of my books: A Secret History of Consciousness, The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus, Revolutionaries of the Soul and my most recent book, The Secret Teachers of the Western World. The theme of the interview is the link between western philosophy and esotericism, but as you’ll see we cover a lot of ground, from my first introduction to these ideas to my latest approach to them. Aaron Cheak has done some very interesting work on Gebser, digging into his biography and associations with people like the poet Frederico Garcia Lorca, and he is currently translating more of Gebser’s work into English. I will certainly be happy to see this, as Gebser is so far under-translated and we can use as much of him as we can get.
A Review of The Secret Teachers of the Western World from Golgonooza
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags consciousness, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Jean Gebser, mysticism, philosophy on January 12, 2016 by Gary LachmanHere is a thoughtful review of The Secret Teachers of the Western World by Nicholas Collof, from his excellent website, Golgonooza, named after William Blake’s mythical city of art and the imagination. Like Blake, Nicholas “shall not cease from mental fight” and his followers are the better for it.
A Quick to Listen Interview about the Secret Teachers
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, blondie, Carl Jung, Colin Wilson, consciousness, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gary valentine, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Jean Gebser, Ouspensky, Phenomenology, philosophy, Rudolf Steiner on January 7, 2016 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to a recent interview with Grant Valdes at the Quick to Listen website. We talk about my new book, The Secret Teachers of the Western World, as well as a few other things, such as philosophy, split-brain theory, Jean Gebser, Colin Wilson, esotericism, Blondie, music and the demise of free time, peace, and quiet. Quick, now listen.
Secret Teachers Interview
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, Carl Jung, Colin Wilson, consciousness, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gnosis, Gurdjieff, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Jean Gebser, Madame Blavatsky, mysticism, new age, occult, spirituality on December 24, 2015 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to an interview I did recently with Chris Flisher at his Turning the Wheel website. We discuss some of the basic ideas of my new book, The Secret Teachers of the Western World, how the history of western consciousness has been informed by an often fierce rivalry between the two sides of the brain and what this has meant for the western esoteric tradition. Chris brings in the cosmic aspect, but I try to keep the conversation focussed on what is going on inside our heads and what this might mean for our future.
And if anyone feels inspired to disagree with the first review of the book on amazon, I won’t stop you. Evidently the reader was expecting something different.
And not to forget: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
