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 new age
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 LachmanSpeaking 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.
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
Secret Teachers Review at Publishers Weekly
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, altered states, Carl Jung, Colin Wilson, consciousness, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Madame Blavatsky, mysticism, new age, occult, philosophy, religion, Rudolf Steiner, spirituality, Theosophy on October 19, 2015 by Gary LachmanHere’s a review of my new book The Secret Teachers of the Western World at Publishers Weekly. I hope you enjoy it and please, do not keep it a secret…
A Review of The Caretakers of the Cosmos
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags consciousness, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, hermeticism, kabbalah, mysticism, new age, philosophy, Postmodern, religion, spirituality on January 31, 2015 by Gary LachmanDavid Fideler, author of an important new book, Restoring the Soul of the World, has written a review of my book The Caretakers of the Cosmos, for the journal Parabola. If you’re not familiar with the book, perhaps the review will pique your interest. And if you do know it, that’s all the better.
Remarkable Men, the Fin De Siecle and Zombies
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Carl Jung, Colin Wilson, consciousness, counter culture, esoteric, evolution of consciousness, fin de siecle, Gary Lachman, Gurdjieff, Madame Blavatsky, mysticism, new age, occult, Ouspensky, philosophy, spirituality, Stan Gooch on January 21, 2015 by Gary LachmanPenguin Classics has put out a new edition of Gurdjieff’s Meetings With Remarkable Men to which I’ve contributed an Introduction. The book was an important influence on me in my early years and remains the most readable thing Gurdjieff wrote; while recognizing the importance of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, readers of that unwieldy masterpiece will, I think, agree. So not surprisingly I am very happy to be introducing this gripping esoteric adventure story to a new generation, and perhaps reminding an older one just how remarkable both Gurdjieff and his spiritual autobiography are. (I’m not sure when or if it will be available in the US; amazon.co.uk have it listed as a Kindle edition, but the paperback should be available after February 5.) I have also contributed an essay, “New Age Fin De Siecle” to an impressive tome, The Fin-De-Siecle World, published by Routledge and edited by Michael Saler, a professor of history at UC Davis. I argue that along with its stereotyped character as a era of decadence, the fin-de-siecle also had a very positive, progressive side, in which mysticism, science, the occult, and quite a few other things came together in a remarkable blend, and that practically everything associated with today’s “new age” can be traced back to it. Some idea of the essay can be found in an earlier post “The Spirit at the Turn of the 20th Century,” which readers can find below. I’ve also contributed entries on C.G. Jung, Stan Gooch (an important paranormal investigator and theorist on human evolution) and Colin Wilson to another door-stopping work, Ghosts, Spirits, and Psychics: The Paranormal from Alchemy to Zombies, edited by Matt Cardin, which will available later this year. I hope that anyone who hasn’t read Meetings With Remarkable Men may be encouraged to give it a try, and that readers familiar with it may feel its time for a new copy. The Fin-De-Siecle World and Ghosts, Spirits and Psychics, on the other hand, are massive academic works, and are priced beyond most readers’ budgets. But perhaps your local library or institute of higher education could be persuaded to add them to their collection. (By the way, I get no royalties from any sales, so this isn’t a plug to help pay my rent.)
