James Hillman, visionary, iconoclast, father of Archetypal Psychology and intellectual successor to Jung has died. Hillman’s writings on Soul and Psyche have been influential to how I approach writing.
He’ll be missed.
Going inside the mind of Philip K. Dick
The long awaited, oft written about and frequently speculated on Exegesis of Philip K. Dick is set for release November 7th.
His fiction is famous, but his philosophy has been somewhat controversial as he has been called a visionary, a prophet, a latter-day Gnostic Saint and a madman.
I’ve read bits of the Exegesis at the end of VALIS and it was fascinating. I’m sure the full volume will be mind-bending, dark and illuminating.
I can’t wait to read it.
I, Robot?
Mystic and esoteric teacher G.I. Gurdjieff wrote that,
Man such as we know him, is a machine.
I am too often reminded of this anytime I do something seemingly on auto-pilot. How did I get to work again? When did they build that new restaurant? Why did I just boil water for coffee?
I realize today that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself.
- Hermann Hesse, from Demian
The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds and makes of all political and social life a mass illness. Without this housecleaning we cannot begin to see. Unless we see, we cannot think.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
A Stunning Existential Documentary
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Still waiting or this to show up where I live, but the trailer for General Orders #9 completely took my breath away.
If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is - infinite.
- William Blake, from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
Absolutely Essential Listening
In my humble opinion, A Love Supreme by John Coltrane is one of the most soul-stirring recordings ever made.
The haunting modality of the songs, the melodies, the unexpected moments that feel as much like sermon as song, all combine to create a masterpiece that is one part opus and another part offering to God by Coltrane.
It’s also essential listening for creatives.
Mary Oliver is a Blessing
I love so many of Mary Oliver’s poems, but this one has recently struck my heart.
Why I Wake Early
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety—
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with the warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light—
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
from the poetry collection, Why I Wake Early, by Mary Oliver