Show Notes
Season 2 Episode 2 ‘Dreaming Ahead of Time’
Today’s podcast is the first of a loose trilogy on consciousness and time. My guest is the writer and musician Gary Lachman. Gary is the author of many books on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness to literary suicides, popular culture and the history of the occult. He has written a rock and roll memoir of the 1970s, biographies of Aleister Crowley, Rudolf Steiner, C. G. Jung, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Emanuel Swedenborg, P. D. Ouspensky, and Colin Wilson. He also written histories of Hermeticism and the Western Inner Tradition, studies in existentialism and the philosophy of consciousness, and about the influence of esotericism on politics and society. As Gary Valentine he was a founding member of the pop group Blondie and in 2006 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Gary was born in New Jersey, but since 1996 has lived in London, UK.
We begin our talk discussing the persistent and remarkable phenomenon of dreaming the future. This leads to a discussion of the writer and existential philosopher Colin Wilson, who associated future dreaming with something he called Faculty X. We discuss the phenomenon of ‘peak experiences’, times when life seems replete with meaning. And we talk about how general lack of meaning might have contributed to the rise of extreme politics in the US and elsewhere.
Resources
Gary Lachman’s website:
Some of his books:
Lachman, G. (2022). Dreaming Ahead of Time: Experiences with Precognitive Dreams, Synchronicity and Coincidence. Floris Books.
Lachman, G. (2016). Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson. Tarcherperigee. (Out of Print).
Lachman, G. (2016). The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World. Floris Books. (Contains a critique of philosopher John Gray and ‘everything is pointless’ philosophies).
Lachman, G. (2018). Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump. TarcherPerigee.
J.W. Dunne’s book on precognitive dreaming:
Dunne, J.W. (1927). An Experiment with time. A. & C. Black
Colin Wilson Books mentioned:
Wilson, C. (1956). The Outsider. Gollancz.
Wilson, C. (1959). The Age of Defeat. Gollancz.
Wilson, C. (1971). The Occult: A history. Random house
Wilson, C. (2009). Super Consciousness. Watkins books.
The Essential Colin Wilson LP (YouTube) (Discusses psychologist Abraham Maslow).
Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.
Aldous Huxley’s essay “Beliefs” is in the HarperPerrenial edition of The Perennial Philosophy.
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