Philip K. Dick?

He's one of my favorite authors of all time. Love all of his books. He wrote three books regarding what you mentioned. The first is called "Valis", and it's really good.

He really did keep a huge journal about his experience. It's brought up a lot in Valis as Horselover Fatts sort of self written bible. He based that character after himself.

I believe what happened is he had a weird vision (in Valis he seems to think that it's some sort of god like super computer or God itself) where he was told his son had a certain disease or ailment. His son had been sick for a while and the doctors couldn't figure out what he had. Turns out his vision was correct and saved his son.

Really interesting stuff. Good post. Anyone into sci fi paranormal stuff should read a few of his books. They're all really good.

>>18352774
yeah that's stuff I've read/heard about him. It's all really fascinating honestly. heard another story about a time when he was young (20's I think) and he woke up to see an older man standing over his bed. He told his wife at the time (I think it might've been Kleo) not to worry, because it was him. Far later he had a dream where he was standing over the bed of his younger self.

there's a guy doing a graphic novel biography about him right now that I'm really excited about. I think it's supposed to come out sometime next year, not sure though

>>18352705
he might have got a upgrade. these things cause instability in most. if he managed to keep his shit together he might have gained some insight or become more articulate, maybe his long term memory became sharper who knows

maybe he was just crazy

>>18352792
Shit! That's awesome to hear. I'll be looking forward to that.

Yeah man, I read about that too. I really don't think he was just a sci fi writer. It's hard (for me at least) not to think he was somehow really involved, unknowingly or not, in some really deep real life sci fi stuff that still can't be explained.

he was epileptic you stupid fags

>>18352807
Yeah, a lot of people write him off as being crazy, even people that knew him but a lot of what he experienced had some basis in reality, like the instance with his son being sick. Even his paranoia was justified considering he lived through the McCarthy era and was investigated for Communist ties, plus the burglary where some of his manuscripts were stolen out of his blown up filing cabinet...
I'm definitely not one to judge how tight someone's grip on reality is (I experience a fair bit of paranoia+delusions myself) but damn, whatever was going on with him was some next level shit.

The book is by Zak Sally. Not a huge artist but he's good and definitely knows his shit when it comes to PKD. I've gotten to see some of the in progress pages in person and some pics he's posted online, it's gonna be great.

favorite science fiction author ever to be quite honest op

read nearly all of his stuff, and there's a lot

definitely believe he had some mystical experiences

>>18352852
I've been wanting to read more of his stuff since I started doing research into his life. No idea where to begin though. Any good starting points you'd recommend?

>>18352881
maybe start off with some of his short story work, really can't go wrong with any of them, but as far as novels go, a scanner darkly really affected me in a way and isn't really as long or time consuming as some of his other work, but definitely one of the best

have to read valis and the man in the high castle though for sure

lies inc is pretty sick as well

>>18352891
he was actually pretty open about his drug use in interviews and such

>>18352891
>>18352898

oh yeah he was a heavy amphetamine user for a long time. Did it so he could write. He'd be up for days on end writing and helping his wife (idk which one he was on at that point) and would just pass out for 24 hours or so.

And he only ever did LSD twice in his life. His first time was reportedly normal and pleasant, the second time he apparently turned into some Roman guy. Was speaking ancient latin fluently and everything.

his big visitation from god/aliens came in the last decade or so of his life, after he'd more or less stopped using drugs so take from that what you will.

>>18352824
I didn't know about that stuff. Pretty crazy indeed. I don't think he was crazy. I'm probably just showing bias though, he's on of my favorites of all time and I kind of WANT to believe he was the real deal and not just a really talented writer who happened to be crazy.

>>18352881
not that anon but I'd recommend Ubik as a starting point

the Valis trilogy is also pretty top tier but part 3 was kinda boring imo, and the first was loosely based on actual events so I would read some background info on maybe wikipedia either before or after part 1

"do androids dream of electric sheep?" is another common starting point

"Deus Irae" in a post apocalyptic america, has some pretty cool themes and ideas going on in it

be prepared for lots of descriptions of boob and nipples along with their enhancement and augmentations in the future

>>18352921
This. I agree the third book in Valis was pretty boring. "Do androids dream of electric sheep" is great. Also "Penultimate Truth" is pretty great too.

Wasn't his death caused by a brain aneurysm? anyone here believe there may be a correlation to his psychic visions and his subsequent death?

>>18352957
it was a stroke, not an aneurysm

>>18352980
I wasn't sure, hence the question mark anon

>>18352705
>"I experienced an invasion of my mind by a transcendentally rational mind, as if I had been insane all my life and suddenly I had become sane,"
That's usually how my psychosis starts, it's tame in the beginning but once you go down that rabbit hole there's no telling how crazy shit gets once your down the abyss..

I'm puzzled by the fact that he could experience something like that and still keep his shit together and not being institutionalized some months later.

I have two theories: One, he was very interested in schizophrenia, read lots of reports of actual schizophrenics, and maybe was a bit vulnerable to psychosis himself, but not so much that it could trigger full blown psychosis in himself, but just enough for this touch with insanity.

Or, second theory, he read lots of reports of actual schizos, and just pieced it together as a skillful writer, and basically made those stories up to sell more books. (I don't think that's true though, I will watch the interview now, I'm eager to find out how much his compare to my own psychotic/mystical experiences)

And I love his books, last one I read was electric sheep, especially love the portrayed religion in there, mercerism.

>>18352705
wow, that was extremely interesting. I love his books, so this was fascinating. Thanks anon.

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Art of Magick and the Magick of Art - Miles Hingston

Reality is at a very deep level a set of interrelated and self-referential symbols. We interpret these symbols and therefore explore reality linked to a set of codes, not all of them are conscious. Some codes have a stronger claim than other. We interpret gravity according to a set of formal codes that clearly and reliably predict its behavior. Many other codes are less reliable such as those connected to our day to day lives. Changing those codes makes us see things in a different way because we bring new symbols in contact with us. The semiotic theory of magic states that a person is able to effect communication in their universe by changing the symbols they interact with.

The magickian seeks either a psychological change within themselves or an environmental change by changing their cultural coded symbols. As Philip K. Dick reminds us, “the linking and unlinking of objects is actually a language”.

youtu.be/h1wxZMk5Isg

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Information as a linguistic object is a rather undiscerning metaphor. Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination, yet it is much more pervasive in everyday life than most people assume. Our ordinary conceptual system in terms of which we both think and act is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.

Language is the medium by which we transmit our thoughts. The language we use to communicate does fundamentally affect how we see the World, language structures thought to atleast the same degree that it reflects thought. For the most part, we live in a world constructed by language. What and how we see the world is tied directly to how we describe it. Linguistic relativity was first suggested by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf when they noticed that differences in language reflect the different views of different people.

We can only establish knowledge about something through its interaction with something else. Nothing takes on a meaning by itself, meaning and existence comes only through interaction and relationship. In this way the linguistic associations we build do profoundly affect how we see the world.

youtu.be/3bmX7TNiv2k

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In A Theory of Everything Wilber attempts to...

...spirituality and show...

...integrate with theories of developmental psychology, such as Spiral Dynamics...

...this book is, "Wilber's shortest, simplest overview of his work."

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In 1982 New Science Library published his anthology The Holographic Paradigm and other Paradoxes


a collection of essays and interviews, including one by David Bohm.

The essays, including one of his own, looked at how...

...the holographic paradigm relate to the fields of consciousness, mysticism and science

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Clare W. Graves

was a professor of psychology

...theory that he called, among other titles, "The Emergent Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory"

“The psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating, spiraling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to newer, higher-order systems as man’s existential problems change,”

He concluded that external life conditions (existential problems) trigger psychosocially congruent internal neurobiological equipment (mind capacities) to create a ‘level of psychological existence’—or worldview, or valuing system

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Originally, the Spiral Dynamics book was largely a simplification and popularization of Dr. Grave’s theory, which held that human behavior can be broken down into multiple patterns or levels of existence with corresponding managerial, educational, social, and developmental approaches. First called Value Systems Theory and Coping Systems, the point of view proved very useful for dealing with diversity and human factors

Dr. Grave’s theory is rooted in General Systems theory and developmental psychology

Because his work integrates the roles of biological/genetic factors, psychological factors and socio-cultural forces in the creation of these levels of existence experienced by individuals and groups, it bridges multiple knowledge sets and disciplines to pull many ways of knowing together.

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PsycheTruth

Levels of Consciousness, Spiral Dynamics & Bipolar Disorder

youtu.be/PSvKByYOPdo

A look at bipolar disorder for a more humanistic or mystic school of psychology.

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Logos

youtu.be/u6y6_pk6qE4

Mythos

youtu.be/LcCdTYrJeVU

>>18352774
His final book was "The Exegis of Philip K Dick" if i recall. Not saying he didnt have a divine experience... But for rwal this dude did a LOT of drugs. Nervous system damage comes in funny forms.

>>18352881
A scanner darkly was my starting point. Thoufh "do androids dream of electric sheep" is awesome too.

Also, does anyone have some of the old-school cover art for his books? Shits cash

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>>18353130
His best book IMHO

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>>18353175

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>>18353177

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>>18353178

>>18353177
That filename, though.

>>18353175
Thanks guy

>>18353110
>Nervous system damage comes in funny forms.
But wasn't his system clear of any drugs around the time he had those epiphanies? I'd need to consult a timeline of his life, but I remember reading how there was a quite a long gap between the period of his addiction to amphetamines (or that episode with the junkie commune) and his VALIS vision.

>>18353308
And to add to that: he was pretty negative about his earlier drug use, saying that he took amphetamines to be able to write books faster so he could pay the bills and allimony. I think it's pretty unfair to lump him with other junkie writers who OD'd on heroin or something.

>>18353308
>>18353314

yeah his relationship with drugs was not a good one and he was pretty up front about that.

by the time he'd started having visions he was off amphetamines. the first one he was recovering from surgery on an impacted wisdom tooth so he may have been experiencing residual effects from that but that's about it for him and drugs

>>18352705
Just finished Flow my tears. Reading Vulcans hammer next

>>18352774
>God itself
i like you nigga

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Later in his life, he went on to believe that the Polish sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem, a man with whom, I should add, he used to correspond, was actually a committee of KGB agents trying to take control of American science fiction. He would write to the government about it to "warn them", and all that. Look it up. If the guy in pic related looks like a committee to you...

So yeah, Dick was mental. He was genius too, but overall, all his visions need to be taken with a grain of salt.

>>18352819
GTFO

>>18352800
what do you mean by upgrade? do you have any sources regarding this upgrade process, or witness reports? i'm interested because something like what happened to him, happened to me in conjunction with a UFO encounter/possible abduction.

>>18352705
"I experienced an invasion of my mind by a transcendentally rational mind, as if I had been insane all my life and suddenly I had become sane,"

I've had that experience before. It was called psychosis.

There isn't one single instantaneous ah-ha moment that makes every single thing understandable.

We're only human.

Read his Exegesis. I'm surprised you /x/ fags don't bring that up, ever.

>>18354886
Yeah most of that probably related to his young drug use, as he explained in the a scanner darkly end note , not to diminish his genius or that it was possible some of the things he described were legit

>>18353205
Purchased A Scanner Darkly on Sunday, met my mate in the pub - he's a huge sci-fi fan. Showed him my book and in a busy pub he said rather loudly "I love Dick".

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>>18352881
I like Time Out of Joint, too.

>>18357162
>I'm surprised you /x/ fags don't bring Exegesis up.
butthurt christfag detected

>>18357342

Bumping because second-to-last post I love dick too.