Chaotopia New Decade Newsletter

CHAOTOPIA Newsletter

January 2020

BLOGS + MINI-REVIEWS

The Runa-Eormensyl blog #15, Yule-Moon, has a contribution from Michael Kelly, a piece which takes us from psychology to magic, perhaps the readiest route to the esoteric in scientistic culture. Plus some of Nigel Pennick's magical artwork.
And the final issue of Runa-Eormensyl blog under my editorship (NOT the final one ever - don't stop reading it yet!) is the Wolf-Moon issue, with my 2001 Rune Poem.

Nigel Pennick's book Magic in the Landscape is being republished by Inner Traditions soon. I've supplied an endorsement for the new edition. The old (2013) edition is here.

'How about the bizarre and hilarious true story of the pilgrimage to the centre of CERN to Immanentise the Eschaton? In Anamnesis Now! Daisy Eris Campbell fesses all, including what happened to her in the aftermath, and heralds its mind-blowing implications for April 23rd 2020. Includes voodoo modelling.
I am delighted to announce dates!'
Sheffield Sat Feb 1st
Dartington Devon Fri 29th Feb.

Edwin Black is a Sheffield fantasy writer who has written a novel about Eris, Kallisti: A Discordian Tale.
'Eris, the goddess of chaos and discord, has reemerged after aeons of sleep. The golden apple Kallisti has been stolen. Drawn toward it, Eris must cross land and sea.
Success is not guaranteed in matters of chaos...'
Only a fiver from UK Amazon. Hail Eris!

PSYCHEDELIA

Andy Roberts is THE acid historian for the UK scene. Tough job, but someone has to do it. His latest book is just as fascinating, exciting and well-researched as his other two, Albion Dreaming and Acid Drops. It's called Divine Rascal, and the title refers to its subject, Michael Hollingshead, who named himself after the hole he planned to drill in his head. This is also the man who may or may not have had a mayonnaise jar full of acid-infused icing sugar which he handed round to everyone in sight, 'turning on the world'. He certainly slept on Timothy Leary's couch and told a lot of lies about himself. Andy does a great job of teasing a compelling history out of all this dubious information.

Julian Vayne is speaking at the Mt Tam Psilocybin Summit, which is a sort of online conference with broadcasts and discussions.

THE SPIRITUAL LIFE TODAY

Ancestral Medicine by Daniel Foor is a very good book if you are interested in ancestor work. Foor takes you through just about every aspect you can possibly imagine of this vital area of magical work.

It's been a good month for (re)discovering classics. One of my contacts waxed lyrical about Coming Home; The experience of enlightenment in sacred traditions, by Lex Hixon so I went and bought a copy. This book was written way back in 1978, but I've never read anything better about the various approaches to spiritual awakening.
His approach is universalist, but not sloppily so, as is often the case with over zealous new age 'it's all just us humanity' people. His introductory image: each tradition is a stained glass window in a cathedral, all characteristically colouring the infinite light of spirit.
He covers a wide range of traditions from the Zen Ten Ox Herding pictures via esoteric Hasidim to Heidegger's Discourse on Thinking contemplation. Although he shows that all are genuine paths to awakening, he doesn't flatten them out. He writes with poetic sensibility and superb balance. His deep sympathy for these traditions obviously arises from his own experience of awakened consciousness but he is not pushy, dogmatic or partisan. Unsurprisingly, I found myself preferring some paths over others, which shows how he brings out the characteristics of each tradition. Do not be put off by the fact that it has an intro by Ken Wilber; this book is highly recommended.