Gary Lachman Books

At the time of his death at the age of 46 from intestinal cancer, the horror fiction writer HP Lovecraft (1890-1937) was practically unknown. Nearly a century later, he has millions of readers, bestselling authors including Stephen King sing his praises, and fantasy filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro echo them. Lovecraft is now a recognised 'classic', a not infrequent destiny for writers whose genius only becomes apparent after their death. In this guide, we document the real worls places that were inspiration for his fictional towns Arkham, Innsmouth, Dunwich and Kingsport; his own residences and his restless wanderings along the Eastern seaboard. As some of his protagonists do, Lovecraft engaged in a kind of time travel, seeking out the remnants of the pre-Revolutionary War, colonial America that he felt was his true homeland.

"Running alongside the mainstream of Western intellectual history there is another current which, in a very real sense, should take pride of place, but which for the last few centuries has occupied a shadowy, inferior position, somewhere underground. This "other" stream forms the subject of Gary Lachman's epic history and analysis, The Secret Teachers of the Western World. In this clarifying, accessible, and fascinating study, the acclaimed historian explores the Western esoteric tradition--a thought movement with ancient roots and modern expressions, which, in a broad sense, regards the cosmos as a living, spiritual, meaningful being and humankind as having a unique obligation and responsibility in it. The historical roots of our "counter tradition," as Lachman explores, have their beginning in Alexandria around the time of Christ. It was then that we find the first written accounts of the ancient tradition, which had earlier been passed on orally. Here, in this remarkable city, filled with teachers, philosophers, and mystics from Egypt, Greece, Asia, and other parts of the world, in a multi-cultural, multi-faith, and pluralistic society, a synthesis took place, a creative blending of different ideas and visions, which gave the hidden tradition the eclectic character it retains today." -- Publisher's description

"For the last four centuries, science has tried to account for everything in terms of atoms and molecules and the physical laws they adhere to. Recently, this effort was extended to include the inner world of human beings. Gary Lachman points to another approach in which consciousness is seen not as the result of neurons and molecules, but as responsible for them. Meaning is not imported from the outer world, but rather creates it; and consciousness is a living, evolving presence whose development can be traced through different historical periods."--Jacket

A spiritual adventure story tracing the profound influence of Hermes Trismegistus on the western mind.

In The Dedalus Book of the 1960s: Turn Off Your Mind, Gary Lachman uncovers the Love Generation's roots in occultism and explores the dark side of the Age of Aquarius.

Rudolf Steiner -- educator, architect, artist, philosopher and agriculturalist -- ranks amongst the most creative and prolific figures of the early twentieth century. Yet he remains a mystery to most people. This is the first truly popular biography of the man behind the ideas, written by a sympathetic but critical outsider.Steiner is widely known for what he left behind: a network of Waldorf schools, biodynamic farming, Camphill schools and villages and pioneering work in holistic health and environmental research. Although his achievements are felt all over the world, few people understand this unusual figure. Steiner’s own writings fill several bookcases, but are often dense and ‘insider’ in tone.Gary Lachman tells Steiner’s story lucidly and with great insight. He presents Steiner’s key ideas in a readable, accessible way, tracing his beginning as a young intellectual in the ferment of fin de siècle culture to the founding of his own metaphysical teaching, called anthroposophy.This book is a full-bodied portrait of one of the most original philosophical and spiritual luminaries of the last two centuries.

The ability to imagine is at the heart of what makes us human. Through our imagination we experience more fully the world both around us and within us. Imagination plays a key role in creativity and innovation. Until the seventeenth century, the human imagination was celebrated. Since then, with the emergence of science as the dominant worldview, imagination has been marginalized -- depicted as a way of escaping reality, rather than knowing it more profoundly -- and its significance to our humanity has been downplayed. Yet as we move further into the strange new dimensions of the twenty-first century, the need to regain this lost knowledge seems more necessary than ever before. This insightful and inspiring book argues that, for the sake of our future in the world, we must reclaim the ability to imagine and redress the balance of influence between imagination and science. Through the work of Owen Barfield, Goethe, Henry Corbin, Kathleen Raine, and others, and ranging from the teachings of ancient mystics to the latest developments in neuroscience,The Lost Knowledge of the Imagination draws us back to a philosophy and tradition that restores imagination to its rightful place, essential to our knowing reality to the full, and to our very humanity itself."

Emanuel Swedenborg's system of correspondences is one of the most influential theories in the history of ideas. Instrumental in the rise of Romanticism, Symbolism and Modernism, and cited as key to the work of Goethe, R.W. Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire, Wassily Kandinsky and Arnold Schoenberg, to name but a few, it offers to poets, artists, writers and composers a blueprint for navigating the gap between the material world and non-material values. In this brief introduction, Gary Lachman gives an accessible overview of the many fascinating ways in which Swedenborg's idea has impacted upon the past 250 years.

Within the concentric circles of Trump's regime lies an unseen culture of occultists, power-seekers, and mind-magicians whose influence is on the rise. In this unparalleled account, historian Gary Lachman examines the influence of occult and esoteric philosophy on the unexpected rise of the alt-right. Did positive thinking and mental science help put Donald Trump in the White House? And are there any other hidden powers of the mind and thought at work in today's world politics? In Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, historian and cultural critic Gary Lachman takes a close look at the various magical and esoteric ideas that are impacting political events across the globe. From New Thought and Chaos Magick to the far-right esotericism of Julius Evola and the Traditionalists, Lachman follows a trail of mystic clues that involve, among others, Norman Vincent Peale, domineering gurus and demagogues, Ayn Rand, Pepe the Frog, Rene Schwaller de Lubicz, synarchy, the Alt-Right, meme magic, and Vladimir Putin and his postmodern Rasputin. Come take a drop down the rabbit hole of occult politics in the twenty-first century and find out the post-truths and alternative facts surrounding the 45th President of the United States with one of the leading writers on esotericism and its influence on modern culture.

A history of how mystical and spiritual influences have shaped Russia's identity and politics and what it means for the future of world civilization

A thoughtful biography of one of the most polarizing pioneers of alternative spirituality, the occult-mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Pioneer. Visionary. Provocateur. Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the Theosophical Society—is still being hailed as an icon and scorned as a fraud more than 120 years after her death. But despite perennial interest in her life, writings, and philosophy, no single biography has examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind volumes such as Rudolf Steiner and Jung the Mystic, brings us an in-depth look at Blavatsky, objectively exploring her unique and singular contributions toward introducing Eastern and esoteric spiritual ideas to the West during the nineteenth century, as well as the controversies that continue to color the discussions of her life and work.

Gary Lachman analyses his own experiences of coincidence, synchronicity and precognition, revealing the power of our dreaming minds and how we can all unlock the ability to 'dream ahead of time'.

The art of building and maintaining friendships is dynamic, especially when thirty-five years, thousands of miles, wars, and acts of terrorism intervene. From their innocent university days to a surprise encounter in the midst of the Eastern Ukrainian separatist movement, Rachel and Ben have drifted apart only to collide under the most unusual of circumstances. Populated with memorable characters from Turkey, Ghana, Iran, Ukraine, and the US, Friendshipping is the story of an unusual man and the most loyal and selfless friends who convene from around the globe to save him.

The famed and feared occultist Aleister Crowley was never in one place long. His travels took him across the globe, sometimes as a seeker, at other times staying just ahead of creditors, rivals and cast-off lovers. In this large-format illustrated map and guide, author Gary Lachman documents key locations in the homeland to which Aleister Crowley always returned, from his birth in Royal Leamington Spa in 1875 to his death in Hastings in 1947. The 40-plus entries include Carlisle, where a teenage Crowley slept with a hotel chambermaid and threw his tutor out of a boat; Boleskine, his house on Loch Ness, later owned by Jimmy Page; and numerous London addresses, including residences, pubs, occult shops and even the Café Royal, where he pretended to be invisible and ran out on the bill. Aleister Crowley: The Beast In Britain offers insight into the life of an intriguing, complex and profoundly flawed character, whose influence reverberates long after his death.

A biography of the influential teacher of the Fourth Way

Autor předkládá zájemcům o dějiny literatury a okultismu studii, která mapuje vývoj okultismu od osvícenství do 1. pol. 20. století. Činí tak na příkladech jednotlivých představitelů tohoto myšlenkového proudu, a to zejména těch, kteří významným způsobem ovlivnili světovou literaturu (Cazotte, Goethe, Novalis, Poe, Balzac, Bulwer-Lytton, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Huysmans, de Maupassant, Strinberg, Meyrink aj.). Zařazuje sem ale i takové autory, kteří se věnovali spíše nebeletristické tvorbě, a to velice rozmanitého ražení (křesťansky orientovaný de Saint-Martin, theosofka Blavatská, temný mág Crowley aj.). Kniha je doplněna o reprezentativní antologii.