Unholy spirits : occultism and new age humanism

Description

The basic theme of this book is simply enough, and has not changed since I wrote it: the rise of occultism as a cultural force in the United States began around 1965, and paralleled the rise of the counter-culture and the breakdown of the older Establishment humanism, the "can-do" pragmatism which was apotheosized post-humously as Kennedy's "Camelot." Kennedy's death on November 22, 1963 was in fact the death rattle of the older rationalism. (Interestingly, the man who in our day best understood the devil and his kingdom, C.S. Lewis, also died that day, as did Aldous Huxley, grandson of Thomas Huxley, Darwin's first great promoter. Aldous was a proponent of mysticism and drugs in the name of opening "the doors of perception."). Read more... Abstract: The basic theme of this book is simply enough, and has not changed since I wrote it: the rise of occultism as a cultural force in the United States began around 1965, and paralleled the rise of the counter-culture and the breakdown of the older Establishment humanism, the "can-do" pragmatism which was apotheosized post-humously as Kennedy's "Camelot." Kennedy's death on November 22, 1963 was in fact the death rattle of the older rationalism. (Interestingly, the man who in our day best understood the devil and his kingdom, C.S. Lewis, also died that day, as did Aldous Huxley, grandson of Thomas Huxley, Darwin's first great promoter. Aldous was a proponent of mysticism and drugs in the name of opening "the doors of perception.")