Minichan

This thread makes me feel like re-reading the works of Phillip K. Dick. I recall one of his characters imagined himself reincarnated as a cactus. (Was it Palmer Eldrich?) His description of it was so beautiful. Just lying in the sun each day and soaking in the energy that rained down upon you. I can imagine a man at the end of his rope being totally taken with this idea.

I don't know if PKD intended all the odd gnostic implications that story made, but he made them and they are there.

EDIT: It was The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, and according to Wikipedia the gnostic elements were intended. (Which is just another reason to love that guy!)

(Edited 9 minutes later.)

I dreamed that I was telling a bedtime story to my grandson. It read, Once upon a time there was a douche named Sheila LaBoof on the interwebz that had a cactus stuck up his ass. That cactus is me. The End.

(Edited 47 seconds later.)

@665,544 (B)
I loooove PDK so far. I'm reading a "mega pack" of his (short stories) at the moment.

This just makes me think of 'Phone Losers of America'. Idk if it's still ongoing. Well, that and peyote buttons. We'll discuss that later.

@665,544 (B)
PKD is awesome in general, but the gnostic/esoterica in his work makes it all the more interesting. His experience with the 'jesus fish' pendant, experiences and thoughts about his twin, his 'Exegesis', all really amazing stuff. Was recently gifted a copy of Ubik and looking forward to re-reading it.

TL;DR I like you, you like something a lot of people like that I also like. PKD is cool.

Yes, climb into your bed now, or perhaps you have awoken, freash from cactus dreams

@665,843 (Antikhristos !M6R0eWkIpk)
> but the gnostic/esoterica in his work makes it all the more interesting

It really does because because he's not a scholar. He was college dropout who lived a life on-and-off in poverty and had several broken marriages, mental health issues, and maybe a drug problem. (although, creative types seem to be a little atypical) It's interesting to imagine how he could pick up information in such strange conditions.

I think the guy was a fucking genius, so I'm not trying to bad-mouth him. I remain amazed at how he he managed to plug the ancient mythology into the the modern storytelling. I think that is why so many of his stories get retold to this day.

(Edited 35 seconds later.)

@previous (B)
I still wouldn't be quick to discount everything with regards to the gnostic/occult material of some of his work just because he wasn't an academic, but I get what you're saying.

As far as I'm concerned, with what he created, if it was a true drug problem, then going through that was a gift to the rest of us.

Drugs can mimic all sorts of mental illness and of course there were some deep seated wounds in PKD, but that's not exactly uncommon, it's part of life. Albeit his fascination with mental illness, which comes out in his work also suggests, IMO, he might've thought himself a tad neurotic.

We may not all have pink beams of light shoot information into us off of a jesus fish pendant, but you know, we can still experience synchronicity and embrace certain experiences in everyday life in somewhat extraordinary ways without drugs. That's more about perception though and where you're at on any given day. Put two people in the same place at the same time and one might have something akin to a spiritual experience, awe of nature or something, and the other individual might discount it or not even notice. Adding drugs to the mix can prime people to have those sort of experiences, illusory or not.

> I remain amazed at how he managed to plug the ancient mythology into the modern storytelling

Have you ever studied any comparative mythology? In a a lot of ways I think of PKD as more of a futurist, and futurists are really just taking stabs in the dark, and maybe a bit of mystic of his own making, perhaps not a scholar, but as you said, a genius, and an excellent storyteller all the same.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

@previous (Antikhristos !M6R0eWkIpk)
I've never heard of PKD before but I'll have a look for his stuff next time I'm in a bookshop.

@665,852 (B)
> not a scholar
kys

@665,937 (Antikhristos !M6R0eWkIpk)
> I still wouldn't be quick to discount everything with regards to the gnostic/occult material of some of his work just because he wasn't an academic

I'm definitely not saying that you need a degree to be educated and knowledgeable. I think now more than ever you can educate yourself on just about anything if you want to do that. In the time he was writing that would have meant spending a lot of time libraries reading philosophy, biblical criticism, apologetics, ancient history, etc. I'm just amazed at the amount of ideas he managed to include in his stories.

> Have you ever studied any comparative mythology?
More as a hobby than anything else. I do regularly listen to a few podcasts that touch on that. I was recently listening to a comparison of Buddhist stories to New Testament accounts that go into the Sanskrit to analyse the similarities.

> jesus fish pendant
LOL I LOVE the accounts that are given of the Jesus fish pendent, and the similarities in VALIS. It's all kind of cool.

@previous (B)
For much of what we've discussed about the man, I think PKD summed it up best in VALIS: It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.

PKD was definitely an autodidact, imagine what he could've accomplished today, although then again, there's so much noise and nonsense now online, perhaps it was better the way it played out.

The most important takeaway from me wasn't some gnostic teachings hidden within his work, it was his suggestion that kindness was the hallmark of humanity. In an age where we glorify sociopathy... his idea is somehow grounding, if that makes sense.

What I wrote earlier was on no sleep, so I wasn't trying to be hostile if it seemed like that. My two favorite works really are 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' and 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. I'm sure you've read the latter, but if you haven't read Stigmata yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Electric Sheep was my first exposure to PKD in print, but I remember listening to the Electric Sheep while out of my gourd on ketamine and just had the strangest sense of dejavu. Hah. That was a few years ago, but it definitely left an impression on me. Although the unabridged version is the way to go, usually I'd go for music with K, but I went with PKD that day. It was an interesting way to experience the work if nothing else.

There's so much material on comparative mythology out there nowadays (including free online courses that are easy to find with a google search), but Joseph Campbell was my first exposure to the idea. It makes you wonder how these stories repeat themselves across time and cultures. For now, I'll avoid adding my speculations here. Hah.

If you haven't seen any of the docs or interviews about PKD, they're pretty much all worthwhile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cK2MPgAHRk

(Edited 3 minutes later.)

@previous (Antikhristos !M6R0eWkIpk)
> If you haven't seen any of the docs or interviews about PKD, they're pretty much all worthwhile

I've seen a bunch. I recall there was one video bio on PKD at the local video store (yeah, that long ago) when I was young. I checked it out and watched it after I dropped a bunch of acid. That a was pretty cool day.

@previous (B)
Sounds like a good time to me.