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Cosmic Trigger 1-3

Tamayyurt

21:08 / 12.01.03

I've just read Prometheus Rising and Quantum Psychology and I was curious about the Cosmic Trigger Trilogy. I'm sure many of you have read these and I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on them. Also, a lot of people always recommend Cosmic Trigger one but always fail to mention two or three. Is one better? Should I even bother with two and three?

Simplist

02:30 / 13.01.03

Cosmic Trigger is my personal favorite of RAW's nonfiction works. It's autobiographical in structure, but ends up covering more ideological territory than any three of his other books. It also details many of his own magickal experiments, psychic (and psychedelic) experiences, etc. Highly recommended.

Books 2 and 3, OTOH, are essentially collections of short pieces previously published in various magazines, tied together with some new bits written specifically for these volumes. They're good books on their own terms and contain a lot of great stuff, but they really bear very little resemblance to the original Cosmic Trigger. His use of that title for volumes 2 and 3 seems to have been more of a marketing decision than anything else.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

09:22 / 13.01.03

2 & 3 are far more 'sane' and a lot less gushing than the original Cosmic Trigger.

All very worthy reads, and full of reference to other works that are more essential and pretty much where huge swathes of all three were culled from.

Highly recommended. I personally love all 3, including the second and third!

illmatic

10:15 / 13.01.03

Well, I’ve only read the first two and I loved both of ‘em. The first one seems to me to be very “of it’s time”, very acid-seventies, I thought –even RAW’s response to the tragedy that occurs in the latter half of the book (not to make light of it, or spoil it for you). I think it maybe a really important historical document as he describes from a personal POV going through the whole 60’s – 70s counter-culture turbulence. Second one is more autobiographical in a personal way, recollections of his childhood and growing up, which is still fascinating in it’s own right.. Some unquestioned assumptions in it (the whole information doubling thing bugs me) but still great. I probably like ‘em more than any other of RAW’s books – perhaps ‘cos of his straightforward style and the way he mixes his personal life in with all the other ideas and general craziness.

glassonion

13:31 / 13.01.03

agree. the first is lush and beautiful and he tells you the answer at the end. the other two are interesting if you like the riffs RAW likes. me, i hope he's playing the guitar solo as i enter heaven. i hear he's unwell at the moment, and i was really hoping to meet him before he died. sigils crossed then...

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

13:53 / 13.01.03

Me too. I thought that about Burroughs too, but he bought it before I ever travelled to the States.

I love the satire and ontological mindfucks in Cosmic Trigger. Ummo, anyone? Him, you reckon?

Our Lady of The Two Towers

14:40 / 13.01.03

There's a lot of stuff which he mentions in other places, so you may get deja vu, but I like the way he tries to work out what all the synchronicites he notices mean, if anything. But it is fairly of its time so his predictions in, IIRC, book one for future development of the species (I think we're supposed to be immortal by now) are wildly overoptimistic.

LVX23

02:43 / 16.01.03

I'm 31, almost 32. Two of the most formative experiences of my adult Self where:

1) Eating acid for the time when I was 16.

2) Reading Cosmic Trigger 1 for the first time when I was 19.

Both were similar experiences - they opened my eyes to the fact that reality was far greater than what I had been told by parents and teachers. Cosmic Trigger 1 is a great story on it's own, as well as a dense package of esoterica and conspiracy theory. I think it has greater value for those who are unfamiliar with a lot of this stuff, but it's also an excellent refresher - kind of like the occasional acid trip to bring you back down to earth.

The Natural Way

08:40 / 16.01.03

The "overoptimism" Lada mentions is, in part, a deliberate, conscious attempt to adopt a positive, can do! reality-tunnel instead of the fear ridden, oppressive mindset RAW believes most people are locked into. So, you know, there's more there than just unrealised predictions - Cosmic Trigger is a philosophy in practice.

Tamayyurt

14:40 / 17.01.03

What a great pitch, chris23! Now I can't wait to read it.

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