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Underground > Temple >

PKD Gnostic Christianity

Frances Farmer

02:54 / 22.10.01

I know a lot of people here have read Phillip K. Dick. If you haven't, it would take a whole lot of explaining to begin to approximate what the title of this thread means.

So, obviously, it mainly targets people who've read Phillip K. Dick novels involving explanations of (ahem) alternate spiritual interpretations.

I'm thinking:

VALIS
The Divine Invasion
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
Radio Free Albemuth

To try and give a brief idea of my take on it for anyone who may not have read these (and ought to), PKD has a very unique grasp. It's in many ways Gnostic, with the exception that he believes a divine figure is actively trying to assist us from "outside".

I think it's commonly held that Grant Morrison's work was in some ways informed by many of PKD's ideas.

PKD identified with early Christians rebelling from Romans. His ontological outlook involved, as I understand it, some sort of time-loop in which the Empire of Rome permutates in remains in power. Time hasn't passed since, I believe, after the death of Jesus.

Jesus was an attempt to a divine being to invade it's creation, but the Empire seeks to crush it.

I believe PKD makes references to the black iron prison.

So, I think it's a somewhat curious blend.

I put it in here because I'm interested in PKD-like experiences. Essentially, this:

Does anyone feel they are participating in some sort of plan, informed by some sort of unusual communications mechanism (like an alien satellite)? Is that the meaning of Gnostic Christianity to PKD? -- communing directly with god? Has anyone noticed this sort of experience as a theme outside of The Invisibles and PKD's stuff? I think I can hazily identify with some mythological roots, but I've got think about it some more.

03:32 / 22.10.01

You hang on to your copy of the exegisis for a decade, and just when you need it most you're moving and it's in storage...

Certainly there's a lot of Gnostic type stuff going on here, but if you read RAW's "Cosmic Trigger," which I *DO* happen to have handy, you will see that he points out that these types of "greater mind" communication experiences are common.

In fact a classic "Pink Beam" experience is even in the good old bible:

Acts Chapter 9:
3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5
"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
6
"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
7
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
8
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
9
For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

14:15 / 22.10.01

I don't know about PKD (I've never read him, which is a situation I've been meaning to rectify for a while). However, the idea that Jesus is God's fictionsuit for entering His creation is something I've been discussing with a friend for a couple of months. It has a hell of a lot of implications, and could be a decent model for making sense of some of the more unpalatable/inexplicable aspects of Christian faith.

14:43 / 22.10.01

While PKD had some really interesting ideas and wrote some great books and is the best source for his pink light experience, he's not the best interpreter of Gnosticism.

The following offerings are good books to bring one up to speed on Gnosticism
'The Gnostic Gospels' by Elaine Pagels
'The Nag Hammadi Library' edited by James M. Robinson
'The Other Bible' edited by William Barnstone
'The Gnostic Religion' by Hans Jonas

PKD's interpretation was continually evolving and he never came to any conclusions that satisfied even himself.

That personal search is also inherently part of the Gnostic path.

Rex City-zen

18:11 / 22.10.01

The secret of the gnostics was there was never any description that would satisfy.The exegesis of the soul in VALIS is tasty food for thought,I must say.