Angel Tech; A Modern Shaman's Guide to Reality Selection

by Antero Alli, Robert Anton Wilson (Preface)

Angel A Modern Shaman's Guide to Reality Selection.

Genres: Occult, Magick, Psychology, Spirituality, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Self Help

Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Antero Alli was a filmmaker and producer of "paratheater" workshops and infrequent stagings largely in Berkeley, California, and later in Oregon, where he moved with his musician wife Sylvie in 2015. Alli also was a professional astrologer and has authored books on experimental theatre, astrology and the 8-circuit model of consciousness popularized by Timothy Leary.

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reluctant to give any book 5 stars, but this one profoundly influenced how I treat, interact with, and understand my internal universe. It allowed me to experience and begin to understand things that would otherwise lie beyond the boundaries of what I could imagine. The scope of this book is limitless and I imagine a lifetime of practise and experience would still leave much to be discovered. But perhaps the key starting point for any Karma mechanic is an Aristotelian one; fix your robot! Straight uphill from here, Chip. One should work on cultivating excellence (virtue) in one's physical, emotional, conceptual, and social habits, before opening the more exotic doors of consciousness. Build your pyramid from the bottom up, and when Chapel Perilious comes along, have faith!

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My bible.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to think of this book at first. Aside from its unabashed new-age vibe and forced robot analogies its actually very insightful and full of useful advice. The social psychology seemed to be spot-on and there were straightforward suggestions of ways to challenge yourself. Its structured as if the reader's taking a course and graduating from level to level, building on the previous lessons using the metaphor of switching gears. I consider myself a somewhat open-minded person, but the inner-skeptic in me just couldn't take some of the techniques seriously; most notably the "grounding" technique harnessing the planet's energy and channeling it. wat?
I found myself bored with a lot of the repetition and some passages were just hard to read. The book had quite a few typos which annoyed me.
The last chapter made me rethink my opinion of the book in a positive way as it was the most esoteric and thought-provoking.
Recommended if you're a hippie, believer in tarot or numerology, a wiccan, new-age practitioner, or combination thereof.

[Lanterfant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is by far the best of several works based on Leary's 8 circuit model of human consciousness, which chops up personal development into a series of distinct stages or types of intelligence which build on one another: physical, emotional, conceptual, social, doubled by their more advanced somatic, psychic, mythic and 'quantum non-local' counterparts. At first the book seems to follow a clichéd script common to many self-help books: that there is a 'true self' that has been corrupted by social conditioning, and that our goal is to peel off these layers of conditioning so that we may rediscover our pristine core -- a highly problematic conception impossible to reconcile with insights from modern psychology or contemporary social theory. Rather subtly though, through mechanisms of 'guerrilla ontology' (i.e. playing with the reader's mind in a trickster fashion), a more complex picture emerges in which the self is shown to be something multiple, always in creation, multi-leveled, and embedded in rather than opposed to society, in which the reader is offered techniques and perspectives to take control in its development and navigation.

Admittedly, the description of the highest circuits today seems even more like new age bogus to me than when I first read the book 8 years ago, with Antero dwelling on subjects such as clairvoyance and non-linear, mythical time, but it is written with much more irony and self-ridicule than equally speculative musings by Robert Anton Wilson or Timothy Leary. The model is never presented as indisputable, since the author admits having himself shuffled around the circuits to his own liking, inspiring the reader to develop her/his own model. I especially liked the "Chapel Perilous" interlude between the description of lower and higher circuits, in which the idea is propagated that life spontaneously generates trying 'initiation rites' on our path towards self-development.

Overall, this is the kind of book that works well at a certain stage in life -for myself it was the transition from adolescence to adulthood- and although nowadays I don't find myself returning to it anymore, feeling I have largely 'outgrown' it, I still carry its insights with me and have remained a fan of its trickster style, which is full of playfulness, puns and disruptive humor.

[Mike Stolfi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had a less fluffy cover when it first came out. I do like Antero's take on things.

[Paerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Antero Alli, while having compiled useful information, is a rape and abuse-apologist.
Source: I studied with him in person.

[Kilburn Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this book. I don't like his writing style and it isn't anywhere as good as anything by Timothy Leary or Robert Anton Wilson. The only positive thing I got from this book were a few new meditation techniques. Other than that is was too new-agey/hippyish for my liking. But that is probably something some people might want

[Valentin Jozic · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading RAW's work I had pretty high expectations of Antero Alli, but I was quite disappointed with this book.

It didn't impress me anywhere as much as Prometheus Rising did.

My interest fell off somewhere in the middle of the book and it was quite difficult to get back into it.

[furious]

i recently picked this up, signed limited first edition (111/300), 1985 Vigilantero Press. it was actually also inscribed, but one of the book's subsequent owners SCRIBBLED OUT the inscription when writing her name in the book. Great Job. but that meant that i got it for $4, so fuck it.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern mythical framework for busy robots

I originally read this book in the early 90s and thought it so far out. I have kept a barely coherent, dog-eared, print version on my book shelf through three decades. I can attest that everything in this book is truthish, seemingly correct via rational and evidentiary findings, but controversial because it works counter to what is expected to be true. Indeed, much of the book attempts to undermine faith in cultural certainty and that plays rather quantity in the 20s, as all decades slip away from context eventually.
What this book has supplied me is a framework from which I have been able to adopt to the traumas of life while still feeling reasonably certain about at least one thing.
The book is heavily referenced by the author's latter work, The Eight-Circuit Brain, which I am currently working on.

[Loki · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some useful ideas here. It's basically a repackaging of psychoanalysis, Jung, and Eastern religions, into a sort of psychedelic, neologism-spouting self-help book for robots. Pick and choose what you believe -- I skipped the part on astrology, and found the part on chakras unnecessary as he'd basically already covered that idea in a more original way: the gears.

He also says some questionable things about physics, such as that "E=MC^2 means that masses turn into energy when they are accelerated" -- no, that's not what that means. It relates the rest mass to the energy of the object by a constant of proportionality, which is the speed of light. When the object is in motion, the equation is different.

But regardless, it's an entertaining read, and I mostly enjoyed it.

[Wendy 'windmill' · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent & hilarious!

Full of information & insights, written in a fun & energetic way, this book is like a nougat of gold! This is the second book I've read of Alli's, & I love his writing style! Fun, informative, & very thought-provoking! You need a book & pen beside you to get the FULL experience of this book! Brilliant work, Alli!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concepts he wrote about, and the psychology behind it all. However, he had a fun (sometimes not so fun) habit of playing with words, in a way that I wasn't always entirely sure what he was talking about. That's possibly more of a me-problem, than an author-problem, but it was confusing. I would have appreciated more clarity.

[Darrell Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. It helped me organize my personal evolution into logical compartments making it more efficient for me to understand function and purpose of these experiences. Loved the robot metaphors. Will definately come back and reread this book after a duration of a few years.

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very strange

I can’t decide whether this book is profound or just silly. You have to wade through a lot of hokey metaphors. We’ll go with that. But there does seem to be a lot of useful insights. Always beware the idiot within. I like that!! Worth a read. Decide for yourself.

[Kimberly Curette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh, this brings me back to the good ole days when I was just a baby neophyte. Now I’m just an idiot. Lol

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is similar in style and content to Quantum psychology by Robert Anton Wilson but it did not resonate with me

[T Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is all about the doing. Sure it is fun to read and think about how you might be different. Everyone has a comfort zone, but are you willing to find out things about yourself and how you think - and test your ability to walk into the unknown?

I enjoyed the journey this book inspired - and the courage it took go beyond my own rigidity.

[Sonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS I'VE EVER READ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I HAVE GIVEN AWAY MORE COPIES OF THIS BOOK TO GOOD FRIENDS THAN ANY OTHER BOOK I'VE READ.
Read it and learn how we work, and enjoy the light-hearted approach the venerable Alli uses to describe the enlightenment process.

[Paul Fredric]

I finally read this after so many years of Bob Jensen bugging me about it when we were in college. It was alright. Really just a lot of one liners and RAW styled Zen Koans. Lots of good Twitter material in here.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool and straightforward for the educated beginner. Both practical and interesting.

[Noam · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read.

[Risabella Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

mind? BLOWN
i just love when someone can put a structure on what i've been pondering about and adds precious details that i missed

[Christopher Kelleher]

its ok, a lil confusing