The Occult

Occult Trilogy #1

by Colin Wilson

Topics include Aleister Crowley, G.I. Gurdjieff, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Kabbalah, primitive magic, Franz Anton Mesmer, Gregor Rasputin, Daniel Dunglas Home, Paracelsus, P.D. Ouspensky, Wm Blake, Giovanni Jacopo Casanova, Cornelius Agrippa etc.AcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionPart 1:A Survey of the SubjectMagic-The Science of the FutureThe Dark Side of the MoonThe Poet as OccultistPart 2:A History of MagicThe Evolution of ManThe Magic of Primitive ManAdepts & InitiatesThe World of the KabbalistsAdepts & ImpostersThe 19th Century--Magic & RomanticismThe Beast HimselfTwo Russian MagesPart 3:Man's Latent PowersWitchcraft & LycanthropyThe Realm of SpiritsGlimpsesBibliographyIndex

Genres: Occult, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Religion, Paranormal, Spirituality

800 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.

Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.

Reviews

[Patrick.G.P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the first edition which contains 579 pages. Whatever insight the book opens with, it drowns in odd anecdodes, poorly researched theories, incorrect data and Wilson's bigotry and homophobia. Wilson struggles to keep his eyes on each subject and frequently contradicts himself. The last parts of the book were particularly rubbish, where Wilson asserts that the executed women of the witch trials somehow brought it all upon themselves through misplaced sexual frustration(!). Several debunked frauds are being treated as the real deal, and Wilson gleefully embraces every strange theory he presents, ignoring whatever contradictions or historical inaccurasies that may arise. Two stars for some interesting ideas that I will pursue through better minds than Wilson's. What a waste of time.

[محمد حمدان · Rating 3 out of 5]

الإنسان وقواه الخفية - كولن ولسون

كولن ولسون 1931-2013 هو كاتب وروائي إنجليزي له أكثر من مائة كتاب في الفلسفة وعلم النفس وعلم النفس الإجرامي وعلم ما وراء الطبيعة.. ويعتبر أحد مؤسسي الوجودية الجديدة.

من الجدير بالذكر بأن ولسون لم يكمل تعليمه لكنه كان شديد النهم لقراءة الكتب ويبدو ذلك جلياً في كتبه بكثرة الإستشهاد والإقتباسات من العديد من الكتب.
كنتُ قد بدأتُ في السابق بالقراءة في كتابه الأشهر"اللامنتمي" ثم توقفتُ عندما لاحظت حديثه عن كتب بعينها لذا آثرتُ أن أؤجل قراءته إلى أن أنتهي من قراءة تلك الكتب أو ما تيسر لي منها.

ثم جاء هذا الكتاب بين يدي.

في روايتي الأولى كنتُ قد كتبتُ عبارة وقد اخترتها لتكون العبارة الترويجية عن الكتاب في عدد من المواقع التي تحدثت عنها.. تقول العبارة: أيمكن ذلك حقاً؟ أن أملك ذاكرة عن شيء لم يحدث بعد؟

ثم قمتُ في نفس الرواية بالإستشهاد بالحادثة الشهيرة للشاعر البيروفي سيزار باييخو والتي تنبأ فيها باييخو بمشهد موته في باريس أثناء جو ماطر وكان يوم خميس، وإلى جواره إمرأة لا يعرفها.. وهي التي كانت فيما بعد زوجته. وقد تكررت مثل هذه الأحداث مع شاعر آخر وهو لوركا.. والذي تنبأ بمقتله وأن جثته لن يتم العثور عليها أبداً..ناهيكَ عن حادثة كانت قد حدثت معي شخصياً.. وهي التي لربما دفعتني لكتابة تلك العبارة في الرواية من الأساس. والتي لن أتحدث عنها في هذا المقال.

يتحدث ولسون في كتابه هذا في محاولة جاهدة للقدوم بتفسير جامع لمثل تلك الأحداث فقام بتخصيصها بفئة الشعراء، الفنانين، الرسامين والسحرة والعرافين ! حيث أنه يقول بأن هذه الفئة من البشر هم الأقدر على تطوير الملكة "س" وهي التي لربما يدعوها البعض بالحاسة السادسة.

أتفهم تماماً ما قد يجلبه هذا الكتاب على صاحبه من لعنات مغرقة بالإتهام بالجهل والدجل والخرافات ولربما يكون اللوم هنا على ولسون الذي بدا يائساً في إيجاد تفسير ما لكل هذا من نظريات لم تثبت صحتها وأقاويل غير محققة بل وحتى إدعاءات لا صحة فيها كإدعائه بأن أصل اليرقات في جبن كازو مازو من الهواء رغم الحقيقة العلمية بأنها من ذباب الجبن !

أتفق تمام الإتفاق مع السيد ولسون بأنه لطالما كان هناك صراع عنيف بين الروح والمادة في هذا العالم.. حيث قد يمثل الدين الروح ويمثل العلم المادة رغم كل ما في هذا التمثيل من إجحاف. لكن، أخشى أن السيد ولسون قد ذهب بعيداً جداً في محاولته العقلانية واللاعقلانية لتفسير الروحانيات بما هو مادي وما هو لا مادي.

لفتني فيما يخص الملكة "س" أنها لربما تلك التي تتجسد بالنقطة "ألف" التي تحدث عنها بورخس قديماً وحديثاً باولو كويلهو الذي نشر بالفعل رواية تحمل الاسم "ألف". ولا يمكنني كذلك إنكار مدى إحساسي الكبير والذي يزداد دوماً بكون الصوفية تمثل كينونة قائمة بالفعل تعادل أحد الديانات الموجودة.. وذلك أمر لا أفهمه. لمَ يتجه الإنسان لمثل هذه الأشياء حينما يملك ديناً بالفعل ؟ ولربما يكون الجواب متمثلاً في كون الممارسات الدينية لديه لم تكن تكفيه !

أعجبني ذلك الحوار فيما يخص أصل الوجود وذلك النقاش الجميل في غائية الحياة.. تلك التي يرفضها العلم بينما تكمن حاجة روحية شديدة للإقرار بوجودها. لكن ذلك الحوار كذلك أبدي ولن ينتهي. وما كتبه ولسون ها هنا لا يمكن الوصول من خلاله إلى استنتاج نهائي. وكم كان ولسون ليبستم إذا ما عرف أنني قرأتُ كتابه هذا بعد أن أرسلتُ مخطوطة روايتي الثانية -والتي لربما تناقش ذات الموضوع !- لدار النشر، وفي هذا إشارة لما قد يسميه ولسون بالإنجذاب الروحي لما يهم المرء من أشياء.. ولن أعلق عن ذلك شيئاً الآن.

أحترم شجاعة ولسون بالإقدام على إصدار كتاب موسوعي كهذا في هذا الموضوع.. رغم إنزعاجي الشديد من التشعب الهائل الباعث على الملل.. لكنني أقدر منه هذه الخطوة.. وفي نفس الوقت أرى أنه لو قدّم ذات الأفكار في شكل روائي لبدت رواية ملحمية رائعة.

لم تكن ترجمة العنوان دقيقة.. فعنوان الكتاب الأصلي هو "المعرفة في علم الماورائيات" وليس الإنسان وقواه الخفية بكل تأكيد.

وأخيراً.. أجد نفسي مرغماً بأن أختم هذه المراجعة بهذا الإقتباس:

أنا في الألف، نقطة إلتقاء كل شيء في نفس المكان والزمان. أنا قبالة النافذة ألقي بنظري على العالم وأمكنته السرية، الشعر هائم في الزمن والكلمات متروكة، وقد علقت في الفضاء. هاتان العينان تخبرانني عن أمور لا نعلم حتى أنها موجودة، غير أنها هناك، رهن الإكتشاف، رهن المعرفة، بالأرواح لا بالأجساد. جمل مفهومة تماماً، حتى وإن لم تقل. مشاعر تسمو بنا وتطبق علينا في آن.
أنا أقف قبالة أبواب تنفتح لجزء من الثانية وتنغلق من جديد، لكن ذلك يعطيني لمحة عما يختبيء خلفها. الكنوز والأشراك، الدروب التي لم تسلك يوماً، والرحلات التي لم تخطر يوماً في البال. "ألف" باولو كويلهو.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some books where ages pass between when I add them to my "to read" list and when I actually get my hands on them, let alone finish reading them. 📚

Colin Wilson's "The Occult" fits that description to a T: A massive 800-page tome written as an introduction to the subject of esoteric religion and a vehicle for Wilson's pet theories on psychic powers. These theories revolve around the so-called Faculty X, a sixth sense he uses as a one-size-fits-all explanation for as many supernatural phenomena as possible. 💫🔮 As is often the case with lengthy non-fiction works seeking to connect many different topics the average reader considers unrelated, it took me approximately a month getting through "The Occult" but I am glad I did so... despite the book being rather dated and at times unintentionally comical.

I am not quite convinced by Wilson's "Faculty X" hypothesis, let alone his support for Emmanuel Velikovsky's "worlds in collision" theory and the "World Ice Hypothesis" that last enjoyed official academic support in WW2 Germany and Italy. (I don't know if it fooled the Japanese) His writing style can also get dry and pompous despite Wilson not being an academic. I nonetheless found a ton of interesting obscure information about the history of art, religion, science and philosophy in here as well as how those fields have influenced one another. 👩‍🎨👩‍🎓 For example, I feel like I finally understand the ideas of the Armenian occultist G. I. Gurdjieff, who pops up as a cited source of inspiration for so many of my favourite artists, authors, musicians and other creative personalities.

Wilson also displays a good sense for capturing the surrounding social context around the occult subject matter he writes about, often going into detail about why certain phenomena captured the popular imagination when and where. "The Occult" contains a long list of literature as well at the end, inspiring the readers to go further in their quest. Despite me not being on board with all of Wilson's opinions, there is so much interesting new information here that I would recommend people with an interest in all kinds of obscure spiritual subjects to at least give this book a try.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any trained historian will be able to see the problem with writing a comprehensive history on a topic so steeped in subjectivism, rumor, and limited sources. Wilson, perhaps to his credit, does not try to simulate academic historical methodologies, but rather lets his poetic soul wander as it will, looking for connections between past-life-experiences, shady secret societies, and ancient systems of divination. Where his narrative falls down for me is his “hypothesis” of “Faculty X,” which is the mysterious “something” that connects all of these threads, and which he insists that humanity “must” understand for its growth and survival. It’s an interesting enough idea, but it’s too undeveloped to place so much significance upon.

In the end, this book is a New Age reinterpretation of magical/spiritual history, and one which will seem dated to most people today. What keeps it interesting is Wilson’s imagination and prose, which takes fragmentary information and turns it into a narrative of human potential. Looked at as a poetical project, similar to his mentor Robert Graves’s writings. Most of the science is dubious at best, and it should not be taken as a guide to any kind of practice.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of Wilson's better books. Given the topic, it should be hard to miss and, indeed, the text contains many juicy anecdotes and outrageous tales. What is lacking is a thesis or a canon of judgment whereby what is to be taken seriously, in the author's opinion, is distinguished from what is merely silly or pretentious. Instead, one is fed a not very nutritious stew of this and that.

[James Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Wilson has one of the most readable styles I've ever encountered. This helps when you're reading a thousand-pager.
This one ranges across all aspects of the Occult - the "hidden" and marginalised, mocked areas of human experience not yet accepted, documented, catagorised. That means parapsychology, the supernatural, magic, astrology, UFOs, ghosts, alchemy and so on.
Wilson has his own thesis to pursue, which drives the book, and it's a fascinating ride.
A brilliant read.

[Nisus · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first encounter with Colin Wilson happened some 4, 5 years ago, when I read a Portuguese translation of The Outsider.

By then I was thoroughly fascinated with the man's clear and engaging style, and his ability to express his thoughts in a concise manner struck me as much as his perception of so many different men (such as Nietzsche, Nijinsky, Tolstoy, William Blake) as being essentially connected in their purposes and goals (albeit through various means), all of them consciously or unconsciously isolating themselves from humankind in order to acquire a broader understanding of reality- and of their own capabilities.

The fact that Wilson linked all those fascinating men, and saw them all as peers, brought a very important perception to my mind. After The Outsider, I have never seen Nietzsche, Camus or Tolstoy the way I did before. That book is effectively a handbook of independent thinking, a true companion to everyone who likes to think "outside the box".

Ok, after reading a brief biographical sketch of Jung (Carl G. Jung- Lord of the Underworld) short after The Outsider, I haven't read anything by Wilson in a long time. Coincidentally, after reading Jung's precious Memories, Dreams and Reflections some months ago, I suddenly remember I had a copy of Wilson's The Occult and I decided to give it a try. Since Jung was admired by Wilson, I presumed the English self-taught writer might have interesting things to say about the subject roughly treated by Jung is his memoirs.

Now, after reading The Occult with an open mind (just as I did in the case of Jung's book) I cannot be much enthusiastic about recommending it as a great book. I don't think it's nearly as great as The Outsider. In fact, it's not half as good.

On the one hand, Wilson's style is as clear and straightforward as ever. The guy had a huge collection of books, he liked to read, and it shows. He also had a wonderful ability to be clear and concise while employing a hugely varied vocabulary. There are a lot of words in his book I never saw before. The chapters in the books are also not overlong, which helps the reader not to get bored. In short, the book is 100% readable, a true "page-turner".

On the other hand, even though Wilson affirms repeatedly throughout the book that so-called occult phenomena are something so common and normal as the rise and set of the sun, relating everything to his own "Faculty X" theory, he ends up being far more credulous than an informed and educated man should be.

The "Faculty X" theory is interesting. It can be understood as the sudden glimpses of infinite joy and meaning we all feel every once in awhile, when everything in the world seems to be in the right place. You know, that sensation of "orgasm" we feel when we are suddenly overwhelmed by life, by the life energy that drove Nietzsche's Zarathustra. According to Wilson, what prevents us from achieving a permanent state of happiness and contentment is the fact that we are all prisoners of a limited perception of existence, we are all the time dominated by the material world surrounding us, and its meaningless trivialities. We live mechanical lives, where everything is predictable, and everything means the same. The small pleasures of all days are all that keep us from feeling entirely desperate. And, since no pleasure is permanent, we live in a perpetual state of boredom, always waiting for the "next" small pleasure. And this ad eternum.

As a consequence, men such as the "outsiders" studied by Wilson in his chef d'oeuvre are the ones who realize the emptiness of this mechanical existence and try to discover true reality, not the satisfied with the petty ideals and the little pleasures of the masses, but striving to gain an insight which gives meaning to everything and makes true and permanent pleasure a fact of life, as common and as real as the sun rays or the barking of your neighbor's dog.

So, in a certain sense, The Occult is a logical sequel of The Outsider, offering a broader perspective on the achievements of many so called paranormal men, such as Cagliostro, Paracelsus, Gurdjeff, Madame Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley.

In order to keep a certain sense of direction throughout his book, Wilson keeps referring now and then to the "Faculty X", so as to demonstrate that all paranormal and occult activities have the same underlying goal- to overcome our everyday mediocrity, by the means of magic, paranormal activity, telepathy, hypnosis and so on.

The second part of the book contains a sketch of the history of occult and paranormal activity throughout human history. All the most famous names associated with the occult are mentioned here- from Paracelsus to the "beast himself", Aleister Crowley. He also talks a lot about alchemy, the rise and fall of witchcraft and witch burnings in Europe, the arrival of spiritualism in the 19th century, and even the "UFOmania" of the last century.

My two main criticisms of this book could be thus summarised:

01) In order to find a demonstration of his main thesis ("Faculty X"), Wilson is far too eager to believe in anything, any event or anecdote related to so-called paranormal people. So, judging from his own words, and his words alone, a reader should presume that all (I mean ALL) so called occult phenomena are true, and their proponents are genuine. Alchemy, telepathy, witchcraft and magic, reincarnation, alien abduction, astral body, all such things are practically taken for granted, as definitely proven scientific fact. It's just like, in order to write his book, Wilson decided to read all the books available about these subjects (and he does mentions lots of works in his books), but he also decided to trust what the proponents of such ideas had to say- instead of critically analyzing what skeptical and neutral writers had to say about the same things. Wilson's train of thought seems to be something along these lines: "Author Z has said in his book that alchemy was true, because he himself has made many successful experiments in alchemy. Nobody has ever managed to prove that such experiments didn't occur. Therefore, Author Z was true, and alchemy is indeed possible". And therefore Wilson concludes that some men have the power to leave their physical body, that some men can read other men's minds, that some men can predict the future and even that some men have real alien abduction experiences. Even though here and there admitting that there are lots of charlatans in the mystical/paranormal fields, and even though here and there admitting the absurdity of some things he cites as undisputable facts, the definitive picture one should have of Wilson by the end of this book is of an entirely credulous man, a man who will likely believe ANYTHING he's told- provided it fits his own "Faculty X" theory.

2) My second criticism is about Wilson's perspective itself. The "Faculty X" theory is quite interesting, and I presume it was further developed in his other books. However, here, I was left with the impression that Wilson himself had little to say about his own main idea. He talks very little about his own experiences (in fact, he says he's only felt his "Faculty X" working twice in his life, and he was 40 when he published this book), and he admits he's no mystic. Therefore, it's clear Wilson creates his own theory entirely based upon other people's experiences, exactly the way these people themselves described such experiences in their books. There are very few paragraphs in this book in which Wilson develops his own ideas- most of the time he's simply digressing about the words and deeds of this or that person. So, this book might serve as a good introductory guide to the study of mysticism and the paranormal- but it certainly isn't a good handbook on the "Faculty X" itself.

So, overall, I cannot say this is a BAD book. Not in the least: it's thoroughly entertaining and readable. However, it's not a masterpiece such as The Outsider, mainly because Wilson mentions lots of highly questionable events as undisputed fact, takes for granted the veracity of all sort of paranormal phenomena (even alien abduction stories), and does not develop his own theory to the point of making it actually credible. That is, this book leaves the impression that Wilson had an incredible idea in his mind when he decided to write this book, but hurried to show how the lives and deeds of all the people he found in his mystical/paranormal readings served as a demonstration of his own "Faculty X" theory, he failed to give a truly convincing portrait of his main theme. So, I give a low rating to this book because it failed to convince me either of the alleged paranormal phenomena Wilson describes or of his main theory itself.

Additionally, the way Wilson enthusiastically writes about men like Gurdjeff, Paracelsus, Cagliostro, Home Douglas and Rasputin shows such a high degree of naïveté, such an incredible level of credulity, that the book ends up being utterly partial and misinformed, leaving the reader with the impression that Wilson wanted such things as reincarnation and astral body to be true so badly that he was consciously willing to accept anything as proof that such events happen all the time. A person inclined to mystical thinking will love this book, but won't find anything challenging in it. On the contrary.

The overall impression is that Wilson wanted his readers to be as gullible as himself.

[Anna Biller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colin Wilson's thesis here is that there is so much proof as to the presence of ghosts and spirits that it's anti-scientific to insist that they don't exist. Whether or not you believe this, The Occult is full of fascinating and entertaining anecdotes about ghost-sightings and other occult experiences, and various theories pertaining to them.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faculty X righty-ho! I love this book. It's a wide-randing survey of the western occult tradition and a suitably cranky contribution to that tradition in its own right. Great stuff, clearly written in that style just manages to sit a step or two above mediocre, take with lots of pinches of salt.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my university professors gave me a list of books to read a couple of years back and Wilson’s The Occult was one of them. I finally got the opportunity to get around reading it and I must say that I second a lot of the reviews on this book. It’s a dense, non-fiction book that follows Wilson’s theory on “Faculty X” and it’s ties to the occult. I was hoping for there to be a lot less subjective accounts of the movement’s history when I went into this. There is a lot of rambling - though I did find it entertaining. It’s interesting to read up on this account of psychological theory through such a niche and peculiar lens. Some of the things like the science mentioned just seem so backwards now- though I would say there is some value in the theories Wilson proposes. No pain in putting ideas out there!

[Christian Molenaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The front cover of my Mayflower edition proclaims The Occult as "the ultimate book for those who would walk with the Gods," and the back makes even loftier promises of Wilson's subject matter:

Astral Projection ● Levitation ● Telepathy ● Black Mass ● Reincarnation ● Water Divining ● Astrology ● Telekinesis ● Flying Saucers ● Lycanthropy ● Synchronicity ● ESP and LSD ● Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts, Witches and Warlocks ● Voodoo ● Evil Eye ● Bone-casting ● Tarot ● Shamans ● The Premonitions, Visions and Ecstasies of Nostradamus, Rasputin, Ouspensky, Crowley, Jung and the Higher Emotions of the super-psychic poets

Of course, this is Colin Wilson, so the true explanation behind every one of these heretofore unexplained phenomena is naturally Faculty X, the higher part of our spectrum of senses which allows humans to communicate telepathically, project manifold apparitions and move objects with our minds, among other uncanny abilities. Wilson is less of an occultist than a fringe scientist, which to his credit means his method of inquiry is primarily evidence-based, though his relationship to that evidence is sometimes questionable; Wilson is happy to take historical anecdotes and outright legends at face value while declaring any objection to his Faculty X hypothesis the product of rationalist minds unwilling to entertain possibilities outside their experience, while he himself remains unwilling to entertain any underlying explanation besides Faculty X, but when you've found your shtick, shtick with it...

(On a scientific note, this is the earliest example I know offhand of someone linking LSD, serotonin and the pineal gland to psychic abilities. This book's bibliography is a mess, so if anyone knows on what research Wilson was drawing at the time, hmu!)

Wilson writes without chapter breaks, adding another layer of impenetrability to the imposing length of this tome, which sat by my bedside for a month or so like an ocean of supernatural anecdotes ready to be waded through whenever the mood struck — probably the best way to read something like this!

[Mahmoud Aghiorly · Rating 4 out of 5]

مقتطفات من كتاب الانسان وقواه الخفية للكاتب كولن ولسن
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المشكلة الاساسية في الكائنات هي وقوعهم في شرك تفاهة الاشياء اليومية حيث تشغلهم مشاغلهم الشخصية الخانقة عن العالم الشاسع الهائل ذا المغزى الاكثر اتساعا الذي يترامى من حولهم - هايدغر -
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في الازمات العظمى للحياة حينما يصبح الوجود مهددا تكتسب الروح قدرات علوية منزلة - سترندبرغ -
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العقول المتفائلة الصحيحة تصد وتقاوم سوء الحظ العادي وان الميل للتعرض للحوادث او سوء الحظ هو نتيجة نفسية اصبحت قابلة للاختراق او الانكسار امام الهزيمة او التجمد المميت - ديون فورشن -
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ان ما يميز القائد العظيم هو القدرة على التركيز .. تركيز الإرادة في لحظات الطوارىء والخطر
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ان الوعي اليقظ بالنهار يستطيع اللجوء الى الآراء والاحكام الشائعة السائدة المتعارف عليها اي يستطيع اللجوء الى الحقيقة الموضعية ولكن في حالات انطلاق القوى السفلية غير الواعية يغيم الخط الفاصل بين الحقيقة وخيالات المرء الشخصية
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اولئك الذين يتبعون الجانب العظيم من انفسهم سيكونون عظماء اما اولئك الذي يتبعون الجانب الضئيل من نفوسهم فسيكونون رجالا ضئالاً - مينسيوس -
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المركز الذي لا استطيع العثور عليه معروف لعقلي اللاوعي وليس من سبب يدفعني الى اليأس لأنني بالفعل هناك - اودين -
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حالما لاحظت الفرق الهائل بين التركيز الهادف وبين الانجراف العقلي الخالي من الهدف وجدت انه من الصعب ان اصدق ان الحياة قد وصلت مرحلتها الحالية عن طريق انجرافها السائب
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ان تقدم الحياة وارتقاءها لم يكن حادثا عارضا وقع بالصدفة وانما شكله ووجهه قوى تمتلك الذكاء والهدف - دافيد فوستر -
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ان الحياة لا تنفصل عن فكرة الهدف
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ان المصادفات العارضة لا تحدث الا على اساس خلفية عامة من الاستهداف نحو غرض معين وينطبق نفس الشيء على التطور
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الانسان يكون في افضل حالاته عندما يكون لديه احساس قوي بالهدف
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الاحساس بالجمال هو احساس بالتعقد والتركيب والسيطرة
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الضجر هو نوع من تثبط الهمة او انتزاع الشجاعة واضمحلال الارادة
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قدرات الانسان النفسية تكون عن اقصى امكانياتها عندما تستثار ارادته ثم تخبو بشكل جذري عندما تضمحل
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قليل من الضجر سيؤدي الى تفكك معنوي كامل
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ان الفارق الاساسي بين العبقري والانسان العادي هو ان العبقري يمتلك قدرة اعظم على التركيز بثبات على قيمته الحقيقية بينما يفقد الانسان العادي دائما رؤيته لأهدافه وهو متغير دوما من ساعة الى ساعة
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اكثر الاذكياء تطرأ على حياتهم ما يدعى اليقظة الاخلاقية في بداية مراهقتهم وهي مجهود عامودي مقصود يخلصهم من تفاهة الطفولة ويركز فيها العقل على مسائل من نوع اعظم مثل الفن والعلم والموسيقى والاكتشاف - برنارد شو -
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اشتياق حلو لا يمكن ادراكه كان يدفعني الى التجول عبر الغابات والحقول وبألف دمعة محترقة شعرت بعالم ينهض في داخلي
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ان الجنس يمتلك نوعا من الدفاع التلقائي الداخلي ضد الخسارة لإدراك القيمة التي تسببها الاجهادات والاعتياد على نمط معين . .اي ان للجنس خطاً ساخنا مع العقل اللاوعي
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لا يمكن القول ان جوهر السحر وجوهر النزعة الصوفية هما جوهر واحد .. فالفرق الحاسم هو ان السحر يقع عند الطرف الادنى من الطيف وتقع النزعة الصوفية عند الطرف الاعلى .. ولكن السحر والنزعة الصوفية كلاهما محاولة للوصول الى التناغم مع القوة الداخلية للإنسان
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قد يشعر الانسان بالانفصال عن باقي الكون .. ولكنه ليس كذلك
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الجيماتريا .. هو علم الارقام في اللغة العبرية حيث ينص على ان كل الحروف تتمتع بقيمة عددية وجمع هذه الاعداد واضافة ارقام خاصة لها يمكن ان يعطي مدلولات اخرى لها .. اي بحسب علماء ذلك العلم يمكن معرفة اذا كانت فتاة معينة تصلح لان تكون زوجة صالحة او لا من خلال جمع الاعداد التي تمثلها حروف اسمها !
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ان للخيال او للقدرة على التخيل قوة حاكمة في انفعالات الروح حينما تكون تلك الانفعالات مرتبطة بالمدركات الحسية
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حينما تكون انفعالاتي مرتبطة بأشياء مادية محسوسة بدلا من ان ترتبط بأفكار فان خيالي يبدا في لعب دور كبير في مشاعري وفيما احس فيه .. مما يجعل قدرا قليلا من الانقباض يرسل معنوياتي الى الحضيض واصبح ضحية ارجوحة من الانفعال العاطفي
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احيانا المعرفة لا تؤدي بالإنسان الا الى العجز عن الفهم وتشوش العقل وتوهم الاشياء الزائفة واكتشاف ضآلة ما يعرفه الانسان بالفعل
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تقدير المرأة لموقف محدد او لشخص بعينه اقرب الى ان يكون اكثر دقة ورهافة من تقدير الرجل .. ولكنه يفتقر الى الرؤية البعيدة المدى
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المرأة لا تستطيع رؤية ما هو بعيد عنها .. والرجل لا يستطيع رؤية ما هو شديد القرب منه
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ليس الانسان جسداً .. القلب والروح هي الانسان وليست هذه الروح سوى نجم مضيء ولذلك فاذا كان هذا الانسان كاملا في قلبه فلا شيء من كل ما يقع تحت نور الطبيعة يمكن ان يختفي عن عينيه
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ان التنجيم ليس نظاما او نسقا حسابيا معقدا ولا هو مذهب متماسك من المعتقدات انما هو مجرد موهبة .. مثل موهبة تخمين مكان ينابيع الماء تحت الارض اي هو موهبة رؤية العلاقات بين الشخصية والتأثيرات الكوكبية ومثلما هو الحال مع موضوع التنبؤ بالمستقبل او الوساطة الروحية لا نستطيع القول بأكثر من انها تنتج احيانا نتائج عملية بالفعل وليس هناك من يملك ادنى فكرة عن السبب في ذلك .. انه مجرد نظام قمري يرفض ان يتكيف مع مناهج العلم العادي
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ان وظيفة الانسان اصلاح ما في الكون من فوضى
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الاقتناع الراسخ بان شيئا معينا على نحو بعينه .. يجعله يصبح على ذلك النحو
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في الجماعات الصغيرة المنغلقة المعزولة تستطيع الخرافات نفسها ان تخلق " جوا سحريا " يمكن ان يزيد من تأثير الاعمال الخرافية السحرية !
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حينما يضغط على الناس القهر والبؤس يصبح العنف ضرورة سيكولوجية
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ان الانسان يرزح تحت ثقل اعبائه اليومية ولا يستطيع ان يبصر شيئاً بعيداً عنها
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حينما يحرم الخيال من التعبير الخلاق النشيط .. فانه يبحث عن اي عامل اثارة خارجي قوي مهما كان مرعبا او سلبيا
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الضجر او الفراغ يسمحان للعقل بان يمتلئ بطاقة غير مستخدمة فيتولد بذلك احساس مؤلم ويتم توليد حالة من الوعي المسرف والمفرط بالذات .. ويؤدي هذا الى النتيجة المعتادة بمنع الغرائز من القيام بعملها الهادئ الذي لا يعترضه عائق وتتجمد الاحاسيس وتصبح الرغبة في احاسيس قوية احتياجا جارحا مؤلماً
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ان الانسان يفضل الاحساس بالإثم والبؤس على الضجر والبلادة
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ان الروايات المتناقلة عن التعاويذ واللعنات ليست سوى حكايات تحكيها عجائز النساء
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لم يخلق العقل البشري ابدا لكي يعيش في حصار داخل مساحة ضيقة .. ولكنه حينما يقع في الفخ الضيق فانه يصبح فاسدا وتافها وشريرا
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لا مهرب للعقل الانساني من الخمول العفن للمجتمع الا من خلال الثرثرة سيئة الطوية والاشاعات الخبيثة عن الجيران
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ان الانسان لا يمتلك فحسب مجرد قدرة على الشعور بالأخرين .. وعلى الانصراف والتحول بعيدا عما تتميز به ذاته المنفردة من ضيق محصور الى العالم الاعظم رحابة الذي يحيط به .. وانما هو يمتلك شهية عارمة ورغبة ليس لها حدود في ان يفعل ذلك
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اذا كنا نستطيع ان انسقط فنتدحرج هابطين سلم التطور بسبب الملل والاستعداد للهزيمة .. فإننا نستطيع ايضا ان نتسلقه صاعدين الى مستويات جديدة من خلال مجهود تراكمي بسيط
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ان التركيز الجسدي من اجل النجاح في تحقيق قدر معين هائل من السيطرة على الجسد في وضع وحركة معينين .. والتركيز العلقي من اجل تحقيق اعمق فهم ممكن لعمل فني عظيم مثلا .. هما ما يؤديان الى تحقيق هذا الاحساس بالحرية .. بالوجود خارج اطار الزمن .. دون اي اعتبار لمحاولة تجزئة " معنى " الزمن ذاته
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اننا نحمل عادة نظرية في داخلنا تجعلنا ميالين الى السلبية التي هي اكثر خطرا من تدخين السجائر او تعاطي المخدرات ..لماذا هي أكثر خطرا ؟ .. لأنها تنتج حالة الضجر والاختناق الداخلية التي تجعلنا نشتاق الى حدوث ازمة وتجعلنا نتوق الى التوتر والقلق !
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ان عدو الحياة الرئيسي ليس هو الموت ..وانما هو النسيان و الغباء .. اننا نفقد اتجاهنا بسهولة كاملة وهذه هي العقوبة العظمى والجزاء الاكبر
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ان الناس الذين يحتاجون غيرهم من الناس هم اكثر الناس غباء في العالم
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[- Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

كولن في هذا الكتاب يبذل جهودًا مذهلة بدراسته التأريخية للسحر ابتداءً من قدماء الفلاسفة الإغريقين مرورًا بالشامانات الكورية وسحرة القرن التاسع عشر وسحرة الحركة الررومانتيكة مستعينًا بشتى السير ذاتية وسرده للوقائع السحرية والغيبية. يتناهى إلى إدراكي أنهُ لو قرر أحدنا الإتيان بما أتى به ويلسون فيتحتم عليه قراءة الآف من الكتب والمراجع والترجمات المتضمنةُ للسحر ابتداءً من حكايا ألف ليلة وليلة مرورًا بكتاب شمس المعارف الكبرى وانتهاءً بالتدقيق في آخر الحوادث الغيبية من كهانةٍ وسحر وتنجيم..

الكتاب ضخمٌ جدًا، ثريٌ جدًا، وقيم! طوال فترة قراءتي لهُ التي أمتدت لأكثر من أربعة أشهر أصطحبته لكل مكان، في المدرسة والسفر وغُرف الإنتظار وفي أي مكانٍ آخر. ما يميزُ كتب ويلسون أنهُ ذو ثقافةٌ موسوعية ورؤيةٌ شاملة يستطيعُ بموجبها ربطُ كل شيء بكل شيء أو رؤية الخطوط التي تتقاطع عندها الأشياء جميعًا.. أثناء رحلتك في قراءة هذا الكتاب ستواجه مختلف التفرعات والمتقاربات لموضوع الكتاب الرئيسي. مواضيعٌ متنوعة من قبل الخيمياء، الأحياء التطورية، الكيمياء، اللاهوت، علم الفلك، الصوفية، علم النفس والدماغ، آخر أخبار الأولين والآخرين، التحليل السيكلوجي للدوافع الإجرامية والجنسية، الماسونية، الكابالا، سيَّر السحرة المهرجين المشعوذين، استعاراتٌ أدبيةُ من أدباء وفلاسفة ومؤرخين..

ويلسون في هذا الكتاب عالج مشاكل اللامنتمي أكثر مما فعل في كتابه "مابعد اللامنتمي" نفسه، إذ يمتلئ خطاب ويلسون التفاؤلي الإجتهادي العملي أعماله كلها بدون أستثناء..
يُعلي ويلسون في هذا الكتاب من شأن الوعي والارتباطات الحسية التي من شأنها أن تحرر الإنسان من زنزانة حاضره واحساسه بالضجر والابتذال وفقدان المعنى وذلك من خلال العمل الخلاق وبذل الجهود التي تتطلب التركيز والتي تحررنا من اختناقاتنا الداخلية التي تجعل من استجابتنا تجاه جميع الأشياء اوتوماتيكة، سلبية، بلا معنى تمامًا. كبطلة هاروكي موراكمي في رواية نعاس. حين يزحف ذلك الجزء من عقولنا اللذي يسميه ويلسون الروبوت او الإنسان الآلي الذي يعمل على تنفيذ جميع الأمور ميكانيكًا بالنيابةُ عنّا. لكن ما يفرق ويلسون بينه هو التركيز المُشتت والتركيز الذي نضع فيه جُل وعينا حقًا بقوله:


"وحالما لاحظت الفارق الهائل بين التركيز الهادف وبين الانجراف الخالي من الهدف، وجدت أنه من الصعب أن أصدق أن الحياة قد بلغت مرحلتها الحالية عن طريق انجرافها السائب. وقد قال ادينجون انه لو حدث ان قامت قبلية من القردة بالضرب دون هدف على عدة مئات من الآلات الكتابة طوال عدة آلاف من السنين، لحدث في لحظة معينة ان يتمكنوا من كتابة كل كتاب موجود في المتحف البريطاني، ولكنا نجد في هذا القول نفس القدر من الصعوبة على التصديق. وقد يبدو من الواضح أن قردا لن يستطيع أن ينتج جملة ذات معنى - بالصدفة المحض - في خلال سنة من الضرب العشوائي على آلة كاتبة. ولذلك فليس هناك ما يدعوا الى الاعتقاد بانه سيكون قادرا على انتاج نصف مليون من الجمل ذات المعنى في نصف بليون من الأعوام. وقد نجد من الصعب كذلك أن نصدق ان الحياة تطورت من الأميبا الى بيتهوفن في خلال نصف بليون من السنين المليئة بالحوادث والمصادفات العارضة"

موضوع التركيز والعمل الدؤوب من أهم الموضوعات التي يعالجها ويلسون ففي كتابه "مابعد اللامنتمي" يقول:

" إن الناس جميعهم أشبه بأولاد المدارس اللذين يصابون بالملل بعد انقضاء الأسبوع الأول من عطلهم [......] إن قدرة الطفل على الحرية هي دون قدرة الرجل، ولذلك أسباب واضحة : فوسائل الطفل الداخلية أصغر، لهذا كان الرجال اجمالًا أقل تعرضًا للضجر من الأطفال، وعلى هذا النحو فالرجال الغير مثقفين أسهل تعرضا للضجر من المثقفين. ويكفي أحدنا أن يقرأ كتاب "دانا" المسمى "سنتان قبل صاري الاسلكي" أو "تلعاري والميت" لـ "ميلر"، وجنود ميلر قد يبدون أمواتًا في الحياة لرجل مثل كبتانكس"، فالإرتقاء الإنساني يرتكز على دوافع ومعنى، وحتى الرجل المثقف الذي وضعه "كونراد" في روايته المسمى "كورتز" انحط إلى مستوى الحيوان لفقدانه الدافع والهدف. [......] فالعقول الفتية المتوقدة تقهر الجو البربري وتدمره، ولا تتمرس بالتأثير السيء".

ما علاقة هذا بالسحر والعلوم الغيبية؟ يرى ويلسون أن "العضلة العقلية" المرادفة "للملكة س" التي نستها البشرية أثناء غمار عمل��ة تطور القدرات العقلية للإنسان هي أكثر ما يعتمد عليه الإنسان لدفع ادارته المرتبطة بالانفعالات الحسية نحو أشياء ماديةٌ ومحسوسة ويدرس ويلسون موضوع السحر والمساس والأشياء الغيبية ويفسرها من منطلق قدرة الإنسان او العقل البشري على نقل تصوراته وتجسيدها في الجمادات والأشياء اكثر من كونها دراسةٌ للتدخلات والمساسات الشيطانية.

وقد لخص ابن خلدون هذا كله حين تحدث عن أحوال النفس من الكهانة والرؤى، وكل وما ترافقها من إدراكات، انها إنما تنشأ من الإدراك النفساني، وليس من إدراك البصر، بل مما يشتكل به المدرك النفساني للحس.

[Jeremy Garber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilson’s overview of the extraordinary powers of human beings is ripe with interesting, well-told stories but short on the argumentation that ties his underpinning theoretical framework together. His basic argument is that humans possess abilities beyond our normal understandings of consciousness that are undeveloped because we need to be hyper-focused in the contemporary age. The plethora of interesting and well-told stories that comprise the bulk of the volume are meant to support this thesis, all the way from the ancient Egyptians to Aleister Crowley, from Pythagoras to UFOs. That’s the useful part of this volume. The problem seems to be that Mr. Wilson, who wants his arguments and his examples to be credible, can’t quite make up his mind whether they are reliant on our internal psychological workings or on actual external events, and there are several pages worth of examples where he keeps changing his mind, presumably to be appropriately skeptical. Read Wilson’s work as a diary of interesting and unusual stories from the human past, not as a well-constructed philosophical argument about the nature of reality and human ability, and you’ll get from this work what it has to offer.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilson says that humanity has an ability called "Faculty X". According to Wilson, Faculty X is our ability to perceive a greater, deeper reality through intuition and ritual. The historical pursuit of this is the "occult". He does an extensive, thorough job of tracing this line of thinking from prehistorical nomadic tribes to the present. Wilson is open-minded yet appropriately skeptical and nicely navigates the paradoxical waters of consciousness on the fringe. The most interesting part for me was the biographical analysis of key players in occult history such as John Dee, Aleister Crowley, blavatsky, Gurdjieff, and many others.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this before I knew better. While the writing is good and the subject matter is entertaining, I discovered later that the book contains several factual errors and what seems to be deliberate misinformation.

[Freder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wilson builds a marvelous history -- and then ruins it with an idiotic final section.

[Usra · Rating 5 out of 5]

يدعوك للتفكير في اشياء كثيرة ، كالسحر مثلاً و الحواس النادرة للانسان .

[Jackson Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Then I let myself drop. Suddenly it was as though the ground literally gave way beneath my feet, and I plunged down into dark depths ... But then, abruptly, at not too great a depth, I landed on my feet in a soft, sticky mess. I felt great relief, although I was apparently in complete darkness. After a while my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, which was rather like deep twilight. Before me was the entrance to a dark cave, in which stood a dwarf with a leathery skin, as if he were mummified. I squeezed past him through the narrow entrance and waded knee deep through icy water to the other end of the cave where, on a projecting rock, I saw a glowing red crystal. I grasped the stone, lifted it, and discovered a hollow underneath. At first I could make out nothing, but then I saw that there was running water. In it a corpse floated by, a youth with blonde hair and a wound in the head. He was followed by a gigantic black scarab and then by a red, newborn sun, rising up out of the depths of the water. Dazzled by the light, I wanted to replace the stone upon the opening, but then a fluid welled out. It was blood”

[Joshua Begley · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, I thought that this was going to be strictly a history of the occult in the West, so I was surprised that a good portion of the book was devoted to Wilson's thesis that every human has what he calls "Factor X," an innate ability that anyone can cultivate that lies at the root of all occult phenomenon. It's an interesting idea, but Wilson uses anecdotal evidence and pretty wide logical leaps to prove his point.

Overall, I found the book to be overly credulous and too often prone to tangents and wild speculation. There were parts of the history that I quite enjoyed, and the bibliography will provide a good base for future reading, but this was a difficult one to get through.

[Regan MacArthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, a word about Colin Wilson for the sort of people who are on goodreads. Whatever else you can say about him, Colin Wilson was the sort of bookworm who will likely make you seem like a rank illiterate. The man appears to have done all of the required reading and then he kept going and going. He was a crackpot scholar with a novelist's flair. In one of his books, he quotes Goethe and then at the bottom of the quotation there's a note: "My own translation." Because of course Wilson had the skill and the cheek to do so. You might have heard bad things about Wilson or you might have zero interest in his subject matter and I would only respond by saying "Yeah, but he wasn't dull."

This book is an attempt to write a full and complete history of magic in the Western World. If, like me, you've done a fair amount of genre reading, you've noticed that the authors such as Neil Gaiman like to sprinkle in the names of "real" occult figures from history to make their stories more authentic-sounding. Well, every last one of those "real" occult figures is covered in this book. I thought it was great fun. I believe the secret to this book's success is that while Colin Wilson is a nutjob, he's not a nutjob on the subject of the occult. (At least, at the time he was writing this book, anyway.) He maintains some degree of objectivity. He is tolerant towards his subjects. Shouldn't they be dismissed outright as charlatans and crazies? Well, yes, they certainly should, but where would the fun in that be?

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not about evil; it is about knowledge. For anyone searching for an alternate history of consciousness and how ordinary people with (alleged) extrordonary senses, abilities, intuition and grit tuned their bodies and minds to exponentially increase their pedestrian awareness of life or 'peak experiences', as Colin Wilson coined the phenomenon, this book offers a wealth of research and analysis of famous, relatively unknown, and infamous characters that walked a different path. Providing detailed historical and political background on the intelectual and spiritual development of people from prehistoric to current times, and backed by primary sources in the forms of court records, diaries, letters and more, Wilson takes a look at how society, namely men and women who claimed to posess superior knowledge from unknown realms or origins, and how these individuals manifested their visions in cults, secret societies, ceremonies, seances, new religions and spiritual movements. Wilson urges that 'peak experiences' can be experienced by anyone under the right circumstances and that some people throught history have been more successful than others at creating a following based on their intuituon and connection with superconsciousness. A long, but fasciniting read, one could benefit from reading another of Wilson's works, 'Superconsciousness', to delve deeper into what makes the humain brain tick.

[Signor Mambrino · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title 'The Occult A History' is a little misleading. A more accurate name might be; "A ridiculous theory based on an unquestioning and incredibly naive consideration of the History of the Occult". The history part is pretty good even if Wilson comes across as frustratingly credulous. A typical paragraph in this book takes the form of;

"Tom was able to communicate with the leader of the great race of flying ape-dogs on the planet Zime. Tom was a patient in mental hospital who was spoon-fed mush by a nurse and needed his diaper changed twice a day but there is no reason not to believe that he had strong powers of interplanetary telepathy. In fact, most people who possess these gifts are completely untrustworthy."

The book is definitely well researched though. He used lots of interesting sources and I got loads of ideas for other books to read from this one. It's an enjoyable read for the most part too. I really liked the chapters on Cagliostro and werewolves but I couldn't bring myself to finish the final chapter in which he discusses 'faculty x' in detail. I read the book more than 40 years after it was written and all of his predictions are even more ridiculous now than they would have been when this was published.

It's dumb but mostly fun. Read it, but don't bother with the last chapter.

[Armando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colin Wilson es más conocido en el mundo anglo sajón, pero por una extraña circunstancia, llegué a él por The Outsider, obra de tono autobiográfico el cual aún no he leído... buscándolo me topé con The Occult, editado en español por la editoriual Alfaomega. Cuento todo esto por mera necesidad de empatia: el autor me fascina. He leido The Occult de principio a fin, lo he vuelto a releer por partes y lo tengo como un libro de cabecera...¿en verdad es tan bueno?. Lo Oculto es una historia de la magia, de la brujeria y de los brujos y hechiceros reales. Creo en la magia, pero por supuesto no soy un fan duro. Colin Wilson simplemente me atrapó con su acelerada prosa, su tono desenfadado y sa pasión por el conocimiento, que yo digo que es necesaria cuando se escribe ensayo; hermoso vicio el de la curiosidad. Escritor divertido, entretenido y sobre todo bien informado. ¿Merece una reseña? Sí. Vale la pena leerlo e intentar leer más obras de él. Solo espero poder encontrar ediciones en español. ¿Alguien sabe quién edita The Outsider en castellano?

[Andrew H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Occult is Wilson in guru mode, absorbed by his own unicorn-- Faculty X, the sixth sense, the third eye etc etc etc. It is a racy read and there lies its problem... it sprints a long without much evidence or balance. The chapter on Crowley says it all: a re-hash of the popular image without any deep understanding of the history that produced Crowley or the psychological forces that produced the world of Thelema and Agape. And a similar story occurs when it comes to Dr John Dee. Nothing is said of his connections to the Eizabethan spy service and his major contribution to Elizabethan Imperialism. The Occult reads like a collection of secondary sources pulled together to suggest hidden human potential, a sort of dead concept these days when worms have replaced bookworms and books on the mysteries of the universe and how to tap cosmic forces are mainstream.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was in my late teens and decided to have a look at it again.

Although dated in many respects, it was originally published in 1971, the concept of Faculty X as a medium for uniting instinct and intelligence remains a compelling argument.

Through the book, the reader is given many mini-biographies of occultists, psychologists, and philosophers...not to mention poets and novelists amongst others. Along with this readers are taken on a tour of Mr. Wilson's prodigious reading experience.

Not exactly sure I would recommended this but it was a wonderful trip down memory lane.

Recommended for occult and paranormal enthusiasts

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

[David Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a decent introduction to the subject, but the book suffers from Wilson's acceptance of tall tales from long ago as fact. He doesn't question that certain people were able to levitate. Also, his faculty X hypothesis is a bit naive. He doesn't need to invoke the supernatural to explain things, and despite what he claimed, the science of the day didn't support him. There were positive outcomes in some ESP studies, but they have since been refuted or found unrepeatable. There may be something to his theory, but it's not scientifically parsimonious.

[Lauren Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally sought this book out for an overview of the history of the occult over the centuries and how humans used and responded to it. It definitely served its purpose for me in that regard--the author explores magic and other occult trends through the centuries from early man and also touches on witchcraft and spirits. Wilson discusses consciousness at length and theorizes that man has access to occult faculties/magic powers/perception/other senses that were lost to him over the course of evolution. This theory is additionally interesting and I think he makes a sound argument.

[Mazen El saedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

******** وقال الذى عنده علم من الكتاب ان اتيك به قبل ان يرتد اليك طرفك********

ببساطة انها القوى الخفية

[Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was a valued friend and anything he wrote is worth reading. Honest, well thought out, balanced, and open minded