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The System of Antichrist: Truth & Falsehood in Postmodernism & the New Age
Investigates the present religious and cultural scene from the standpoint of traditional metaphysics and critiques the New Age spiritualities. Presents lore relating to the 'latter days' and the Antichrist from various religious traditions. Drawing on the writings of the leading perennialist thinkers Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon, sketches the particular quality of spirituality proper to apocalyptic times—both its dangers and the opportunities open to it.
576 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 10, 2018
“When the student is ready, the master appears” is the saying. When the reader is ready, the book appears. Or so it was for me.
Being a life-long spiritual seeker (which let’s face it, really means a life of failure!), I spent a couple of decades firmly entrenched in psychedelics and sorcery, alien love and occult lore, Gnosticism and Nature worship. Post- Crowley, post-Castaneda, post-Strieber, post-Shelby Downard, post-Michael Hoffman, post-Dave McGowan and Jan Irvin, post my own discoveries with Prisoner of Infinity & Occult Yorkshire, I was dangling at the end of an intellectual rope. There seemed to be no spiritual or philosophical authority left to turn to; or, more accurately, no reliable tools with which to separate good from bad knowledge. Finding the work of Charles Upton, and by extension the traditional metaphysics of Rene Guenon, could hardly have come at a better time.
Suffice to say, this has been a very long process, one that, I believe, bears clear parallels to Upton’s own journey. Like Upton, I more than dabbled in occultism; probably (if there is indeed an acceleration toward dissolution with each generation), I took it that much further. My emergence from occultism and the necessary “re-formation” and (dare I say?) repentance has been a long and quite public process until now. This has been a delicate and only partially conscious endeavor, to bring those readers ready to follow me, out of a shared delusion and darkness, back towards the light of sanity. Reading Upton’s work has provided not just confirmation but contextualization for my journey so far, which, frankly, has been all over the map. The context is a context I have spent my whole life backing away from: the true religious.
In these post-Truth times, with the growing awareness of just how thoroughly we have been misinformed, dis-informed, hoodwinked, suckered, co-opted, seduced, and downright engineered; when even the revelations of the methods of our controllers seem designed to further weaken our resolve and cloud or minds, Charles Upton’s work is like a breaking cloud in the desert. Upton has as firm a grasp on the scope, depth, and intricacy of social engineering as any writer I know of; but he has something else too. As a practicing Sufi, Upton’s religious faith, far from over-simplifying the material or weighing it down with dogma, grounds it in spiritual wisdom, rare enough in any field, but almost wholly absent in the field of “conspiracy theory.” It’s encouraging, to put it mildly, to find one who rushed in where angels fear to tread, well before I did, and who turned out so well!
Some lesser complaints: I was hoping Upton’s chapter on Castaneda would be more thorough and in-depth in exposing the errors of that path, as I feel there is still much to unravel here. At the same time, I think Castaneda’s works themselves are self-exposing and self-confronting to an unusual degree—referring to sorcery as a dead-end, for example—and that they may be the fullest literary demonstration of both the perils and the value, even necessity, of the left-hand path, the will to power. The capstone on that dark pyramid, for me, is Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Amy Wallace’s account of Castaneda’s cult and of his bitter end. The book clearly and painfully recounts how knowledge and power, divorced from devotional love or surrender, veritably make a prison of infinity. This is a prevailing theme of Upton's book. Upton's System of Antichrist is Blake's dark Satanic mill: it thrives on human souls.
I did find the book overlong, however, and at times a bit off-putting in its piety. I think it could serve its function considerably better if it were a couple of hundred pages shorter. The final section on the minutiae of prophecies for the end times was more than I was able (or willing) to plough through. I don't have Upton's faith in the reliability of human beings, however committed to upholding their faith, to accurately translate, or preserve, received wisdoms over the centuries; nor do I feel, as yet, that the end times is something that is written out in advance (though there may well be human agencies working day and night to follow the "Armageddon Script"). God moves in mysterious ways and if He doesn't, then we can be fairly sure it's not God but a cunning counterfeit that's moving.
But the first half of this book, "Tradition versus New Age" (all 300 pages of it) contains some of the finest material on socio-spiritual engineering I have ever read; and in part 2, "The Shadow of God" and the chapter on UFOs (itself 60+ pages) are likewise of a standard wholly unsurpassed by any other work I know of in this field, previously or since (unless it be Upton's own Vectors of the Counter-Initiation).
Both for the sincere seeker and the serious conspiracy researcher, System of the Antichrist is an invaluable resource.
Being a life-long spiritual seeker (which let’s face it, really means a life of failure!), I spent a couple of decades firmly entrenched in psychedelics and sorcery, alien love and occult lore, Gnosticism and Nature worship. Post- Crowley, post-Castaneda, post-Strieber, post-Shelby Downard, post-Michael Hoffman, post-Dave McGowan and Jan Irvin, post my own discoveries with Prisoner of Infinity & Occult Yorkshire, I was dangling at the end of an intellectual rope. There seemed to be no spiritual or philosophical authority left to turn to; or, more accurately, no reliable tools with which to separate good from bad knowledge. Finding the work of Charles Upton, and by extension the traditional metaphysics of Rene Guenon, could hardly have come at a better time.
Suffice to say, this has been a very long process, one that, I believe, bears clear parallels to Upton’s own journey. Like Upton, I more than dabbled in occultism; probably (if there is indeed an acceleration toward dissolution with each generation), I took it that much further. My emergence from occultism and the necessary “re-formation” and (dare I say?) repentance has been a long and quite public process until now. This has been a delicate and only partially conscious endeavor, to bring those readers ready to follow me, out of a shared delusion and darkness, back towards the light of sanity. Reading Upton’s work has provided not just confirmation but contextualization for my journey so far, which, frankly, has been all over the map. The context is a context I have spent my whole life backing away from: the true religious.
In these post-Truth times, with the growing awareness of just how thoroughly we have been misinformed, dis-informed, hoodwinked, suckered, co-opted, seduced, and downright engineered; when even the revelations of the methods of our controllers seem designed to further weaken our resolve and cloud or minds, Charles Upton’s work is like a breaking cloud in the desert. Upton has as firm a grasp on the scope, depth, and intricacy of social engineering as any writer I know of; but he has something else too. As a practicing Sufi, Upton’s religious faith, far from over-simplifying the material or weighing it down with dogma, grounds it in spiritual wisdom, rare enough in any field, but almost wholly absent in the field of “conspiracy theory.” It’s encouraging, to put it mildly, to find one who rushed in where angels fear to tread, well before I did, and who turned out so well!
Some lesser complaints: I was hoping Upton’s chapter on Castaneda would be more thorough and in-depth in exposing the errors of that path, as I feel there is still much to unravel here. At the same time, I think Castaneda’s works themselves are self-exposing and self-confronting to an unusual degree—referring to sorcery as a dead-end, for example—and that they may be the fullest literary demonstration of both the perils and the value, even necessity, of the left-hand path, the will to power. The capstone on that dark pyramid, for me, is Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Amy Wallace’s account of Castaneda’s cult and of his bitter end. The book clearly and painfully recounts how knowledge and power, divorced from devotional love or surrender, veritably make a prison of infinity. This is a prevailing theme of Upton's book. Upton's System of Antichrist is Blake's dark Satanic mill: it thrives on human souls.
I did find the book overlong, however, and at times a bit off-putting in its piety. I think it could serve its function considerably better if it were a couple of hundred pages shorter. The final section on the minutiae of prophecies for the end times was more than I was able (or willing) to plough through. I don't have Upton's faith in the reliability of human beings, however committed to upholding their faith, to accurately translate, or preserve, received wisdoms over the centuries; nor do I feel, as yet, that the end times is something that is written out in advance (though there may well be human agencies working day and night to follow the "Armageddon Script"). God moves in mysterious ways and if He doesn't, then we can be fairly sure it's not God but a cunning counterfeit that's moving.
But the first half of this book, "Tradition versus New Age" (all 300 pages of it) contains some of the finest material on socio-spiritual engineering I have ever read; and in part 2, "The Shadow of God" and the chapter on UFOs (itself 60+ pages) are likewise of a standard wholly unsurpassed by any other work I know of in this field, previously or since (unless it be Upton's own Vectors of the Counter-Initiation).
Both for the sincere seeker and the serious conspiracy researcher, System of the Antichrist is an invaluable resource.
January 6, 2015
A rather unsympathetic treatment of extraordinary modern delusions. The main thing that is missing is an acknowledgment of the postmodern identity crisis that the Traditionalist School shares with New Age practitioners. This makes the passages where Upton accurately pinpoints errors and false conflations somewhat less enjoyable. As a project for a book this is admirable, but it would be better not to write in this tone.
Chapter 2 offers a decent summary of what 21st century Traditionalists generally believe. It includes a synthesis of the work of Guenon and Schuon and a rethinking of the excesses of both which I believe corresponds with the attitudes of most sensible people.
Chapter 3 attempts to define the New Age from a Traditionalist perspective, incorporating the work of writers like Rama Coomaraswamy and Fr. Seraphim Rose.
Chapter 4 is a detailed critique of several New Age books. I found that these critiques failed to acknowledge the exceeding diversity within religious traditions. For example, Upton's attitude towards Carlos Castaneda is merely paranoid and does not acknowledge that much of what Castaneda writes about can be found in the lower forms of religions like Hinduism and shamanism.
The latter half of the book is devoted entirely to metaphysical analysis, with a break for UFOs. The final chapter includes a defense of Traditionalism itself, which I probably would have found more coherent a year ago than I do now.
Chapter 2 offers a decent summary of what 21st century Traditionalists generally believe. It includes a synthesis of the work of Guenon and Schuon and a rethinking of the excesses of both which I believe corresponds with the attitudes of most sensible people.
Chapter 3 attempts to define the New Age from a Traditionalist perspective, incorporating the work of writers like Rama Coomaraswamy and Fr. Seraphim Rose.
Chapter 4 is a detailed critique of several New Age books. I found that these critiques failed to acknowledge the exceeding diversity within religious traditions. For example, Upton's attitude towards Carlos Castaneda is merely paranoid and does not acknowledge that much of what Castaneda writes about can be found in the lower forms of religions like Hinduism and shamanism.
The latter half of the book is devoted entirely to metaphysical analysis, with a break for UFOs. The final chapter includes a defense of Traditionalism itself, which I probably would have found more coherent a year ago than I do now.
April 18, 2015
Disclaimer: I am reviewing this book as a Traditional Catholic, the author of this book does desire that people immerse themselves fully into said Tradition. With that said, I found the notion of "The Transcendent Unity of Religions" a bit confusing, and come to believe that Catholicism in its Traditionally Understood Form best represents the Perennial Tradition.
This book to me is both a blessing and a collection of confusion. Throughout the course of the book there are moments when I raise my hand up high in agreement and then sink sullen in disagreement. The author has had experiences in the New Age and Occult, which rather than distorting his perspective I think balances out his perspective. This book was written in 2001, and we are now 14 Years Latter down the pike, I was encouraged to read this because like the author I had become increasingly more sensitive to the Psychological and Philosophical "Unseen Warfare" and Cultural Zeitgeist emerging in our times believing that an inversion is taking place.
I loved how this book showed us the philosophical and cultural background from which Antichrist would emerge, the person of Antichrist in terms of his worldview and psychology, and how many of the World Traditions felt his coming. I loved how this book really leaves giant gashes in popular New Age concepts and Postmodern Concepts. I really enjoyed seeing points of connectivity with other Traditions, and his refutation throughout the book of a "World Fusion Spirituality" as a sort of Least Common Denominator Spirituality or Watering Down of The Spiritual Core, and his call for Unity through the borrowed concept of "The Transcendent Unity of All Religions" which I will need to revisit, because at this moment I confess I am still confused by.
However, despite this good stuff, I really do not see how one can simultaneously quote The Book of Revelation and The Gospels and use CS Lewis Material yet call themselves a Sufi Muslim and deny Jesus His Place as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. One also cannot help Either the author or Perennial Traditionalism suffers from Internal contradictions, and the author himself even admits that Antichrist will attempt to use elements of the Traditionalist School for his purposes.
Overall, if someone wishes to read the material in this book, one ought to really know their respective Tradition first before reading this, then when they do read this they ought to be mindful of the points of agreement and disagreement, sometimes I get the sense that the author is tilted toward Islam and Eastern Orthodoxy, because he is the former and his wife is the latter.
Its all a strange read, yet there are definitely gems scattered throughout this book which definitely can help one see through the Popular New Age Worldview and Postmodern thought and see how it is exactly a tool of the Antichrist, probably one of the more amazing tools of unseen warfare communicated to those who want to know.
This book to me is both a blessing and a collection of confusion. Throughout the course of the book there are moments when I raise my hand up high in agreement and then sink sullen in disagreement. The author has had experiences in the New Age and Occult, which rather than distorting his perspective I think balances out his perspective. This book was written in 2001, and we are now 14 Years Latter down the pike, I was encouraged to read this because like the author I had become increasingly more sensitive to the Psychological and Philosophical "Unseen Warfare" and Cultural Zeitgeist emerging in our times believing that an inversion is taking place.
I loved how this book showed us the philosophical and cultural background from which Antichrist would emerge, the person of Antichrist in terms of his worldview and psychology, and how many of the World Traditions felt his coming. I loved how this book really leaves giant gashes in popular New Age concepts and Postmodern Concepts. I really enjoyed seeing points of connectivity with other Traditions, and his refutation throughout the book of a "World Fusion Spirituality" as a sort of Least Common Denominator Spirituality or Watering Down of The Spiritual Core, and his call for Unity through the borrowed concept of "The Transcendent Unity of All Religions" which I will need to revisit, because at this moment I confess I am still confused by.
However, despite this good stuff, I really do not see how one can simultaneously quote The Book of Revelation and The Gospels and use CS Lewis Material yet call themselves a Sufi Muslim and deny Jesus His Place as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. One also cannot help Either the author or Perennial Traditionalism suffers from Internal contradictions, and the author himself even admits that Antichrist will attempt to use elements of the Traditionalist School for his purposes.
Overall, if someone wishes to read the material in this book, one ought to really know their respective Tradition first before reading this, then when they do read this they ought to be mindful of the points of agreement and disagreement, sometimes I get the sense that the author is tilted toward Islam and Eastern Orthodoxy, because he is the former and his wife is the latter.
Its all a strange read, yet there are definitely gems scattered throughout this book which definitely can help one see through the Popular New Age Worldview and Postmodern thought and see how it is exactly a tool of the Antichrist, probably one of the more amazing tools of unseen warfare communicated to those who want to know.
July 8, 2022
It makes you angry if you believe the content. It left me spiraling down into hatred. Nonetheless, the content is significant and important to consider.
December 11, 2022
The 'counter-tradition' middle chapters felt pointless and terse. There was a lot of rambling and diatribe from Upton in these chapters. Having said that, it probably is one of the best non-academic comparative eschatology books out there.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews