The Cracking Tower: A Strategy for Transcending 2012

by Jim DeKorne

End-of-the-world paranoia has been with us since time immemorial. Now, with the end of the legendary Mayan “long count” calendar looming on December 21, 2012 and recent threats of a worldwide economic collapse triggering widespread apprehension and a search for answers, The Cracking Tower offers an arsenal of strategies to turn these fears into an opportunity for spiritual and personal growth.
 
Beginning with a lively memoir of the author’s experiences in the ’60s, the book goes on to explore apocalyptic thinking through perennial philosophy, shamanism, gnostic mysticism, the body as a vessel of consciousness (and death as “an extended out-of-body experience”), and psychedelics. Shaping the discussion is the fascinating metaphor of the cracking tower, an apparatus for distilling gasoline, as a vehicle for distilling our awareness. Rather than speculating on what might occur in 2012, DeKorne proposes vigilance of a more introspective sort. “The important thing,” he says, “is to ignore the finger and strive to comprehend the moon,” to see what our apocalyptic tendencies reveal about ourselves.

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2009

About the author

James B. "Jim" Dekorne is a former epidemiologist and college English professor. He participated actively in civil rights and antiwar protests in the 1960s, the back-to-the-land and appropriate technology movements of the 1970s, and the psychedelic renaissance of the 1980s. He lives in Hawaii.

Reviews

[Brendon K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Jim DeKorne's follow up to Psychedelic Shamanism that focuses on his post psychedelic spiritual practice and personal philosophy synthesized from a variety of sources- particularly Gnosticism, Jungian psychology, Kabbalah and his experience with the I Ching. For me it answered a lot of the philosophical questions I found popping up during his first book and helped map his experiences to more grounded spiritual traditions to provide some context. Toward the end he adds in his opinion on where the future of humanity is spiritually headed along with his advice to anyone seeking transcendence. As with his last book, I'm not sure if I buy into all his views but it's never the less an interesting and engaging read plainly written with humor, wit and a degree of humility. Also, don't be thrown by the title- the book isn't actually about the physical ending of the world in 2012 but is rather a well timed snapshot into the mind of a seeker and a thinker who is very much a product of his generation.