Colin Wilson's 'Occult Trilogy': A Guide for Students (6 page)

Wilson then reminds us of the central theme of his book: that man has many levels or ‘selves’:

“The being who looks out of my eyes is not ‘me’ at all.
He is an impostor.
The real ‘me’ is up there, beyond my present consciousness.
He knows things that ‘I’ do not know.
Consequently he can plan things that are beyond my understanding.

This recognition could provide the basic hypothesis needed if we are to understand the nature and purpose of UFOs.”
(564)

In the next chapter: ‘The Mechanisms of Enlightenment’ he looks more closely at the structure of the ladder of selves “and the actual mechanism by which we move up or down”.
(565) He provides examples of men and women who have moved up the ladder and assures us that we all have the capacity to do so.
This does, however, require effort and the majority of us prefer not to be bothered.
With one of his favourite analogies, Wilson describes human beings as like “grandfather clock[s] driven by watch spring[s]” (586).
The villain of the piece is ‘the robot’, who does much of our living for us, with the result that our consciousness remains perpetually low unless galvanised by some external crisis.
He reminds us that we have to
pay
attention:

“What is wrong with most of our experience is that, instead of paying an honest price, we are always trying to cheat.
We try to have the experience with the minimum of attention; but we only get out of it exactly as much as we put in….”
(587)

The secret is to realise that consciousness is
intentional
[i.e.
when we look at something we actually fire our attention at it like an archer firing an arrow at a target] and Wilson suggests a simple exercise to enable us to pour more intentionality into our perception: stare at an object “and then concentrate all your attention, as if looking at it closely was a matter of life and death.
The result …is a sudden deepening of meaning” (590).
Doing this regularly can have the effect of “strengthening the ‘muscle’ with which we focus reality” (590):

“What we are speaking about …is Faculty X …the ability to grasp the reality not simply of
other
times and places, but of the present moment as well.
And this observation makes us aware of the basic problem.
As we merely look around us at ordinary objects, we are not seeing ‘reality’; only a kind of shadowy, symbolic reality….
It is necessary to grasp clearly
that ordinary perception is little better than a fever, in which all objects are slightly unreal.”
(590)

Not only is consciousness intentional, it is also
relational
“as if everything I look at has
invisible threads
running from it to all the surrounding objects” (593).
When consciousness is doing its proper work it is as if the archer fires a
shower
of arrows simultaneously.
For Wilson “the recognition that consciousness is ‘relational’ as well as intentional has an important corollary: perception
itself is a creative act
…and like all other forms of creation, it yields results in proportion to the effort” (593-4).
He argues that what we call ‘mystical experience’ is really simply ‘wider relational consciousness’ and that “once this is understood, the distinction between mysticism and common sense, between the normal and the paranormal, begins to dissolve” (594).

In the final chapter, ‘Other Dimensions’, Wilson, whilst admitting that “the whole realm of the paranormal seems to be so mad and
disconnected
” (611) sums up and restates his theory:

“In this book I have attempted to show that one simple hypothesis can bring a certain amount of order into the confusion: the notion that the mind of man possesses many levels.
We are familiar enough with the notion of unconscious levels, and the fact that such functions as digestion and body temperature operate on these levels.
It is no more difficult to grasp the proposition that ‘paranormal powers’ could also operate on other levels of consciousness.
The most controversial consequence of this assumption is that these powers are not
waiting
to evolve; they are already fully evolved, and are simply waiting for us to achieve a level at which we can make use of them …” (611)

He feels strongly that “…human consciousness is developing
towards a new recognition: that the way ahead lies through more consciousness, not less.”
(629)

As with all of Wilson’s books post-
The Outsider
, reviews were extreme.
Alan Hull Walton, in
Books and Bookmen
, described it as Wilson’s “magnum opus” and could scarcely contain his admiration for the author:

“The detail and wide range of the book …defies analysis in these few pages….
There is …only a single word which adequately sums up the qualities of this enormous opus of over 260,000 words—already a ‘classic’ in its own right—and that word is
superlative…
.
[I]t reflects an almost superhuman amount of research and magically ruminative thought, both of which belong to that quality defined as ‘genius’.”
(Walton 41, 43)

Norris Merchant, of
The Christian Century
, is not so impressed, accusing Wilson of becoming “fashionably glib”:

“But however shallow, Wilson is still erudite….
Which is to say that although
this
Colin Wilson differs from the original model of 1956, having become more dashing but with a decidedly lowered spiritual temperature as he speeds through his paraphrasing, he is an extremely useful version of himself.

By reading Wilson, one becomes superficially up-to-date in every scrap of avant-garde research or speculation into “mysteries”, whether of dowsing, UFOs or the sexual fantasias of Dr.
Charlotte Bach.”
(Merchant, 712-3)

Oddly, Merchant makes no reference to the main theme of the book: Wilson’s ‘ladder of selves’ theory.
Howard F.
Dossor feels that this theory:

“…has profound implications for a philosophy of human existence.
It provides a possible explanation for the sense of meaninglessness which is endemic within twentieth century man.
Surrounded by a panorama of astonishing variety and richness, we live on the bottom rung of the ladder so that our view is restricted.
Inevitably we become bored with the puny environment our vision extends to, like a child whose sense of wonder at a particular toy gradually drains away as the hours pass.
But once we begin to ascend the ladder, the sense of meaning expands and our sense of self expands with it.”
(Dossor, 195)

Professor Stanley Krippner, in his essay on
Mysteries
for the festschrift
Around the Outsider
, offers an interesting explanation for what he calls “Wilson’s mixture of skepticism and credulity” (Krippner, 163).
He describes Wilson as a ‘particular humanist’, one who “holds that science does not necessarily occupy a privileged position but may be subordinate to literature, art, music, or even mysticism in approaching certain questions …” (Krippner, 165) and concludes:

“If scientifically-orientated readers can accept the orientation of
Mysteries
as that of a particular humanist, they can take issue with specific parts of the book where the evidence is less than what they might find persuasive.
But at the same time they can derive both enjoyment and insight from what the rest of this incredible treatise has to offer regarding human potential and its manifestations.”
(Krippner, 171)

*All quotes taken from the 1979 Panther [London: Granada Publishing] paperback edition of
Mysteries
.

References:

Dossor, Howard F.
Colin Wilson: the man and his mind
.
Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books, 1990.

Krippner, Stanley, ‘A Retrospective look at
Mysteries
from the perspective of parapsychology’ in Stanley, Colin (ed.)
Around the Outsider
.
Winchester: O-Books, 2011, p.
160-173.

Merchant, Norris, ‘Insider’ in
The Christian Century
96 (July 4-11, 1979): 712-713.

Walton, Alan Hull, ‘Colin Wilson’s Magnum Opus’ in
Books and Bookmen
, (March 1979): 41-43 (reprinted in Stanley, Colin (ed.):
Colin Wilson, a Celebration
.
London: Cecil Woolf, 1988, p.
130-136).

Wilson, Colin (1)
The Occult
.
London: Mayflower Books, 1973.

Bibliographical details:

Mysteries: An Investigation into the Occult, the Paranormal, and the Supernatural.

a.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1978, 667 p., cloth.

b.
New York: G.
P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1978, 667 p., cloth, [no sub title].

c.
New York: A Paragon Book, G.P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1980, 688 p., paper, [no subtitle].

d.
London, New York: Granada, Panther Books, 1980, 667 p., paper.

e.
[Japanese edition] Tokyo: Kousakusha Workshop, nd., 676 p., cloth.
Translated by Kazuhisa Takahashi, Akimasa Minamitani and Makoto Takahashi.

f.
as: “The Ladder of Selves
(Mysteries)
,” in
The Essential Colin Wilson
.
London: Harrap, 1985, cloth, p.
130-149.
A reprint of a section from this volume.

g.
London: Watkins Publishing, 2006, [xxvi, 644p] xxvi, 667 p., paper.
[Contains a new 4-page Introduction by Wilson]

h.
as:
The Ladder of Selves and The Search for Power
Consciousness
.
Berkeley, CA: Maurice Bassett, 2002, e-book reprint of two chapters from this volume

Dedication: “For Eddie Campbell, with affection.”

ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: The Ladder of Selves.
Wilson and “panic attacks”; The “schoolmistress effect”; Gurdjieff’s power to transfer energy; The ladder of selves and paranormal phenomena; “All is well” feeling; Attempt at a comprehensive theory of the occult.

PART ONE.
Chapter One: Ghosts, Ghouls, and Pendulums.
Tom Lethbridge and dowsing; How to use the pendulum; Ghouls; Lethbridge’s “field” theory of ghosts and ghouls; Sir Oliver Lodge’s “tape recording” theory; Electrical theory of the paranormal; The pendulum and the afterlife; Summary of Lethbridge’s work.
Chapter Two: Giants and Witches.
Lethbridge and the Wandlebury Camp giant; Margaret Murray; Silbury Hill: Michael Dames’ theory; The “old religion” in Cornwall; Are the stone megaliths storage batteries?
Chapter Three: The path of the dragon.
Lethbridge and Erich von Däniken; The latter’s inaccuracies; Stonehenge; Robert Temple’s
Sirius Mystery
; Alfred Watkins and ley lines; Guy Underwood; John Michell; The earth as a living being; Poltergeists and ley lines; More about Stonehenge: the theories of Alexander Thorn and Gerald Hawkins.
Chapter Four: The Timeless Zone.
Dreams of the future; Lethbridge and J.
W.
Dunne; Levels of sleep; Rapid eye movements; Robert Monroe’s out-of-body experiences and precognitive dreams; Can electrical fields aid telepathy?; W.
E.
Boyd and Peter Maddock.

PART TWO.
Chapter One: The Curious History of Human Stupidity.
Van Vogt’s “right man” theory; Science versus occultism and theology; Persecution of Giordano Bruno, Galileo, etc.; The evolution controversy: Cuvier, Lamarck, Darwin, etc.; Charles Fort and his ideas.
Chapter Two: How Many Me’s are
There?
Dual personality; Jung’s first case; His poltergeistexperiences; Multiple personality: Mary Reynolds, Doris Fischer, etc.; Wilder Penfield’s discovery of “memory playback”; Pierre Janet and the nine levels of consciousness; The inhibition of personality.
Chapter Three: In Search of Faculty X.
Levitation; The control of psi-power; Magic; Importance of will and imagination; Visualization; What is imagination?; Bruno on man’s godlike powers; Modern pessimism; Consciousness isintentional.
Chapter Four: The Rediscovery of Magic.
Jung and the collective unconscious; John Layard; Jung’s technique of “active imagination”; Symbolism; The phases of the moon and their corresponding character types; H.P.
Blavatsky and “multiple personality”; Completing the “partial mind.”
Chapter Five: Descent into the Unconscious.
Hypnosis; The mind’s internal barriers; Techniques of “dream study”; Borderland between sleeping and waking; Swedenborg and dreams; Alexis Didier; George Russell and Aeons.
Chapter Six: Revelations.
Mysticism and reality; Drugs as a means of contacting the unconscious; The evolution of ideas; Retrocognition of the past: Miss Moberly and Miss Jourdain at Versailles; Jane O’Neill in Fotheringhay Church; How does perception work?
Chapter Seven: Worlds Beyond.
Lucid dreams; Out-of-body experiences; “Odic force”; Psychometry; Kirlian photography; Acupuncture; The Kabbala as a psychological system.
Chapter Eight: Ancient Mysteries.
Alchemy; Mary Ann South’s
Suggestive Inquiry
; Jung and alchemy; The mandala symbol; The philosopher’s stone as a search for integration.
Chapter Nine: The Great Secret.
Israel Regardie and Albert Riedel; The “vital essence” of minerals; Armand Barbault; Thomas Vaughan; Gurdjieff on alchemy; The transcendence of the personal; Matthew Manning and Uri Geller; The secret of the alchemists.
Chapter Ten: Powers of Evil?
Has evil an objective existence?; Unlucky ships, jinxed cars, aircraft, etc.; Ghosts and poltergeists; Frustrated adolescents and poltergeist phenomena; Connection with ley lines; Powers of the mind:
Thomas Castellan, Franz Walter, Crowley, Rasputin, Gurdjieff; Our hidden powers.

PART THREE.
Chapter One: Evolution.
Man: the god who has forgotten his own identity; What is wrong with Darwinism; Stan Gooch’s theory of evolution; Charlotte Bach’s sexual theory; The sleeping areas of the brain; The “robot”; The need for inner freedom; The Outsider as an evolutionary force.
Chapter Two: Messages from Space and Time.
Ted Owens, the PK man; Space intelligences; UFO sightings; Men in black; Andrija Puharich and Uri Geller; Phyllis Schlemmer and Tommy Wadkins; UFO contacts; Theories concerning UFO sightings; Spiritualism.
Chapter Three: The mechanisms of enlightenment.
The structure of the ladder of selves; Moving up and down the ladder; Mystical experiences; The right and left hemispheres of the brain; Raynor C.
Johnson; The great reservoir of energy; Rodney Collin’s
The Theory of Celestial Influence
; Karl Ernst Krafft and Michel Gauquelin; Gustav Fechner; Control of the robot: alertness.
Chapter Four: Other Dimensions.
The fifth dimension: human freedom?; Charles Fort’s investigations; Arthur Young’s
Reflexive Universe
; Science and the paranormal; Death and dying; The problem of time; The trick of inducing “inner expansion”; The importance of “focusing”; The concept of the “feedback point”; The need for more consciousness; The “recycling” of evolutionary energy.
Appendix:
Electromagnetic induction of psi states
, by Peter Maddock.
Bibliography.
Index.