Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult
A Journey to the Other Side
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 30 days of Standard free
£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult
Narrated by:
Jez Sands
Buy Now for £9.58
-
Narrated by:
-
Jez Sands
-
By:
-
Paul Wyld
Summary
• Examines Morrison’s deep occult and artistic influences, including Kurt Seligmann’s The Mirror of Magic, Colin Wilson’s The Outsider, and the works of Jack Kerouac
• Draws on Morrison’s lyrics and poems, his intimate writings, and the recollections of friends like photographer Paul Ferrara and Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek
The groundbreaking 1960s band The Doors, named for Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, achieved incredible acclaim and influence, ultimately serving as a key group in the development of psychedelic and progressive rock. At the center of it all was front man Jim Morrison, who died in 1971 at age 27. Yet, as author Paul Wyld reveals, despite Morrison’s reputation as a lewd, drunken performer, he was a full-fledged mystical, shamanic figure, a secret teacher of the occult who was not merely central to the development of rock music, but also to the growth of the Western esoteric tradition as a whole.
Wyld looks at the mystical works that inspired Morrison, including Kurt Seligmann’s The Mirror of Magic, Colin Wilson’s The Outsider, and the writings of Nietzsche and Jack Kerouac. Drawing on Morrison’s lyrics and poems, his intimate writings, and the recollections of friends like photographer Paul Ferrara and Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek, the author makes the case that Morrison was not simply a superficial dabbler in the occult but an actual secret teacher transmitting knowledge through the golden thread stretching back to Egypt and Thoth-Hermes.
Explaining how Morrison sought to use his role as a rock singer to express the power of inner experience, Wyld shows how praxis was at the heart of Morrison’s approach, revealed in his journey through the arduous ordeals of shamanic initiation. He was a shaman, mystic, and sage—and an essential part of a great spiritual awakening to which he gave himself over fully.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
Critic reviews
“An exciting and insightful overview of Jim Morrison that captures his ventures into the mystic and magical in a way that today’s generation can hold on to as their own.”
“Paul Wyld’s new book, Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult, is a fascinating read that delves deep into the stormy rocker’s more mystical motivations. Wyld’s vividly interpersonal research reveals a side of Morrison that few have considered, one with tremendous relevance to our tumultuous times. This book is not only for fans of The Doors but for anyone intrigued by the spiritual aspects of rock music—a primal force that has impacted global culture in both overt and esoteric ways. Wyld’s compelling work sheds light on Morrison’s hidden influence as occult preceptor which echoes to this day.”
“Anyone who has listened to The Doors with any attention knows that they were something more than a rock band. Their music hit some deep, primal spot in the archetypal layers of consciousness and sent their listeners off on journeys of mystery and discovery. From reading Paul Wyld’s account of the mystical, magical, and esoteric influences on Jim Morrison and his music, one gets the impression that the infinite was never far from his sight. It’s no surprise that he wanted to ‘break on through to the other side’—and that the ‘other side,’ whatever it might be and whatever might inhabit it, wanted him to do just that.”
“As a teenager, Jim Morrison’s poetic irrationality and The Doors’ psychedelic explorations ignited a deep catharsis within me. Jim’s words and musical genius activated something primal—lighting my fire and transporting me to another world. Now, reading Paul Wyld’s deeply revealing account of Morrison as a secret teacher, I understand the profound effect The Doors had on my budding spirituality. Wyld has given readers a specialized chronicle of Morrison’s spiritual development, rich with modern and historical voices about art, the occult, mysticism, and consciousness. On a journey of vast imagination and creative insight, Wyld reveals a picture of Morrison that transcends the popular vision of him as a sex object, beyond the drunken and lewd performer. We see Morrison as the mystic he was, attempting to shake his audience out of complacency into a state of profound aliveness. Wyld evinces the complexities of Morrison’s vital existence as a poet, shaman, mystic, and sage, and at the same, a Dionysian maelstrom struggling against tides of cultural conformity. Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult is more than a biography of an idiosyncratic artist; it is a guidebook for those experiencing the unavoidable crises that accompany spiritual awakening.”
This is a hidden gem
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.