"Not many members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are also recognized authorities on the Western inner tradition. Gary Lachman is. In 1978, Blondie released the top-ten hit “(I am Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear.” Gary Lachman (then Gary Valentine) had written the song for his girlfriend after the series of shared dreams and telepathic experiences they had. Thus started his lifelong obsession with the potentials of consciousness.

Hear how Gary went from being a successful rock and roller to a writer on consciousness and the Western inner tradition. He shares encounters with rockers such as the Ramones, New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop and also his time with Timothy Leary, William Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg. Living with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein on New York’s Bowery, a block from CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, Lachman discovered occultism via a follower of Aleister Crowley.

Post rock and roll, Lachman’s occult studies brought him to the Golden Dawn, Manly P. Hall, Gnosticism, and a stint in Crowley’s O.T.O. He details his time in the Fourth Way, including a visit to the site of Gurdjieff ’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, and his years studying philosophy and literature and working as a science writer while managing a famous metaphysical bookshop at the height of the New Age movement. Excursions to Stonehenge, Avebury, and Glastonbury in search of ley lines and pilgrimages to Colin Wilson’s home in Cornwall are a few of the highlights of this introspective, often humorous account of a nascent writer’s struggle from rock and roll to individuation."

Please Note: This event will begin at 7pm, with doors and 6.30pm.

Bio

Gary Lachman is the author of several books about consciousness, culture, and the Western esoteric tradition, including Dreaming Ahead of Time, The Return of Holy Russia, Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, Lost Knowledge of the Imagination, Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson, and, most recently Touched By The Presence: From Blondie’s Bowery and Rock and Roll to Magic and the Occult. He has written biographies of C G Jung, Madame Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Emanuel Swedenborg, P D Ouspensky, and Aleister Crowley. He writes for several journals in the US, UK, and Europe, lectures around the world and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. In a former life he was a founding member of the pop group Blondie and in 2006 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Before moving to London in 1996 and becoming a full time writer, Lachman studied philosophy, managed a metaphysical book shop, taught English literature, and was Science Writer for UCLA. 

https://www.gary-lachman.com

New book: Touched By The Presence

Touched By The Presence - The Film