Legalise Freedom Dot Com

LF234 Gary Lachman – Beyond The Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson – Part Three

Gary Lachman discusses his book Beyond the Robot – The Life and Work of Colin Wilson. This is a three part interview. Part one is here. Part two is here.
Colin Wilson was a literary and cultural rebel, and one of the most adventurous, hopeful, and least understood visionary intellects of the past century. Author of over a hundred books including the 1956 classic The Outsider, Wilson purveyed a philosophy of mind power and human potential that made him arguably the only optimistic existentialist.
In part three, we consider how Wilson’s worldview differed from that of many in the literary movement he was all-too-often lumped in with, the so-called ‘angry young men’ such as John Osborne and Kingsley Amis who rose to prominence during the 1950s. Wilson held an unfashionable belief in the power of self-improvement over and above that of social protest or utopian politics. Indeed, his ideas about the possible emergence of a New Human, physically and mentally improved, coupled with his criticism of what he saw as the widespread denial of genius and worm’s-eye view of the World, were in certain circles condemned as nothing less than fascist.
We also discuss Wilson’s appearances on television and radio, and his many works of fiction, some of which were adapted for stage and screen. Gary then recalls the occasions when he was fortunate enough to actually meet Colin, and we examine some of his later works, wondering just where his investigations might have led him had he lived longer.
Colin Wilson WebsiteColin Wilson WorldPauper’s Press
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Jarkko – Legalise Freedom Remix
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.

LF233 Thomas Lombardo – Future Consciousness: The Path to Purposeful Evolution

Thomas Lombardo discusses his book Future Consciousness – The Path to Purposeful Evolution.
How do we create a good future? This deceptively simple question is the central challenge of human life. Indeed, the question highlights the most distinctive and empowering capacity of the human mind – to consciously imagine and intentionally pursue preferable futures, a multi-faceted psychological ability within us all that Lombardo refers to as ‘future consciousness’.
We stand at what many consider to be a pivotal juncture in human history. Just as technological advancements race ahead with digitization and automation changing the face of society at breathtaking speed, so too we face unprecedented economic, political, social, and environmental crises. In response, many of us attempt to ignore these pressing problems by simply shutting down, lost in the past or the future, the good old days or daydreams of better times to come. Meanwhile, practitioners in the burgeoning field of pop psychology urge us to live in the present moment, the only thing that apparently exists. Both mindsets, however, may prove to be psychological dead-ends.
Change, in fact, is the only constant, and stability – of the settled, sustainable kind we seem to crave – is an illusion. Evolution, the meta-process of which humanity is an embedded part, is dynamic. It requires challenge and even crisis to move forward. Order does arise from chaos, but it is unpredictable. Evolution is the drive towards increasing complexity, and it is accelerating just as the universe itself is expanding. We are the universe becoming aware of itself and we have a tremendous responsibility to which current convulsions may ultimately serve to awaken us.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Bernard Xolotl ‘Saturn Return’
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.

LF232 Mark Olly – The Way of Wyrd: Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer

Mark Olly discusses the novel The Way of Wyrd – Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer.
Written by psychologist and university professor Brian Bates and published in 1983, The Way of Wyrd is the story of Wat Brand, a Christian scribe sent on a mission deep into the forests of pagan Anglo-Saxon England where he finds his beliefs shaken to their core. With Wulf, a wizard, as his guide, Wat is instructed in the magical lore of plants, runes, fate, and life force until finally he journeys to the spirit world on a quest to encounter the true nature of his own soul.
Although arguably not an entirely accurate depiction of the people, places, and events of Anglo-Saxon England, The Way of Wyrd speaks to the reader on deep archetypal and symbolic levels. With each chapter functioning as some form of parable, the novel imparts teachings on psychic and paranormal powers, health and healing, nature and ecology, the human search for spiritual meaning and purpose, and the very nature of life and death.
The pagan people of this period had a quite different mode of being and seeing than the techno-industrial consciousness which currently holds sway. It was not so much an either/or mode of thought as an and/also view, more holistic and inclusive and not so literal, reductionist, and coldly rational. It is a view, ironically, which has lately been echoing through the halls of science where a picture continues to emerge of the world as fundamentally interconnected in ways which often run counter to conventional thinking. Ultimately, The Way of Wyrd‘s message transcends the limitations of language and appears as relevant as ever to a species that seems to have lost its way.
The Wisdom of the Wyrd
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.

LF231 Penny Sartori – The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences

Penny Sartori discusses her book The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences – How the Messages of NDEs Positively Impact the World.
A near-death experience – or NDE – is a profound psychological event that may occur to a person close to death or in extreme physical or emotional crisis. An NDE may begin with an out-of-body experience, possibly hovering nearby and watching events around the body. An NDE typically includes a sense of moving, often at great speed and usually through a dark space, into a fantastic landscape and encountering beings that may be perceived as sacred figures, deceased family members or friends, or unknown entities. A pinpoint of indescribable light may grow to surround the person in brilliant radiance. Unlike physical light, it is not merely visual but is sensed as an all-loving presence that many people define as the Supreme Being of their religious faith.
The emotions of an NDE are intense and most commonly include peace, love, and bliss, although a substantial minority are marked by terror, anxiety, or despair. Most people come away from the experience with an unshakable belief that they have learned something of immeasurable importance about the purpose of life. Overall, the experience is ineffable and the effects are often so powerful that they create permanent changes in people’s lives.
This phenomenon is as old as humankind itself, and has been documented – and explained or dismissed – in myriad ways for just as long. In the modern world, dominated by scientific reductionism, NDEs are generally viewed as mere chemical by-products of a dying brain, the after-effects and apparent implications derided as wishful thinking and New Age nonsense. Evidence that NDEs contain a profoundly important message for humanity, however, continues to emerge, and the possibility that they may play a vital part in our evolution is very real indeed. The near-death experience instils knowledge in those who experience it that we are all interconnected, part of a much greater whole, and that what we do to others, we do to ourselves.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Tangerine Dream ‘Exit to Heaven’
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.
 
 
 

LF230 Ervin Laszlo – The Intelligence of the Cosmos: Why Are We Here?

Ervin Laszlo discusses his book The Intelligence of the Cosmos: Why Are We Here? New Answers from the Frontiers of Science.
For the outdated mainstream paradigm, the universe is a giant mechanism functioning in accordance with known and knowable laws, patterns, and regularities. But the new paradigm emerging in science offers a different concept – a universe as an interconnected, coherent whole, informed by a cosmic intelligence. This is not a finite, mechanistic, purely material model – it is a holistic system infused with consciousness, and within it, we are conscious beings who emerge and co-evolve as complex vibrations in what Laszlo calls the Akashic Field of the universe.
With his collaborators from the forefront of science, cosmology, and spirituality Laszlo shows how the re-discovery of who we are and why we are here integrates seamlessly with ancient wisdom traditions as well as with the radical new world-view of cutting-edge science, revealing a meaningful and positive way forward for humanity on this planet. They explain how we have reached a point of critical incoherence and show that in order to save ourselves, our environment, and our society, we need a critical mass of people to consciously evolve new thinking. Offering signposts to orient this evolution, Laszlo examines the nature of consciousness in the universe, showing how our bodies and minds act as conduits for cosmic consciousness, and how understanding science’s new concept of reality enables us to grasp our true identity and purpose.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Stellardrone ‘An Ocean of Galaxies’
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.

LF229 Ivelin Sardamov – Amused to Death: The False Promise of the Information Age

Ivelin Sardamov discusses his book Mental Penguins – The Neverending Education Crisis and the False Promise of the Information Age.
Sardamov draws on key findings in neuroscience to explain decreasing attention spans, a crisis of curiosity, and waning interest in and knowledge of complex social issues in the United States and around the world. Attributing this trend primarily to the effects of information overload, ubiquitous screens, and constant access to the Internet, he argues that chronic over-stimulation generated by the current socio-technological environment fosters addictive tendencies in today’s young people, many of whom will graduate from profit-driven universities both mired in debt and unprepared for life in the outside world.
This worrying and worsening situation also breeds apathy, disengagement, and social dysfunction, and almost certainly contributes to the ongoing decline in written and spoken language, and even basic cognition. All this among an increasingly-narcissistic and entitled populace weaned on celebrity culture, safe spaces, and political correctness. As with many mostly technological problems, the solution is too often seen as the application of yet more technology. If we wish to stop this downturn, however, and ultimately change course, we must be prepared to face some very uncomfortable truths.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’John Foxx And The Maths ‘The Machine’

LF228 Gary Lachman – Beyond The Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson – Part Two

Gary Lachman discusses his book Beyond the Robot – The Life and Work of Colin Wilson. This is a three part interview. Part one is here. Part three will be released shortly.
Colin Wilson was a literary and cultural rebel, and one of the most adventurous, hopeful, and least understood visionary intellects of the past century. Author of over a hundred books including the 1956 classic The Outsider, Wilson purveyed a philosophy of mind power and human potential that made him arguably the only optimistic existentialist. In part two, we discuss the relationship between mind and matter and how reality is apparently becoming more malleable, the science of self-actualization, the evolution of consciousness and the cosmos, and the future – or not – for humanity.
Colin Wilson WebsiteColin Wilson WorldPauper’s Press
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Tangerine Dream ‘Wavelength’
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.

LF227 Joanna Demers – The Sound of the Apocalypse

Joanna Demers discusses her books Drone and Apocalypse and Anatomy of Thought Fiction.
The idea of apocalypse is truly ancient. Although the word essentially translates as a revelation of knowledge, today the term is commonly used in reference to end-time scenarios or to the end of the world in general. Almost every culture and civilization has or has had its own apocalyptic tradition, often believing the end-time already begun and the end itself imminent. Whether self-inflicted or supernatural, cosmic or divine, apocalyptic thinking infuses all corners of culture. From the mysteries and meanings of religion and art, to our beliefs about the past, present and future, and the values which guide how we see ourselves, others, and the world at large, the dread of impending doom never seems far away.
During the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, this once unspoken unease grew into a pervasive terror. Nuclear annihilation, dehumanizing technology, ecological disaster, and rampant totalitarianism now apparently conspire to deliver, at best, the dystopian nightmares of Brave New World or Nineteen Eighty-Four or, at worst, the complete destruction of all life on Earth. Roaming through this forbidden zone Joanna Demers takes a sideways look at apocalyptic culture. Our discussion today centres mainly on music and the fear of the future which has given us both an unhealthy obsession with the sound of the past, and bleak but often beautiful new sounds reflecting the contradictory dread and longing which characterise our species at this moment time.
Featuring music by: Cliff Martinez, Cwtch, Glass Candy, William Basinski, Robert Rich and Oneohtrix Point Never.

LF226 Gary Lachman – Beyond The Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson – Part One

Gary Lachman discusses his book Beyond the Robot – The Life and Work of Colin Wilson. Colin Wilson was a literary and cultural rebel, and one of the most adventurous, hopeful, and least understood visionary intellects of the past century. Author of over a hundred books including the 1956 classic The Outsider, Wilson purveyed a philosophy of mind power and human potential that made him arguably the only optimistic existentialist.
In part one, we outline Wilson’s core philosophy and worldview which saw the purpose, meaning, and destiny of humanity – and indeed all life – in the evolution of consciousness toward ever more expansive states of complexity and awareness. Although Wilson felt that in many ways Western civilization has hit a dead end, he ultimately rejected responses rooted in nihilism and negativity. For Wilson, consciousness does not passively reflect the world, rather it reaches out and grabs it. Perception, he believed, is participatory, and we are active agents in shaping reality. However, our inculcated fear of responsibility, of freedom, and of our own creative capacity for greatness, keeps most of us mired in a meaningless, mechanistic view of the Universe drifting between hedonism and despair. Many of us ask if there is more to life than this, and the answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ As Wilson himself wrote ”’My life’s task is to light a fire with damp sticks. The drizzle falls incessantly. Yet I feel that if only I could really get the blaze started, it would become so large and fierce that nothing could stop it.’
Colin Wilson WebsiteColin Wilson WorldPauper’s Press
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’
Listen to more shows on Legalise Freedom Dot Com.

LF225 Brendan Howlin – Modern Druidry

’Have you ever thought that there must be a better way to live your life?’
In his 2014 book The Handbook Of Urban Druidry – Modern Drudiry For All and its 2016 follow-up The Urban Ovate – The Handbook Of Psychological Druidry, Brendan Howlin holds up a lens through which you and I, if we so choose, may reconsider the path that we are on. Distracted by rampant consumerism, browbeaten by scientific materialism, and fearful of a hostile world apparently plunging into chaos, a corrosive malaise is upon us in this still-new millennium, our lives stripped of meaning and purpose by superficial societies which deny the significance of either.
With its reverence for nature, deep ecological awareness, and belief in respect for all beings, the ancient spiritual order of Druidry offers a set of guiding principles which can be adopted and adapted by anyone, religious or otherwise, to help cope with the challenges of modern life and live in harmony with the natural world, reconnecting with wholeness and, ultimately, with ourselves.
Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’Dovinia ‘The Way of Wyrd’