Sunday, June 3, 2018

Of Psyconauts and Auras

Image captured from here

Do you see auras? In my newest novel Robbyn's Road (scifi/fantasy genre with heavy influences of the occult) my main protagonist, Robbyn is, among other things, a synesthete with extraordinary powers in all her senses. Beginning with readings on electromagnetism I read up on human auras. That is what brought me to Thelma Moss.

Thela Moss is said by many to be the one who brought the occult and New Age belief in auras to the west because of bringing the work of Semyon Kirlian and his wife Valentina Kirlian, now known as Kirlian Photography, to America. Being a psychonaut I liked the simple review of the book Myself and I by Thelma Moss at the end of this post.

First from her Wikipedia page:
“However, she struggled for years with persistent psychological problems, rooted in depression and grief at the loss of her husband (he died of cancer two days after she gave birth to a baby daughter). She survived two suicide attempts. For treatment for her problems, she underwent a course of LSD psychotherapy; she later published an autobiographical account of her treatment, My Self and I, under the pseudonym Constance A. Newland; the book was a bestseller in 1962.”

A book review from the time:
“This book is the true story of one woman's experiences with LSD the new, experimental and dangerous mind drug that is exploding into use across America. LSD is odorless, colorless, tasteless--and potent. One ounce provides 300,000 average doses. One dose can send a user into a shimmering, color-drenched world of wonder...or into a self-contained prison of frenzy and fear.”

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Just for an added read try An Occult History of the Television Set from Gizmodo