Product Description

"Rebels & Devils" brings together some of the most talented, controversial and rebellious people of all time. Many - such as William S. Burroughs, Dr Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and Aleister Crowley - are world famous. Others contributors, such as James Wasserman, S Jason Black and Peter J Carroll, are well-accomplished in their own fields. Still others are lesser-known - for now. But every contributor, in every article, in every aspect of their lives, has had but one focus: to bring freedom to their world. In all of human history the essence of the independent mind has been the need to think and act according to standards from within, not without.To follow one's own path, not that of the crowd. Inevitably it follows that anyone with an independent mind must become 'one who resists or opposes an authority or established convention': a rebel. Usually rebellion is done so quietly that no one notices. But when others - especially others with power - recognise the disobedience, the rebel becomes the REBEL. And if enough people come to agree with - and follow - the REBEL, we have a DEVIL. Until, of course, still more people agree. And then, finally, we have ...GREATNESS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #521116 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

Laying seeds of rebellion
As soon as I began to read this book I found it very hard to put down. It brings together some of the greatest minds in 20th and 21st Century counter-culture, along with some lesser known writers, to provide an insight into the various approaches to rebellion that can be utilised by the individual.

It is no easy "how to" either. Each writer expounds some concepts that will not be found in the mainstream monoculture that is force-fed to the citizens of the Western world. Some in direct essay form, others in the form of creative writing, or interviews. The reader is then left to think over the ideas before either choosing to incorporate them into their own philosophy or rejecting them.

Topics covered include Chaos magick, cognitive restructuring through language, gun control myths, the war on (some) drugs, the martial artist as rebel, among many others.

Many of these ideas were not new to me but the entire anthology was an enjoyable, and sometimes enlightening, read.

I can't recommend this enough, both to people who have already been exposed to the ideas and writings of people like Robert Anton Wilson, Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, and Willaim Burroughs, and to those who never have. There is something here to make every reader re-evaluate their own ideas.

Fire from Heaven
Esteemed psychologist and magus Christopher Hyatt has gathered together an illuminating collection of writings by the most radical thinkers of the last century and beyond. Collecting brilliant pieces by Aleister Crowley, A.O. Spare, Tim Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and others, this book is a guiding light to anyone looking to free themselves from the chains of social conditioning, to reach out and break down all our mental barriers and to stick a middle finger up at "consensus reality."