"In this place, sometimes time becomes space..."
"In this place, sometimes time becomes space..."
Maybe it's because I'm reading books that have a paranoiac kind of tone to them (that is, Philip K. Dick's "pink laser" trilogy: VALIS, The Divine Invasion and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer) but I'm starting to notice some odd similarities between me and Mr. Dick.
1) I've always been fascinated with religious mythology, esoterica and other things they don't really touch upon in church.
2) I've had experiences similar to what Dick describes in these books, based on an event that actually happened to him in March of 1974* (though not nearly to the scale according to which Dick describes his own).
a) I'm sure I've told many of you this one: the time I was sitting in the backseat of a car, and it felt like time telescoped. In my head, for a brief instant, I felt like I was seeing all of human history from primates to Plato and continuing on until the present. When I snapped out of it, I was staring down a concrete strip of road at three banks, two drug stores and a Hardees', and my friend was bitching about his girlfriend in the front seat. You can imagine my disappointment with evolution.
b) When I used to drive back down Sunset after checking out the place where I currently reside, I used to notice that the houses on The Hill looked very similar to what I'd seen of pictures of Grecian temples. I always meant to make a "The More Things Change..." kind of post, but that was when I didn't have regular access to a computer.
3) He lived in Santa Ana, a scant 50 miles south of the Greater Los Angeles area.
4) He died mere months before my birthday (though not very close to my conception *fingers snap*)
Am I the reincarnation of Philip Kindred Dick? Well, probably not. But his books are affecting me in very strong ways. I've made it a mission to swing by the used book store to pick up a Bible. I've sort of sidetracked thinking about my professional life in favor of trying to figure out my philosophical/spiritual one. I've become obsessed with figuring out who his characters refer to (one is Brian Eno, for example, to whom I am currently listening). It's been like a kick to the face (a donkey kick). It's another reason why I don't quite feel ready for work again so soon. A fella's got to eat, though. Guess I'll have to postpone my thoughts for another time. Or perhaps it's another space.
* "Dick's final years were haunted by what he alleged to be a 1974 visitation from God...or at least a God-like being." (taken from Dick's minibiography on IMDb.com)
During this episode, he allegedly saw a Greek town from another time superimposed upon the his own time/place and was given other information. Dick eventually deduced from this that time as been an illusion since a few decades after Christ's death, that we are, in fact, still only years after Christ's death, and that this illusion was devised by Satan or some irrational form of god to mask that we are actually at the end of days. You might be able to see the similarities between what I experienced and what he did. You can also see that mine were just thoughts that snuck up on me, and his were probably not from God and/or a pink laser. As romantic and shocking as his idea sounds--that we are actually participating right now in the battle between Good and Evil--I hasten to say that Dick did a lot of drugs. I'll leave it at that.
D
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