The Mystic Sixties

[Otto]

"Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and
the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius" by Gary Lachman. 

How did a decade of love and peace end in Altamont and the Manson Family
bloodbath?

In "Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of
Aquarius" - to be published June 23rd by The Disinformation Company -
author Gary Lachman explores the sinister dalliance of rock's high rollers
and a new wave of occultists, tying together John Lennon, Timothy Leary,
Mick Jagger, Brian Wilson, Charles Manson, Anton LaVey, Jim Morrison, L.
Ron Hubbard and many more American cultural icons.

"A really well-researched, well-written book about the moment of destiny
from which I for one was glad to escape alive" - Marianne Faithfull

The 1960s were a time of revolution - political, social, psychedelic,
sexual. But there was another revolution that many historians forget: the
rise of a powerful current that permeated pop culture and has been a
central influence on it ever since. It was a magical revolution - a
revival of the occult. Previously rejected and ridiculed beliefs took
centre stage, reaching the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, saturating the
hippies and flower power, hitting the big screen with "Rosemary's Baby"
and the bookshelves with Lord of the Rings. The Tarot. I Ching, astrology,
Kabbala, yogis, witchcraft, UFOs, Aleister Crowley. Yin Yang and "The
Tibetan Book of the Dead" now became the common currency they are today.
But the vibes went bad, the auras darkened. Did that darker undercurrent
win out? Gary Lachman here charts this explosion, its rise and fall, and
its enduring legacy.