My rambling post about Robert Anton Wilson has really got me thinking. One of the things it made me think about was how much I missed owning my copy of "Passport to Magonia" by Jacques Vallee. The book is now apparently somewhat rare. If you click on the link above you will see that it is no longer in print and the only used copy available offered is for over $900. When I saw this I just about choked. I sold my copy for about $1 on Ebay a few years ago.
It reminds of that line in 'Adaptation' when the John Larouche character just says, "I was done with fish." That's what I felt about UFOs. I was 'done with UFOs'. So, I sold my entire library of books on UFOs, quantum physics, parapsychology, cosmology, the occult and, (gasp), my entire collection of Robert Anton Wilson. I sold 350 books in roughly lots of ten each on Ebay. I kept all of my fiction. Still, today, my house is overflowing with books. I hate getting rid of books, I love 'owning' them. I remember when I came across my copy of "Passport to Magonia" I couldn't stand the thought of getting rid of it, but, I was afraid of the slippery slope. If I kept that one, then what about the next? And the one after that? And the one after that? So I sold them all.
Now, some years later, I am correcting that error. I not only bought back a copy of "Passport to Magonia" (no, I didn't pay $900 but I still couldn't believe I paid $50 for an old paperback!). I also bought about ten Robert Anton Wilson books including some of his more recent stuff that I haven't read.
"Passport to Magonia" is a book that compares and contrasts modern UFO reports with the myth and legends of 'The Gentry', "The Good People", or "Leprechauns". Of course, modern day people think UFOs are spaceships from outer space (if they believe in them at all) and everyone knows the stories of "The Gentry" are just myths. The thing is...that if you actually read a modern UFO report they are very strange. Very, very, very strange and not anything like a 'spaceship' in any conventional sense. Moreover, if you actually read a 'leprechaun' report (and they *do* exist) it doesn't look or sound like the guy on a box of Lucky Charms but, instead, sounds almost exactly identical to a 'modern' UFO report.
Jacques Vallee documents the myth and folklore of visits from these entities throughout all of recorded human history. He compares and contrasts these reports and demonstrates that they are clearly describing the 'same' phenomena; whatever its root cause may be.
"Passport to Magonia" is not a scientific book. It is, at best, philisophical in tone. What Vallee points out is this simple truth. It doesn't matter one tiny little bit whether or not any of this is 'true' or not; or 'real' or not. Not one bit whatsoever. What matters is how these reports and experiences affect humanity. And, the answer is, they affect humanity in the most profound way. It doesn't matter if Joseph Smith did, or did not, speak to an 'Angel Moroni', it only matters that his reported experience created a massive world-wide religion in its wake. In the same fashion it doesn't matter if the 'Virgin Mary' apparition and Miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917 was 'real'. What is most important is how this experience (shared by over 100,000 people) has impacted human religions.
Vallee speaks to these concepts from a philisophical perspective and it is a most enlightening approach. I am enjoying reading the book again immensly. Afterwards I look forward to ploughing through my new stack of Robert Anton Wilson's. I'm sure that will spur a new blog post or two in the future..
Before I close, let me continue the art theme by leaving a link to the online portfolio of a good friend of mine "Tracy Butler". Here are a just a few of the many incredible images on Tracy's website. I strongly recommend you visit there and, if you really like a piece, order a print for your own collection.
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