Friday, December 16, 2005

Happy Birthday Phil!

Philip Kindred Dick
Gnostic, Visionary, Writer, & Prophet?

“[G]nosis, then, consists of disinhibiting instructions, with the core content actually intrinsic to us--that is, already there.”

The great explorer of mind and reality warping fiction was born on this day in 1928. He was born a twin, and although his sister died in infancy, his longing for her can be seen in some of the metaphors he used. The deepest longings of his heart were the colors with which he painted his compassionate prose; it doesn't explain away his symbolism, it deepens it. I invite you to read or reread Valis with this in mind.

His refusal to accept any account of his experience as the final or complete one is an example to us all.

1928-1982

I will save further reflections for a later post.

Wikipedia Entry

Phildickian Gnosticism

Robert Crumb comic strip about Philip K. Dick's theophany


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Rev., your links are broken!

Fr. Troy Pierce said...

Many thanks for the heads-up, Jeremy.

Anonymous said...

Sure sign of being overworked is that I didn't notice that! As a tip of the glass to him I'll have to actually give myself permission to sit down and read some more of pursuit of valis, an early Christmas gift from me to me.

And thanks for the plug!