INTO THE MYSTIC

“I have rarely read a book about the occult and modern culture with so many original insights. Christopher Hill zigs when others zag. He is always on target with something remarkable and fresh to say about rock and mysticism, a topic you only thought you knew.”

MITCH HOROWITZ, PEN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF OCCULT AMERICA AND ONE SIMPLE IDEA: HOW POSITIVE THINKING RESHAPED MODERN LIFE

“Like a third eye opening, Into the Mystic illuminates the spiritual awakening that gave popular music its messianic fervor in the renaissance era that heralded the 1960s. The scope of Christopher Hill’s inquiry refracts like a psychedelic prism, with a sense of wonder at the tale unfolding and an appreciation of why it continues to fascinate and resonate within our highest consciousness.”

LENNY KAYE, MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER OF THE COMPILATION ALBUM NUGGETS: ORIGINAL ARTYFACTS FROM THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC ERA, 1965–1968

“What would a history look like that took the rhythms, beats, dances, and trance states of blues, gospel, and rock ’n’ roll as seriously as it took elections, wars, and arrogant men? It would be a poetic history of numinous desire, ecstatic release, and freedom. It would intuit and then trace an African-American-British visionary tradition aching as much with the sufferings of American chattel slavery and the psychedelic trips of the counterculture as the mythical channelings of William Blake. It would not look away from either the utopian hopes or the horrible failures and fundamentalist backlashes. It would look, in fact, like this weird and wonderful book.”

JEFFREY J. KRIPAL, AUTHOR OF ESALEN: AMERICA AND THE RELIGION OF NO RELIGION

“Into the Mystic is a fascinating and inspiring read, providing extensive knowledge and brilliant insights carried by eloquent and, at times, poetic writing. And most important, it’s a compelling articulation of the centrality of visionary art—and in particular 1960s rock-and-roll music—in the promise that ‘the division between Heaven and Earth’ can be repealed. Christopher Hill places the rock music of the 1960s in its proper historical lineage as a cultural phenomenon far beyond mere entertainment, indeed central to the consciousness transformation revolution—the psychedelic renaissance that seemed to stall or at least dramatically wane in the 1970s. An erudite, eloquent, and potent love song to the liberating spirit of 1960s rock music—its connection to the lineage of ‘the secret garden’ (‘the secret eternal revolution’) and ‘the ancient dance’—and its relevance to the continuing urgent need for a yet deeper liberation of soul and society. A treasure trove of brilliant and unexpected revelations.”

STEPHEN GRAY, TEACHER, SPEAKER, CONFERENCE ORGANIZER, AND AUTHOR OF CANNABIS AND SPIRITUALITY: AN EXPLORER’S GUIDE TO AN ANCIENT PLANT SPIRIT ALLY AND RETURNING TO SACRED WORLD: A SPIRITUAL TOOLKIT FOR THE EMERGING REALITY