| Robert Anton Wilson |

At the National Theatre, London, for the 10-hour stage version of Illuminatus! in 1977 |
| Born | Robert Edward Wilson
(1932-01-18)January 18, 1932
Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | January 11, 2007(2007-01-11) (aged 74)
Capitola, California |
| Spouse(s) | Arlen Riley Wilson (1958–1999) (her death) 4 children |
|
Robert Anton Wilson (born
Robert Edward Wilson, January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007), known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and
polymath who became at various times a novelist,
philosopher,
psychologist,
essayist,
editor, playwright, poet,
futurist,
civil libertarian[1] and self-described
agnostic mystic. Recognized as an
episkopos, pope, and saint of Discordianism, Wilson helped publicize the group through his writings, interviews, and strolls.
[clarification needed]
Wilson described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth".
[2] His goal being "to try to get people into a state of generalized
agnosticism, not agnosticism about
God alone but
agnosticism about everything" (cf.
solipsism,
acatalepsia,
Pyrrhonism).
[3]
[edit] Early life
"Is", "is." "is"—the idiocy of the word haunts me. If it were abolished, human thought might begin to make sense. I don't know what anything "is"; I only know how it seems to me at this moment.
— Robert Anton Wilson, The Historical Illuminatus, as spoken by Sigismundo Celine.
Wilson, born Robert Edward Wilson in
Methodist Hospital, in
Brooklyn, New York, spent his first years in
Flatbush, and moved with his family to
Gerritsen Beach around the age of 4 or 5, where they stayed until he turned 13. He suffered from
polio as a child, and found generally effective treatment with the Kenny Method (created by
Elizabeth Kenny) which the
American Medical Association repudiated at that time. Polio's effects remained with Wilson throughout his life, usually manifesting as minor muscle spasms causing him to use a cane occasionally until 2000, when he experienced a major bout with
post-polio syndrome that would continue until his death.
Wilson attended Catholic grammar school, most likely the school associated with Gerritsen Beach's Resurrection Church
[citation needed]. He attended
Brooklyn Technical High School to remove himself from the Catholic influence. While working as an ambulance driver Wilson attended
New York University, studying
engineering and
mathematics. He lectured at the
Free University of New York on 'Anarchist and Synergetic Politics' when it was founded in 1965.
[4]
He worked as an engineering aide, a salesman, a copywriter, and as associate editor of
Playboy magazine from 1965 to 1971. Wilson adopted his maternal grandfather's name, Anton, for his writings, at first telling himself that he would save the "Edward" for when he wrote the Great American Novel and later finding that "Robert Anton Wilson" had become an established identity.
In 1979 he received a
Ph.D. in psychology from Paideia University in California,
[5] an unaccredited institution that has since closed.
[6][7] Wilson reworked his dissertation, and it found publication in 1983 as
Prometheus Rising.
Wilson married freelance writer and poet Arlen Riley in 1958; they had four children. Their youngest daughter Luna—beaten to death in an apparent robbery in the store where she worked in 1976 at the age of 15—became the first person to have her brain preserved by the
Bay Area Cryonics Society.
[8] Arlen Riley Wilson died in 1999 following a series of strokes.
[9][10]
[edit] The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Eye in the Pyramid, first volume of the first edition of
Illuminatus!, 1975
Among Wilson's 35 books,
[11] and many other works, perhaps his best-known volumes remain the cult classic series
[12] The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975), co-authored with
Robert Shea. Advertised as "a
fairy tale for paranoids," the three books--
The Eye in the Pyramid,
The Golden Apple, and
Leviathan, soon offered as a single volume—philosophically and humorously examined, among many other themes, occult and magical symbolism and history, the
counterculture of the 1960s,
secret societies, data concerning author
H.P. Lovecraft and author and occultist
Aleister Crowley, and American
paranoia about
conspiracies and
conspiracy theories.
Wilson and Shea derived much of the odder material from letters sent to
Playboy magazine while they worked as the editors of the Playboy Forum.
[13] The books mixed true information with imaginative fiction to engage the reader in what Wilson called "
guerrilla ontology" which he apparently referred to as "
Operation Mindfuck" in
Illuminatus! The trilogy also outlined a set of
libertarian and
anarchist axioms known as
Celine's Laws (named after Hagbard Celine, a character in
Illuminatus!), concepts Wilson revisited several times in other writings.
Among the many subplots of
Illuminatus! one addresses
biological warfare and the overriding of the
United States Bill of Rights, another gives a detailed account of the
John F. Kennedy assassination, in which no fewer than five snipers, all working for different causes, prepared to shoot Kennedy in
Dallas, Texas, and the book's climax occurs at a rock concert where the audience collectively face the danger of becoming a mass human sacrifice.
Illuminatus! popularized
Discordianism and the use of the term "
fnord". It incorporates experimental prose styles influenced by writers such as
William S. Burroughs,
James Joyce, and
Ezra Pound.
[14] Although Shea and Wilson never partnered on such a scale again, Wilson continued to expand upon the themes of the
Illuminatus! books throughout his writing career. Most of his later fiction contains cross-over characters from "The Sex Magicians" (Wilson's first novel, written before the release of
Illuminatus!, which includes many of his same characters) and
The Illuminatus! Trilogy.
Illuminatus! won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award for
science fiction in 1986, has many international editions, and found adaptation for the stage when
Ken Campbell produced it as a ten-hour epic drama. It also appeared as a
Steve Jackson role-playing card game called
Illuminati and a trading-card game called
Illuminati: New World Order. Eye N Apple Productions and
Rip Off Press produced a comic book version of the trilogy.
[edit] On the Illuminati
Near the end of his life,
Richard Metzger interviewed Robert Anton Wilson and asked him about the
Illuminati. His answer was:
Richard Metzger: You have studied the Illuminati for years. Have you come to any conclusion about their aims?
Robert Anton Wilson: Usually when people ask me that question, I give them some kind of a put-on, but I can't think of a good and original put-on that I haven't done several times before. So I'll tell you the truth, for once. After investigating the Illuminati and their critics for the last 30 years, I think the Illuminati was a short lived society of free thinkers and democratic reformers that formed a secret society within Freemasonry, using Freemasonry as a cover so they could plot to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope. I'm very happy that they succeeded in overthrowing all the kings, I just wish that they had completed the job and gotten rid of the Royal family in England too, but they did pretty well on the continent. I'm sorry they haven't finished off the Pope yet, either, but I think they're still working on the project and I wish them luck.
—
Disinformation: the interviews. By Richard Metzger.[15]
[edit] Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy, The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, and Masks of the Illuminati
Wilson wrote two more popular fiction series. The first, a trilogy later published as a single volume, was
Schrödinger's Cat. The second,
The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, appeared as three books. In-between publishing the two trilogies Wilson released a stand-alone novel,
Masks of the Illuminati (1981), which fits into, due to the main character's ancestry,
The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles' timeline and, while published earlier, could qualify for the fourth volume in that series.
Schrödinger's Cat consists of three volumes:
The Universe Next Door,
The Trick Top Hat, and
The Homing Pigeons. Wilson set the three books in differing
alternative universes, and most of the characters remain almost the same but may have slightly different names and different careers and background stories. The books cover the fields of
quantum mechanics and the
varied philosophies and explanations that exist within the science. The single volume describes itself as a
magical textbook and a type of
initiation. The single-volume edition omits many entire pages and has many other omissions when compared with the original separate books.
The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, composed of
The Earth Will Shake (1982),
The Widow's Son (1985), and
Nature's God (1991), follows the timelines of several characters through different generations, time periods, and countries. The books cover, among many other topics, the history, legacy, and rituals of the Illuminati and related groups.
Masks of the Illuminati, featuring historical characters in a fictionized setting, contains a great deal of occult data. Intermixing
Albert Einstein, James Joyce,
Aleister Crowley,
Sigmund Freud and others, the book focuses on
Pan and other occult icons, ideas, and practices.
[edit] Plays and screenplays
A play by Wilson,
Wilhelm Reich in Hell (published as a book in 1987 and first performed at the
Edmund Burke Theatre in
Dublin, in
San Francisco, and in Los Angeles) included many factual and fictional characters, including
Marilyn Monroe,
Uncle Sam, and
Wilhelm Reich himself. Wilson also wrote and published as books two
screenplays, not yet produced:
Reality Is What You Can Get Away With: an Illustrated Screenplay (1992) and
The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1997).
[edit] The Cosmic Trigger series and other books
In the nonfiction and partly autobiographical
Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (1977) and its two sequels, as well as in many other works, Wilson examined
Freemasons, Discordianism,
Sufism, the Illuminati,
Futurology,
Zen Buddhism,
Dennis and
Terence McKenna,
Jack Parsons, the occult practices of
Aleister Crowley and
G.I. Gurdjieff,
Yoga, and many other
esoteric or
counterculture philosophies, personalities, and occurrences.
Wilson advocated
Timothy Leary's
eight circuit model of consciousness and neurosomatic/linguistic engineering, which he wrote about in many books including
Prometheus Rising (1983, revised 1997) and again in 1990 with
Quantum Psychology (which contain practical techniques intended to help one break free of one's "
reality tunnels"). With Leary, he helped promote the futurist ideas of
space migration,
intelligence increase, and
life extension, which they combined to form the word symbol
SMI²LE.
Wilson's 1986 book,
The New Inquisition, argues that whatever reality consists of it actually would seem much weirder than we commonly imagine. It cites, among other sources,
Bell's theorem and
Alain Aspect's experimental proof of Bell's to suggest that mainstream science has a strong materialist bias, and that in fact modern physics may have already disproved
materialist metaphysics.
Wilson also supported the work and
utopian theories of
Buckminster Fuller and examined the theories of
Charles Fort. He and
Loren Coleman became friends,
[16] as he did with media theorist
Marshall McLuhan and
Neuro Linguistic Programming co-founder
Richard Bandler, with whom he taught workshops. He also admired James Joyce, and wrote extensive commentaries on the author and on two of Joyce's novels,
Finnegans Wake and
Ulysses, in his 1988 book
Coincidance: A Head Test.
[17]
Although Wilson often lampooned and criticized some
New Age beliefs, bookstores specializing in New Age material often sell his books. Wilson, a well-known author in
occult and
Neo-Pagan circles, used
Aleister Crowley as a main character in his 1981 novel
Masks of the Illuminati, included some elements of
H. P. Lovecraft's work in his novels, and at times claimed to have perceived encounters with magical "entities" (when asked whether these entities seemed "real", he answered they seemed "real enough," although "not as real as the IRS" but "easier to get rid of", and later decided that his experiences may have emerged from "just my right brain hemisphere talking to my left").
[18] He warned against beginners using occult practice, since to rush into such practices and the resulting "energies" they unleash could lead people to "go totally nuts".
[19]
Wilson also criticized scientific types with overly rigid belief systems, equating them with
religious fundamentalists in their
fanaticism. In a 1988 interview, when asked about his newly-published book
The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science, Wilson commented: "I coined the term irrational rationalism because those people claim to be
rationalists, but they're governed by such a heavy body of
taboos. They're so fearful, and so hostile, and so narrow, and frightened, and uptight and dogmatic... I wrote this book because I got tired satirizing fundamentalist Christianity... I decided to satirize fundamentalist materialism for a change, because the two are equally comical... The materialist fundamentalists are funnier than the Christian fundamentalists, because they think they're rational! ...They're never skeptical about anything except the things they have a prejudice against. None of them ever says anything skeptical about the AMA, or about anything in establishment science or any entrenched
dogma. They're only skeptical about new ideas that frighten them. They're actually dogmatically committed to what they were taught when they were in college..."
[20]
[edit] Probability reliance
In a 2003 interview with
High Times magazine, Wilson described himself as "model-
agnostic" which he said "consists of never regarding any model or map of the universe with total 100% belief or total 100% denial. Following
Korzybski, I put things in
probabilities, not absolutes... My only originality lies in applying this
zetetic attitude outside the hardest of the hard sciences, physics, to softer sciences and then to non-sciences like politics, ideology, jury verdicts and, of course, conspiracy theory".
[21]
Wilson claimed in
Cosmic Trigger: Volume 1 "not to believe anything", since "belief is the death of intelligence".
[22] He described this approach as "Maybe Logic."
Wilson wrote about this and other topics in articles for the
cyberpunk magazine
Mondo 2000.
[23]
[edit] Economic thought
Robert Anton Wilson favored a form of
Basic Income Guarantee; synthesizing several ideas under the acronym RICH. His ideas are set forth in the essay "The RICH Economy" found in
The Illuminati Papers.
[24]
[edit] Other activities
Robert Anton Wilson and his wife Arlen Riley Wilson founded the
Institute for the Study of the Human Future in 1975.
From 1982 until his death, Wilson had a business relationship with the
Association for Consciousness Exploration, which hosted his first on-stage dialogue with his long-time friend Timothy Leary
[25] entitled
The Inner Frontier.
[26][27][28] Wilson dedicated his book
The New Inquisition to A.C.E.'s co-directors, Jeff Rosenbaum and Joseph Rothenberg.
Wilson speaking at the Phenomicon
Wilson also joined the
Church of the SubGenius, who referred to him as Pope Bob.
[29] He contributed to their literature, including the book
Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob", and shared a stage with their founder, Rev.
Ivan Stang, on several occasions. Wilson also founded the
Guns and Dope Party[30] and its corresponding
Burning Man theme camp.
[citation needed]
As a member of the Board of Advisors of the
Fully Informed Jury Association, Wilson worked to inform the public about
jury nullification, the right of jurors to nullify a law they deem unjust.
[31] He supported and wrote about
E-Prime, a form of English lacking all "be" verbs (words such as "is", "are", "was", "were" etc.), and preferred the term "maybe logic".
[32]
A decades-long researcher into drugs and a strong opponent of what he called "the war on some drugs", Wilson participated as a Special Guest in the week-long 1999 Annual
Cannabis Cup in
Amsterdam,
[33] and used and often promoted the use of
medical marijuana.
[34]
On June 22, 2006,
Huffington Post blogger
Paul Krassner reported that Robert Anton Wilson was under
hospice care at home with friends and family.
[35] On October 2, 2006
Douglas Rushkoff reported that Wilson was in severe financial trouble.
[36] Slashdot,
Boing Boing, and the Church of the SubGenius also picked up on the story, linking to Rushkoff's appeal.
[37][38] As his webpage reported on October 10, these efforts succeeded beyond expectation and raised a sum which would have supported him for at least six months. Obviously touched by the great outpouring of support, on October 5, 2006, Wilson left the following comment on his personal website, expressing his gratitude:
Dear Friends, my God, what can I say. I am dumbfounded, flabbergasted, and totally stunned by the charity and compassion that has poured in here the last three days.
To steal from
Jack Benny, "I do not deserve this, but I also have severe leg problems and I don't deserve them either."
Because he was a kind man as well as a funny one, Benny was beloved. I find it hard to believe that I am equally beloved and especially that I deserve such love.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, know that my love is with you.
You have all reminded me that despite
George W. Bush and all his cohorts, there is still a lot of beautiful kindness in the world.
Blessings,
Robert Anton Wilson
On January 6, Wilson wrote on his blog that according to several medical authorities, he would likely only have between two days and two months left to live.
[40] He closed this message with "I look forward without dogmatic optimism but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying. Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take death seriously. It seems absurd." He died peacefully five days later, on January 11 at 4:50 a.m. Pacific time.
[41] After his cremation on January 18, and his family-held memorial service on February 18, 2007, his family scattered most of his ashes at the same spot as his wife's—off the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in
Santa Cruz, California.
[42][43]
A tribute show to Wilson, organized by
Coldcut and
Mixmaster Morris and performed in London as a part of the "Ether 07 Festival" held at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall on March 18, 2007, also included
Ken Campbell,
Bill Drummond and
Alan Moore.
[44]
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Fiction
[edit] Autobiographical and philosophical trilogy
[edit] Plays and screenplays
[edit] Non-fiction
[edit] Essay collections
[edit] Editor
[edit] Discography
- A Meeting with Robert Anton Wilson (ACE) cassette
- Religion for the Hell of It (ACE) cassette
- H.O.M.E.s on LaGrange (ACE) cassette
- The New Inquisition (ACE) cassette
- The H.E.A.D. Revolution (ACE) cassette and CD
- Prometheus Rising (ACE) cassette
- The Inner Frontier (with Timothy Leary) (ACE) cassette
- The Magickal Movement: Present & Future (with Margot Adler, Isaac Bonewits & Selena Fox) (ACE) Panel Discussion – cassette
- Magick Changing the World, the World Changing Magick (ACE) Panel Discussion – cassette
- The Self in Transformation (ACE) Panel Discussion – cassette
- The Once & Future Legend (with Ivan Stang, Robert Shea and others) (ACE) Panel Discussion – cassette
- What IS the Conspiracy, Anyway? (ACE) Panel Discussion – cassette
- The Chocolate-Biscuit Conspiracy album with The Golden Horde (1984)
- Twelve Eggs in a Basket CD
- Robert Anton Wilson On Finnegans Wake and Joseph Campbell (interview by Faustin Bray and Brian Wallace) (1988) 2 CD Set Sound Photosynthesis
- Acceleration of Knowledge (1991) cassette
- Secrets of Power comedy cassette
- Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything: or Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance (July 30, 2005) Sounds True ISBN 1-59179-375-0, ISBN 978-1-59179-375-5
[edit] Filmography
- Túneis da Realidade, Os (a.k.a. Who Is the Master Who Makes the Grass Green?) (1996) Edgar Pêra (Portugal)
- Manual de Evasão (September 16, 1994) Edgar Pêra (Portugal)
[edit] Writer
- Wilhelm Reich in Hell (2005) (Video) Deepleaf Productions
[edit] Himself
- Children of the Revolution: Tune Back In (2005) Revolutionary Child Productions
- The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick (2001) TKO Productions
- 23 (1998) (23 – Nichts ist so wie es scheint) Claussen & Wöbke Filmproduktion GmbH (Germany)
- Arise! The SubGenius Video (1992) (V) (a.k.a. Arise! SubGenius Recruitment Film #16) The SubGenius Foundation (USA)
- Borders (1989) Co-Directions Inc. (TV documentary)
- Fear In The Night: Demons, Incest and UFOs (1993) Video – Trajectories
- Twelve Eggs in a Box: Myth, Ritual and the Jury System (1994) Video – Trajectories
- Everything Is Under Control: Robert Anton Wilson in Interview (1998) Video – Trajectories
[edit] Documentary
- Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson, a documentary featuring selections from over 25 years of Wilson footage, released on DVD in North America on May 30, 2006.[45]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ [1] [2] [3]
- ^ Patricia Monaghan: "Robert Anton Wilson". Booklist, May 15, 1999 v95 i18 p1680
- ^ "Robert Anton Wilson". Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007
- ^ Berke, Jospeh (29 October 1965), "The Free University of New York", Peace News: 6–7 as reproduced in Jakobsen, Jakob (2012), Anti-University of Londin–Antihistory Tabloid, London: MayDay Rooms, pp. 6–7, http://maydayrooms.org/room-3-research/
- ^ "Robert Anton Wilson." St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th ed. St. James Press, 1996. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
- ^ Martin van der Werf: "Lawsuit U." The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 4, 2006
- ^ Prometheus Rising Robert Anton Wilson's Prometheus Rising on the credibility of the previously existing Paideia University
- ^ Patricia Luna Wilson at cryonics.org
- ^ Robert Anton Wilson obituary mentioning Arlen's death
- ^ The Beltane Celebration
- ^ "The author of 35 books on subjects like extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs and what he called quantum psychology..." New York Times obituary.
- ^ "...an author of The Illuminatus! Trilogy—a mind-twisting science-fiction series about a secret global society that has been a cult classic for more than 30 years..." from "Robert Anton Wilson, 74; Wrote Mind-Twisting Novels"; [Obituary (Obit)] Dennis Hevesi. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Jan 13, 2007. pg. A.16
- ^ "The Illuminatus saga stumbles along" by Robert Anton Wilson
- ^ Conspiracy Digest Interviews printed in Illuminatus Papers, 1980
- ^ Disinformation: the interviews. By Richard Metzger. Accessed 26 July 2011.
- ^ 23 Skidoo Cryptomundo
- ^ Bray, Faustin / Wallace, Brian (interviewers)/ Wilson, Robert Anton (speaker) (1988). Robert Anton Wilson On Finnegans Wake and Joseph Campbell (Audio CD). Mill Valley: Sound Photosynthesis. ISBN 1-56964-801-8.
- ^ Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson
- ^ "Robert Anton Wilson". Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything. 2000
- ^ 1988 interview
- ^ Krassner, Paul. A Paul Krassner Interview With R. A. W – High Times, March 2003 issue.
- ^ Wilson, Robert Anton. Cosmic Trigger: Volume I. Tempe, Arizona. New Falcon Publications. 1977. pg ii.
- ^ "CybeRevolution Montage", Mondo 2000 no. 7, 1989
- ^ The RICH Economy by Robert Anton Wilson from The Illuminati Papers
- ^ Lesie, Michele (1989) "High Priest of LSD To Drop In", The Plain Dealer
- ^ Local Group Hosts Dr. Timothy Leary by Will Allison (The Observer Fri. Sept. 29th, 1989)
- ^ Two 60s Cult Heroes, on the Eve of the 80s by James Neff (Cleveland Plain Dealer October 30, 1979)
- ^ Timothy Leary: An LSD Cowboy Turns Cosmic Comic by Frank Kuznik (Cleveland Magazine November 1979)
- ^ Winterstar 2001
- ^ Nocenti, Annie; Baldwin, Ruth (2004). The High Times Reader. Nation Books. p. 472. ISBN 978-1-56025-624-3.
- ^ Interview of Robert Anton Wilson, (conducted August 1997) Paradigm Shift, Vol. 1 No. 1 (July 1998). Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ Andrea Shapiro: "Taking the High Road". Santa Fe New Mexican, December 5, 2003
- ^ Paul Krassner: "The High Life", LA Weekly, December 17, 1999
- ^ "In Santa Cruz, an Official Handout of Medicinal Pot." Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2002.
- ^ Robert Anton Wilson The Huffington Post
- ^ Robert Anton Wilson Needs Our Help
- ^ Illumninatus! Author Needs Our Help Slashdot
- ^ Robert Anton Wilson needs our Help BoingBoing
- ^ Robert Anton Wilson Home Page
- ^ Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night
- ^ RAW Essence
- ^ RAW Data: Robert Anton Wilson Cosmic Meme-Orial
- ^ YouTube – Robert Anton Wilson Meme-orial Procession
- ^ Coldcut, Mixmaster Morris, Ken Campbell, Bill Drummond and Alan Moore (March 18, 2007). Robert Anton Wilson tribute show. Queen Elizabeth Hall, London: Mixmaster Morris. http://www.dailymotion.com/tag/illuminatus/video/x366w1_robert-anton-wilson-1-ken-campbell_fun. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ Maybe Logic
[edit] External links
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