"Dick,_Philip_K._The shifting realities of Philip K Dick" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dick Phillip K)

moral subtlety and concern4 "
To focus on a rigid binary definition of sane or insane constitutes, in the case of Dick and his
work, a puerile simplification. The further the combined bodies of knowledge of psychology,
anthropology, and history of religions progress, the less clear it seems that bright-line divisions among
"religious," "shamanic," and "psychotic" states is possible or even useful in the absence of a careful
appreciation of the cultural and personal contexts of the experiencer. This is not to argue that Dick
even remotely resembles an "enlightened" mystic; it is well to remember that Dick's forte was
questions, not answers; those who would see his ideas as fodder for a "cult" merely reflect their own
hunger for conditioned thought. Dick's experiences, as reflected in the writings in the present volume,
reflect a root indeterminacy, a persistent puzzlement and skepticism that underlie even his wildest
speculations. To follow Dick along his metaphysical quest will, however, provide its own unique
rewards for the reader who is able to maintain an open mind.
For example, one of the elements of his 2-3-74 experience was a series of "phosphene graphics"
visions, which included, in one instance, a sighting of the Golden Rectangle of Greek aesthetics,
which represented, in that culture, perfect architectural proportion as reflected in structures such as
the Parthenon. Dick also became fascinated, during this period, with the Fibonacci logarithmic series,
named after the thirteenth-century mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, who utilized it to
demonstrate a frequent structural analogy among spiral forms in nature, as in certain seashells, leaves,
and rock formations. Subsequent research has extended the analogy to the spin of hurricane winds
and the DNA double helix, as well as to the underlying theorems of fractal mathematics and
computer imaging. Dick believed that the Golden Triangle and the Fibonacci series were keys to
interpreting the archetypal truths being revealed in the "phosphene graphics"; these speculations
appear frequently in the Exegesis and are featured in Dick's novel Valis and in the speech "If You
Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others," included in this volume. Nonetheless,
the skeptical reader is likely to give them short shrift, consigning them as mere gibberish.
But now consider the pervasive influence of phosphene graphics in shamanic visions and world
religions, as summarized by anthropologist Michael Ripinsky-Naxon:
Somewhere in the neural network of the brain and the retina is spurred a phenomenon [phosphenes] that
actuates inner sight, or luminous visions, and which may constitute the basis for an objective, physical
framework for the visions encountered among religious adepts such as shamans and mystics. . . . Carl G.
Jung, observing the transcultural character of the neurally stimulated phosphene shapes, pioneered the
idea that certain archetypal symbols might originate in the personal experience of such luminous designs. .
. . The almost visionary, later paintings, executed in an asylum, by Vincent van Gogh, exhibit phosphene
patterns, as do many unskilled crayon drawings of youngsters between the ages of two and four years. As
can be also expected, a large number of designs encountered in ancient and aboriginal cultures display
phosphene-like characters5 *
Ripinsky-Naxon goes on to consider the archetypal symbol of the spiral specifically:
If we. . . recognize the spiral to be an archetypal pattern and its schematic representations as the labyrinth,
then this conception may help elucidate our understanding of why this motif has been used to symbolize
4 Alexander Star, "The God in the Trash," The New Republic (December 6, 1993), p. 34.
5 Michael Ripinsky-Naxon, The Nature of Shamanism (Albany State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 148-
50.
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the unknown origin-point leading to the Hereafter, the cave, the tomb, and the womb of the Great Mother.
The tomb, as has been noted, was constructed in resemblance of the body of the Great Mother, whose
energy and procreative sexuality are conveyed through the element of the spiral6 .*
In this regard, note that Dick believed (see "If You Find This World Bad ...") that he sighted,
through the vision of the Golden Rectangle, the goddess Aphrodite, or the sexual aspect of the Great
Mother. As for the Importance of the Great Mother to Dick both philosophically and
psychologically, the reader may consult his speech "The Android and the Human" in the present