10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Myriad of discussions on rebellion and liberation, January 25, 2004
Rebels and Devils is a collection of works from some of the most rebellious and accomplished minds of our time; including such notorious authors as William Burroughs, Phil Hine, Peter Carroll, Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, Robert Anton Wilson, Timothy Leary, Osho, and naturally Christopher S. Hyatt, as well as various others. Not only a collection of essays, it also consists of various photographs, poetry, biographies, interviews and even a comic drawn by S. Jason Black and co-written by Hyatt. Comprised of more than works psychology and magick; anything that could be deemed rebellious or individualistic; also covered are such topics as yoga, meditation, sex, drugs, guns, death, and the difference between rebellion and revolution.
I've never read anything by Israel Regardie before, as his most famous works seem centred around the Golden Dawn, and I've never had much use for formal magickal orders, so I was somewhat surprised to discover while reading an interview between him and Hyatt ('The Final Words of a Western Master') that he was so funny, as I tend to see that sort of thing as being dry work. Both humourous and insightful, he made an excellent point regarding the misconceptions readers have about the authors they read, very one dimensionally, and this certainly helps expand that.
In 'The Calling of the Holy Whore', Diana Rose Hartman, the only female author in the entire compendium, offers an intelligently refreshing re-interpretation of the Judeo-Christian myths surrounding Satan/Lucifer in the rebel guise, noting how 'devil' and 'divine' grew out of the same Indo-European root word devi, and 'demon' came from the Greek for genius, daemon. Hart contributes an interesting feminist perspective to rebellion, in embracing the holy whore within ourselves.
Christopher Hyatt reflects on the methods of modern slavery in 'Who Owns the Planet Earth':
"While most humans agree that slavery is evil - that the ownership of one human by another is immoral - few humans equate slavery with enforced education, welfare, health, and the idea of a perfect orderly universe. Slavery is usually associated with power over others and with the ability to enforce one's will on another without the fear of retaliation. Within the "right" of ownership and debt there is a hidden mystery - a metaphysics - a knowledge only available to those with the power to create and enforce their metaphysics. Whenever a new group achieves power, they also inherit the metaphysics and magickally, the ability to use it." (pg 110-111)
While Osho notes in 'Rebellion is the Biggest "YES" Yet':
"Rebellion is an individual action; it has nothing to do with the crowd. Rebellion has nothing to do with politics, power, violence. Rebellion has something to do with changing your consciousness, your silence, your being. It is a spiritual metamorphosis." (pg. 122)
The myriad of discussions on rebellion and liberation in its various forms make this a book to be treasured for years to come. While not every essay is a shining jewel to be discovered, there is a sufficient number that makes Rebels and Devils defiantly worth reading. I recommend that they be read as they appear, even though one may not be interested in every subject discussed, they do follow a loose sequence.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Nudge Toward Self-Understanding, November 7, 2005
Rebels and Devils is a collection of literary forms, from essay to comic, dealing with the psychology of liberation. Standing alone, it is overwhelmingly inspiring at times, always thought-provoking, and seldom dogmatic. The point of this book can be as simple as an interesting read, or as grand as an eye-opening experience. Rebellion is a personal voyage, so this book does not call for any type of political action - rather it calls for meditation and self-reflection. Knowledge of self is perhaps the most powerful weapon we can possess.
Along with "rebellion" our mind might pull on other words by association, like "anarchy." Anarchy has a bad reputation, and it is well deserved if the only demonstrations or conceptualizations we can deal with involve unenlightened individuals all battling for their own ends. But the ultimate freedom discussed in Rebels and Devils involves more responsibility on the part of the individual. When we have reached a certain point of self-understanding, we cannot help but understand others better as well. We can see how relativism can enter morality without all of life reverting to chaos. The starting point is responsibility - taking full responsibility for all of our actions, thoughts, desires, and everything else we like to claim we own without bearing the full burden. Why bother making decisions when it's so much easier to turn to a priest, politician, doctor, lawyer, etc...? We believe that these figures can give us answers. We can also come to believe that we can answer for ourselves.
The added bonus of such a collection is the guaranteed introduction of further reading. With so many selections coming together to form this volume, you are bound to find at least a few authors whom you will be compelled to investigate further. I was already familiar with some of the contributors, but among the new introductions were Osho, Phil Hine, and Nicholas Tharcher. I had heard of many of the others, but never read them in this light. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has not already convinced hirself that there is only one, concrete, unshakeable path through life, and even more so to those who have.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A climatic let-down, May 9, 2001
I was very excited to read this book, and it immediately offered the expected ideas on liberation psychology: the need for individual rebellion to spark any sort of "real" change in the system, the distaste for organizations of any kind that weren't dedicated to the advancement of personal liberation, blatant and militatnt individualism, etc. For the most part, the book was funnier than it was informative and then.......it just crashes....... After i got halfway through the book, i got the feeling that i was only going to get more of the same old dogma, but in less and less creative ways.....no new issues facing or advocation liberation psycholgy were debated or expoused....i was right.....i could barely finish it. Perhaps because i'd read many of the theories of Robert Wilson and Leary better explained elsewhere (which were part of the FEW highlights in the book, I suggest checking out their individual works). Besides the refreshing chapters by Osho and a few other pseudo poem-allusions and other usefully hysterical laws to live by, the book was ALMOST not woth the money........
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