Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Sid - Softcover

How did a decade that dawned with the Age of Aquarius end in Altamont and the Manson Family bloodbath?The 1960s were a time of revolution - political, social, psychedelic, sexual. But there was another revolution in the rise of a powerful current that permeated pop culture and has been a central influence on it ever since - a revival of the occult. Previously rejected and ridiculed beliefs took centre stage, reaching the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, saturating the the hippies and flower power, hitting the big screen with Rosemary's Baby and the bookshelves with Lord of the Rings. The Tarot, I Ching, astrology, Kabbala, yogis, witchcraft, UFOs, Aleister Crowley, Yin Yang and the Tibetan Book of the Dead all became the common currency they are today. But the vibes went bad, the auras darkened. Did that darker undercurrent win out? Gary Lachman here charts this explosion, its rise and fall, and its enduring legacy.'A really well-researched, well-written book about the moment of destiny from which I for one was glad to escape alive.' Marianne Faithfull

Gary Lachman, as Gary Valentine, was a founder member of Blondie, and cowrote many of the group's early hits. He is now a writer and literary critic, contributing to among others Mojo, TLS, Literary Review and Gnosis. He has also performed with lggy Pop and the Know, and currently is singer/songwriter/guitarist with Fire Escape. He lives in London.