Steve 'Fly' Pratt music links Steve "Fly" Pratt has released two music recordings that tie in to the ongoing Tales of Illuminatus comic book adaptation by Bobby Campbell: The First Trip and, this year, K9 Rapture by DJ Flai, which was made available as part of the Tales of Illuminatus 3 packages. So if you supported Bobby's project, you may have heard the music. I bought K9 Rapture as part of my package. I'm going to listen to it today as I run my errands. Steve made lots of music available at other places. Much of it can be streamed at SoundCloud. See also his Deep Scratch website and his music at Bandcamp. He also has a Patreon site. I also own the Robert Anton Wilson Meets Steve Agaric Pratt album, here are the track notes for the album. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/steve-fly-pratt-music-links.html #fly #pratt #steve #bobbycampbell #firsttrip #agaricpratt #illuminatus #tales #rapture #deepscratch #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

New book with World War II revisionism The historian and writer Thaddeus Russell has a new book out, Savior and Seducer: A Renegade History of the United States in the World, and as Robert Anton Wilson was interested in World War II revisionism, I thought the book might be of interest to sombunall of you. "The Case Against the 'Good War' Still Stands," the latest issue of Russell's Substack newsletter, written as a rebuttal to a bad review, outlines Russell's arguments about World War II. "In the book’s World War II chapters ... I argue that American policy under Franklin Roosevelt transformed two regional wars, one in eastern Europe and the other in eastern Asia, into a global conflict that killed more than sixty-five million people. I also argue that American intervention ensured the fulfillment of the Holocaust," Russell writes. "...much of the book’s discussion of World War II is devoted to Hitler’s ideology, which always included commitment to conquering all of Poland and western Russia for Lebensraum ('living space'). He claimed these territories as part of a 'Greater Germany' once inhabited by Teutonic peoples whom he regarded as ancestors of modern Germans. This was racial imperialism, to be sure. But as I also show, it was an imperialism that ended in eastern Europe. "Hitler had for decades written and spoken extensively about his lack of interest in colonies outside Greater Germany, hoped for an alliance with Britain and the United States, and, according to virtually every historian of the Third Reich, invaded the West in the spring of 1940 only as a defensive measure to secure Germany’s western flank before advancing eastward." Russell also contends, "American moves toward war through 1941 eliminated the Jews’ usefulness to Hitler as hostages against intervention while immigration restrictions blocked their escape. Whether the extermination decision came in the spring or fall of that year, I interpret this reversal of the emigration policy as a response to America’s de facto entry into the war. This is the basis for my argument that the six million would have lived had the United States stayed out of the war." I don't know what to make of all this. I've put the book on hold at my local library. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/new-book-with-world-war-ii-revisionism.html #worldwar #unitedstates #book #russell #greatergermany #thaddeusrussell #antonwilson #renegadehistory #robertanton #revisionism #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Hilaritas looking at publishing 50th anniversary hardcover edition of 'Cosmic Trigger' The Hilaritas Press edition of the first book of the Cosmic Trigger trilogy. Cosmic Trigger; The Final Secret of the Illuminati, first published in 1977 and published in a new edition by Hilaritas Press in 2016, is one of Robert Anton Wilson's most popular and influential books. It's the first in three Cosmic Trigger books that RAW published. (The second one, Cosmic Trigger II: Down to Earth, also available as a Hilaritas edition, is a personal favorite of mine.) With the 50-year anniversary of the publication of Cosmic Trigger I looming, Mike Gathers has suggested that something should be done to mark that anniversary. Rasa was pleased by the suggestion and has decided that a new hardback edition, with some sort of extra features, would be a good idea. Ideas for what to have in the new edition are now being discussed. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/hilaritas-looking-at-publishing-50th.html #cosmictrigger #hilaritaspress #edition #antonwilson #finalsecret #robertanton #mikegathers #earth #raw #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Halloween reading update I've finished the two books I planned to read for Halloween. A few comments: Twice As Dead by Harry Turtledove is an urban fantasy, set in Los Angeles in the years following World War II. The protagonist is a mixed-race detective. There are vampires, ghosts and other supernatural beings. The detective has a talking cat who periodically kills rats that are sent by the detective's enemies to snoop on him. I thought it was one of Turtledove's better books. The Return by Walter de la Mare has a protagonist who falls asleep at a graveyard. When he wakes up and returns home, he and others discover his face has changed to resemble the person who was buried where the hero took his nap. There is not much else that actually happens in the book and the reader is left wondering if the protagonist is experiencing everything he describes or suffers from mental illness. At first I was a little disappointed by the book, but then I started noticing how atmospheric and poetic many passages were. I started marking them. "After all, what is every man?" he talked on; "a horde of ghosts -- like a Chinese nest of boxes -- oaks that were acorns that were oaks. Death lies behind us, not in front -- in our ancestors, back and back, until -- " Another passage: The still grave face beneath the shadow of its veil had never turned, though the moon poured all her flood of brilliance upon the dark profile. And once when as if in sudden alarm he had lifted his head and looked at her, a sudden doubt had assailed him so instantly that he had half put out his hand to touch her, and had as quickly withdrawn it, lest her beauty and stillness should be, even as the moment’s fancy had suggested, only a far-gone memory returned in dream. One of the characters is named Herbert Herbert, so I wondered if Vladimir Nabokov referenced the novel when he named the main character in Lolita Humbert Humbert. But whereas Humbert Humbert liked very young girls, Herbert Herbert surrounds himself with very old books. De la Mare also wrote ghost stories and I plan to hunt them up. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/halloween-reading-update.html #herbertherbert #humberthumbert #losangeles #worldwar #harryturtledove #lolitahumbert #mare #vladimirnabokov #twice #dead #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Christina Pearson update RAW daughter Christina Pearson, who runs the RAW Trust, is still facing open heart surgery, now scheduled for Oct. 27 at last report. I wanted to note that the Gofundme to help her has exceeded its goal, as people have rallied around her, but the site is still taking donations, if you can afford to help. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/christina-pearson-update.html #christinapearson #rawtrust #gofundme #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Preorder the new RAW book Over the last few years, I have bought many books from Hilaritas Press, the publishing imprint for the Robert Anton Wilson Trust. Many of these books have been editions of RAW's works, but many also have been works by other writers. What I've almost always done is buy the book as soon as it was released. This time, I am doing something different. I have preordered Maybe Magick, the latest compilation of RAW's writings, due for release Oct. 31. I don't suppose that my one order will make much difference, and several preorders by other fans likely won't make much difference, ether, but preordering books helps them become a success. As ChatGPT explains, "the biggest reason is that preorders can influence how publishers, bookstores, and the media judge a book's prospects for success. A preorder is more than a promise to buy a book: it can help build momentum before the book even reaches store shelves." Follow the link for a longer explanation. Here is the Amazon page to preorder. Here is the Bookshop page. You can also preorder from Barnes and Noble. Of course, I will still cover the full announcement when the book is released. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/preorder-new-raw-book.html #raw #book #hilaritaspress #wilsontrust #antonwilson #robertanton #preorder #maybemagick #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

'What the world needs most is a little more tenderness' The above is probably from Rasa. Posted on Bluesky by Klaster Chaosmos, who posts a lot of Discordian/RAW-related material. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/what-world-needs-most-is-little-more.html #klasterchaosmos #rasa #discordian #bluesky #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Hilaritas podcast: Prop Anon on 'Quantum Psychology' "Guest host Zach West chats with Gabriel “PropAnon” Kennedy, author of Chapel Perilous: The Life and Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson which he’s now recording as an audiobook. Zach and Gabriel spend most of the episode unpacking Quantum Psychology as Wilson’s attempt to change how we talk, perceive, and argue." Related links here. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/hilaritas-podcast-prop-anon-on-quantum.html #propanon #quantumpsychology #chapelperilous #robertanton #thoughtcrimes #antonwilson #gabriel #kennedy #zachwest #related #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

The new Damien Echols book Damien Echols has a new book out. As he was one of the writers invited to contribute to the Hilaritas Press edition of Sex, Drugs & Magick, I thought there might be some interest among RAW fans. The book is The Alchemy of the Broken Blade: Forging Inner Transformation from the Fire of Experience and it features a forward by Mitch Horowitz. Here is some of the book blurb: "The Alchemy of the Broken Blade is a field manual for those walking through the fire. It is for anyone who’s been shattered―by trauma; by grief; by the long, slow erosion of purpose in a world that worships distraction; that demands everything and gives little back. The Alchemy of the Broken Blade weaves a path for personal transformation through ritual, discipline, and relentless presence. "Bestselling author Damien Echols delivers a practical tool kit for personal transformation and healing, not based on theory but on lived experience. He shares a spiritual practice born from extremes: From a wrongful conviction that led to death row, solitary confinement, spiritual breakdown, and resurrection, Echols spent years clawing his way out of despair and into a life he could stand inside again. And through that process, Echols discovered a path―not clean or easy but sacred." The author's bio begins, "Damien Echols is an American author who first became known as one of three teenagers, the West Memphis Three, wrongly convicted of a triple murder in 1994. DNA evidence secured his release from death row in 2011, after which Echols authored several autobiographical and spiritual/magickal books." http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/the-new-damien-echols-book.html #damienechols #brokenblade #book #alchemy #hilaritaspress #forginginner #mitchhorowitz #transformation #fire #experience #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Shakespeare news update A possible portrait of Christopher Marlowe. (Source). Fascinating article from the Guardian: "Dramatic new evidence concludes that the play Edward III should be added to William Shakespeare’s canon, and also that it was a major collaboration with his contemporary rival Christopher Marlowe. "The history was published anonymously in 1596, and it has long been thought that Shakespeare wrote at least a few scenes. However, Dr Rory Loughnane, a leading scholar and co-author of the research, told the Guardian that computerised textual analysis pushed the case 'beyond any reasonable doubt' that the Stratford-born playwright was the principal writer." Here is a sentence from the article I particularly enjoyed: "The researchers used various forms of computerised linguistic analysis in comparing Edward III with securely attributed works by 10 dramatists active between the late 1580s and the mid-1590s. In one test, 23 segments – 'the lion’s share' – were identified as being written by Shakespeare, while nine segments were classified as Marlowe, whose works include Doctor Faustus." Shakespeare of course was born on April 23. http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/10/shakespeare-news-update.html #christophermarlowe #edwardiii #williamshakespeare #roryloughnane #doctorfaustus #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit