Trade paperback first editions will be available in the U.S. this September 10th, in Australia on November 13th, and in the U.K. mid/late fall 2024.
Preorder your copy now by clicking on one of the links below and check out the schedule of upcoming podcast interviews:
Inner Traditions
Simon & Schuster
For the U.K. and Australia:
PODCASTS:
What authors are saying about
Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult:
A Journey to the Other Side
“Anyone who has listened to The Doors with any attention knows that they were something more than a rock band. Their music hit some deep, primal spot in the archetypal layers of consciousness and sent their listeners off on journeys of mystery and discovery. From reading Paul Wyld's account of the mystical, magical, and esoteric influences on Jim Morrison and his music, one gets the impression that the infinite was not often out of his sight. It's no surprise that he wanted to “break on through to the other side” – and that the “other side,” whatever it might be and whatever might inhabit it, wanted him to do just that."
— Gary Lachman, author of The Secret Teachers of The Western World and original bass guitarist for the punk rock band Blondie as Gary Valentine.
“This book is an exciting and insightful overview of Jim Morrison and captures his ventures into the mystic and magical in a way that today’s generation can hold on to as their own.”
— James Riordan, coauthor of The New York Times bestselling book Break on Through: The Life & Death of Jim Morrison
“Paul Wyld’s new book, Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult, is a fascinating read that delves deep into the stormy rocker’s mystical side. Wyld's vividly interpersonal research reveals a side of Morrison that few have considered before, and one with tremendous relevance to our tumultuous times. This book is not only for fans of The Doors but for anyone intrigued by the spiritual aspects of rock music—a primal force that has impacted global culture in both overt and esoteric ways. With this compelling work, Wyld has opened the doors to a hidden realm where Morrison’s influence as occult preceptor echoes to this day.”
— Casey Rae, author of William S. Burroughs & the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll
"Paul Wyld reveals Jim Morrison’s true nature and his much deserved place among the many who have journeyed to the other side to see beyond the limits of a society mired in materialism. In this extensively researched work, Wyld weaves Morrison together with the great poets and travelers in an undeniable story of the deeper spirits he served. His poetic gifts, that resonated with so many of his generation, is a torch that is relit in this new telling of the life of the Lizard King."
— Magick Altman, author of Magick Tarot: A Journey of Self-Realization
"As a teenager, I found a deep catharsis in Jim Morrison’s poetic irrationality and The Doors’ psychedelic serpentine journeys. Jim’s words and musical genius activated something primal within me—lighting my fire and transporting me to another world. Now, reading Paul Wyld’s deeply revealing account of Morrison as a secret teacher, I understand the profound effect that The Doors had on my budding spirituality. Wyld has given readers a specialized chronicle of Morrison’s spiritual development, rich with modern and historical voices about art, the occult, mysticism, and consciousness. On a journey of vast imagination and creative insight, Wyld reveals a picture of Morrison that transcends the popular vision of him as a sex object, beyond the drunken and lewd performer. We see Morrison as the mystic he was, attempting to shake his audience out of complacency into a state of profound aliveness. Wyld evinces the complexities of Morrison’s vital existence as a poet, shaman, mystic, and sage, and at the same, a Dionysian maelstrom struggling against tides of cultural conformity. Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult is more than a biography of an idiosyncratic artist; it is a guidebook for those experiencing the unavoidable crises that accompany spiritual awakening. The reader glimpses their own reflection, and the methods of alchemizing the chaos within into divine, eternal, and meaningful creative expression."
— Marlene Seven Bremner, Artist and Author of Hermetic Philosophy & Creative Alchemy and The Hermetic Marriage of Art & Alchemy
Do you know the warm progress under the stars?
Do you know we exist?
Have you forgotten the keys to the kingdom?
Have you been born yet, and are you alive?
Let's reinvent the gods, all the myths of the ages
Celebrate symbols from deep elder forests
Have you forgotten the lessons of the ancient war?
— Jim Morrison
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