The Temple of Psychick Youth has been seen by some as a group of low-minded degenerates and by others as a cultural phenomenon that influenced underground youth culture in the 1980s and 1990s. Here, then, are The Black Book and The Grey Book - the bibles of a young, international counterculture collective interested in the occult, rave, psychedelic drugs and the Process Church. Its iconoclastic leader, Genesis P-Orridge, was known for his performance art and the development of industrial music.
Book Description
Product details
|
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Colin Paylor
Format:Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I have deleted my previous review of the Hardback edition of THEE PSYCHICK BIBLE which I purchased on its original release for just over £50.
There are several reasons for this decision.
The book is advertised as a limited edition of 999 copies each individually hand signed and numbered by the author Genesis Breyer P Orridge.Please be aware that this is rather misleading as my copy is 23 of 999 and there is currently ( 8 march 2011 )a copy for sale on Amazon apparently signed and numbered 23 of 999.
I have full proof of purchase and photos of the signed page and as my copy was one of the first available in the UK I consider it to be genuine.The existence of duplicate copies bearing the same number make the limited edition a little suspect to say the least!
Be also aware that the hardback edition went way beyond the stated 999 editions and some sellers are charging upwards of £500 online for copies that are unsigned and not numbered but are copy and pasting the original description of the book as a limited edition so be very careful and ask lots of questions before you purchase.
My advise to anyone wanting to buy this book would be if you want a reading copy buy the paperback edition, however if you want to buy a collectors edition be very aware that you may be paying hundreds of pounds for a fake or duplicate that is not worth the money.
finally the dvd that comes with the hardback edition is said to contain rare material however this is not the case as the videos on the dvd have been widely available for years from PTV on vhs tapes. one of the videos is a recent ptv3 promo that was on he/r website the rest are all widely available and have been sold as mass market videos by ptv for years.
There are several reasons for this decision.
The book is advertised as a limited edition of 999 copies each individually hand signed and numbered by the author Genesis Breyer P Orridge.Please be aware that this is rather misleading as my copy is 23 of 999 and there is currently ( 8 march 2011 )a copy for sale on Amazon apparently signed and numbered 23 of 999.
I have full proof of purchase and photos of the signed page and as my copy was one of the first available in the UK I consider it to be genuine.The existence of duplicate copies bearing the same number make the limited edition a little suspect to say the least!
Be also aware that the hardback edition went way beyond the stated 999 editions and some sellers are charging upwards of £500 online for copies that are unsigned and not numbered but are copy and pasting the original description of the book as a limited edition so be very careful and ask lots of questions before you purchase.
My advise to anyone wanting to buy this book would be if you want a reading copy buy the paperback edition, however if you want to buy a collectors edition be very aware that you may be paying hundreds of pounds for a fake or duplicate that is not worth the money.
finally the dvd that comes with the hardback edition is said to contain rare material however this is not the case as the videos on the dvd have been widely available for years from PTV on vhs tapes. one of the videos is a recent ptv3 promo that was on he/r website the rest are all widely available and have been sold as mass market videos by ptv for years.
Format:Hardcover
It should be no surprise to find that the material featured in Thee Psychick Bible from The Temple of Psychic Youth (TOPY), and its leader and most recognized spokesperson, Genesis P-Orridge, should still be so cogent and relevant to today's esoteric scene, irrespective of the fashions and attitudes it evinced throughout the years of its existence. Like chaos magic - which came along at the same time (1979-1980) and influenced - and in turn was influenced by - TOPY,P-Orridge's punk-like/Burroughs cut-up notion was to shake up perceptions of magick and reinterpret it through the lenses of performance art, cult-identity, and most famously through music and video, via such media projects as the bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. These seemed like very radical departures from the 'hermetic museum'-like atmosphere surrounding the occult at the time, and led on to some of the most adventurous magickal projects I personally have ever been involved in, having been an `ally' of TOPY from 1987 to its horribly-curtailed demise in 1991.
It is a testament to the seriousness and vitality of such projects that these writings survive so well, and now seem more clearly relevant and 'imminent' than ever.
P-Orridge avowed to take occult practices, in particular the use of sigils, inspired by Austin Osman Spare, out of what he called the stuffy `museum of magic', or the aforementioned middle-upper class establishment's `hermetic museum', and place them in everyday life; thus energizing the ordinary individual, and enabling the finding of his/her `real self' and `true desires'. It's all here, featuring documents such as `Thee Grey Book', the brilliant `Levels of Meaning within TOPY', `Time Mirrors', `Sigils', `Thee Green Book' - et. al. Read more ›
It is a testament to the seriousness and vitality of such projects that these writings survive so well, and now seem more clearly relevant and 'imminent' than ever.
P-Orridge avowed to take occult practices, in particular the use of sigils, inspired by Austin Osman Spare, out of what he called the stuffy `museum of magic', or the aforementioned middle-upper class establishment's `hermetic museum', and place them in everyday life; thus energizing the ordinary individual, and enabling the finding of his/her `real self' and `true desires'. It's all here, featuring documents such as `Thee Grey Book', the brilliant `Levels of Meaning within TOPY', `Time Mirrors', `Sigils', `Thee Green Book' - et. al. Read more ›
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Verified Purchase
Genesis Breyer P Orridge is one ov a sadly diminishing breed who truly fulfil thee role ov the artist as shaman.Its a shame that books like this will never reach as wide an audience as they deserve.I`ve been an avid reader and collector ov books on thee occult for thirty years or more and i reckon this volume will one day be seen as a very important classic text .Unfortunately, as it is in a limited edition ov 999 copies, it will only reach those ov us already in thee know. Personally i`d put it on thee national curiculem to give thee future "Wreckers ov Civilisation " a head start. Maybe thee worlds just about ready for a bible without dogma ! If you cant afford to buy one get your library to order it before they`re all gone and, hopefully, even though it will devalue my copy,there will be many reprints.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
At last... Thee compiled papers of Thee Temple
15 Dec 2009
By Walter Five
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Verified Purchase
Back in the 80's, the hippest kids on the Magickal Scene were without a doubt, Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth, and one of the hippest bands on the New Wave/Industrial scene was Genesis P. Orridge's Psychick TV. 20-odd years later, their infamous Psychick Bible finally receives an updated, expanded, corrected edition,complete with dozens of new visuals and essays. This edition is beautifully gold embossed on the cover, is a smyth-sewn hardcover with a red ribbon, and its' 544 pages within are printed in two colors on high-quality 60-pound stock on acid-free 100% recycled paper stock. A quality book. This signed, numbered limited edition (999 copies only) is also presented with a remarkable DVD of impossible-to-find videos from P-Orridge archives of early Psychic TV and TOPY creations which includes the work of Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and Derek Jarman. Several of the videos included were seized by Scotland Yard in 1991, and as a result, here are second-generation, and are reproduced in this CD for both their intrinsic and historical value.
The artist and author/editor, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, says about this edition: "It has been a revelation and become very thrilling for me to see 30 years+ of social, ritual and communal creative explorations consensed into what we feel may become the most profound new manual on `practical magick' taking from its Crowleyan level of liberation and empowermeant of the Individual to a next level of realization that magick must then give back to its environment, its community, become about liberation and empowermeant to change this `world' and evolve our humanE species."
Thee Temple was the group largely responsible for popularizing body modification: including piercing and tattooing, as well as acid house music, and to a degree Thelemic magick, all of these points aimed at personal liberation and the construction of a model of life outside of, and very opposed to, the status quo of the 1980s and beyond. They did a tremendous amount of work at shifting our culture in new and creative directions-- "'tis an ill wind that blows no minds."
The artist and author/editor, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, says about this edition: "It has been a revelation and become very thrilling for me to see 30 years+ of social, ritual and communal creative explorations consensed into what we feel may become the most profound new manual on `practical magick' taking from its Crowleyan level of liberation and empowermeant of the Individual to a next level of realization that magick must then give back to its environment, its community, become about liberation and empowermeant to change this `world' and evolve our humanE species."
Thee Temple was the group largely responsible for popularizing body modification: including piercing and tattooing, as well as acid house music, and to a degree Thelemic magick, all of these points aimed at personal liberation and the construction of a model of life outside of, and very opposed to, the status quo of the 1980s and beyond. They did a tremendous amount of work at shifting our culture in new and creative directions-- "'tis an ill wind that blows no minds."
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pristine Imperfection
26 Feb 2010
By Mutlee
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book should only be considered by two types of people. Those interested in occult research and those that are fans of Genesis P Orridge's work. A fantastic read and a valuable asset to anyone's personal library, I would suggest ordering from the official publisher's site though to ensure yourself a copy. Each copy comes hand signed by Orridge his/her self and numbered. Also included is a DVD of RARE Psychick TV video footage from over the years.
WARNING! not for the close minded or weak willed.
This is for the few, the enlightened....or soon to be enlightened.
WARNING! not for the close minded or weak willed.
This is for the few, the enlightened....or soon to be enlightened.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
New customer? Start here.
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
