[ePub] Love; Sex; Fear; Death: The Inside Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment by Timothy Wyllie; Adam Parfrey in Arts-Photography

Review

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. P-Orridge/Skinny Puppy fans: this is for youBy shogI am just so thoroughly obsessed with Skinny Puppy. that I had to know more about the cult behind The Process.Well this is about as good as I could expect for specifically what I want. This is a narrative written by a high level insider. with collaborative sections from other insiders. a short blurb from Robert DeGrimston. and a sizeable portion by Genesis P-Orridge himself explaining how The Process inspired him in his founding of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth. Theres some mention of Skinny Puppy and William Morrison. so Im a happy camper.What this book actually covers is essentially a narrative of the human drama that took place from foundation to disillusion of the church. There are a lot of related first hand experiences that bring to light who held the power. what it was like to live in the cult. and how the pecking order and theological aspect evolved over time. Much ink is spent on Mary Anne DeGrimston. outed here as a totalitarian with powerful personal magnetism. Illuminating experiences are shared of smuggling a dog over the English Channel. cowering in shacks from a hurricane in Xtul. Mexico. powerful shared visions in meditation sessions. a consensus of accounts of casual child neglect.While the underlying philosophy and theology of the Process is discussed. it is not rigorously explained. This is the conspicuous omission of the book. although you will know about the people who made up The Process. you wont walk away a processean as theres just not enough explanation of the philosophy to understand what all the fuss was about.16 of 17 people found the following review helpful. Satanists. Style Gurus or Slackers? Heres the Evidence!By James J. OmearaSince Robert N. Taylor has provided an excellent review of the contents of this book and an overview of the historical context of the Process Church. I would like to contribute some reflections that are more personal. but also more metaphysical.I first became aware of the Process Church. or at least its name. in Hunter Thompsons Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. where Thompson taunts his drugged-up and hungry attorney by pretending to know about a cafeteria run by the Process. "just a few tables" but with an interesting back room... The attorney freaks out and tells Gonzo "Dont even mention the Process around here. man." implying they could give Manson a run for his money in the woo-woo department. Later. I came across some references in Burroughs [he. like they. flirted with Scientology in London]; usually. at this point Bowie would follow up. but I dont recall him ever mentioning them. although the infamous `fascist period. with uniform and salute. might speak of some influence.Instead. much later one heard of their influence on Psychic TV [and indeed Gen pops up here to add his own chapter]. But it wasnt until nearly the Millennium that I found some of the original materials. republished in Simon Dwyers Rapid Eye.Alas. however impressed I might have been in 1973. by this time they seemed like the home-made theology of some art student. or the sort of thing Fred Berger might have cobbled together to surround photos of languid runaways in Propaganda. Still. cool graphic design.So it was with great expectations that I ordered this book. so as to finally get some inside insight into the ultimate hippie cult.The good news is that about half the book consists of an unrivaled collection of reproductions of rare Process publications. photographs of Processeans going about their tasks [ranging from "donating" their time. i.e.. panhandling. to hosting cable-access talk shows] and original doctrinal statements by Robert deGrimston. This part alone makes the book self-recommending to anyone who has wondered what made the Church so compelling in its time. and a continuing source of artistic inspiration to this day.The balance of the book consists in a variety of personal memoirs. which I found of less interest. as least on their own terms. While a few. such as Edward Masons "My Life in the Process." manage to convey what made the Churchs doctrines attractive to them and how they tried to implement them in their own lives. the rest. including the longest. Timothy Wylliess "My Life Inside The Process Church" seem like typical "my life in the cult" stories.There is. however. one really cool story about how Miles Davis freaked-out and tried to assault a group of Process mendicants in Greenwich Village; perhaps this is where Miles got his notorious wish to "get the chance to strangle a white man" before he died. Theres also some bitchy Scientology gossip. such as L. Rons teeth rotting out because of his fear of dentists. that should give Tom. Katie and Kirstie something to think about.But anyone expecting "inside information" or a serious discussion of the Churchs theology and practices should still look to William Bainbridges older and "outside" study. Satans Power : A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult.Its hard to believe that so many people could spend so many years apparently doing nothing all day but sell magazines on the streets and run a coffee house on Thursdays. Far from being Satanists. vampires or cannibals. the Processeans seem to have been the original slackers; its not hard to imagine them hanging out at the Process Comic Book Store and whiling away the time comparing various superheroes to their own gods. Jehovah. Christ and Satan.The enormous amounts of leftover time seem to have been filled in with occasional bouts of "training" in telepathy and other such New Age junk. as well as. in Wyllies case. far-out predictive dreams and "near death" experiences. to hit the rest of the New Age checklist. Oh. and endless bull sessions wondering what the leaders. living grandly in their separate quarters [usually a penthouse or upstate mansion] were thinking about them.One get the impression of a group of people who think. correctly. that they are much smarter than everyone else. and even more spiritually attuned as well. Unfortunately. lacking access to what Frithjof Schuon would call "metaphysical data." they are unable to do more than construct their own personal theology out of random bits that seem `cool. Unable to judge anything by objective metaphysical principles. they are easy prey for the husband and wife team [or rather. wife and husband team] of the deGrimstons. aka The Omega.On reflection. the wearisome content of the various memoirs may actually be more significant than one might think at first.Its the emphasis. if only by default. on telepathy and other "cool" "spiritual" experiences that provides the key to not only why these memoirs fail to maintain the occult thrill of the Church`s own media. but also why The Process itself failed. As Guenon pointed out over and over. spiritual development [or `initiation] has nothing to do with "experiences." however far-out.Preoccupation with such "experiences" is the chief sign of an essentially non-metaphysical. indeed materialistic. point of view; the vast "systems" [another bad sign for Guenon] and cults build up around them. which Guenon tirelessly exposed [see The Spiritist Fallacy and elsewhere for his evisceration of Theosophy and its smarter cousin. Anthroposophy] are either mutual deception in good faith. or. as here. a cynical method of controlling and exploiting the duped.We have either a foolish pseudo-Tradition. or a Satanic counter-Tradition; in neither case has materialism been surpassed. only a "cooler" version for "the new generation" has been produced.Speaking of Theosophy. and other "spiritualist" groups beloved by stereotypical "old ladies." it is only too appropriate that The Process turned out to be a matriarchal cult. whose "leader." Robert deGrimston. was simply the first victim. soon cast aside as the female-led group mutated into a very-70s cable access "ministry." complete with leisure suits and goatees worn by various Fr. Groovies. and then became an animal rescue charity in Utah. Manson. it turns out. would have eaten their lunch. and then the members themselves.In the end. The Process seems to have been. as Guenon says in Perspectives on Initiation. one of "the many fantastical groups of our day. especially in Anglo-Saxon countries. which `ape the forms of initiatic organizations but conceal absolutely nothing" and "reminding one of children who. left to themselves. want to handle redoubtable forces without knowing anything about them; if deplorable accidents too often result...we should not be unduly surprised."Still. really cool fashions and graphic design sense. still the best around.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Love SomethingBy David M. FieldThis is a wonderful book. Timothy Wyllie remembers and dismembers himself and The Process with intelligence. compassion and humor. The human urge to find meaning. to belong to something greater than ourselves. has led most of us and humanity itself down some truly strange byways. and The Process. and the 60s and early 70s was a fertile time for strange. Wyllies book is also generous. as a number of other Process members share their recollections along with his. and the reader is invited to feel the elephant along with the blind folk. It is a worthwhile journey. both as an historical record and as a document of this human Thing we are doing here.David Field