Episode
#134 - Gary Lachman - Touched by the Presence - From Blondie's Bowery and Rock and Roll to Magic and the Occult
- Published
- Feb 1, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3422
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Summary
2026 is a year when the wheel is turning in a big way, and I have the honor of speaking with Gary Lachman shortly after he's turned the big seventy; his own significant turn. Gary is a writer and musician, he was a major influence in mid-1970s as a founding member of the rock band Blondie Blondie and other bands. In the 1990s, he transitioned to full-time writing, producing influential works on mysticism and occultism. This intro is inspired by wikipedia but the book we speak about today is a much more accurate and detailed "presentation" - as we speak of his book that is a memoir of magic, rock and roll, and becoming who you are! It is called "Touched by the Presence: From Blondie's Bowery and Rock and Roll to Magic and the Occult" published november 2025 by Inner Traditions. In the publishers intro it says about Gary that he is a prolific author and lecturer on consciousness, counterculture, and the Western esoteric tradition. The big question about how we went from big music business to that of an esoteric writer, is what the book we speak about, will answer. And. Here we are in the beginning of 2026 talking in way about the forces than can be controlled and those which cannot. At least these my after-reflections. Here are some clues about what you will be tapping into with this wonderful interview with Gary Lachman: -The true self beneath layers of sleep, social conditioning, and optimization -why Gary wrote this memoir differently than his other books: not commissioned, no plan, written during a difficult period as a way to assert and protect his sense of self -a key turning point in 1975: discovering Colin Wilson's The Occult while living on the Bowery and playing with Blondie, and how that book became the doorway into consciousness studies and the esoteric -R.D.…