In Pursuit of Valis

by Philip K. Dick

  So JOINT, EYE, STIGMATA, UBIK, MAZE & TEARS are progressive parts of one unfolding true narrative, in which the genuine Hermetic macro-microcosmology is put forth. The spurious world discerned for what it is, & in MAZE & esp. TEARS the true state of things put forth—to jog our memories six novels interlocked, along with a number of stories. We are not to be allowed our fugue (sleep & hallucinated worlds), because, due to the BIP from which we fled, this fugue over the past 5000 years turned lethal; the BIP grew & grew with our now-unwitting collusion.

  [....]

  SCANNER continues the narration of the previous six novels, not treating objective outer world as irreal, but going back to “Impostor” & studying false inner identity & lost memories of true self! The 2 identities war with each other, with an in-breaking of messages (the German, inc. from “Fidelio”[157]!!!) the German is from neither Fred nor Bob nor Bruce[158], but, as the messages in UBIK, j’ust break in “from the mysterious outside”! I never break in “from the mysterious outside”! I never before realized this—it isn’t Fred, certainly. & it isn’t Bob! It’s another ur personality, speaking a protolanguage (based on my experience with the koine [the Greek written and spoken at the time of Christ]!). He has a grandfather (or granduncle?) who spoke German. An ancestor!

  The info conveyed chronologically in the sequence of books is interesting.

  1) EYE plural & subjective worlds.

  2) JOINT world as simulated deliberately

  3) STIGMATA plural hallucinated worlds concocted by an evil magician-like deity

  4) UBIK messages of assistance penetrating the simulated world(s) “from the other side” by/from a salvific true deity

  5) MAZE simulated world fabricated by us, to escape an intolerable actuality

  6) TEARS the nature specifically of that actuality (an intolerable one—the BIP Acts)

  7) SCANNER buried memories connected with lost identity; & protospeech breaking through, not into world as in UBIK but inside a person’s head. Two psychoi one in each brain hemisphere, each with its own name & characteristics.

  Plus such stories as “Impostor,” “Retreat Syndrome,” “Electric Ant,” “Faith of ...” “Human Is” & “Precious Artifact,” a very good one. & related themes in TIME-SLIP, MITHC, PENULTIMATE TRUTH, GAME-PLAYERS, also even UNTELEPORTED MAN, (ANDROIDS DREAM treats memory-identity theme).

  It is one story slowly unfolding, a vast tapestry, as Le Guin[159] pointed out.

  No one book or story is correct & the others incorrect, & no one book or story tells it all. Many of them must be read—& this is the first time I see how SCANNER is an essential part of the Great Narrative—picking up where “2nd Variety” ANDROIDS DREAM & “Electric Ant” left off.

  Even in JAPED there is a 2nd dissociated personality, a pilot for SCANNER.

  This vast overtheme could be extracted from the novels & stories, but that alone would not prove it to be true. But 2-3/74 did prove it (both the themes of “inner” & of “outer”) to be true, & it proved true in one case, for me, it must be objectively—intrinsically—true.

  In SCANNER he (Fred) has forgotten who he really is (Bob, who equals Thomas vis-à-vis me, PKD). The ursprache [primal language]: breaking in/through, signals this forgetting, & is an analog of the in-breaking messages in UBIK, pointing to another—& real world or true protoreality now forgotten, but which can’t be entirely denied. Thus I depict in SCANNER what may happen to those who read the earlier writing.

  Bob = Fred

  Thomas = PKD

  } I never saw it before.

  MAZE & TEARS tend to vindicate the view that some element of voluntary forgetting (self deception on our parts) is involved.

  (c. 1977)

  In TIME OUT OF JOINT the world is a fake, & specifically the real world is another time-segment. My initial revelation in 3-74 was that the time was really around 70 AD—not later but earlier, a reversal of JOINT. Yet, the basic intimation is there, fully, in JOINT; this is all a cunningly fabricated delusion, the world we see, & the basic delusion has to do with the true Temporal locus. Since JOINT was SF I naturally put the real time in the future, not the past. Damn it. I’ve overlooked the extraordinary parallel between JOINT & my “it’s really 70 AD!” experience. E.g.: the dream I had of the dark, old-fashioned house with the archaic window shades, the cracked mirror—& realizing I couldn’t get out of that world without God’s help. My incessantly recurring dream at the 1126 Francisco St house—that’s where I lived when I wrote JOINT—that was the Fake world of the novel, & resembles the miserable old house in Placentia dream. Is there some clue in my 1126 Francisco St dream? It was with Joan[160] that I so recently saw it again, after many years. Maybe I have a soul which leaves my body in sleep & goes back in time &, (as in 3-74, forward).

  Back in the Fifties when I lived at 1126 Francisco St actually, as expressed in JOINT that world seemed unreal; in actuality, “it was decades later” (in JOINT). But now that it is decades later, that past time & place seems real (or anyhow the past somehow) & this a fake. &, as I say, it is also astonishing how in ‘74 I foresaw the Sonoma events of the past 3 months![161] What is my real relationship to time? I experience the near past, the near future, & the very far past; a lot of my soul or psyche seems to be transtemporal ... maybe this is why any given present space time seems somehow unreal or delusional to me. I span across & hence beyond it; always have—& the transtemporal is the eternal, the divine, the immortal spirit. How long have I been here, & how many times? Who or what am I, & how old?

  Reality outside confronts me as a mystery, & so does my own inner identity. The two are fused. Who am I? When is it? Where am I? This sounds like madness. But when I read the scriptures I find myself in the world which is to me real, & I understand myself. The Bible is a door (3:5?[162])

  (1977)

  One fascinating aspect of UBIK is disclosed when the question is asked, “Where did you (I) get the idea?” The origin of the idea, in contrast to virtually all other novels, is evident from the text of the novel itself, although one must extrapolate from Runciter to whatever Runciter represents, and the state of cold-pac to whatever state we are all in. In the novel, information spontaneously intrudes into the world of the characters, indicating that their world is not what they think it is; in fact, it indicates that their world is not even there at all-some kind of world is there, but not the one they are experiencing. That time-regression is put forth in the novel, and that time-regression figured in my 3-74 experience—this still baffles me; the principle underlying the devolution (reversion) of objects along the form-axis in the novel is explained by a reference to Plato’s theory of ideal forms, and I guess that applies to our world and to my own experience. However, until I recently studied the E of Philo[163] article on Gnosticism so thoroughly, did I begin to understand the triune reality division which must exist and which is also put forth in UBIK—if Runciter is God, and Joe Chip & the other inertials are analogs of all men, then the regressed world is the ham in the sandwich, and, as in UBIK, must be abolished; as in Gnosticism, this is accomplished, in a deity-like entity lying behind even Runciter; i.e., Ubik. It is this knowledge—not just information but gnosis—revealed to them, esp. to Joe Chip, which makes them aware of their real condition. Therefore if one knows very much about Gnosticism (which I didn’t until a few days ago) one could see the resemblance between UBIK and the Gnostic cosmogony and cosmology. But we are talking (regarding the real world) of information which, by being transferred, radically changed history. And it must be realized (I certainly do, even if no one else does) that what broke through was not limited to information, but that theolepsy (one at least) were involved. If I rule out OCCP experiments[164] and occult human groups (vide supra) then we have something not found in UBIK, but, although admittedly described as diabolic, in STIGMATA. Is theolepsy not specifically what STIGMATA depicts? With Chew-Z or whatever, Can-D, I forget, the eucharist. What do you get if, as Le Guin suggests, you take a group of my novels & stories and fit the
m together, esp. the 3 picked up by Bantam?[165] Theolepsy, the Gnosis slipping through, reality (the world) as illusion concealing another but real world (MAZE)—what an aggregate message those 3 novels add up to!

  When I recently reread STIGMATA I saw it for what it was: a penetrating, acute and exhaustive study of the miracle of transubstantiation, simply reversing the bipolarities of good & evil. What the novel contemplated was—that is, the conclusion it reached—was the startling notion that imbibing of the sacred host culminated, for the imbiber, in eventually becoming the deity of which the host was the supernatural manifestation of. Since all of them were consuming hosts of the same deity, they all became the same deity, and their separate or human identities were abolished. They literally became the deity, all of them, one after another. What this constituted in the novel was an eerie kind of invasion. They were invaded on an individual basis and they were, regarded another way, invaded as a planet or species, etc., which is to say collectively. This invasion by the deity bears a resemblance to the invasion of the regressed world in UBIK by Runciter’s messages and, ultimately, by Ubik itself (as confirmed by the ad starting the last chapter). That ad clarified what Ubik was; it precisely equated Ubik with the Logos. There is no way to get around that. Ubik in UBIK is the same divinity as the St. Sophia mentioned in DEUS IRAE. So Runciter and Ubik equals Palmer Eldritch and Chew-Z. We have a human being transformed into a deity which is ubiquitous (no one seems to have noticed that Palmer Eldritch is ubiquitous as is Ubik, that the same theme dominates both novels.)

  The Gnostic contribution which MAZE makes is the idea of a totally untenable reality glossed over by a mass wish-fulfillment hallucination shared by everyone, and a salvific entity who can extricate you right out of that prison-like world.

  MAZE: Prison-like world glossed over by illusion. Salvific intercessor who can and does extricate you. Induced amnesia.

  STIGMATA: Invasion (penetration) of our world by a deity who can become everyone via the host, a mass theolepsy.

  UBIK: Salvific information penetrating through the “walls” of our world by an entity with personality representing a life—and reality-supporting quasi-living force.

  Collating the three novels, how much of the Gnostic message is expressed? Or, put another way, how much of my 2-74, 3-74 experience is expressed? One thing left out is the altering of the historic process, which was revealed to me as happening in 3-74. I suppose in a sense that’s in FROLIX 8. And the breaching through by God and the hosts, the apocalyptic material from Acts and Daniel. There are little sprinkles in other novels and stories—for instance, the idea of anamnesis (expressed negatively usually in my writing by the theme of fake memories). Well, that’s expressed in MAZE, so I’ve inserted it supra. I wonder what you get if you sit down starting with “Roog” and read through everything (including such strange stories as “Retreat Syndrome”) all the way to SCANNER. If everything interlocks, what is the total message? I know I scared myself shitless that one night when Isa[166] was down here and I reread some early stories in PRESERVING MACHINE. But my recent study of Gnosticism indicates that below any negative world-negating message there is an affirmation of God and love. And truth must be told; we must go where it leads us—where wisdom leads up (interesting typo; I mean “us,” not “up”).

  (19 November 1977)

  [ .... ] So that’s what I did in UBIK-correctly represented time spacially, & the past as spacially within— literally within—the present. & in this speeded-up process (never mind how you “speed up” purely spacial axes) information which is everywhere & conscious & which cooks pop media, such as TV commercials—appears. No wonder they asked me in May ‘74, “What is Ubik[?]”

  & no wonder I saw how my 3-74 experience resembled UBIK! I’ll bet I was able to write UBIK because of partially having had a time-into-space-conversion experience prior to writing it (maybe due to psychedelics).

  I was very right in UBIK to see how it related to Plato’s forms. The past can be retrieved along a spacial axis—as in UBIK! I did it, where I saw Acts.

  Ach—VALIS is such an important book—it deals dramatically & theoretically with the issues first presented in UBIK & is UBIK’s logical successor (finally— no more police state novel). UBIK, then, is a novel representing a part-way enlightenment & UBIK is related to STIGMATA and MAZE etc. I must in 2-3/74 have attained enlightenment as the result of decades of gradual spirit (evolutionary) growth. There is a direct connection between UBIK & 2-3/74 it has to do with converting time into space & the results obtained therefrom, as put forth in VALIS.

  (c. 1978)

  Okay, Watergate got us out of S.E. Asia & disengaged vis-à-vis USSR. Our interests are now served there through China. It is against China that USSR now acts, not us. This is crucial. Program A must have led to all-out war between US & USSR. The spirit in us prevented first Nixon & then Ford from aiding S. Vietnam. So (if my reasoning is correct) we of the counterculture prevented WWIII. We hamstrung the U.S. military machine. This counterculture did not arise ex nihilo [out of nothing]. What were its origins? Consider the 50s. The concept of “unamerican” held power. I was involved in fighting that; the spirit (counterculture) of the 60s evolved successfully out of the (basically) losing efforts by us “progressives” of the 50s-we who signed the Stockholm Peace Proposal, & the “Save the Rosenbergs” etc.—losing, desperate efforts. Very unpopular & very unsupported. Berkeley was one of our few centers; this takes me back to EYE IN THE SKY etc.

  [ .... ]

  I was a vocal & active part of the 60s’ counterculture (cf. “Faith of ...” to TEARS). What I am saying is that because of being with Nancy[167] I, who was by physical age part of the 50s entered the youth culture of the 60s & even onto the 70s. By which time my writing was having a decided influence; a PKD cult existed by the time TEARS came out. I was/am still in touch, into the late 70s! Early 50s to late 70s-not bad (contrast this to other S-F writers[)]; have there been any quasi-Marxist S-F writers besides me in 30 years? Tom Disch says no & Aquarian[168] says no. Now there are—finally, but they’re hired & bought. They don’t matter; it’s too late-all over.[.... ]

  After all, the Ramparts people knew to approach me—the sole S-F writer who signed the petition—the manifesto—of the 500.[169]

  Glanced over SOLAR LOTTERY & Tom Disch’s intro;[170] he’s right. I was/am the sole Marxist S-F writer. I may not have been/am CP [Communist Party], but the basic Marxist sociological view of capitalism—negative—is there. Good. But after glancing at it I feel the old fear—like c. 1971/73. Up to the month TEARS was published. Up to 3-74. When the blow fell. Glancing at SOAR LOTTERY I can see that it had to, eventually, & that I knew it. If I just hadn’t passed over into the dope stuff I’d have ceased to be relevant, & been safe but noooo. I got caught up in the 60s, & stayed on to 74 & TEARS. (с. 1978)

  God, all my “this is illusion” writing (EYE, JOINT, STIGMATA, UBIK, MAZE) are analogs of the USA 1974 vs. the glimpse of Rome CAD 45 via the Golden Fish sign.

  “Here we are.”

  “But where are we really?”

  & then someone gets a glimpse. (As in “the earth is hollow & I have touched the sky.”) Usually, once the simulation is detected there are assorted guesses. But sometimes the first clue vis-à-vis simulating of world is the glimpse.

  My God, my life—which is to say my 2-74/3-74 experience—is exactly like the plot of any one of ten of my novels or stories. Even down to fake memories & identity. I’m a protagonist from one of PKD’s books. USA 1974 fades out, ancient Rome fades in & with it the Thomas personality & true memories. Jeez! Mixture of “Impostor,” JOINT & MAZE—if not UBIK as well.

  My earlier notes show that what I deduce from all this as a certainty is that we have a two-mind situation. Statements as to which world is real (if any) & which simulated (if any) are speculative. But the worlds are not generated by the person, since they both contain elements unknown to him (such as the koine). What the malfunction or induced malfunction prove is the
existence of at least one world-generating mind, & (as I failed to see in those earlier notes) possibly two world-generating—even competing—minds. Plus the passive, programmed observing little non world-generating mind.

  Is this a battle for his allegiance? World against world, mind against mind? The voice last night scathingly referred to USA 1974 & the corresponding PKD personality as “Both being expendable.” Diabolic interpolation/simulation?

  Could the two worlds be regarded as two domains?

  (July 1978)

  God, I have broken myself in this pursuit over 27 years. Critics compare my malignant false worlds to metastasizing cancer. I demand that deity appear or somehow put its stamp on world before I can accept it as anything but a diabolic counterfeit interpolation. We have been deceived for thousands of years. The Neoplatonists such as Plotinus knew of two realms. The Essenes (v. Josephus) report a lower realm of feverish unconsciousness, the poisoned, intoxicated soul. “Men like to sleep.”

  (July 1978)

  EYE, JOINT, 3 STIGMATA, UBIK & MAZE are the same novel written over & over again. The characters are all out cold & lying around together on the floor, mass hallucinating a world. Why have I written this up at least five times?

  Because—as I discovered in 3-74 when I experienced anamnesis, remembered I’m really an apostolic xtian, & saw ancient Rome—This is our condition: we’re mass hallucinating this 1970s world.

  What’s got to be gotten over is the false idea that a hallucination is a private matter. Not hallucination but joint hallucination is my topic, inc. false memories. I know where & when we really are, now: Rome C. AD 70. But how come we imagine, believe in & see 1974/8—that I can’t explain—except the “ape of God” by Satan theory or that real time ceased when Power wasn’t transferred at Christ’s time.

  My intuition that what we see—this world—isn’t really there paid off in 2-74 when I saw the Golden Fish & got my memories & identity & vision back. But how & why the Dokos? Did we collectively become victims (slaves) of something evil?