Touched by the Presence

By Gary Lachman

A Memoir of Magic, Rock and Roll, and Becoming Who You Are

Not many members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are also recognized authorities on the western inner
tradition. Gary Lachman is. In 1978, Blondie released the top-ten hit “(I am Always Touched by Your)
Presence, Dear.” Gary Lachman (then Gary Valentine) had written the song for his girlfriend after the series
of shared dreams and telepathic experiences they had. Thus started his life-long obsession with the
potentials of consciousness.

In this memoir, Lachman recounts how he went from being a successful rock and roller to a writer on
consciousness and the western inner tradition. He shares encounters with rockers such as the Ramones, New
York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop and also his time with Timothy
Leary, William Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg. Living with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein on
New York’s Bowery, a block from CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, Lachman discovered occultism via a
follower of Aleister Crowley. Post rock and roll, Lachman’s occult studies brought him to the Golden
Dawn, Manly P. Hall, Gnosticism, and a stint in Crowley’s O.T.O. He details his time in the Fourth Way,
including a visit to the site of Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, and
his years studying philosophy and literature and working as a science writer while managing a famous
metaphysical bookshop at the height of the New Age movement. Excursions to Stonehenge, Avebury, and
Glastonbury in search of ley lines, and pilgrimages to Colin Wilson’s home in Cornwall, are a few of the
highlights of this introspective, often humorous account of a nascent writer’s struggle from rock and roll to
individuation.

Author Bio: Gary Lachman is a prolific author and lecturer on
consciousness, counterculture, and the Western esoteric tradition. His works
include The Return of Holy Russia, Maurice Nicoll: Forgotten Teacher of
the Fourth Way, and Dark Star Rising. A founding member of the rock
band Blondie, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
2006. He lives in London.

https://www.gary-lachman.com

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