{"title":"Sun Ra","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"h-p-blavatsky-sun-ra-studio","title":"H.P. Blavatsky \u0026 Sun Ra: Studio","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt first sight, putting Sun Ra’s name alongside that of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky sounds like mixing bread and gasoline. But upon closer examination, one discovers that his musical philosophy was profoundly influenced by the Theosophical Society she founded in 1875.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe experimental composer was a mystic himself, often preferring to be called a mythscientist or a cosmic messenger. His music was infused with elements of numerology, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Egyptian mythology, and a good dose of self-mythology. Like Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, Blavatsky’s writings occupied a central place in his cosmology, becoming a core part of his teachings, as illustrated by the course \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAfro-American Studies 198: The Black Man in the Cosmos\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, which he taught at UC Berkeley in 1971.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn this mysterious book, published anonymously, Sun Ra presumably appropriated Blavatsky’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Secret Doctrine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, retaining only the esoteric and biblical names mentioned in the original. The publication was part of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eInexistent Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, an editorial exhibition curated by Jan Steinbach during I Never Read, the Art Book Fair in Basel, in 2020.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metabooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55701607874899,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/8898\/6963\/files\/DSC4700.png?v=1793515290"}],"url":"https:\/\/metabooks.art\/collections\/sun-ra.oembed","provider":"Metabooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}