A presentation by Mitch Horowitz
Date: Friday, June 28th
Time: 8pm
Admission: $10
Presented by: Phantasmaphile
Neville Goddard (1905-1972) was one of the most intriguing and intellectually arousing metaphysical teachers of the last century. His work, written under the solitary pen-name Neville, was as radical as it was simple: the Barbados-born mystic argued that God is nothing other than the human imagination. Your thoughts and feelings, Neville taught, give shape to the world around you; and this world can be changed when you understand how to use the mental and emotive states that created it.
Neville’s philosophy is so audacious that most serious people immediately want to argue with it or push it away. Yet this underground thinker has been steadily growing in popularity. His ideas, which he articulated in books and thousands of lectures, represent the most elegant and rigorous thought system to emerge from the culture of mind-power metaphysics that swept America in the last century. Neville’s statements, beginning in the 1930s, bear striking (and serious) resemblance to contemporary findings in quantum physics, neuroplasticity, and other fields of study.
In this special lecture and presentation, acclaimed writer and historian Mitch Horowitz (Occult America) explores the life and methods of this modern magus. Mitch shows how Neville’s techniques for self development are disarmingly simple, bracingly original, and, quite possibly, profoundly impactful for the individual.
Mitch writes extensively about Neville in his forthcoming history of the positive-thinking movement, One Simple Idea (Crown, Jan 2014). This talk is the first public preview of those themes. In particular, Mitch explores Neville’s personal history, which includes his early years in New York City under the tutelage of a mysterious spiritual “master” named Abdullah. The reality and identity of Abdullah have long fueled debate. As Mitch reveals, Abdullah was likely a real figure – who may even be identifiable.
Israel Regardie wrote in 1946 of Neville: “Of all the metaphysical systems with which I am acquainted, Neville’s is the most magical.” This evening’s presentation not only parts the veil on the life, work, and personal history of this great metaphysical persona, but highlights Neville’s practical ideas and techniques, which may hold the key to something truly extraordinary for us today.
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Mitch Horowitz is vice-president and editor-in-chief at Tarcher/Penguin, the division of Penguin books dedicated to metaphysical literature. He is the author of Occult America (Bantam), which received the 2010 PEN Oakland/ Josephine Miles Award for literary excellence. His new book, One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life, is forthcoming from Crown in January 2014. Horowitz frequently writes about and discusses alternative spirituality in the national media, including CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline NBC, All Things Considered, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and CNN.com. He and his wife raise two sons in New York City. He is online at: www.MitchHorowitz.com