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Erik Davis
Photo by Jon Hanna, July 2011
Erowid Character Vaults
Erik Davis
Summary
Erik Davis is a writer and international lecturer who often addresses the impact that psychedelic drugs have had on contemporary culture and spirituality. While an undergraduate at Yale, Davis' senior thesis focused on Philip K. Dick and postmodern gnosticism; since then, he has spoken widely on the topic of Dick's works. For many years Davis wrote for WIRED, and his essays have appeared in dozens of books, magazines, newspapers, and online venues. Davis' first book, TechGnosis: Myth, Magic + Mysticism in the Age of Information, a cult classic of visionary media studies originally published in 1998, has been translated into five languages. Since then he has produced four more books. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Religious Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

A longtime burner, Davis wrote the libretto for and performed in the Burning Man-inspired opera "How to Survive the Apocalypse". Davis hosts the Progressive Radio Network podcast show "Expanding Mind", which explores the culture of consciousness as it relates to magic, spirituality, psychology, and technology. He also made an appearance in The Spirit Molecule, a 2010 documentary directed by Mitch Schultz about DMT. See Davis's web site for additional information about his writings.

Author of (Book Chapters)
  • "Kosmiche", Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy [edited by Nikos Kotsopoulos] (2010)
  • "Introduction", Tribal Revival: West Coast Festival Culture [photographs by Kyer Wiltshire] (2009)
  • "Foreword", Nog [by Rudolph Wurlitzer] (2009)
  • "Burning Men", Toward 2012--Perspectives on the Next Age: Essays on Transformation from Reality Sandwich [edited by Daniel Pinchbeck and Ken Jordan] (2008)
  • "Roots and Wires", Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture [edited by Paul D. Miller] (2008)
  • "Adventures in Inner Space", Undergrowth # 8: The Journeybook: Travels on the Frontiers of Consciousness [edited by Rak Razam] (2008)
  • "Tapping the Source" (Introduction), The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family [by Isis and Electricity Aquarian] (2007)
  • "The Verge Extreme", Everything You Know About God is Wrong: The Disinformation Guide to Religion [edited by Russ Kick] (2007)
  • "Led Zepplin IV", 33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 [edited by David Baker] (2006)
  • "Beyond Belief: The Cults of Burning Man", AfterBurn: Reflections on Burning Man [edited by Lee Gilmore and Mark Van Proyen] (2005)
  • "Calling Cthulhu", Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult [edited by Richard Metzger] (2003)
  • "The Paisley Gate: The Tantra of Psychedelics", Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics [edited by Allan Hunt Badiner and Alex Grey] (2002)
  • "Synthetic Meditations: Cogito in the Matrix" Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History [edited by Darren Tofts, Annemarie Jonson, and Alessio Cavallaro] (2002)
  • "Opeth", DeCapo Best Music Writing 2002: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country, & More [edited by Jonathan Lethem and Paul Bresnick] (2002)
  • "Recording Angels", Undercurrents: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music [by The Wire] (2002)
  • "Interview", Modern Pagans: an Investigation of Contemporary Ritual (Re/Search) [by John Sulak and V. Vale] (2001)
  • "TechGnosis", Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture [edited by Mark Dery], South Atlantic Quarterly 92(4) (1993)
  • Interviews
  • "Follow Your Weird: A Conversation with Erik Davis", Reality Sandwich [interviewed by Antonio Lopez] (Dec 2010)
  • "A Conversation with Erik Davis", Tarology (Beta) [interviewed by Enrique Enriquez] (Oct 2010)
  • "Erik Davis: Intoning Majickal Formulas" [interviewed by the L.A. Record] (Jun 2008)
  • "Is The Net Good For Writers?", 10 Zen Monkeys [interviewed by R.U. Sirius] (Oct 2007)
  • "Erik Davis Speaks..." The Entheogen Review [interviewed by Jon Hanna] (Dec 2006)
  • "Erik Davis--TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information", Inkwell: Authors and Artists [in discussion with Tony Barreca, Linda Castellani, and Jon Lebkowsky] (Sep 2000)
  • Book Reviews
  • Assorted book reviews by Erik Davis posted to Erowid, including reviews of The Herb Dangerous: The Psychology of Hashish edited by David Hoye, Psychedelic Shamanism by Jim DeKorne, Pharmako/Gnosis by Dale Pendell, and others.
  • "How the West Was Fun", Bookforum.com [review of The Drop Edge of Yonder by Rudy Wurlitzer] (Apr/May 2008)
  • "Creative Imagination and the Inklings" [review of Romantic Religion: A Study of Barfield, Lewis, Williams, and Tolkien by R.J. Reilly] (Jan 2008)
  • "Digital Dharma" [review of Digital Dharma: A User's Guide to Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere by Steven Vedro] (Jan 2008)
  • "Charles Finney's Masterpiece of American Fantasy" [review of The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney] (Jan 2008)
  • "Mind the Gap" [review of The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness by Jeff Warren] (Nov 2007)
  • Audio
  • "Expanding Mind" Episodes (2010 -)
  • "Gnosis Now!" Eight lectures from Davis' Maybe Logic Academy course. (2009)
  • "The Imagination and the Environment" Burning Man Playalogue from Matrix Masters (2007)