Visionary Fiction

Visionary Fiction and the Science of Consciousness, Part 1

Visionary Fiction and the Science of Consciousness, Part 1

ByVictor Smith

Introducing Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D. Parapsychology is a field of study concerned with the investigation of paranormal and psychic phenomena, which include telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other paranormal claims. It is often identified as pseudoscience…. Parapsychology has been criticized for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence…

Pondering the Fifth Element in Story

Pondering the Fifth Element in Story

ByIva Kenaz

Have you ever wondered what makes certain stories more powerful than others? Could there be such a thing as a story’s fifth element. If so, what is it? Although in recent times, the basic elements have been recognized as four, in most ancient cultures and religions there are five. Hinduism acknowledges five great elements—earth, water,…

Story versus Message by Randy Davila
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Story versus Message by Randy Davila

ByGuest Author

Shortly after the launch of the Visionary Fiction Alliance in 2012, Randy Davila, president of Hierophant Publishing and Hampton Roads Publishing Company, wrote a post for visionary fiction writers that remains relevant today. Therefore, I’m resubmitting it as our first post for 2017. First purpose of fiction Visionary fiction authors have one of the hardest…

The Hero’s Journey and its Connection to Visionary Fiction
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The Hero’s Journey and its Connection to Visionary Fiction

ByEleni Papanou

HERO’S JOURNEY What is the Hero’s Journey, and why do so many visionary writers like George Lucas use it to craft their stories? To answer that question, we need to understand where the Hero’s Journey comes from. Joseph  Campbell recognized that myths around the world follow a similar template. He referred to this as monomyth. The…

Visionary Fiction and Transhumanism, Part 3
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Visionary Fiction and Transhumanism, Part 3

ByVictor Smith

If, to paraphrase Joni Mitchell’s lyrics in “Woodstock,” we are indeed stardust and golden, we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden. When faced with paradox, which our condition inherently is, we humans tend to jump from one extreme to the other. Only after we get dizzy enough from swinging between either/or does it occur to us try both/and.

Visionary Fiction and Transhumanism, Part 2
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Visionary Fiction and Transhumanism, Part 2

ByVictor Smith

We ended Part 1 stuck between the opposites of Matter, represented by the infernal machines, and Spirit, as epitomized by abstract ideals. Transhumanism, by definition, seems positioned in the former category, the Dalai Lama’s “half machine,” and our visionary viewpoint in the latter, what His Holiness calls “a stream of consciousness.” That these two elements, one inanimate and the other animate, might join in some unnatural marriage to rival or supplant the current human model was seen, to put it kindly, as far out.

Visionary Fiction and Transhumanism, Part 1
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Visionary Fiction and Transhumanism, Part 1

ByVictor Smith

I can’t totally rule out the possibility that, if all the external conditions and the karmic action were there, a stream of consciousness might actually enter a computer. –His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
This startling statement made by the renowned leader of Tibetan Buddhism knocked me off kilter on first reading it. It had a similar effect on the renowned physicist who reported it.

Visionary Fiction and Truth
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Visionary Fiction and Truth

ByGuest Author

BY ELIZABETH BECKETT Truth is relative. It depends where you are standing, and when. A thousand different versions of one story can all be right. So how do we make sense of it all? By finding your own truth – what resonates with you and you feel implicitly to be on your frequency. Some people think that my books are astounding, and others think that they are rubbish. But I must persevere for the readers whose personal truth frequencies are attuned with what I write, because that is powerful.

The Wounded Healer: the Greek Myth of Human Evolution
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The Wounded Healer: the Greek Myth of Human Evolution

ByGuest Author

Multi-faceted visionary craftsman Esme Ellis has been a supporter and contributor to the Visionary Fiction Alliance almost from its inception. She has written four books; Pathway Into Sunrise, Clea and the Fifth Dimension, This Strange and Precious Thing, and Dreaming Worlds Awake. Here are some of her musings amidst samples of her visionary art.

The Anesthesia Game and Visionary Fiction – guest post by Rea Nolan Martin
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The Anesthesia Game and Visionary Fiction – guest post by Rea Nolan Martin

ByGuest Author

(Editor’s note – Oftentimes our stories are culled from our life experiences – painful, joyful, mystical, paranormal – and forged into Visionary Fiction. Author Rea Nolan Martin tells her tale of how such an experience shaped her newest novel.) The story behind The Anesthesia Game is very close to my heart. The fifteen-year-old protagonist, Sydney,…

Dark Characters in Visionary Fiction Can Reveal the Light
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Dark Characters in Visionary Fiction Can Reveal the Light

ByEleni Papanou

By Eleni Papanou Visionary fiction’s theme is the evolution of human consciousness. But what does that mean? What is consciousness? Psychologist, William James, coined the phrase stream of consciousness . He identified consciousness as something that is shaped by experience and how the experience is processed in our minds. So it’s our life experience that…

What Is Women’s Visionary Fiction?  Part I – Guest Post By Mary Mackey
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What Is Women’s Visionary Fiction?  Part I – Guest Post By Mary Mackey

ByGuest Author

Women’s Visionary Fiction is not a new type of Visionary Fiction. It has been around for decades if not centuries. In fact, for all of recorded history (and thousands of years before writing existed) women have been associated with visions, mystical experiences, spiritual powers, magic, the ability to bring new life into the world, heal…

Fables, Italo Calvino, and Visionary Fiction – guest post by Stephen Weinstock
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Fables, Italo Calvino, and Visionary Fiction – guest post by Stephen Weinstock

ByStephen Weinstock

This summer I saw Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. Teiresias was in drag, the Chorus intoned like gospel churchgoers, and the blind Oedipus appeared in the nude (an email warned us ahead of time). Despite the wonderful theatricality, I was put in mind how powerful the Oedipus myth is, with…

Two New Arthurian Visionary Fiction Novels by Theresa Crater

Two New Arthurian Visionary Fiction Novels by Theresa Crater

ByTheresa Crater

“Well now, there’s legends and then there’s secrets that the legends hide.” ~The Singing Stones Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and T.L. Ashcroft-Nowicki, mother and daughter, have both written new takes on the Arthurian legends in the last few years. Dolores wrote The Singing Stones for her grandson and she plans to write more. T.L.’s first novel of…