This epic cultural and historical odyssey unearths the full influence of occult traditions on rock and roll - from the Beatles to Black Sabbath - and shows how the marriage between mysticism and music changed our world.
Peter Bebergal writes widely on the speculative and slightly fringe. His recent essays and reviews have appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, BoingBoing, The Believer and The Quietus. He is the author of Too Much to Dream: A Psychedelic American Boyhood and The Faith between Us (with Scott Korb). Bebergal studied religion and culture at Harvard Divinity School.
“A fascinating thesis reflecting the time when everyone seemed to
give rock and roll the status of, if not a religion, then certainly
that of a spiritual belief system. Peter Bebergal’s Season of
the Witch brought it all back. It's an absorbing read deserving an
important place in rock literature.”
--Michael Moorcock
"Rather than turning in either a fanboyish rhapsody or a scholarly
dissertation, he treads the line between those approaches. The
result is passionate, informed, gripping and at times wonderfully
lyrical."
--NPR“This sharply written narrative illuminates the centrality of
the occult imagination at the heart of rock and roll.”
--Library Journal (starred review)
"A thoroughly researched, absorbing, entertaining ride for anyone
who’s ever played the Beatles’ ‘White Album’ backwards.”
--Andrea Shea, WBUR/ NPR
“Kudos to Bebergal for taming the wily spirits of rock long enough
to capture their essence in this fascinating book. Perhaps
more impressive is the book’s comprehensiveness—from Delta blues to
beatnik bluster to acid evangelists to metal overlords,
Season of the Witch puts the hellfire in highbrow.”
--The Contrarian
"Skillfully woven...will delight any music fan and music historian
in equal measure.”
--Spirituality Today (5/5 stars)
“This book is a glorious headlong rush into the dark, full of the
electricity of the arcane. I loved it.”
--Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine and Transmetropolitan
“From grimoires to topographic oceans, from heavy metal to hip-hop,
Peter Bebergal tracks the Mysteries through half a century of
popular music (and some underground noise as well). At once an
overview of rock's mystic rebellions and a handy primer on modern
esoterica, Season of the Witch suggests that we may need to round
out the trinity of sex, drugs, and rock' n' roll with an additional
deity: the occult, another primal portal to a re-enchanted
world.”
--Erik Davis, author of Led Zeppelin IV and Nomad Codes: Adventures
in Modern Esoterica
“Told with clear-eyed scholarship and delectable anecdotes, Peter
Bebergal's mind-expanding occult history opened my third eye to
Rock & Roll's awesome power over human behavior. Rock & Roll will
never sound the same to me again, and I'm glad about it.”
--Mark Frauenfelder, founder of Boing Boing
"Bebergal displays an intelligent understanding of the interaction
between religion and culture when he argues that the '"occult
imagination is the vital force of rock-and-roll culture.' "
--Publishers Weekly
“Peter Bebergal has written of his own searching, reconciling
spiritual aspirations and personal background, in The Faith Between
Us and Too Much To Dream. Both are on my bookshelves. Here, in
Season Of The Witch, Peter presents an overview of one “alternative
influence” at work on some of those intending to change the
world.
The world they hoped to change was a dangerous mess.
Now, half a century later…”
--Robert Fripp “Unfussy but thoroughly documented…establishes
the occult as a phenomenon above and beyond its debatable status of
mere fad in the history of contemporary music.”--Ralph Elawani,
Exclaim!
“Anyone seeking shocking tales of demonic rock’n’roll would be best
served looking elsewhere, but for someone interested in the
interplay between music, culture and spirituality, Season Of The
Witch is a revelatory and fascinating grimoire.” --Record Collector
“A must-read for anyone who prefers their music loud, riff-driven,
and loaded with lyrics about Satan, wizards, and mystical quests.”
--Cheryl Eddy, io9.com
“Bebergal, a Dungeons & Dragons playing rock fanboy and graduate of
Harvard Divinity School has exactly the right pedigree for this
line of work, infusing what could be a dry litany of rumors,
hearsay, and matter-of-facts with a genuine love for the source
material.” --Cooper Berkmoyer, Flavorpill
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