WHO TO CALL: Community Editor Entertainment Editor Andrew McCredie Layne Christensen 985-2131 (147) 985-2131 (118) You can't depend on your eves -when your imagination is out of focus. — Mark Twain LEONARD GEORGE has recently been focussing on the imagination. By Andrew McCredie Community Editor Many of us flex our imaginations conjuring up 6/49 windfalls and luxury-filled daydreams, —_ but George believes the spiritual malaise in Western society is also linked to the mysterious mental fac- ulty. The Deep Cove psychologist/ writer/teacher has just completed work on'a chapter dealing with the ne: the Greeks and the Hebrews — saw little use for the imagination, writes George. In both these cultures, “mythmakers and thinkers sensed a negative side of the imaginal: over time the imagination became the object of mistrust. and even of ban- ishment from the camp of the Real.” Indeed, one of mankind’s great thinkers, Plato, believed that dreams emerged from the navel area. a part of the soul he referred to as “bound down like a wild animal.” Throw in the teachings of organized religion, and the imagination has been relc- gated to a backseat to Reason ever since. But George believes that our individua! imaginations may repre- sent an untapped resource of per- ception. “Science itself is based on the imagination. although for the most Writer explores the unknown history of the imagination for _ Katherine Ramsland’s The Anne Rice Reader. What he reveals is ’ compelling. “ . “To track the idea of the imagi- Nation historically is fascinating,” says the affable PhD. “The bound- | “ary between reality and unreality — '_what’s defined as real and unreal, significant and insignificant — is never stili.” At. the core of George's most recent .quest. is whether or not the imagination is a subjective thing (as the mainstream world currently treats it); or if it is'a mode of perception. -:The latter of these two options is one that stirs the passion of George, a man whose own life has brought ".. him face to face with both conven- “tional and unconventional teach- ings. Last year he published two part unofficially,” says George, adding he is not an anti-science per- son. “My sense is that what the bas- tion of science likes to say is ‘we have all these conclusions based on the experimental research that we've done.’ Very often, you find that a lot of the experimental work is simply marketing in a strange kind of way — the Scientists actual- ly had an intuition, or even a dream.” As the baby-boomers — being the influential trend-setiers they are — crest the half-century mark, more and more are asking questions of a spiritual nature rather than ques- tions dealing with German motor- cars, bottled water and Osh Kosh clothing. “We have all these people look- ing for something for themselves, ee ar PSC WORLD SHE Ye THEME VIOLENCE . . COARSE books — Alternative Realities: The and both the conventional and alter. fy THIS WEEK'S PICKS: RATING . oe LANG. NUDNY 5 . *, ° ee 8 SLT SCO ae : NOREEN DRE UT A prse ne Nemes . : Paranormal, The Mystic and the native (New Age) answer systeins SE Waterworld (new) = (PRE G14 oe Action f Gl Much ay Somes aconnte ay: Transcendent in Human Experience are not very attractive,” reports : : ° ore " eee “(Facts on File) and Crimes of George. “And 1 think that yearning ff 2: Nine Months * caetomeencts x Rom/Gom ue _, Much Mild -; Perception: An Encyclopedia of people feel, that spiritual restless- 929 “indian. fi the Cupboard Pek EPG dventure sc . 4 : . Sa rae Heresies and Heretics (Paragon ness, is going to become more 4. The Net PG-4 Thiller Some Some Mild House). : overt.” A. eee ccinetepumon um rut giecsess : oe , is . From the titles, one could expect One need look no further than Be ne ee ; RESUS Re hitler, is ee Loses ene Lom ane _pulp-style sensationalism and the Globe & Mail’s best-seller list ngea: : : Lots SI Foe Sy Oi .. groundless speculation. nn tye : But George’s schooling — a ‘2 PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Western Ontario — shines through the well-researched ' books. Both are encyclopedic-style ' reference books dealing with every kind of unusual experience George ‘ could document, from “airship sightings” to “zombification.” “It’s the old story, but I wrote these books because they are the kind of reference books I was always searching for but could never find,” George says. His ‘current work-in-progress _ will step out of the encyclopedic form and concentrate on mankind's relationship with the imagination through the ages. If his chapter for The Anne Rice Reader is any indica- _tion, George has unearthed a fasci- nating lineage of the use and abuse of the imagination through time. “The two cultures that founded our current Western world view — for proof. James Redfield’s soul- searching The Celestine Prophecy has been on the top-10 listing for almost two years and is currently number one. George sums up the mystery of the imagination by drawing an anal- ogy between a firefly and our con- sciousness. “Look at a firefly in the light of day and it’s an ugly little bug,” he explains. “Look at- it at nighttime and it’s this haunting presence, it's almost like a spirit being. Our con- sciousness could be, the same kind of thing. What if thére is this aspect .to human consciousness that the precision tools of modern science just can never get at?” Perhaps, he offers. it is because this “night-side™ of human nature has been ignored in mainstream society that many today are flop- ping around feeling kind of mean- ingless. Imagine. Lots Lots Sones Mil Much Lots Avallable at one minute after midnight on date of release. Reserve yours now! ENTER TO WIN VANCOUVER GRIZZLIES TICKET: Rent a video & enter to win a- pair of tickets to seo... GRIZZLIES vs. UTAH JAZZ (Dsgw date Sun. Feb 4 @ 12 ng on)