FEEDING THE FLAME by T. Lobsang Rampa

The RAMPATHON continues! Up next is Rampa's big eleventh book: he says that thus far he's been lighting a candle in the darkness, and now's the time for FEEDING THE FLAME!

The point of this book, Rampa says, is to answer some questions from his dear and loyal readers. He also has plenty of stupid readers who waste his time with idiot letters, and he kvetches about these drooling morons for pages and pages ... what can he say, Rampa loves bitching and moaning! But anyways, to those dear and loyal readers who send in thoughtful queries, Rampa is ready to answer you!

"I hate you, the reader."

Would it surprise you that a lot of the answers are recycled from his last book? If you missed it last time: pets go to heaven, astral travel is possible, and Rampa absolutely unconditionally does NOT commune with any mediums charging fees for services. And when he departs this plane, Rampa assures us, he will NOT be taking any calls. He also addresses the specious text My Visit to Venus, assembled out of old Rampa articles by Gray Barker and presented by John Keel. Rampa does not approve!

Rampa's health is clearly on his mind. He spends much of this book in hospital, and is spared from the Angel of Death only by the astral appearance of his old friend, the Lama Mingyar Dondup, who tasks him with the writing of this book.

It's a hard life for ol' Rampa, living in shitty apartments in shitty towns like Halifax, having to listen to gibbering French Canadian patois outside and awful new British "music" on the radio, and, as he said, dealing with piles and piles of worthless letters from total dipshits. Rampa's not gonna tell you how to win the Irish Sweepstakes or make girls do what you want! He's here to answer the REAL questions, about real weighty subjects like life and death and the great beyond ...

Rampa's a grump, but at least he has his cats. The man loves writing on and on about his kitties, in that syrupy British style. Miss Cleo and Miss Tadalinka provide him much comfort, and again Rampa emphasizes that you'll meet your dear pets again on the other side.

Rampa and a friend. Courtesy David Michie.

Some new facts: Negroes are naturally rhythmic due to kharmic suffering, and homosexuals are to be pitied, NOT hated, for their mixed up souls! What a humanitarian! Rampa also dumps some atrocity tales on us about Chinese oppression in Tibet, and complains that the Dalai Lama doesn't want to team up with him for the cause! It's all the fault of the lying press, another Rampa bugbear. Soon now, by the way, there's going to be a big scandal where high ranking US officials will be exposed as Communist collaborators! It's a pity Rampa and John Pendragon never collaborated, they've both got the same slightly addled spirit as to predictions.

Rampa elaborates on the astral world, and the things you can get up to there after you leave your physical body in this life. You don't have to wear clothes or eat, but most people end up cladding themselves in some kind of thought-robes and taking sustenance from the ether. Details are also provided on the great astral Overself and its avatars - that's us! It's all part of the cosmic plan, as the Overself sends out feelers to explore and experience life, over and over again.

Rampa's wife Ra'ab does graphology for big firms, a neat detail that he works into a chapter on palmistry, clairvoyance, etc. He also burns some pages on the ol' Kennedy/Lincoln coincidences - Rampa's nothing if not longwinded and shameless about random padding.

Some more psychic potpourri: organ transplants are dangerous because of possible astral discontinuities between donor and recipient. Rampa says that artifical organs should be perfected as soon as possible! He also knows the truth about the lost submarines Thresher and Scorpion, but the story is too weird to be told right now. Rampa's also seen a genuine astral telephone, but the inventor was harassed by the press and Rampa himself is too broke to replicate the work. Ouija boards are not genuine conduits to spirit communication with the other side, but you can get yourself in trouble through self delusion or through trickery by lower astral forms imitating human spirits. These lower forms are harmless unless you allow yourself to be manipulated.

Rampa notes near the end of the book that he's deliberately answered questions in a "higgly piggly" order to prevent readers simply looking up the one or two specific answers they'd want. That's a nice excuse for the book being a disorganized ramble.

Some of the good readers thanked: Mr. and Mrs. "Yeti" Thompson, Mr. de Munnik, Mr. and Mrs. Hanns Czermak, and the Worstmann Ladies. And a big hand for the folks at home ... or maybe not, if you don't send return postage!

Like all of his work, Rampa's Feeding the Flame is available to read and download on the official website for T. Lobsang Rampa.

Corgi Books, 1975 (original pub. 1971)

BEYOND THE TENTH by T. Lobsang Rampa

It's RAMPATHON all month long in October, as we dive into the works of that insincere swami, that gaseous guru, the mad plumber from Devon himself, T. Lobsang Rampa! Up first is an entry that exemplifies Rampa's mid-career output: slapdash, peevish, and full of self pity to the rafters, we're going BEYOND THE TENTH!

Some fellow travelers in the back page ad ...

The text opens with some goofy scene setting by Rampa, as Tibetan monks debate the wonders of the indoor hot and cold taps they supposedly have in "Merikee" (America, you see), and then some western housewives cluck at the thought of telepathic Tibetan monks. Rampa's point is that it all depends on your perspective, and things that seem wondrous and unbelievable to us in our current modern western viewpoint may not be so much.

Readers looking for guidance on astral travel might be disappointed, as Rampa's instructions as to this seem vague and tossed off ... as well they might, because in the final chapter he admits he dictated the book in two weeks time! The cynical among us might even think he just made it up as he went along.

Most of the text is filled with descriptions of his own fantastical astral travels abroad, some health advice, a little UFO stuff, and an endless litany of whinging about unions, communists, the post office, the cost of healthcare, the cost of living, and the calumnious press campaign of harassment against him - here Rampa is referring to any reporting that accurately states his true identity as one Cyril Hoskin, former resident of Devon and lying fraud. Press criticism of the Royal Family also cheeses Rampa off, as "no family has ever suffered as much for Britain."

In a nice touch, Rampa claims that one of his cats was so saddened by the "press persecution" against him that she died of stress! No worries though, because he can still visit her on the astral plane.

Mad as hell and fit to tell us all about it ...

A bizarre vignette about an evil, thieving Welshman who mooches off the dole while complaining about the English until he gets a job as a bus driver, which then causes him to suffer from constipation, leads to a long section about this condition, which Rampa calls the curse of the ages. He recommends enemas and chewing certain herbs.

Possibly owing to his own chronic poor health, much of this title concerns health advice, with Rampa doing an alright job, in his own puffed up way, of letting people know that they should be informed as patients about what medical care entails and how to communicate with medical professionals to know they're getting the right care. He even disclaims any wonder cures, which is ethical of him. Alcoholism also comes in for a beating by Rampa, who says alcoholics should be banned from marriage and reproduction, as the condition is incurable unless they can bring themselves to avoid the stuff altogether. Sucking boiled sweets is one of Rampa's feeble suggestions to this end.

Also warned against are pay-for-play mediums and psychics, and cheap mass produced "lucky charms" ... though Rampa's Tranquilliser Touch-Stones don't count, for some reason!

Per usual, Rampa bitches about the cost of postage and tells us we'd better send return postage in any letters if we want him to respond! Despite being a best selling author he pleads poverty from all the fees, double taxation, unfair pricing, and etc., that chew away at his books' profits. That all of us might be able to churn out a book in 14 days that gets reprinted yearly, with seven editions and counting including two reprints in 1974!

Rampa wraps things up with some predictions for the future. Australia will blast a giant lake into the outback using nuclear bombs, and become a paradise fit for a billion people! Uruguay could have had this blessing, but the Uruguayans haven't had a hard enough time of things and so weren't kharmically prepared for the task. We're in John Pendragon's territory here, with an addled old man making oddball geopolitical proclamations. Rampa sees communism taking over the world, as trade unions destroy the west and then an evil, all encompassing strain of communism rises - but NOT Chinese communism, Rampa is quick to point out!

Eventually, however, communism in Africa specifically will be thwarted (being the only foreign influence bedeviling that continent, of course) and the people there will be free. Rhodesia cleans itself up and white people leave Africa, until such time in the future that we evolve past racism and become "the race of Tan," in Rampa's words. Maybe one day, the English may live in peace with filthy Welshmen, conniving Chinese, and greedy Postmasters ...

Beyond the Tenth is available to read and download at the official website for T. Lobsang Rampa.

Corgi Books, 1974 (original pub. 1969)

COSMIC DEBRIS: Put Pyramid Power to Work For You!

Designed by pyramid master Max Toth, these are the ONLY pyramid models for sale authorized by Karl Drbal, inventor of modern pyramid power! Available in red, blue, purple, black, or green ... though pictures of the actual product are hard to come by nowadays.

From The Renewing Power of Your Mind by Rolf Alexander, M.D., published by Warner Books for Destiny Books.

WHO, ME FLY? by Robert Scharff

It's fun, it's fast, it's economical ... it just makes sense! Do-it-yourself master Robert Scharff wants us to know: you can fly!

Pianist wunderkid Skitch Henderson pens the foreward, cementing the midcentury Americana flavor of this somewhat odd text. According to author Scharff, flying your own private plane for business and pleasure is as easy as 1, 2, 3, and his occasional asides on safety and maintenance come off as rather glib.

So too does his math on how economical it is being a private pilot - though to be fair, he's helpfully included some coupons for a flying session with a licensed Cessna trainer, for an additional cost of only $5! The miracle acrylic bubble makes it possible ...

Alongside the training and registration/certification guidance, Scharff also gives an overview of trip ideas by region for the continental USA. Whether you're a dentist or a CPA, a swingin' bachelor or dedicated family man, you'll find somewhere to fly anywhere you are, for any reason. Just do it!

Six whole coupons are included, by the way. Give some to your friends and then plan a trip together!

The few pictures included are very nice, and the glossary of flight terms does what it says on the tin. Like Steiger and Smith's treasure hunting guides, this text may have been meant more for easy chair dreaming than actual action. In either case, fly on, through realms of sleep and waking life ...

Tower Books, 1966

HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR ESP by Susy Smith

Whether instant or persistent, from Edgar Cayce to alpha states to Johann C.F. Zollner, Susy Smith's teaching us HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR ESP! Smith melds practical how-to advice with historical background on ESP in her usual professional treatment. Dig that funky vintage cover!

Booze is not recommended for cultivating psychic ability, as it turns out, though shamanistic drugs trips are successfully utilized by the Mixtecos. Smith references Freud and J.B. Rhine's perspectives on the ESP powers of the "primitive" mind, hitting the same notes as Brad Steiger did in his introduction to Warren Smith's Strange Powers of the Mind from 1968. Australian Aborigines, Maori, and "the Kaffirs of South Africa" are some of those peoples blessed with some atavistic connection to ESP. Smith also name checks Walter McGraw's The World of the Paranormal from 1969.

It's a blockbuster presentation, though Smith's credulity lessens the impact somewhat. Earnest attempts at probing the unknown nestle uneasily alongside scammers like "faith healer" Jose Arigo, promoted alongside other psychic surgeon frauds by the gruesome twosome of spooked up writer John G. Fuller and Dr. Andrija Puharich ... more background on Puharich can be found as part of Tanner F. Boyle's audio series on the Starseed phenomenon, which also touches on that old spoonbender Uri Geller. Geller's thankfully absent from Smith's text, as of publication not yet a titan of the paranormal entertainment field. Other vintage psychics like Peter Hurkos and Gerard Croiset do make appearances.

Smith provides a bibliography and index, not always a given for this field, and another reason her writing was a cut above. Despite some caveats, How to Develop Your ESP is a worthy addition to any library of the vintage paranormal.

Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Pinnacle Books, 1973