🕯️ Occult Philosophy −14%

Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth

✍️ Lansing, Gerrit
Reader Score
4.6
(1 review)
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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

Gerrit Lansing's collected poetry reveals a profound, multifaceted voice that shaped the American counter-cultural consciousness. This inaugural volume gathers work spanning five decades, showcasing an astonishing array of poetic forms and deep cosmological concerns. His influence, akin to a secretly growing seed, permeated the literary underground, bridging generations of creative thinkers. It’s a vital exploration of a unique spirit in American letters, resisting easy categorization while offering both lyrical beauty and profound esoteric inquiry.

🕯️
Occult Philosophy
🏛 North Atlantic Books 📅 2009 📖 288 pages 📔 Hardcover ISBN: 9781556437540
Fun Fact
Gerrit Lansing’s collected poems are a revelation, showcasing a mind both learned and playful, capable of astonishing formal variety and profound esoteric inquiry. This volume is a cornerstone for anyone exploring the deeper currents of American poetry and the counter-cultural movements of the last half-century. While it might challenge those seeking easily digestible or neatly categorized verse, its richness will reward readers open to a truly unique voice.

📝 Description: Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth

This is the inaugural volume of a new series of literary hardcovers from North Atlantic Books. This series will collect the important work of writers who have served as major influences upon and contributors to the cultural and psychic milieu from which North Atlantic evolved. A distinguished figure of American letters, whose work and spirit have bridged five decades of creativity, Gerrit Lansing provides a perfect launch for the series with this collected edition of his poetry, which astonishes by the variety of its poetic forms and concerns, lyrical and cosmological. It cannot easily be fitted into niches currently fashionable. Like a "seed growing secretly" (to quote a favorite poet of his, Henry Vaughan), it has influenced the American cultural underground since the late 1950s. Lansing was a friend and associate of generations of creative minds as diverse as the poet Charles Olson and the legendary filmmaker Harry Smith. Poet Robert Kelly notes that "he is the most learned among us, and the most fun." Lansing has patiently fashioned a body of work that ranges from short poems such as "The Heavenly Tree Grows Downward" and "In Northern Earth," from which this collection takes its title, to longer cycles like the alchemical serial poem "The Soluble Forest." With themes at once personal and social, erotic and esoteric, Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth manifests the creative spirit of one of the important unheralded masters of modern poetry.

💎 Expert review

“
💎
Esoterica Books editorial team
Occult literature desk
This inaugural volume is a dense, rewarding exploration for those dedicated to esoteric poetry and counter-cultural history. However, it may not suit readers seeking straightforward narrative or accessible, conventional verse. Lansing’s resistance to easy categorization demands patience and an openness to complex cosmological themes. While the collection offers astonishing poetic variety and deep insight, it requires a reader willing to engage with obscure spiritual currents rather than familiar literary tropes. It is a vital but demanding text for those specifically invested in the intersection of poetry and hidden philosophical traditions.
✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers seeking a profound connection to the hidden spiritual undercurrents of American literature will find this collection indispensable. Lansing’s voice offers a rare glimpse into five decades of cosmological insight, appealing to those who value lyrical beauty intertwined with deep esoteric inquiry. This volume is ideal for scholars and enthusiasts of the occult who wish to understand how poetic forms can carry significant metaphysical weight. By gathering work that permeated the literary underground, it provides a necessary resource for anyone interested in the multifaceted spirit of American letters and the secret seeds of cultural consciousness.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —
⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5
★★★★★
If you seek poetry that defies simple labels, delves into the cosmic, and profoundly influenced generations of American counter-culture, Lansing's collected works are essential. This volume offers a deep dive into an extraordinary mind.

Reader rating

4.6
Based on 1 reviews
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Esoterica Books editorial team

This inaugural volume is a dense, rewarding exploration for those dedicated to esoteric poetry and counter-cultural history. However, it may not suit readers seeking straightforward narrative or accessible, conventional verse. Lansing’s resistance to easy categorization demands patience and an openness to complex cosmological themes. While the collection offers astonishing poetic variety and deep insight, it requires a reader willing to engage with obscure spiritual currents rather than familiar literary tropes. It is a vital but demanding text for those specifically invested in the intersection of poetry and hidden philosophical traditions.

❓ Frequently asked questions

His poetry is remarkable for its diverse forms, blending intimate lyrical expressions with expansive cosmological themes, resisting easy classification and inviting deep contemplation.
He was a major, albeit often subterranean, influence on the American cultural and psychic landscape for over five decades, connecting various creative generations with his unique vision.

📖 Who should read this

If you seek poetry that defies simple labels, delves into the cosmic, and profoundly influenced generations of American counter-culture, Lansing's collected works are essential. This volume offers a deep dive into an extraordinary mind.

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Poetic Breadth & Depth

This collection astounds with the sheer variety of Lansing’s poetic approaches. From intimately lyrical verses to expansive cosmological explorations, his writing defies simple classification. It invites readers into a world where formal innovation meets profound thematic engagement, pushing the boundaries of conventional verse.

Esoteric Undercurrents

Drawing inspiration from sources like Henry Vaughan's "seed growing secretly," Lansing’s poetry delves into hidden truths and subtle energetic flows. His titles, such as "The Heavenly Tree Grows Downward," hint at an engagement with esoteric traditions, revealing a spiritual dimension often woven into his lyrical observations.

📜 Historical context

Lansing's poetic journey began in the vibrant American cultural underground of the late 1950s, where he became a crucial, bridging figure. His associations with luminaries like Charles Olson and Harry Smith positioned him at the heart of an evolving artistic and esoteric movement that quietly but powerfully reshaped American thought for decades.

📚 Glossary

Cultural Milieu
Cosmological
American Letters

📔 Questions to reflect on

  1. How might the concept of a "seed growing secretly" resonate with your own creative or spiritual practices, implying a slow, hidden development?
  2. Reflect on how Lansing's blend of "lyrical and cosmological" themes in poetry might expand or challenge your understanding of what verse can achieve.
  3. Consider the enduring impact of "cultural underground" figures like Lansing on mainstream thought and art, even if their influence isn't immediately apparent.

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