Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo

198 Pages·2016·4.55 MB·English

by  Alejandro Jodorowsky

$18.95 U.S.
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Spirituality/pSychotherapy $22.95 Can. o
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“No one alive today, anywhere, has been able to demonstrate the sheer possibili- o
ties of artistic invention—and in so many disciplines—as powerfully as Alejandro ro
Jodorowsky.” w
nPr Books
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k
“Alejandro Jodorowsky is a demiurge and an interpreter of our stories, always y
exploring further the understanding of both the beauty and complexity revealed
by humankind.”
Diana WiDmaier picaSSo, art historian S
Known for his surrealist films, his unique approach to tarot, his symbolic comics, a
and his shamanic therapeutic method of psychomagic, alejandro Jodorowsky has c
accomplished an extraordinary amount in his more than 80 years. In this book, r
e
we get an intimate look into the inner workings of the cult figure of Jodo. What
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is revealed is a man who has evolved since his groundbreaking films of the 1970s,
El Topo and The Holy Mountain, a man who has grown from a sacred trickster, a
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shaman of psychomagic, into a brilliant spiritual maverick of the 21st century. We
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get to see Jodo’s own reflections on the rich tapestry of his remarkable life, includ- i
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ing the initiatory failure of the Dune film project, which combined the talents of a
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multitude of creative greats, including moebius, Salvador dali, orson Welles, mick
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Jagger, and h. r. Giger. We learn about Jodo’s years with marcel marceau and with
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great masters such as ejo Takata, whose Zen training featured strenuous physical y
and mental ordeals; the sorceress Pachita, who performed psychic surgery on Jodo;
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and the mysterious Carlos Castaneda, whose sacred trickery reveals how intentions
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matter more than notions of “true” and “false.” t
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discussing the Way of Kindness that he now follows, Jodo reveals how inten- e

W
tionally practicing small acts of generosity and goodness can have a profound effect
on your spirit, infusing life with a wealth of happiness.
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From sacred trickery to the path of kindness, Jodo’s radical wisdom discerns the
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timeless within the immediate and gauges the everyday by the measure of eternity.

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aleJandro JodoroWSKy is a filmmaker who made the legendary cult films El
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Topo and The Holy Mountain. his most recent film, The Dance of Reality, debuted
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at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. he is the author of more than 20 books, includ-
i
ing Psychomagic, The Way of Tarot, and Metagenealogy. he lives in Paris. GIlleS n
FarCeT is a journalist, musician, translator, and author of several books in French. d
a student of the late spiritual teacher arnaud desjardins, he lives in Paris.
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Inner TradITIonS
Cover design by Peri Swan s
roCheSTer, VermonT Cover image courtesy of the author
s
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Praise
for
Alejandro Jodorowsky
His Works
and
“Jodorowsky is a brilliant, wise, gentle, and cunning wizard
with tremendous depth of imagination and crystalline insight
into the human condition.”
Daniel Pinchbeck, author of
Breaking Open the Head
“Alejandro Jodorowsky seamlessly and effortlessly weaves
together the worlds of art, the confined social structure, and
things we can only touch with an open heart and mind.”
Erykah Badu, artist and alchemist
“One of the most inspiring artists of our time. . . . A prophet
of creativity.”
Kanye West, recording artist
“The Dance of Reality begs to be read as a culminating work. . . .”
Los Angeles Times
“The Dance of Reality [film] is a trippy but big-hearted reimag-
ining of the young Alejandro’s unhappy childhood in a Chilean
town. . . .”
New York Times Magazine
SaTrWa.indd 1 1/12/16 10:51 AM
“Manual of Psychomagic is great . . . like a cookbook of very
useful recipes that can help us to understand our life and the
universe we live in.”
Marina Abramović, performance artist
“His films El Topo and The Holy Mountain were trippy, perverse,
and blasphemous.”
Wall Street Journal
“The best movie director ever!”
Marilyn Manson, musician, actor,
and multimedia artist
SaTrWa.indd 2 1/12/16 10:51 AM
Sacred Trickery
and Way of Kindness
the
The Radical Wisdom of Jodo
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Gilles Farcet
with
Translated by Ariel Godwin
Inner Traditions
Rochester, Vermont • Toronto, Canada
SaTrWa.indd 3 1/12/16 10:51 AM
Inner Traditions
One Park Street
Rochester, Vermont 05767
www.InnerTraditions.com
Copyright © 1989, 2004, 2009 by Éditions Dervy
English translation copyright © 2016 by Inner Traditions International
Originally published in French under the title La Tricherie sacrée: Entretiens avec
Gilles Farcet by Éditions Dervy
First U.S. edition published in 2016 by Inner Traditions
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jodorowsky, Alejandro, interviewee. | Farcet, Gilles, 1959–
interviewer. | Godwin, Ariel, translator.
Title: Sacred trickery and the way of kindness : the radical wisdom of Jodo /
Alejandro Jodorowsky and Gilles Farcet ; translated by Ariel Godwin.
Other titles: Tricherie sacrâee. English
Description: First U.S. edition. | Rochester, Vermont : Inner Traditions, 2016. |
Includes index. | “Originally published in French under the title La Tricherie
sacrâee: Entretiens avec Gilles Farcet, by âEditions Dervy.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2015027312| ISBN 9781620554593 (paperback) |
ISBN9781620554609 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Jodorowsky, Alejandro—Philosophy. | Jodorowsky,
Alejandro—Interviews. | BISAC: BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Inspiration
& Personal Growth. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal
Memoirs. | PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics.
Classification: LCC PQ7298.2.O3 Z46 2016 | DDC 868/.6409—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015027312

Text design and layout by Debbie Glogover
This book was typeset in Garamond Premier Pro with Copperplate Gothic, Gill
Sans, and Avenir as display fonts
Inner Traditions wishes to express its appreciation for assistance given by the
government of France through the National Book Office of the Ministère de la
Culture in the preparation of this translation.
Nous tenons à exprimer nos plus vifs remerciements au gouvernement de la France
et au ministère de la Culture, Centre National du Livre, pour leur concours dans la
préparation de la traduction de cet ouvrage.
SaTrWa.indd 4 1/13/16 8:47 AM
Contents
IntroductIon Trickery, Fifteen Years Later
by Gilles Farcet 1
Part one
v
Sacred Trickery—1989
one Under Jodo’s Sun 10
tWo Dialogue—1989: The First Interview 20
tHree Postscript 79
Part tWo
v
The Path of Goodness
Four Trickery: The Return—1989–2004 82
FIVe Dialogue—2003 84
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Part tHree
v
Once There Was Jodo:
Testimonies
SIX The Good Doctor of Rock:
Interview with Philippe Manœuvre 116
SeVen The Archetype of the Father:
Interview with Coralie Trinh Thi 125
eIGHt The Deliverer from World to World:
Interview with François Boucq 141
nIne A Great Sense of Closeness:
Interview with Arnaud Desjardins 159
ten A Letter from Your Son:
Adan Jodorowsky 166
ePIloGue A Little Act of Goodness 173
Index 180
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IntroductIon
v
Trickery,
Fifteen Years Later
By Gilles Farcet
In 1989 Dervy published La Tricherie sacrée, a small volume
of spontaneous conversations between Alejandro Jodorowsky
and myself. This little book had a surprising destiny: without
causing any hubbub, it continued to attract new readers over
the years. “Jodo” already had a solid reputation as a storyline
writer of bandes dessinées, which he insisted on calling by their
American name, “comics.”* He was also known in France, his
adopted country, as well as on the other side of the Atlantic, as
a director of pioneering cult films. He was less well known as a
free and brilliant spiritual maverick.
A free and brilliant maverick indeed, for how can one
*[The French term bandes dessinées (literally: drawn strips) has no exact equiva-
lent in English. “Comics” implies humorous content, which is not always present.
“Graphic novel” implies a continuous, novel-like storyline, which is not always the
case. Therefore, the French term (sometimes abbreviated BD) is used throughout
this translation. —Trans.]
1
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2 Introduction
describe this man? A tarologist? But he is more than that,
even though the consultations one finds advertised today in
numerous trendy coffee shops have their origins in his “Mystic
Cabaret” and in many cases are offered by his disciples.
Spiritual master? Even though he sometimes likes to describe
himself as a “poor guru exploited by the spiritual business,”
Jodo is not and does not pretend to be a “master” in the tra-
ditional sense of the term. He does not fit into any specific
tradition, even though he often makes reference to the mas-
ters who crossed his path, notably the Zen roshi Ejo Takata,
the sorceress Pachita, and the mysterious Castaneda. As he has
explained in our more recent conversations, when he believes
that someone who has come to consult with him needs con-
tact with a spiritual master, he directs her toward Arnaud
Desjardins, because Jodorowsky does not see himself as pro-
posing a path. An extraordinary esotericist? A healer always
ready to pull a “psychomagical act” out of his hat? An atypical
sorcerer? A transcendental illusionist? A sublime charlatan? In
truth, regarding his spiritual life, as in all other aspects of his
incredibly rich life, Jodorowsky is a being outside of the norm,
one of those people whose very existence is an initiatory saga.
However abundant and varied his creativity may be, it is
supported by an inner life, a truly spiritual journey. And the
present book was the first significant account of that jour-
ney. Coming about as a small miracle, this book, conceived of
when its subject had just reached the age of sixty, inaugurated
a new era for him. While still pursuing his artistic activities—
essentially the “comics”—he became increasingly known among
certain people in his role as a “magus,” much like Gurdjieff
in his time, with whom Jodorowsky shares the distinction of
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