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TechGnosis

The work of Erik Davis

Erik Davis is an American writer, scholar, journalist, and public speaker whose writings range from rock criticism to cultural analysis to esoteric explorations of California’s history.

I’ve been publishing stuff for over three decades, and most of it—with the exception of my books—resides on this site, which I have maintained through various iterations since the late 1990s. With Burning Shore now disseminating my fresher communiqués, Techgnosis.com acts more than ever as an archive of my work, including lectures, interviews, personal reflections, and almost a decade of the Expanding Mind podcast. Like Techgnosis itself, still in print and more relevant than ever, my stuff combines deep research with vivid writing and oracular aims that resonate through the years. For this revamped trans-temporal site, I and my team have introduced more robust searching and cross-linking of materials, as well as a roll-the-dice feature, which will hopefully allow for richer, more entertaining, and more synchronistic wanders through this wunderkammer.  — Erik

  • Books

    Blotter

    The Untold Story of an Acid Medium

    The Untold Story of an Acid Medium

    Blotter by Erik Davis is the first comprehensive written account of the history, art, and design of LSD blotter paper, the iconic drug delivery device that will perhaps forever be linked to underground psychedelic culture and contemporary street art. Created in collaboration with Mark McCloud’s Institute of Illegal Images, the world’s largest archive of blotter art, Davis’s boldly illustrated exhibition treats his outsider subject with the serious, art-historical respect it deserves...

The Superheroic Dose
Expanding Mind Podcast
The Superheroic Dose
Expanding Mind

Shamanism 2.0
Media
Shamanism 2.0
Neuroscience and Hypermedia

Shooting the Shit with Styxxoplix the Sorcerer
Media
1 min
Shooting the Shit with Styxxoplix the Sorcerer
Comic Books, 70s childhoods, Stranger Things, chaos magick

Gnosis Now! talk 8
Media
Gnosis Now! talk 8

Pharmakognosis

Polyrhythmic Cyberspace and the Black Electronic
Mind and Philosophy
Polyrhythmic Cyberspace and the Black Electronic
Roots and Wires

Booting Up Life
Expanding Mind Podcast
Booting Up Life
Expanding Mind

Keep Psychedelics Weird
Media
Keep Psychedelics Weird
Life is a Festival

Databases of the Dead
Religions and Spirits
Databases of the Dead
The Mormon Church and Genealogical Data

Tricksters, Dharma, and Tech
Media
Tricksters, Dharma, and Tech
The Side View podcast

Rick Griffin, Superstar
Art and Design
Rick Griffin, Superstar

A look at the art and spiritual struggle of the great psychedelic poster artist.

Sounding Off and On
Burning Shore
Sounding Off and On

Plus News and Notes

Sound and Consciousness
Expanding Mind Podcast
Sound and Consciousness
Expanding Mind

Find the Others
Expanding Mind Podcast
Find the Others
Expanding Mind

Marvelous Moments
Expanding Mind Podcast
Marvelous Moments
Expanding Mind

Hare Krishna Hardcore
Music
Hare Krishna Hardcore
The cross-over of Krishna consciousness and the American hardcore scene

Meditating in Sensurround
Religions and Spirits
Meditating in Sensurround
Zen retreat with SIGGRAPH chaser