How Fantasy Fuelled 60s Counterculture

In his book Nature and the Numinous in Mythopoeic Fantasy Literature, Chris Brawley explores the connection between Tolkien’s position on fairy stories and Otto’s concept of the numinous. Brawley argues that the numinous we encounter in fairy stories (via Secondary Belief) enables us to “revise our perceptions of the natural world.” We bring those

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I’m reminded of what happened in the 1970s when the hippies — bruised and bloodied from the culture wars of the ‘60s — retreated into self-help, wellness, and personal development, as Adam Curtis documents in his series The Century of Self . While they turned inward, the winners of the ‘60s culture wars took society’s reigns. A focus on personal we... See more