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Fullerton(?), California, No Publisher, 1975. . Unbound. A three-page (3pp) typed letter signed. A fantastic letter. Dated July 24th 1974. The letter is signed by PKD with six corrections and a postscript all in the author's hand. Addressed to Claudia Bush. Bush commenced her dialogue with PKD whilst writing her thesis on him for her MA at Idaho State University. The thesis was published as "The Splintered Shards: Reality and Illusion in the Novels of Philip K. Dick." Much of the Bush correspondence is held in the Willis E. McNelly collection at California State University Fullerton; they are scarce in commerce. This letter is written in the aftermath of his VALIS visions of 1974, which happened shortly after a wisdom tooth operation. Dick received a home delivery of opioids from a woman wearing a Christian Ichthys necklace. The symbol emitted a pink beam of light which was the catalyst for months of visionary experiences, including Dicks belief that his mind had been invaded by a benign but separate consciousness. The period of PKD's visions began in February or March of 1974, and continued for anywhere between two and 12 months. In What if Our World is Their Heaven, Dick asserts that this separate consciousness was present for one year. From February 1974 to February 1975 (p. 149). The present letter discusses the dream PKD had, recounted in vivid detail, regarding the fork and spaghetti / trident and yarn. After recounting the events PKD interprets it using Greek Mythology. The thread PKD attributes to Ariadne, which ties into the next section regarding a letter from Philip Jose Farmer that arrives the subsequent morning ("The morning after I had this dream." with PKD having underlined the word after) wherein Farmer is suggesting a meta-physicial way the PKD can retrieve his daughter from his ex-wife, "You're in the labyrinth, but your Ariadne's thread is your imagination (Farmer)." The letter continues to talk about his earlier dream regarding double-domed men with golden skin, and in particular a cyclops figure (again tying into the Greeks), about whom he concludes only appeared to him in a dream, not reality (phew). PKD then goes on to recount how he wondered if these people in his dream were from outer space, but, alas, concludes they are merely ancient Greeks. The letter then moves onto PKD's analysis of a couplet from the previous dream "you have to put your slippers on / To walk toward the dream." PKD assigns this to not being scared, which is the later theme of the letter, and quite sweet. We then wind down the letter with another dream recounting, this time of Athena, Medusa or Demeter. All in all a fascinating insight into PKD's mind and psyche at the time following the VALIS encounter. A wonderful letter. [11073, Hyraxia Books].
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