Christopher Hyatt (12 July 1943 – 9 February 2008), born Alan Ronald Miller, was an American psychologist,

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

, and author. He is perhaps best known as president of

New Falcon Publications New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Boyz or The Boyz may refer to: Music Bands * The Boyz (German band), a German boy band of ...

, an independent publisher specializing in of psychedelic and occult literature; Hyatt's press published work by several well-known champions of consciousness expansion, including

Israel Regardie Francis Israel Regardie (; né Regudy; November 17, 1907 – March 10, 1985) was a British-American occultist, ceremonial magician, and writer who spent much of his life in the United States. He wrote fifteen books on the subject of occultism. Bo ...

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

, and

Antero Alli Antero Alli is a professional astrologer who has authored books on experimental theatre, astrology and Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consciousness. He lives in Portland, Oregon, where he conducts workshops and stages theatrical productions, ...

Early life

A native of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Alan Miller, the son of

police lieutenant A lieutenant is a police rank in some police departments, such as the Police of France, the Netherlands Royal Marechaussee, the Philippine National Police, the Police of Russia, the National Police of Ukraine, the Estonian Police and Border Gua ...

Leonard Miller and his wife, Bertha Freidman, was born during what he described as the "roaring

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

years". Writing and speaking as Christopher Hyatt, Miller claimed to have dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen, working instead as a

dishwasher A dishwasher is a machine that is used to clean dishware, cookware, and cutlery automatically. Unlike manual dishwashing, which relies heavily on physical scrubbing to remove soiling, the mechanical dishwasher cleans by spraying hot water, ...

and

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, roaming the United States. Miller's obituary states he left high school at 17 and joined the

U.S.Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Academic career

Alan Miller was trained in

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

and

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

and practiced as a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

. The 18 units earned from his military

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

towards his first academic career were used at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

, where he studied

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

for two years. He later changed his graduate to General Psychology, earning

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in

experimental psychology Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, in ...

and

medical education Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, including the initial training to become a physician (i.e., medical school and internship (medical), internship) and additional training thereafter (e.g., Re ...

and

Counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of co ...

. He was a member of a

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...

ian clinic in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. He spent almost a year studying

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and also studied hypnosis at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

. Miller possessed Ph.D.s in both clinical psychology and

human behavior Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Kagan, Jerome, Marc H. Bornstein, and Richard M. L ...

and was a

Postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

. Some of his techniques blended Reichian physiotherapy and

tantric yoga Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian t ...

. He also incorporated

alongside his bodywork with patients and students. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Alan R. Miller's research was published in various peer-reviewed articles and professional journals. According to the Original Falcon Press website: "He fled academia and state sponsored psychology to become an explorer of the human mind."

Occultism

Miller's interest in

the occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

began in his early twenties. His desire to further pursue his studies in magick resulted in meeting

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

in the 1970s. Regardie introduced Miller to

Reichian therapy Reichian therapy can refer to several schools of thought and therapeutic techniques whose common touchstone is their origins in the work of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957). Some examples are: *Character Analysis, the analysis of chara ...

, which he insisted Miller learn prior to any magical pursuits. Regardie further instructed Miller in the magical system of the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ce ...

. In 1987

Lon Milo DuQuette Lon Milo DuQuette (born July 11, 1948), also known as Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford and by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Lamed, is an American writer, lecturer, musician, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of ...

, an occultist who would eventually become O.T.O.'s United States Deputy Grand Master, initiated Hyatt into the Newport Beach lodge of the

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult Initiation, initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner (mystic), Carl Kellner, He ...

, with Hyatt eventually becoming a Ninth Degree member of the occult Order. Hyatt later co-founded (with David Cherubim) the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn in Los Angeles on the Vernal Equinox of 1990.

New Falcon Press

Miller formed Falcon Press in 1980 and, adopting the pseudonym Christopher S. Hyatt, began publishing out of his Sedona, Arizona home.

Death

Hyatt died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

at the age of 64.

Works

* ''Sex Magic, Tantra & Tarot: The Way of the Secret Lover'', with Lon Milo Duquette. (1991). New Falcon Publications; 2nd edition. * ''Energized Hypnosis: A Non-Book for Self Change'', with Calvin Iwema. (2005). New Falcon Publications. * ''Aleister Crowley's Illustrated Goetia: Sexual Evocation'', with Lon Milo DuQuette and David P. Wilson. (2005). New Falcon Publications. * ''A Modern Shaman's Guide to a Pregnant Universe'', with Antero Alli. (2008). The Original Falcon Press; UK edition. * ''Taboo: Sex, Religion & Magick'', with Lon Milo DuQuette. (2008). The Original Falcon Press. * ''Secrets of Western Tantra: The Sexuality of the Middle Path''. (2009). New Falcon Publications; 3rd edition. * ''Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation and Other Devices''. (2010). New Falcon Publications; 5th revised edition. * ''Pacts with the Devil: A Chronicle of Sex, Blasphemy & Liberation'', with S. Jason Black. (2010). The Original Falcon Press. * ''The Psychopath's Notebook'', with S. Jason Black. (2008). New Falcon Publications. * ''The Psychopath's Bible: For the Extreme Individual'', edited by Nicholas Tharcher (2011). The Original Falcon Press; 2nd edition. * ''Urban Voodoo: A Beginners Guide to Afro-Caribbean Magic'', with S. Jason Black. (2011). New Falcon Publications; 1st edition. * ''The Big Black Book: Become Who You Are'', with S. Jason Black, Joseph Matheny, Nicholas Archer et al. (2020). The Original Falcon Press.

About

*''Lucifer's Rebellion: A Tribute to Christopher S. Hyatt'', edited with a foreword by Shelley Marmor. (2011). New Falcon Publications.

Notes and references

External links

Tribute site to Christopher Hyatt by New Falcon Publications

The Original Falcon Press

New Falcon Publications
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyatt, Christopher S. 1943 births 2008 deaths American hypnotists American occult writers 20th-century American psychologists American psychotherapists Ceremonial magicians Los Angeles City College alumni Members of Ordo Templi Orientis Writers from Chicago Deaths from cancer in Arizona