Charles Manson : A misunderstood philosopher or a Madman ?

Charles Manson has often been identified with the devil of the modern generation. A lot has been said about his killings and murders but few people know about his theories. They are just looking at the image projected to them by the media. Few people are aware about his musical career and the fact that he released five music albums. The ideas given below have been collected from various sources and are not entirely original so I don’t want any accusations of plagiarism. Also, this is just a part of his philosophy which has a lot more dimensions.

In my opinion Charlie was more than an attention-craving madman. Manson and his friends were a part of the rebellion of the sixties. They rejected industrialism, consumerism and its poisonous society. They flaunted the use of hallucinogenic drugs and sexuality. They wanted to live their own way and not contribute to the destruction of the Earth.

He believed that the animal instincts, deeply embedded in our psyche from centuries of evolution, can be brought back to consciousness. Charlie has said that he is "spiritually allied with the scorpion and the wolf," seeing our evolutionary heritage as divine and powerful. Not separating Heaven and Earth, Manson combines both into a Shamanistic whole. Shamanism is an animistic religion of northern Asia having the belief that the mediation between the visible and the spirit worlds is effected by shamans (priest-doctors). Manson’s philosophy also encompasses something of the Eastern mystic. He sees all supposedly separate, individual minds as "The One Mind.” Born into these bodies we think we have separate identities. This is an illusion. Charlie sees the "Mind" as everything. Charlie identifies with the animals and their instincts as they are more in touch with the will of nature. In his belief humans were stupid and not fit enough to survive. His prophecy might come true any day as the world is facing the threat of annihilation by the nuclear powers.

To end it I would like to quote him, "Sure, I am crazy. It used to mean something in the old days. Now, everybody's crazy"