Actors have been seen as keepers of intuitive wisdom in traditional communities across the world for thousands of years, and the actor's route has been a path to knowledge and power. Brian Bates feels that this is still the case today, that actors and actresses serve as modern-day seers and shamans in our culture. He presents the actor as a visionary who sweeps viewers out of their everyday lives and guides them on a voyage of self-discovery. Personal charm and attraction, acute bodily awareness, and psychic sensitivity are just a few of the extraordinary abilities that add to the actor's mystique.
The author draws on extensive research in science, psychology, parapsychology, and Eastern and Western mysticism to explore the significance of dramatic art, citing the observations and experiences of more than thirty famous actors, including Meryl Streep, Marlon Brando, Glenda Jackson, Liv Ullmann, Jack Nicholson, and Shirley MacLaine. He not only demonstrates how the beautiful world of theatre and screen reflects our lives, but he also demonstrates how actors and actresses pave the path to self-transformation for everybody. For, he states, "the way of the actor is not an esoteric discipline divorced from everyday life. It is everyday life, heightened and lived to the full, with an awareness of powers beyond understanding."
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