STRANGE POWERS

After The Outsider, a book Mr. Wilson will let no one forget -- an infinity of reminders here -- the occult came into its own justifying his ""revulsion from the determinism and reductionism of modern science"" and the Outisder's needs to be creative and ""self-actualising."" Divagating between autobiography and the experiences of three people (a wholesome, genial dowser also capable of astral projection; a retired nurse-medium; a Dr. Guirdham, author of a book on the 13th century Cathars) Wilson makes the point that those with paranormal ergs are just plain people who have ""abandoned passivity"" and drawn on some additional reserves. On every third page or so Wilson refers to assorted cranks of one kind or another: Reich (Wilhelm) is cranky or a crank on p. 40; Velikovsky is a crank on pages five and six; Gurdjieff is a crank and capable of ""crankery"" on page seven. Up and over, Wilson, from pot to kettle.