Elvis Presley Loved This Famous Mystical Writer
Elvis Presley once wanted to attend a lecture by a famous mystical writer, but Priscilla Presley went instead. Here’s a look at why the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” singer started looking for answers and how that changed Priscilla’s life.
Elvis Presley liked a writer but Priscilla Presley thought his lectures were terrible
In her 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, Priscilla discussed when Elvis started getting very spiritual. Priscilla said Elvis became especially interested in these topics after meeting hairdresser Larry Geller in 1964. Elvis was convinced Geller had more knowledge about the supernatural than any Catholic priest or religious fanatic.
The “All Shook Up” singer and the hairdresser would talk on the phone for hours about the “great masters” and the meaning of life. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll especially wanted to know why he had been chosen to become so influential and what he could do to make the world a better place.
“What I was now witnessing in Elvis was the emergence of that part of his nature that was thirsting for answers to all the fundamental questions of life,” Priscilla wrote. “He suggested I attend the lectures of the metaphysical philosopher and author Manly P. Hall. I did. I found the lectures difficult to understand and painful to endure, but I managed to survive with the hope that ‘this too shall pass.'”
The writer that Elvis liked wanted to be the priest of Southern California
Hall was an occultist and astrologer. According to the Los Angeles Times, Elvis was a fan and he would have gone to one of Hall’s lectures but he was worried he would get mobbed, so he sent Priscilla as his surrogate. Hall was still able to make friends with other entertainment industry luminaries like John Denver and Bela Lugosi.
Hall wanted to be the high priest of Southern California. His modus operandi was applying ancient wisdom to modern problems. He was well-acquainted with the work of other mystics such as Plato, Confucius, Pythagoras, and Madame Blavatsky. Today, he’s most known for his massive occult book The Secret Teachings of All Ages.
Manly P. Hall wasn’t the only author who interested Elvis Presley
In Elvis and Me, Priscilla explained how Elvis’ search for answers impacted his entourage. “He was eager for all of us — especially me — to absorb all the knowledge he was consuming,” she recalled. “Happy to share everything, just as he had with his Bible discussions in L.A., he read to us for hours and handed out books he thought would interest us.”
Elvis had plans for Priscilla. “He announced that in order for us to be perfect soul mates, I’d have to join him in his search for the answers to the universe,” she remembered. “To help me, he gave me several large books, including Vera Stanley Adler’s The Initiation of the World.” Adler was one of Hall’s contemporaries.
Priscilla wasn’t as interested in occult topics as Elvis was but she still tried to meet Elvis where he was.
