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{{Short description|1981 novel by Philip K. Dick}}
{{redirect|VALIS|other uses|Valis (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{infobox book|
| name              = VALIS
| image             = VALIS(1stEd).jpg
| caption           = Cover of first edition (paperback)
| author            = [[Philip K. Dick]]
| cover_artist      = 
| country           = United States
| language          = English
| series            = [[VALIS trilogy]]
| genre             = [[Postmodern]], [[philosophical novel|philosophical]], [[science fiction]], [[autofiction]]
| published         = 1981 ([[Bantam Books]])
| media_type        = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages             = 271
| isbn              = 0-553-14156-2
| congress          = CPB Box no. 2502 vol. 18
| oclc              = 7066446
| followed_by       = [[The Divine Invasion]]
}}
'''''Valis''''' (stylized as '''''VALIS''''') is a 1981 [[science fiction]] novel by American writer [[Philip K. Dick]], intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's [[Gnosticism|gnostic]] vision of God. Set in California during the 1970s, the book features heavy auto-biographical elements and draws inspiration from Dick's own investigations into his unexplained [[religious experience]]s over the previous decade.

It is the first book in the incomplete ''[[VALIS trilogy]]'' of novels, followed by ''[[The Divine Invasion]]'' (1981). The planned third novel, ''[[The Owl in Daylight]]'', had not yet taken definite shape at the time of the author's death.<ref name="Dick2000">{{cite book |last=Dick |first=Philip K. |editor1-last=Lee |editor1-first=Gwen |editor2-last=Sauter |editor2-first=Doris Elaine |date=2000 |title=What If Our World Is Their Heaven |publisher=The Overlook Press |location=Woodstock & New York |pages=49–157 |isbn=978-1585670093}}</ref> Dick's final novel, ''[[The Transmigration of Timothy Archer]]'' (1982), builds on similar themes; Dick wrote: "the three do form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philipkdick.com/media_twilightzone.html |title=Interview with Philip K. Dick |website=www.philipkdick.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528112644/http://www.philipkdick.com/media_twilightzone.html |archive-date=28 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
In March 1974, Horselover Fat (the alter-personality of Philip K. Dick) experiences visions of a pink beam of light that he calls Zebra and interprets as a [[theophany]] exposing hidden facts about the reality of our universe, and a group of others join him in researching these matters. One of their theories is that there is some kind of alien space probe in orbit around Earth, and that it is aiding them in their quest; it also aided the United States in disclosing the [[Watergate]] scandal and the resignation of [[Richard Nixon]] in August 1974.

Kevin turns his friends on to a film, ''Valis'', that contains obvious references to revelations identical to those that Horselover Fat has experienced, including what appears to be time dysfunction. The film is itself a fictional account of an alternative-universe version of Nixon (Ferris F. Fremount) and his fall, engineered by a satellite called VALIS. (The plot of the fictitious film ''Valis'' was that of Dick's then-unpublished novel ''[[Radio Free Albemuth]]''.)

In seeking the film's makers, Kevin, Phil, Fat, and David—now calling themselves the Rhipidon Society—head to an estate owned by popular musician Eric Lampton and his wife Linda. They decide the goal that they have been led toward is Sophia Lampton, who is two years old and the Messiah or incarnation of Holy Wisdom (''[[Pistis Sophia]]'') anticipated by some variants of [[Gnosticism|Gnostic Christianity]]. In addition to healing Phil's schizophrenic personality split, she tells them that their conclusions about VALIS (which Fat had previously termed ''Zebra'') and reality are correct, and more importantly, that we should worship, not gods, but humanity. She dies two days later due to a laser accident caused by Brent Mini.

Undeterred, Fat (who has now resurged) goes on a global search for the ''next'' incarnation of [[Sophia (Gnosticism)|Sophia]].

Dick also offers a rationalist explanation of his apparent theophany, acknowledging that it might have been visual and auditory hallucinations from either [[schizophrenia]] or drug addiction [[sequelae]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.philipkdick.com/works_novels_valis.html |title= VALIS Plot Summary| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090710073833/http://www.philipkdick.com/works_novels_valis.html |archivedate=2009-07-10 | publisher= Philip K. Dick Trust| website= philipkdick.com| date= | access-date= }}</ref><!--

The above is a careful paraphrasing of the substance of an authoritative source. If you find i slipped up *in paraphrasing*, explain how [[Talk:VALIS#Synopsis|on the talk page]] or in your edit summary. If you think something more or different should be said, present it [[Talk:VALIS#Synopsis|on the talk page]], or provide an equally reliable source for the difference.

If you have an insight that is missing here, find a reliable source to back it up, or publish it elsewhere. WP is not interested in [[WP:OR|original research]] by you.
-->
==Characters==
* Phil (Philip K. Dick): Narrator ([[First-person narrative|first person]]), science fiction writer, author of ''[[The Man in the High Castle|Man in the High Castle]]'', ''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]'', and ''[[The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch|Three Stigmata]]''.<!--These are the three novels mentioned in VALIS to have been written by "Phil."-->
* Horselover Fat: Narrator ([[Third-person narrative|third person]]), a schizophrenic modality of Phil himself. (''[[Philip (name)|Philip]]'' in [[Greek language|Greek]] means "fond of horses"; ''dick'' is German for "fat".)
* Gloria Knudson: Suicidal friend of Fat's who Fat is unable to save.
* Kevin: Cynical friend of Fat's whose cat died running across the street, based on [[K.&nbsp;W. Jeter]].
* Sherri Solvig: Church-going friend of Fat's, eventually dies from lymphatic cancer.
* David: Catholic friend of Fat's, based on [[Tim Powers]].
* Eric Lampton: Rock star, screenwriter, actor, a.&nbsp;k.&nbsp;a. "Mother Goose"; a fictionalised version of [[David Bowie]]. Name derived from that of rock star [[Eric Clapton]].
* Linda Lampton: Actress, wife of Eric Lampton.
* Brent Mini: Electronic composer, a fictionalised version of [[Brian Eno]].
* Sophia Lampton: Two-year-old child (personalised incarnation of Holy Wisdom within some variants of [[Gnosticism]]), said to be the daughter of Linda Lampton and VALIS and the "Fifth Savior".

===The Rhipidon Society===
Phil, Fat, Kevin, and David decide to call themselves the Rhipidon Society. The motto they adopt is, "Fish cannot carry guns."

==Planned trilogy==
''[[Radio Free Albemuth]]'', a posthumously published earlier version of ''VALIS'', is not included as a component of the ''VALIS'' trilogy. Dick completed one more novel after ''The Divine Invasion'', ''[[The Transmigration of Timothy Archer]]'' (1982), based on Dick's association with [[James Pike|Bishop James A. Pike]] and which, while not referencing VALIS directly, is thematically similar. According to Dick, these three books "form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme."<ref name= final_interview>{{cite interview| url= http://www.philipkdick.com/media_twilightzone.html| title= A Final Interview with Science Fiction's Boldest Visionary, Who Talks Candidly About Blade Runner, Inner Voices and the Temptations of Hollywood| first= Philip K.| last= Dick| interviewer= John Boonstra | date= June 1982| work= Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine| volume= 2| number= 3| pages= 47–52| publisher= republished online at philipkdick.com| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20130528112644/http://www.philipkdick.com/media_twilightzone.html| archivedate= May 28, 2013| access-date= June 15, 2022}}</ref>

==Reception==
[[Greg Costikyan]] reviewed ''Valis'' in ''[[Ares (magazine)|Ares Magazine]]'' #9 and commented that "The plot is minor, the characterization poor, and the prose unexciting; philosophy and deft manipulation of mood are not enough to carry the book."<ref name="Ares">{{cite journal | last=Costikyan | first=Greg | author-link=Greg Costikyan | title=Books | journal=[[Ares (magazine)|Ares Magazine]] | publisher=[[Simulations Publications, Inc.]] | date=July 1981 | issue=9 | page=24}}</ref>

[[David Langford|Dave Langford]] reviewed ''Valis'' for ''[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]'' #98, and stated that "Here a hard-headed Dick gently mocks the weird metaphysics of Fat through a series of wonderfully insane conversations and misadventures: a slapstick-tightrope-dance over a bit of potential insanity, a wrestle with demons in which (both inside and outside ''Valis'') Dick is the unexpected winner."<ref name="WD98">{{cite magazine  | last =Langford | first =Dave | author-link =David Langford | title =Critical Mass  | magazine =[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]  | issue =98  | pages =19   | publisher =[[Games Workshop]]  | date = February 1988  }}</ref>

[[Thomas M. Disch]] reported that "the fascination of the book, what's most artful and confounding about it, is the way the line between Dick and Fat shifts and wavers."  Disch concludes that "as a novel, as a ''whole'' novel{{nbsp}}... it went off the rails sometimes. But the first half holds together wonderfully, considering how much there is to be held together."<ref>[http://press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472068968-16.pdf "Talking with Jesus"], ''[[F&SF]]'', July 1981, pp.36–38</ref>

Umberto Rossi posits that some degree of academic discomfort towards the novel has resulted from uncertainty whether Dick genuinely believed in the more fantastical aspects of the narrative (further supported by the [[The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick|Exegesis]] which followed). In detailing the many ideological shunts between skepticism and belief which occur within the plot, Rossi concludes Dick intended neither view to achieve hegemony, but that the synthesis of both effectively depict "the unyielding contradictions in [Dick's] experience of self... Being involved in a quest does not automatically confer enlightenment, but rather involves a search for the light; the condition of the quester is one of doubt, not certainty."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rossi |first1=Umberto |title=Shunts in the Tale: The Narrative Architecture of Philip K. Dick's VALIS |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=2012 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=243–261|doi=10.5621/sciefictstud.39.2.0243 }}</ref>

== Dick's ''Exegesis'' ==
{{main|The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick}}

VALIS has been described as one node of an artificial [[satellite]] network originating from the star [[Sirius]] in the [[Canis Major]] constellation. According to Dick, the Earth satellite used "pink laser beams" to transfer information and project holograms on Earth and to facilitate communication between an extraterrestrial species and humanity. Dick claimed that VALIS used "disinhibiting stimuli" to communicate, using symbols to trigger [[recollection]] of [[Genetic memory (psychology)|intrinsic knowledge]] through the [[Anamnesis (philosophy)|loss of amnesia]], achieving [[gnosis]].  Drawing directly from [[Platonism]] and [[Gnosticism]], Dick wrote in his ''Exegesis'': "We appear to be memory coils (DNA carriers capable of experience) in a computer-like thinking system which, although we have correctly recorded and stored thousands of years of experiential information, and each of us possesses somewhat different deposits from all the other life forms, there is a malfunction—a failure—of [[Recollection|memory retrieval]]."

At one point, Dick claimed to be in a state of [[enthousiasmos]] with VALIS, where he was informed his infant son was in danger of perishing from an unnamed malady. Routine checkups on the child had shown no trouble or illness; however, Dick insisted that thorough tests be run to ensure his son's health. The doctor eventually complied, despite the fact that there were no apparent symptoms. During the examination doctors discovered an [[inguinal hernia]], which would have killed the child if an operation was not quickly performed. His son survived thanks to the operation, which Dick attributed to the "intervention" of VALIS.

Another event was an episode of supposed [[xenoglossia]]. Supposedly, Dick's wife transcribed the sounds she heard him speak, and discovered that he was speaking [[Koine Greek]]—the common Greek dialect during the [[Hellenistic]] years (3rd century BC–4th century AD) and direct "father" of today's [[modern Greek language]]—which he had never studied. As Dick was to later discover, Koine Greek was originally used to write the [[New Testament]] and the [[Septuagint]]. However, this was not the first time Dick had claimed xenoglossia: a decade earlier, Dick insisted he was able to think, speak, and read fluent [[Latin]] under the influence of [[Sandoz Laboratories|Sandoz]] [[LSD-25]].

The UK edition of ''VALIS'' also included "Cosmology and Cosmogony", a [[chapbook]] containing selections from Dick's ''[[Exegesis (book)|Exegesis]]''.

==Philosophical and cultural references==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2025}}
[[Theology]] and [[philosophy]], especially [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] philosophy, play an important role in ''VALIS'', presenting not just Dick's (and/or Horselover Fat's) own views on these subjects but also his interpretation of numerous religions and philosophies of the past. The most prominent religious references are to [[Valentinus (Gnostic)|Valentinian Gnosticism]], the [[Rosy Cross|Rose Cross Brotherhood]], [[Zoroastrianism]] and [[Buddhism]], as well as Biblical writings including the [[Book of Daniel]] and the [[New Testament]] [[epistles]]. Many ancient [[Greek philosophy|Greek philosophers]] are discussed, including several [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|Pre-Socratics]] ([[Pythagoras]], [[Xenophanes]], [[Heraclitus]], [[Empedocles]], and [[Parmenides]]) as well as [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]. More recent thinkers that are mentioned include the philosophers [[Blaise Pascal|Pascal]] and [[Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer]], the Christian [[Mysticism|mystic]] [[Jakob Böhme]], the alchemist [[Paracelsus]], [[Carl Jung]] and [[Sigmund Freud]], the Romanian historian of religion [[Mircea Eliade]], and the author and psychologist [[Robert Anton Wilson]]. In Wilson's autobiographical ''[[Cosmic Trigger]]'' (released shortly before Dick commenced work on ''VALIS''), Wilson describes similar musings concerning the 'Sirius Connection', contemplating the idea that alien entities are sending out waves of information that we can tune in on. ''VALIS'' specifically mentions the [[Dogon people]], saying that they had encountered [[ajna|three-eyed]] people who had descended from [[Ikhnaton]]. References are also made to numerous deities, including [[Yurugu]] (who it associates with [[Yin and yang|Yin]]) and [[Nommo]] (who it associates with [[Yin and yang|Yang]]); it also suggests a blind, mad creator deity called [[Yaldaboath]] or [[Samael]]. The novel frequently references the 1945 discovery at [[Nag Hammadi library|Nag Hammadi]].

The action of ''VALIS'' is set firmly in the American popular culture of its time, with references to the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Frank Zappa]], and [[Linda Ronstadt]], as well as the fictional rock musicians Eric Lampton and Brent Mini (likely based on [[David Bowie]] and [[Brian Eno]] respectively). However, the novel also contains a number of [[high culture]] references such as the poets [[Henry Vaughan|Vaughan]], [[William Wordsworth|Wordsworth]], and [[Johann Wolfgang Goethe|Goethe]], and the classical composers [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] and [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]. In particular, the novel contains several extended discussions about Wagner's metaphysical opera ''[[Parsifal]]''.

===Black Iron Prison===
"The Black Iron Prison" is a concept of an all-pervasive system of social control postulated in the ''Tractates Cryptica Scriptura'', a summary of an unpublished [[Gnostic]] exegesis included in ''VALIS''. Dick wrote:

{{blockquote|Once, in a cheap science fiction novel, Fat had come across a perfect description of the Black Iron Prison, but set in the far future. So if you superimposed the past (ancient Rome) over the present (California in the twentieth century) and superimposed the far future world of ''[[Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said|The Android Cried Me a River]]'' over that, you got the Empire, as the supra- or trans-temporal constant. Everyone who had ever lived was literally surrounded by the iron walls of the prison; they were all inside it and none of them knew it.<ref>Philip K. Dick, ''Valis'', London; Gollancz, 2001, pp. 54–55</ref>}}

==In popular culture==
''VALIS'' was adapted in 1987 as an electronic opera by composer [[Tod Machover]], and performed at [[Centre Georges Pompidou]], with live singers and video installations created by artist Catherine Ikam.<ref>{{cite book | title=WorldCat entry for ''Valis: an opera in two parts'' | via=OCLC | publisher=Online Computer Library Center, Inc. | oclc=19489388 }}</ref>

On February 1, 2004, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' announced that [[Utopia Pictures & Television]] had acquired the rights to three of Philip K. Dick's works: ''[[Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said]]'', ''VALIS'', and ''[[Radio Free Albemuth]]''.<ref>{{cite news | first=Dana | last=Harris | title=Utopia picks Dick works | work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | url=https://variety.com/2004/film/markets-festivals/utopia-picks-dick-works-1117899328/ | date=2004-02-01 | access-date=2006-08-14}}</ref>

''VALIS'' appeared in the TV show ''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]''. In the episode "[[Eggtown]]", aired  February 21, 2008, the character John Locke gives Ben Linus the book to read from Ben's own book shelf, while Ben is being held captive. In "[[The Other Woman (Lost)|The Other Woman]]", aired March 6, 2008, Ben is again shown reading the novel before being interrupted by Locke.

John Alan Simon, director of the [[Radio Free Albemuth (film)|film adaptation]] of ''Radio Free Albemuth'', remarked that ''VALIS'' will form the basis of a sequel to that film if it is successful: "Since ''Radio Free Albemuth'' is essentially the first draft of ''VALIS'', we ended up with rights to both from the estate of [[Philip K. Dick]]. If ''Radio Free Albemuth'' is successful, ''VALIS'' the book would form the basis for the sequel to ''VALIS'' the movie. In other words, the story of ''VALIS'' would form the basis for ''VALIS 2''."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010430021520/http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/3661/dick/interv.htm AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ALAN SIMON]</ref>

British [[indie rock]] band [[Bloc Party]] has a song titled "V.A.L.I.S." on their 2012 album ''[[Four (Bloc Party album)|Four]]''.<ref>[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16944-four/when Pitchfork Review – Bloc Party's "Four"]{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

Progressive metal band Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster have songs named "Exegesis", "Valis" and "Black Iron Prison", all inspired by Dick's work, on their 2012 album ''Exegesis''.<ref>[http://bridgedisaster.co.uk Exegesis by Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster]</ref>

Portuguese double bassist Hugo Carvalhais's 3rd album ''Grand Valis'' (Clean Feed Records 2015) is inspired by Dick's book.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cleanfeed-records.com/product/grand-valis/|title=Grand Valis {{!}} Clean Feed Records|date=2015-05-26|website=Clean Feed Records|language=en-us|access-date=2016-07-09}}</ref>

[[Grant Morrison]] used ''VALIS'' as a source of inspiration for ''[[The Invisibles]]'', in particular for the [[Barbelith]] sentient satellite.

==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
*[[Unreliable narrator]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Galbreath, Robert, (1982). "Salvation-Knowledge: Ironic Gnosticism in ''VALIS'' and ''The Flight to Lucifer''," in ''Science-Fiction Dialogues'', Gary K. Wolfe, ed. Chicago: Academy Chicago, pp.&nbsp;115–32.
* _______________ (1983). "Redemption and doubt in Philip K. Dick's VALIS Trilogy", ''Extrapolation'' 24:2, pp.&nbsp;105–15.
* Palmer, Christopher, (1991). "Postmodernism and the Birth of the Author in Philip K. Dick's ''VALIS''," ''Science-Fiction Studies'' 55, 18:3, pp.&nbsp;330–42.
* Stilling, Roger J., (1991). "Mystical Healing: Reading Philip K. Dick's ''VALIS'' and ''The Divine Invasion'' as Metapsychoanalytic Novels", ''[[South Atlantic Review]]'' 56: 2, pp.&nbsp;91–106
* Dick, Philip K., Lee, Gwen, Sauter, Doris E.,  ''What If Our World is Their Heaven'' (2001) {{ISBN|978-1585670093}} pp.&nbsp;49–157

==External links==
* {{ISFDB title|933}}
*[http://pkdickbooks.com/SFnovels/Valis.html ''VALIS'' book cover gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226082714/https://pkdickbooks.com/SFnovels/Valis.html |date=2022-02-26 }}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030521042616/http://deoxy.org/pkd_tcs.htm Tractates Cryptica Scriptura]}} The appendix of ''VALIS'', an extract of the Exegesis
*[http://www.sirbacon.org/dick.htm Terence McKenna article about Philip K. Dick and ''VALIS'']
*[http://www.conceptualfiction.com/valis.html Philip K. Dick's ''Valis''] by Ted Gioia (Conceptual Fiction)
*[https://theses.gla.ac.uk/84355/ Mythological Cognition in ''Valis'']

{{Philip K. Dick}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valis}}
[[Category:1981 American novels]]
[[Category:1981 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:American philosophical novels]]
[[Category:American science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Fictional creation stories]]
[[Category:Gnosticism in popular culture]]
[[Category:Metafictional novels]]
[[Category:Metaphysical fiction novels]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Novels by Philip K. Dick]]
[[Category:Postmodern novels]]
[[Category:Religion in science fiction]]
[[Category:Visionary fiction]]
[[Category:Bantam Books books]]