Blazing Eye Sees All

Known for deep dives into true crime, extremist ideologies and fringe subcultures, journalist Leah Sottile turns her investigative eye toward American New Age culture. Today, tarot cards, astrology and crystals are everywhere — from Instagram and TikTok, to upscale boutiques and pricey wellness retreats. Sottile investigates how the recent surge of interest in New Age ideas speaks to a culture that is woven into the very fabric of America, and how self-professed gurus like Love Has Won’s Mother God and the mysterious channeler Ramtha have built devout followings because of it. For more than a century, this pastel-colored world of love, light and enlightenment has been built upon a foundation of conspiracies, antisemitism, nationalism and a rejection of science.  

In BLAZING EYE SEES ALL, Sottile seeks to understand the quest for New Age spirituality in an era of fear that has made us open to anything that claims to bring relief — from war, the climate crisis, COVID 19, or the myriad of other issues we face. At the same time, she attempts to draw a line between truly helpful, healing ideas and snake oil. The new New Age is everywhere, and Sottile helps us sort through the crystals to find true clarity.

• "I have never read a better - or more entertaining - analysis of so-called New Age Spirituality and its self-anointed prophets than Lisa Sottile's Blazing Eye Sees All. In this book, even the infamous Love Has Won cult doesn't win, but readers do. See for yourself."
  Jeff Guinn, author of Manson, The Road to Jonestown, and Waco
• “BLAZING EYE SEES ALL is a sweeping, well-researched account of the lineage of American New Age thought, from the Pre-American myths and superstitions that thrive in this country’s peculiar psyche to the waves of spiritual charlatans who have repackaged this language and peddled religion –– and prejudice – as product. Sottile excels at unpacking the historical link between the conspiracy theories, bigotry, and New Age spiritualism that are the foundation of today’s toxic political soup.”
   
  Becky Cooper, bestselling author of We Keep the Dead Close
• "Leah Sottile's writing crackles off the page, in a characteristically rigorous yet enthralling glimpse into the nation's fringes. Unflinching and wildly entertaining, Blazing Eye Sees All is a must-read to understand the way genuine world crises generate an effluence of grift, like pus on a wound. This book is a bandage on that wound."
  Talia Lavin, author of Culture Warlords and Wild Faith
• “Leah Sottile is one of our foremost chroniclers of American extremism, and in Blazing Eye Sees All she reveals the conspiracism, fakery, and abuses of power embedded in New Age culture. A fascinating, unsettling, and, yes, enlightening investigation of an extremist movement operating in plain sight.”
   
  Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts
• "I first heard about Love Has Won at the end of the story, when the mummified, glitter-covered body of the cult’s leader was discovered in Colorado. Leah Sottile explores how we got there, and it’s a stranger, sadder, and more fascinating journey than I ever expected. Blazing Eye Sees All situates Love Has Won within the context of other mostly female-led esoteric groups over the past century, digging into alternative spirituality,  conspiracies, and feminism. A must-read for anyone interested in the many strange corners of the human psyche."
  Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites
• PRAISE FOR WHEN THE MOON TURNS TO BLOOD
  
  "WHEN THE MOON TURNS TO BLOOD is a harrowing and fascinating tale of apocalyptic obsession and murder. Leah Sottile leads us down every head-shaking twist and turn of the case, an expert guide to the dark tributaries of religious extremism that run closer to the American mainstream than we’d ever like to believe."
  Jess Walter, American author of seven novels, including #1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins
• "An important contribution to the literature of true crime.”
  Mark Olshaker, coauthor of Mindhunter, The Killer Across the Table, and When a Killer Calls
• "This book, wide in scope and remarkable for its timeliness, is a riveting account of the entire case (which is currently awaiting trial), including an exquisitely researched history of LDS and its fringe offshoots."
  Booklist, starred review
• "Beyond a crime story, Sottile weaves a ripper of tale - chilling, haunting, cautionary too! - that unveils the dangerous desire for acceptance on the fringes, and amid uncertain times. Insanely researched in scope, uniquely intimate in feel, buckle-up for this brave voyage into a tangled storm of ambition, lust and extremism."
  Geoff Gray, author of Skyjack