#113 Book cover symbolism explained
What does the symbolism for the cover of my book, Rise of the Psychonaut, mean? I received many varied responses when I showed people the cover, all of them positive, from simple head-nodding and smiles to people saying “wow.” Most people asked if they could take a picture when I showed them the image on my phone.
Backstory
First, I’ll briefly mention the title. I felt that the previous title was too dry. (I’ll probably write another blog post one day about the tens of potential titles I considered.) The title as it reads now was weighed against two other potential titles during Christmas 2023. Second, I typed the last word of the book in late May 2024. At that time, I didn’t have a clear book cover image in mind by the time I finished writing because I was so focused on just getting the manuscript up to scratch, a draft that I felt was polished enough to let other people read it and give me feedback (e.g., friends and editors).
I would say that it was around mid to late June 2024 when the current image of the book cover popped into my mind. I knew I wanted a clash of imagery: stereotypical exploration motifs from the Age of Discovery consisting of wooden ships at sea contrasted by visionary imagery. I wanted people to understand, simply by looking at the cover, that this book was about exploration, but not from an Old World to a New World, but from a Physical World to a Nonphysical Other World. I wanted the viewer to understand that humans’ innate desire to explore unknown terrains can and will be extended in serious ways to visionary states of consciousness.
Foreground
The olden exploration imagery serves two purposes.
The first purpose is to convey stereotypical themes of exploration. Unlike exploring by foot or horseback on land, I think the idea of boarding a nautical vessel during the Age of Discovery was the first time that Europeans ventured into the unknown, so far away from home, at scale. Think about it: you could end up anywhere the tides took you if you didn’t develop more advanced nautical and navigational technologies to take you where you wanted to go and return home safely. Part of the anxiety faced by many sailors at the beginning of the Age of Discovery was where to go, since they didn’t yet know what was out in the world. You don’t know what you don’t know.
Second, I was aware of Sir Francis Bacon’s treatise on his method of induction, which served as the foundation of what we call the scientific method today. Bacon’s method entails collecting as many observational data points as possible about a natural phenomenon, and then testing those observations to figure out the defining characteristics about said phenomenon. Such a process entails observation, testing, and importantly, exclusion. Bacon’s background was law, and he drafted many civil codes during his time. It’s interesting, but not surprising, that a lawyer would develop something like the scientific method: a lawyer searches for the truth of a matter, and satisfactory ways people should conduct themselves in a society. Bacon applied that logic to how we should investigate the natural world so that we may know more of it. His 1620 book Novum Organon (The New Organon) is a direct critique on the prevailing logic of the day, that is, Aristotelian syllogism and logic used by scholastic scholars and the Church. Bacon’s The New Organon is a nod to Aristotle’s book Organon, while simultaneously critiques it, offering a new, better way to understand reality devoid of religious/untestable explanations.
Similarly, I offer a new way to consume and conceptualize about psychedelics in Rise of the Psychonaut. If we are to make sense of visionary worlds, the Other World, we need to think scientifically and secularly about these altered states. We need to brush aside the metaphors that, to their credit have served their purpose but, no longer work if the aim is to explore and discover new aspects of the visions brought on by psychedelics. Bacon says his method is an “Instrument” for the human mind to decipher nature’s secrets; I believe the explorer mindset I put forth in my book will allow us to make inroads into psychedelic phenomena.
The pillars: I need to explain the use of pillars. Some people have asked why I chose to put Freemasonry imagery on my book cover. While it’s true that freemasons symbolically use columns to describe aspects of their secret society, they probably lifted the image from Bacon’s book, which Bacon likely borrowed from a Spanish cartographer named Andrés García de Céspedes who used similar imagery of pillars for the frontispiece of his book, Regimiento de Navegación (1606). For a discussion, see Manzo’s 2010 article.
The pillars actually represent the Pillars of Hercules from Ancient Greece. The Greeks thought the point where Spain and Morocco almost touch, and the mountains located at their geographical tips, represented the westernmost border of the world. The Latin phrase associated with them was non plus ultra, or nothing further beyond. By 1620, when Bacon published his book, Portugal and Spain already had a long history of traveling past the Pillars, discovering new lands and peoples, and trading opportunities resulting in the enrichment of their economies. Bacon applied this idea of traveling past the Pillars in search of New Worlds to the production of knowledge by disclosing nature’s secrets through thorough observation and testing. I piggyback on Bacon’s analogy by saying, “The two slits at the front of your head is the modern equivalent of the Pillars of Hercules. Non plus ultra, or rather, there’s nothing further beyond ordinary perception, is false” (Houot, 2025, p. 272). In the same way Spain incorporates the motto Plus Ultra in their coat of arms, that is also placed on their national flag, I asked my graphic designer to put the words Plus and Ultra on the left and right pillars of my cover. There is more to ordinary visual perception than meets the eye, and modern psychedelic consumers can explore it and try to figure it out.
Background
As you can see, the point where the foreground and background touch represents the horizon of the sea. The background therefore serves multiple purposes in my cover’s imagery.
First, the background makes one think of a rising or setting sun. Considering Bacon used the Pillars imagery as a throwback to Spain daring to cross the Pillars of Hercules and ended up discovering the New World, I envision the center of this background image to be the sun setting in the west.
Second, I gave the graphic designer a handful of pixilated spinning images I found online. I asked him to create something similar for my cover. There must have been a miscommunication for he used a copyrighted image for which I didn’t have permission to use. He said that he could change the image, but I loved it so much that I thought I’d try to find the artist. I did a reverse image search online, and found the Australian artist that created this lovely piece of art. His name is Rex Winston Walford. I contacted Rex, asked if I could use his image on my book cover, and he agreed. I’m so grateful he said yes because his art is beautiful and represents what one can see during a psychedelic experience. The imagery of pixilation and spinningness are common themes in traditional Aboriginal art and visionary art. However, I don’t think his image is too psychedelic, rather it’s just enough to convey my message after you read the title. I also like the fact that his image shows movement, typical of a psychedelic experience.
Third, I asked the graphic designer to change the color of Rex’s image to the purplish-blueish color you see. According to Hindu tradition, indigo is the color of the Ajna (sixth) chakra or “third eye.” Additionally, I’ve seen this indigo color multiple times while psychedelically intoxicated with my eyes closed.
Fourth, you will notice that the background image on the front cover spins clockwise, while the same image on the back cover spins counterclockwise. There is a reason for this that will be disclosed at a later date.
In sum, I wanted the book’s cover to symbolize many things, especially that modern consumers of psychedelics in the early 21st century need to consider themselves to be explorers if we are to make any gains in understanding the visionary experience.
#psychedelicAOD
Bacon, F. (2000/1620). The New Organon. L. Jardine & M. Silverthorne (Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Houot. A. M. (2025). Rise of the Psychonaut: Maps for Amateurs, Nonscientists and Explorers in the Psychedelic Age of Discovery. Independently published.
Manzo, S. (2010). Utopian Science and Empire: Notes on the Iberian Background of Francis Bacon’s Project. Studii de Ştiinţă şi Cultură, 6(4(23)), 111–129.