Was Elvis Actually an Occult Magician? This Book Argues He Was

Rockstar, heartthrob, actor, style icon, soldier: there are a lot of things one could call Elvis Presley to the agreement of the vast majority of music lovers, but “occult magician” would likely garner a few raised eyebrows and incredulous stares. Sure, Presley had an almost otherworldly energy about him when he was on stage, gyrating his hips and crooning into the microphone. But a full-blown magician? A U.S. veteran and public figure almost as synonymous with 1950s Americana as apple pie?

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That magical moniker seems a little unlikely to stick. However, writer, podcaster, and former Ayahuasca dabbler Miguel Conner argues just that in his book The Occult Elvis: The Mystical and Magical Life of the King, which Conner releases in April 2025. And indeed, Conner’s arguments for why Presley was actually an occult magician or as out-there as you might think.

Was Elvis Actually An Occult Magician?

Author Miguel Conner’s fascination with the King of Rock and Roll started sometime after a particularly formative Ayahuasca ceremony in 2022. Conner began to make connections between Elvis Presley and the occult, from the musician’s documented interest in New Age religions (he was supposedly reading A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus when he died in the bathroom) and various accounts from those who were close to Presley while he was alive. From his ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, to Presley’s entourage, nicknamed the “Memphis Mafia,” to other advisors close to the King, Conner certainly boasts an impressive roster of first-person resources.

Some of these stories range from coincidental to completely uncanny. One fan claimed Presley told her he wasn’t from Earth but rather Jupiter’s ninth moon. A friend remembered playing racquetball at Graceland under a cloudy sky until Presley waved his hands and, suddenly, the sun appeared. Conner’s book includes testimony from Presley’s former bodyguard, Sonny West, who said the musician told West matter-of-factly, “If [extraterrestrials ever] make contact, we can’t be afraid because they are not going to hurt us.” Presley’s mythical connection to the otherworldly seemed to start from within the womb, allegedly communicating telepathically with his stillborn twin, Jesse.

“He was a multi-faceted seeker,” Conner told The Guardian in 2025. “Somebody who sought the larger questions of life. He was a man of prophecy, of experience. My thesis is that he was the greatest magician in Western civilization. A magician is always known by the system they leave behind. With Elvis, he left us rock music.”

A Cloudy Vision Helped Elvis Presley Gain Spiritual Clarity

Elvis Presley’s monumental impact on music, pop culture, and society, his fascination with New Age spirituality, and countless stories connecting Presley to other dimensions, realities, and powers all make fascinating arguments for why the King of Rock and Roll was an occult magician. If we were to take author Miguel Conner’s points at face value, one could then ask the question: was Elvis aware of the metaphysical power he possessed? According to Conner, he did, thanks to a trippy cloud formation.

In his book The Occult Elvis: The Mystical and Magical Life of the King, Conner describes a moment in which Presley is watching the clouds in Arizona when he notices one that looks like Joseph Stalin. Slowly, the cloud shifted to form an image of Jesus Christ. Presley allegedly said of the incident, “The face of Stalin turned right into the face of Jesus, and he smiled at me, piercing my heart and every fiber of my being with his light.”

According to Conner, “What [Elvis] realized was that the evil was inside of him, too. He felt he wanted this darkness wiped away or cleaned, and if it destroyed him, he was fine with it. He had a role to play in the betterment of humankind, and he could do it through music and making people feel better, and hopefully open up their minds to more spirituality.”

Presley would only have until his 42nd year on Earth to pursue this mission, dying on August 16, 1977, at his Memphis, Tennessee estate, Graceland. But given Conner’s eccentric thesis—and supposed sightings of Presley at his Tennessee home—we can’t help but wonder if that fateful summer day was actually the last this existential realm would see of the King.

Photo by Steve Morley/Redferns