When a delivery person from the pharmacy brought his pain medication, he noticed the ichthys necklace she wore and asked her what it meant.

She responded that it was a symbol used by the early Christians, and in that moment Dick's religious experiences began: In that instant, as I stared at the gleaming fish sign and heard her words, I suddenly experienced what I later learned is called anamnesis—a Greek word meaning, literally, "loss of forgetfulness."

For a short time, as hard as this is to believe or explain, I saw fading into view the black, prisonlike contours of hateful Rome.

[1] In the following weeks, Dick experienced further visions, including a hallucinatory slideshow of abstract patterns and an information-rich beam of pink light.

The being that originated the experiences is referred to by several names, including Zebra, God, and the Vast Active Living Intelligence System.

From 1974 until his death in 1982, Dick wrote the Exegesis by hand in late-night writing sessions, sometimes composing as many as 150 pages in a sitting.

Besides the Exegesis, Dick described his visions and faith in numerous other works, including VALIS, Radio Free Albemuth, The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, one brief passage in A Scanner Darkly, and the uncompleted The Owl in Daylight, as well as many essays and personal letters.