Blog 5...It gets personal....

I just have to say, I read Chapters 1-4 on Friday and by the end of the weekend had read most of the book, a few places I read more than once.

I am happy to see that the book also includes many names that I am familiar with. Baudelaire for instance my most favorite poet I don't own a book by. I have a book with plenty of anecdotes and short clips of Baudelaire's beliefs, but never his actual work. (thank you Borders) This book also happens to be a book about the lovely Green Fairy. As somebody who has had an infatuation with Absinthe since first finding out it's been legal since February 2007, I can say that it is quite a poetic beverage, even if the myths about the level of Thujone (the psychotropic chemical from the wormwood in absinthe) in absinthe are a bit far-fetched. The amount of wormwood needed to cause a "trip" would probably kill a person, as wormwood is quite toxic. I can say that the bouquet of herbs used creates sensations that normal alcohols are incapable of.

"As a free spirit who does not observe existing rules, the creative may be envied and feared as well as admired by the normality." (pg 11) People always seem to be afraid of the crazy artist. I remember when a student came up to me and told me that he thought I was "Van Gogh crazy" and that he felt as though I had it in me to cut my ear off. First off, I have to note that any thought of a knife on any part of my body makes me cringe. Secondly, I resent the artist stereotype of being poor and insane. Dali for instance made the perfect quote, "the difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad!" And like Dali, I am not mad! If an artist was not consciously aware of what they were doing, people would never know about them because they'd all be in prison or an asylum. For instance, I take my manner of dress from Wilde's belief in aesthetics and Modigliani's belief that an artist should be well dressed to in some way maintain their dignity no matter how poor they get.

Chapter 2 gives a decent overview of Shamanic traditions, as well as the influence of magick upon art. I spent most of the summer working hard to make my show, "Resurrecting the Zombi" a success. Several of the paintings were based on Vodou influenced dreams I began to have following a trip to New Orleans. In Vodou the trickster spirit is not a coyote, but instead Legba, the spirit of the crossroads. (and the subject of the first Vodou dream I ever had) By the end of summer I ended up having a dream where I actually entered one of my paintings. Again, I swear, I am completely sane. One of books I read in preparation for my paintings was by Luisah Teish, a Vodou Mambo who is also recognized as a Shaman in several sources. It talked about her life experiences. "Most potential shamans have suffered a near-death experience in childhood or early youth, either by accident or illness." (pg 20) Her story relates very closely to this understanding.

Chapter 3's discussion of Multiple Personality Disorder is a bit out of date. The new term is Dissociative Identity Disorder and to some extent there is a better understanding of the disorder.

Chapter 4 made me recall an IHUM 4__ class I took where the professor recounted the story of a writer who before going to bed would hang a sign on the door which said "Artist at Work." Sometimes the best ideas come from dreams. Dreams are the only "normal" place where you can see a juxtaposition of ideas actually seem to work together. Lucid dreams can be quite fun. I was on a streak where I could tell immediately when I was dreaming and managed to figure out how to fly and how to make things work and appear. I put a challenge out to Freddy Krueger, but so far no response. My favorite dreams I had was a series of dreams where I was a werewolf, granted I think it was a reaction to a stressful time in my life, but it was still fun to sleep while it lasted.

And today in the library, the mood appears to be good. Or maybe I'm just in a strong enough good mood to cancel out everyone's gloom.