Blog 9

At first my reaction to the readings was "blah, the artist is partially insane, blah..." and then I got to the part about Mystical Creativity and was pleasantly surprised.

To me the artistic and the spiritual are inseparable. Even the art of Jackson Pollock has an element of spirit that can eclipse even some of the icons. Time and time again I find myself adding symbols related to religion more than to the political or social statement I am making. My recent paintings have been an attempt to make cemeteries fun. It is a series of cemeteries and empty streets done in a very impressionistic fashion. Needless to say the inseparable nature of art and spirit has manifested itself to a whole new level for me. When I look at an old cemetery I don't just see old gray stones, which are beautiful alone, I see a life that once was and in many ways still is.

On the topic of tobacco, coffee, and tea being the choice drugs of creatives at some point in time, I'd say tobacco is returning as an artsy substance largely because the mainstream doesn't want it anymore. Coffee shops are still a creative crowd, and of course they also serve tea. King Charles II, in 1675, tried to close the coffee shops because he was afraid the people were organizing a rebellion. They stayed up late, they did not spend time with their wives. Similar in some ways to the cannabis ban, there was an association with insurrection. At one point there was a prohibition movement similar in some ways to our country's prohibition against alcohol. Needless to say the coffee ban lasted for less time than the alcohol ban.

Proclamation for the Suppression of Coffee-Houses

Source: Ellis, Aytoun. The Penny University: A History of the Coffee-Houses. (London: Seeker & Warburg, 1956) 92.

BY THE KING: A PROCLAMATION FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF COFFEE HOUSES

CHARLES R.

Whereas it is most apparent that the multitude of Coffee-houses of late years set up and kept within this Kingdom, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and the great resort of Idle and disaffected persons to them, have produced very evil and dangerous effects: as well for that many Tradesmen and others, do therein misspend much of their time, which might and probably would otherwise be imployed in and about their Lawful Callings and Affairs; but also, for that in such Houses...divers False, Halitious and Scandalous Reports are devised and spread abroad, to the Defamation of His Majestie's Government, and to the disturbance of the Peace and Quiet of the Realm; His Majesty hath thought it fit and necessary, That the said Coffee-Houses be (for the future) Put down and Suppressed, and doth...Strictly Charge and Command all manner of persons, That they or any of them do not presume from and after the Tenth Day of January next ensuing, to keep any Publick Coffee-house, or to Utter or sell by retail, in his, her or their house or houses (to be spent or consumed within the same) any Coffee, Chocolet, Sherbett or Tea, as they will answer the contrary at their utmost perils...(All licenses formerly granted to be revoked).

Given at our court at Whitehall, this Nine-and-twentieth day of December 1675, in the Seven and twentieth year of Our Reign.

GOD SAVE THE KING

I have to disagree with the book's association between Picasso and opium. Picasso was one of the few artists who abstained from drugs or used them only in moderation. He lived into ripe old age and remained productive his entire life for a reason. He got his "fun" out of his system early in his life. His style changes have more in correlation with women than they do with drugs. I did not quite believe it at first, but as much as he was the narcissistic, chauvinistic "Picasshole," women did seem to have an effect on his art.

"...assisted by absinthe (a toxic liqueur distilled from wormwood)..." I incorporate this into my blog only to show how much ignorance prevails when things are illegal. At the publishing of this book, the Green Fairy was still imprisoned and the chemists and distillers had yet to prove their case to Uncle Sam. Then I recollect a Monday night of "Death in the Afternoon"... (Hemingway's concoction of absinthe and champagne) and can still remember everything in detail.

I find it amazing how destructive synthesized drugs have been to people. One of the best bits of art, writing, and music inspired by heroin would have to be Sixx AM's Heroin Diaries Soundtrack. The whole thing is basically one big anti-drug add coming from Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue who famously "died" one night after a heroin overdose. A paramedic saved him and the Crue classic "Kickstart my Heart" was born.

Now on a side note, why is there a Transcendental Meditation group below the section on LSD? Granted the era was the same and some of the people were the same, but if I remember correctly the Beatles were trying to get away from drugs at that point in time.

Ergot is an interesting example of how mold can change the world. On an annual basis throughout much of the middle ages and even later, there was a time in Europe called "mad season." Basically everyone in the villages would eat bread and start tripping thanks to Ergot. It has led to theories that the witch trials and werewolves have their basis in a bunch of hallucinating townspeople. Needless to say I feel that such ideas probably were not influenced that much by the Ergot. The burning times had more to do with social dynamics and werewolves can in some ways be traced back to the shamanism we've been talking about for the past few weeks.

I wish Hughes would have told the story of Hitler and amphetamines. There is very strong evidence from his doctor's papers that he was very much into early designer drugs. One story talks about how the leader of Czechoslovakia was hysterical and Hitler had his doctor "fix" him. In some ways it is funny today that everyone from the Japanese Imperial Army to the German Wehrmacht to the later CIA was experimenting with various cocktails today. I say it is funny because now there is a "war" on drugs.