Blog 9

"Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies." --John Lennon

I suppose these two chapters were ok. I feel like it is a bit of a repetition and extension of the drug use in Don Juan. However, Hughes brought up a few interesting ideas--fromtotemporal dementia and Negative Capability, for example. Chapter 11 contrasts with chapter 12 because we are told (though we already know) that drugs are not the only way to reach altered states. Meditation, for example, produces a state of Negative Capability, "when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact or reason" (150).

I found the section of chapter 12 regarding LSD rather interesting. LSD is a synthetic drug only developed in the 1930s. These synthetic drugs contrast with the natural ones Castaneda writes about. It boggles my mind how something so unnatural can help people "achieve insights into the universe and themselves, and to deepen emotional connections with others" (171).

But beyond that, I became somewhat interested in ergot--the fungus that grows on rye grains and is a fundamental componant of LSD. This fungus replaces the grain of the rye and up until the 1850's, was thought to be an actual part of the plant. Poisoning from the ergot (ergotism) has two sets of symptoms--convulsive (characterized by nervous disfunction) and gangrenous (characterized by a burning sensation that leads the loss of limbs). The first outbreak, documented in the the Rhine Valley in the 800's, was called the Holy Fire because the people thought that the burning sensation was punishment from God. It is said that, during the times of witch persecution, the highest levels of persecution occured in areas where large amounts of rye were grown. Those persecuted could have had convulsive symptoms of ergotism. More recently, ergot was used for medicinal purposes--like curing headaches and postpartum hemmoraging. However, it was made illegal after the developement of LSD due to substance abuse.

Drugs have been used and abused, both purposefully and accidentally, over our entire history. They help people reach altered states, have visions, and inspire creativity.