Friday links

The Judgment of Paris by Master of the Bargello Tondo. Posted on Bluesky by Ada Palmer, who has a new book on the Renaissance coming out.  If you need a refresher on Ada Palmer, see my 2023 interview. 

Why did drug deaths drop? 

The vegan death cult. 

Watch Twin Peaks free on Pluto. 

1990 Time Magazine article on David Lynch.

RAW Semantics on 'Wilson's chair'

A page from the Oxford Companion to Philosophy Memes

 A new blog post from RAW Semantics: "Wilson’s chair — phrase used in 21st century dystopop culture to signify a vivid philosophical analogy or allegory [see also: Plato’s cave; Ryle’s university; Schrödinger’s cat]. Refers to influential writer Robert Anton Wilson, particularly the first section of his book, The New Inquisition (which, ironically, doesn’t mention a chair); also to “chair” examples in his books, Right Where You are Sitting Now, Nature’s Law, Cosmic Trigger 3, Prometheus Rising, Email to the Universe, etc. Wilson uses the chair example to illustrate his uniquely formulated scientific post-post-modern views on the “reality” concept. As he states, “Take a chair. Any god-damn chair… Get up and look at it. You don’t see the chair alone… You see what language and metaphor allow you to see.” (RWYASN). Wilson’s chair achieved meme status following the widespread malfunction of unused Tesla Smartchairs in deserted office buildings during the final collapse of U.S. democracy in 2030. The meme misrepresented Wilson’s views. For example, in Cosmic […]"

(Citation from the not-yet-existing Oxford Companion to Philosophy Memes.)

Also, "the latest version (2.23) of the N-Simult 'consciousness app', from our Tokyo sponsors."

Podcast on Grant McPhee's upcoming Liverpool documentary

Grant McPhee

I started following Scottish filmmaker and music historian Grant McPhee on X when I saw that he was working on a Liverpool documentary that would include coverage of Ken Campbell's theater ventures (such as Illuminatus!). Here is an update, in the form of a podcast, about that upcoming documentary:

"Urbanista Magazine is thrilled to spotlight the latest episode of the Misadventures in Music podcast, which dives deep into the rich history of Liverpool’s underground arts and music movement with filmmaker and author Grant McPhee. Known for his critically acclaimed documentaries Teenage Superstars and Big Gold Dream, McPhee takes us on a fascinating journey into the stories behind his upcoming three-part series, The Revolutionary Spirit.

"The series unearths the untold narrative of Liverpool’s cultural heartbeat from the mid-60s to 1984—a time that’s often overshadowed by The Beatles’ global dominance. McPhee debunks the misconception that Liverpool’s music scene fell silent after the Fab Four departed for London. Instead, he uncovers a thriving counterculture that flourished in the shadows.

"The podcast opens with a reflection on Carl Jung’s dream of Liverpool as the “pool of life”—a city he never visited but saw as a beacon of creativity. This dream became symbolic of the city’s enduring spirit and its role as a wellspring for visionary artists. Grant’s work traces the city’s evolution, not as a relic of its Beatles legacy but as a crucible for counterculture movements, epitomized by the Liverpool School of Language, Music, Dream, and Pun."

More here, including the podcast. 

Three suggestions for readers new to RAW

I part of the weekend listening to the new Hilaritas podcast with Bobby Campbell (next month's podcast will feature Prop Anon/Gabriel Kennedy, author of the new Robert Anton Wilson biography). 

Much of Bobby's podcast was focused on Tales of Illuminatus, naturally, and I learned a lot about the kinds of artistic decisions Bobby had to make, and the logistics of trying to publish an indie comic. Bobby had to decide, for example, whether to keep the original 1970s setting or modernize it. He had to dramatize a book that largely consists of people sitting around talking. And apparently trying to publish an indie comic series, and keep it going, is quite difficult. Another Kickstarter is coming, but there's no timetable yet. 

Elsewhere in the interview, Mike Gathers asks Bobby to list three books he would recommend to people who have not read Wilson, and Bobby comes up with Masks of the Illuminati, Cosmic Trigger and Quantum Psychology. 

Here are my suggestions for the three:

Illuminatus!. Bobby and Mike talked about how it can be a daunting read, but for me and many others, it was a revolutionary one. If someone really appears to be unable to handle a challenging novel, then I guess I would go  with Masks of the Illuminati. 

Cosmic Trigger. Hard to argue with such a compelling read. I'm also very fond of the second Cosmic Trigger book. 

Email to the Universe. A particularly good collection, it seems to me, and a good introduction to RAW's range of interests. 

Moby Dick online reading group, chapters 82-87

 

AI generated image. 

Moby Dick online reading group, Chapters 82-87, “The Honor and Glory of Whaling” through “The Grand Armada”

By OZ FRITZ
Special guest blogger 

Chapter 86, “The Tail” gets into a detailed discussion about the tail of a whale and its “[f]ive great motions.” At the chapter’s conclusion, Melville laments of being unable to express certain gestures the tail makes then compares these “mystic gestures” to “Free-Mason signs and symbols; that the whale, indeed, by these methods intelligently conversed with the world.” Apparently Melville studied Freemasonry and was involved with a semi-masonic group called the Young Americans Club.

Several of the founding fathers of the United States of America such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin practiced Freemasonry. Freemasons comprise a fraternal organization whose core value is brotherly love. They apparently influenced the values the went into the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. The concept of America as a Union of States was realized in Philadelphia (from the Greek: phileo = friendly love; adelpho = brother), the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia was named nearly a hundred years earlier by William Penn. Though not a Freemason, he was a Quaker. Quakers also hold the central tenet of brotherly love.

Let’s take a brief look at Moby-Dick as a metaphor for America. The first relationship in the novel describes brotherly love between Ishmael and Queequeg which remains until the end, until something the latter made saves the former’s life. At the end of chapter 26, Melville throws in what appears to be allusions to American ideals in his discussion of “man, in the ideal.” He takes about the empathy found in the essence of man, stripped of his outer character, feeling distraught at another’s misfortune. “But this august dignity I speak of, is not the dignity of kings and robes, but that abounding dignity which has no robed investiture. Thou shalt see it in the arm which wields a pick or drives a spike; that democratic dignity which, on all hands radiates without end from God; Himself! The great God absolute! The center and circumference of all democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality!” This big G mentioned herein seems less a god of any organized religion and more like a god of American ideals – democracy and equality; perhaps paradoxical on the part of Melville given that the founding fathers intended to keep God out of the whole business of establishing the Constitution for a new country. 

In the piece by Gilles Deleuze I brought up in the comments two weeks ago (“Bartelby, Or, the Formula” from Essays Critical and Clinical), he writes about America and Melville. “America sought to create a revolution whose strength would lie in a universal immigration, émigrés of the world…” The crew of the Pequod form a diverse group coming from all over the world. Also, remember in the opening "Etymology" Usher’s “queer handkerchief” embellished with all the nation’s flags.

Writing of the philosophy America brought to the world, Pragmatism, Deleuze continues: “ . . . we understand the novelty of American thought when we see pragmatism as an attempt to transform the world, to think of a new world or new man insofar as they create themselves. … Is it against Western philosophy that Melville directs his insult, 'metaphysical villain'? A contemporary of American transcendentalism (Emerson, Thoreau) Melville is already sketching out the traits of the pragmatism that will be its continuation.” 

Lauren Becker examines this angle in her 2011 paper, “Melville’s White Whale – Pragmatism’s Role in Moby Dick.” Pragmatism looks to find “our own answers to the questions we deem momentous enough to challenge, and these answers will become our own individual forms of truth.”. . . “Moby Dick is the epic conflict of Melville’s own battle with truth. Melville presents his own pragmatic challenges to readers by leaving his novel ambiguous and with a sense of incompletion. Melville challenges his readers to become empiricists.” She also gives the example of Ishmael interpreting the oil painting in the Spouter Inn (chapter 3). “His interpretation can be seen as a metaphor for pragmatic reasoning at its best.” . . . “Melville attempts to ground the reader in what happens to be the pragmatic method. He makes us experience pragmatic reasoning along with Ishmael, thereby giving us the opportunity to decide whether it is something we can also implement.” 

Deleuze looks at America as an experiment “to constitute a universe, a society of brothers, a federation of men and goods, a community of anarchist individuals inspired by Jefferson, by Thoreau, by Melville. He uses the marine term “archipelago” to characterize this collection of émigré individuals and compares them to a Harlequin’s coat, “an infinite patchwork with multiple joinings.” The patchwork notion comes up in the first paragraph of Moby-Dick in the Etymology section as the “queer handkerchief” of all the flags of the known nations. Also, in chapter 4 “The Counterpane” where he writes: “The counter-pane (bedspread) was of patchwork.” The “cabalistically cut cloth” we discussed a couple of weeks ago may also refer to patchwork.

Chapters 82 contrives a history of whaling based in mythology. The multi-cultural variety of gods and heroes mentioned remind me  of Aleister Crowley’s list of  Gnostic Saints in his Gnostic Mass (Liber XV). Chapter 83 considers the historical veracity of the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale. On the literal level, chapter 84 introduces a new weapon for attacking a whale; it metaphorically hints at a esoteric level beginning with an analogy in the first sentence:  “Queequeg  believed strongly in anointing (making holy) his boat.” . . . “He seemed to be working in obedience to some particular presentiment.” Melville connects this anointing with finding a group of whales who flee, “a disordered flight, as of Cleopatra’s barges from Actium.” By its language, this analogy, based on a real historical event,  seems to come from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra 

Act II Scene II:

“Enobarbus: I will tell you.

The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,

Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold;

Purple the sails, and so perfumed that

The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver,

Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made

The water which they beat to follow faster,

As amorous of their strokes.”

In this instance, whales are compared to royalty powered by winds of love. After describing and demonstrating the pitchpoling method of harpooning whales, Melville returns to the esoteric when talking about the whale’s spout-hole which he calls the life spot of the whale. Stubb, holding the weapon, is compared to a juggler, another name for The Magician in the Tarot. After successfully striking the whale: “[i]nstead of sparkling water, he now spouts red blood.” Stubb exclaims: “. . . ‘Tis July’s immortal Fourth; all fountains must run wine to-day!” This presents another allusion to the birth of the USA as well as an allusion to both the occult and religious significance of blood. This metaphor continues into the next chapter, “The Fountain.” Before that, it sets up the blood metaphor some more when Stubb speaks of catching the blood in a “canakin” (drinking vessel) and imbibing it. “Yea, verily, hearts alive, we’d brew choice punch in the spread of his spout-hole there, and from that live punch-bowl quaff the living stuff.” Drinking this blood not only recalls Christian symbolism in reverse with blood becoming “wine,” it also resembles Crowley’s ritual, “The Mass of the Phoenix” found in chapter 44 of the Book of Lies where the practitioner draw blood from their chest (literally and/or metaphorically), soaks it into a “cake of light” then consumes it. 

Chapter 85, “The Fountain,” dives deep into how the whale breathes. It seems one the most esoteric in the book. Chapter 84 ends with a reference to Tiphareth, chapter 85 begins with two numerological correspondences to this central Sephira: “six thousand” and “millions” (a million has six zeroes in it.) For me, this chapter connects with Ishamel’s cabalistic correspondence with the “Fountain of Living Waters” mentioned in an earlier post. First sentence of the third paragraph that ends, “ . . . inasmuch that it withdraws from the air a certain element, which subsequently being brought into contact with the blood imparts to the blood its vivifying principle”, could be word for word straight out of Ouspensky’s book about the Gurdjieff teaching, In Search of the Miraculous which calls air “second-being food.”

Chapter 87 begins by giving us some geographical reference points to these adventures. We find a direct reference to King Lear and encounter families of whales.

I’ll conclude with another passage from Becker’s dissertation where she quotes William James from an essay by James Albrecht: “What’s the Use of Reading Emerson Pragmatically? The Example of William James.” 

“Pragmatists believe that ‘philosophy must be reconceived as ethics: that philosophy must turn away from the traditional concept of truth as accurately or objectively naming the ultimate nature of reality and toward the practice of judging beliefs based on whether they direct our conduct in ways that yield beneficial outcomes.” 

Next week: please read Chapters 88-94, “Schools & Schoolmasters” through “A Squeeze of the Hand”

Ong's Hat: COMPLEAT updates

 

I passed on the news  a few days ago that Joseph Matheny (and his collaborators) have released Ong's Hat: COMPLEAT. Please see the earlier blog post for details and links to buy, but I have a couple of updates:

-- In his announcent, Joseph lists several possible vendors for buying the work. The preferred vendor is Sendowl,  but for those who find it more convenient to buy from Amazon, here is the link for a Kindle/Audible combo. (Currently listed as "#1 New Release in Mixed Media.")

-- New podcast: UFO…No! Episode 215: Ong's Hat. 

You can subscribe to Joseph Matheny's newsletter. 

Bobby Campbell announces new edition of the first 'Tales' comic

The latest edition of the Tales of Illuminatus Substack newsletter has a bit of news. The first edition of the print version is sold out, and  a new edition of that  first issue ia coming with a different cover: 

"Since last we talked the first printing has sold out, and I just now sent TOI #1 back to press with a BRAND NEW Todd Purse variant cover!

"The shipping estimate has the book being delivered to me on Feb 11th. Limited edition of 50. Judging by my inbox these may also sell out fairly quickly."

The new podcast with Bobby, which I've been listening to this weekend, offers an interesting look at the Tales of Illuminatus production process. 

Trump orders release of JFK assassination records

President Kennedy minutes before his death. (Public domain photo). 

I guess this qualifies as kind of an Illuminatus! footnote, as the concealment of government records in the 1963 killing of John Kennedy has helped feed conspiracy theories.

President Donald Trump has issued many executive orders since taking office earlier this week. Many of them seem bad to me, but he did order that all remaining classified records be released in the murders of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which makes sense to me. 

This being the government, it can't just release everything. "The order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 15 days to release the remaining John F. Kennedy records, and within 45 days for the other two cases. It was not clear when the records would actually be released." So we'll see if this is it and everything finally is made available within a reasonable time.

Here is the actual order, which notes previous releases of records with redactions. "I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue.  And although no Act of Congress directs the release of information pertaining to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that the release of all records in the Federal Government’s possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest." You can also read the White House FAQ. 

My son texted me last night, "This will prove Oswald, Sirhan and Ray are innocent." Well, maybe! 

New Hilaritas podcast: Bobby Campbell and 'Tales'

 Bobby Campbell is the guest for the Hilaritas Press podcast released today.

"In this episode, Mike Gathers chats with sci fi cartoonist Bobby Campbell about his comic Tales of Illuminatus and more in Episode 41 of the Hilaritas Press Podcast."

A couple of links: The new Kickstarter for issue #2 (which launches soon) and the Tales of Illuminatus Substack newsletter.  Also relevant: the Maybe Day website and Bobby's Weirdoverse comic book portal. 

Bobby's podcast interviews are reliably interesting. 

Notes on 'Terra II'

 

I finally got around to reading the Hilaritas Press edition of Terra II, by Timothy Leary and others. I bought it when it first came out last year but I've had a bunch of books to read. A few notes:

1. This is one of Leary's most visionary books and perhaps it is best read as an inspirational essay, rather than getting hung up on the details, e.g. passages such as "The book you are holding in your  hands is the greatest evolutionary artifact ever produced. It is a DNA signal from Higher Intelligence ... Terra II is now permanently imprinted on your consciousness." 

2. If you do want to get hung up on the details, I would say that on the one hand, Leary obviously worked hard on his research, looking into possible starship propulsion systems and other technical problems. On the other hand, the text glosses over the difficulties and doesn't seem to grasp how wildly ambitious the project is in terms of contemporary technology, i.e. 1974. Maintaining a closed environmental system for a long period of time in a starship is no easy task; Kim Stanley Robinson wrote a novel about his, called Aurora. It is true that Robinson's pessimism is controversial, see the Wikipedia article. 

3. Rasa and his crew did a fine job of producing the book, putting in new space photos and reproducing the artwork well. I also liked Rasa's cover. I did notice a few typos, I will send a list to Rasa.

4. I suggested that Hilaritas use Oz Fritz to write the introduction; I want to claim credit as Oz does an excellent job. Oz has not only read all of the available biographies of Timothy Leary, he has read many related books such as Joanna Harcourt-Smith's memoir. Oz does a good job of providing context for the text, e.g., "Terra II is an escape vessel on multiple levels ... a blueprint for how to get to the stars with the hope that contact would be made with Higher Intelligence."

5. The book is particularly indebted to Carl Sagan; Leary admires Sagan more than Robert Anton Wilson apparently did and is more fair to Sagan than RAW was. Does anyone know if Leary shared this book with Sagan or had any interactions with him?

6. This book would likely benefit from being read at about the same time as RAW's The Starseed Signals, written about the same time and published by Hilaritas for the first time after languishing for many years (chunks of the Starseed book were used for Cosmic Trigger 1.) 

7. I am surprised this is the first time the book has been reprinted, it seems like a major part of Leary's work. Good for Hilaritas.

8. Related Hilaritas podcasts are available with one featuring Wayne Benner and another starring Oz Fritz. 

'Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT' released [UPDATE]

Ong's Hat: COMPLEAT, a new multimedia version of Joseph Matheny's best-known work, has just been released.

In the newsletter announcing the release, Joseph writes:

"Ong's Hat: COMPLEAT is a multi-layered work designed to be experienced in various ways, depending on the experiencer's preferences and level of engagement.

Structure and Components

The work consists of three main elements:

Original Notes:  A PDF or EPUB document containing the author's initial draft, providing background information and links for further research.

Audio Conversations: Chapter-by-chapter discussions between Joseph Matheny and Sequoyah Kennedy, exploring the material in depth.

Transcripts: Written versions of the audio conversations allow readers to listen to or read the discussions. (Coming in print version)"

All of this can be ingested in any order, although the suggestion from Joseph is to start by reading the notes and then listening to the audio conversations or reading a transcription of them. 

More here, including links on where to buy from various vendors. 

UPDATE: I mentioned to Joseph that I like Bandcamp but I that I wondered if he had a preferred vendor among the options listed at the newsletter. He replies, "Bandcamp is fine. The Bandcamp download provides the audio and full ebook form pub or PDF versions of the text. The full, chapter by chapter breakout, divided into individual chapter directories is the bundle from SendOwl. If you plan to experience it as I describe in the video (https://youtu.be/e3GCrv-xlxY) then the SendOwl version is the best. If you want to just download and listen/read in your preferred order then Bandcamp is fine. SendOwl gives us a larger share but not so much more that it really matters."

 

Moby Dick reading group, Chapters 75-81

  

The Heidelberg Tun. (Public domain photo). 

Chapters 75-81, “The Right Whale’s Head” through “The Pequod Meets the Virgin.”

I've actually seen the Great Heidelberg Tun, a huge wine cask in Heidelberg Castle in Heidelberg, Germany; I visited the castle when I was young in trips to what was then "West Germany" when I was young. My parents were married in Heidelberg, on July 23. The Heidelberg Tun at the castle now dates to 1751, so it would be the one Melville is referring to (more information here.)

There are chapters of Moby Dick in which Melville gives lectures on various aspects of whaling, and chapters in which action occurs. As much as I enjoyed Chapter 60, "The Line," I have to admit I mostly prefer the action chapters.

In Chapter 78, "Cisterns and Buckets," Queequeeg performs another daring rescue, jumping into the sea, sword in hand, to perform another daring rescue when Tashtego is about the drown after he falls inside the sinking whate head. The text refers to "the courage and great skill in obstetrics of Queequegg, which is a pun -- Queequeeg essentially performs a Caesarian by slashing into the head and pulling Tashtego out, and also in a sense Tashtego is born again when he is rescue from what seems to be certain death.

 "How many, think ye, have likewise fallen into Plato's honey head, and sweetly perished there?" Is Melville warning against being captured by belief systems?

In "The Pequod Meets The Virgin," the other "action" chapter in this section of of the novel, Melville uncorks a couple of zingers. When we encounter The Jungfrau, it has no whale oil, it "is technically called a clean one (that is an empty one), well deserving the name of Jungfrau or the Virgin." 

And the Jungfrau's crew, captained by a man, Derick, who is foolish as well as ungrateful, chases after a Finback whale it has no chance of catching: "Oh! many are the Finbacks and many are the Dericks, my friend." 

The description of the unfortunate old whale with the damaged fin, trying to escape her tormentors, seemed to me one of the most affecting passages in the novel:

"It was a terrific, most pitiable, and maddening sight. The whale was now going head out, and sending his spout before him in a continual tormented jet; while his one poor fin beat his side in an agony of fright. Now to this hand, now to that, he yawed in his faltering flight, and still at every billow that he broke, he spasmodically sank in the sea, or sideways rolled towards the sky his one beating fin. So have I seen a bird with clipped wing making affrighted broken circles in the air, vainly striving to escape the piratical hawks. But the bird has a voice, and with plaintive cries will make known her fear; but the fear of this vast dumb brute of the sea, was chained up and enchanted in him; he had no voice, save that choking respiration through his spiracle, and this made the sight of him unspeakably pitiable; while still, in his amazing bulk, portcullis jaw, and omnipotent tail, there was enough to appal the stoutest man who so pitied."

The passage in the chapter that begins, "“Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?” is quoting from the Book of Job in the King James Bible.

Next week: Please read Chapters 82-87, “The Honor and the Glory of Whaling” through “The Grand Armada.” Forgot to say that in an earlier version of this post, thank you, Oz. 

Steve 'Fly' Pratt's new album

 Tanmoy: A New Global Epic is the new release by Steve Fly.

"What is Tanmoy?

"A long poem in 60 (eventually 120) stanzas, about the tale of the tribe. Each stanza has music and music video to accompany, and add context, mood. Tanmoy is a collaboration with a.i., mainly for structure and layout of the poem. All music is Prompted. In one sense this is the result of a quarter century of research, in another its the result of twelve days work in 2025. I started January 1st," he reports.

More here.