T HE C ENACLE / A PRIL - The ElectroLounge

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New York City, & in it he issues his first public denunciation of the American war machine’s
debacle in southeast Asia. He himself would be assassinated exactly one year later.
Sprinkle’s essay originally appeared in the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
Studies. Sprinkle, a well-known writer & sex educator, discusses her use of LSD, mescaline,
peyote, MDMA, ketamine, mushrooms, & other visionary substances. Their effects on her
was profound, altering & re-creating her path. She concludes with delight: “People tend to
link ‘sex and drugs’ because both are condemned by society. Nevertheless, throughout the
ages human beings have continually searched for more ecstasy, more sexual satisfaction, for
solutions to their sexual problems, and for aphrodisiacs. Psychoactive substances have been
used in most cultures because they can be keys to unlock the mysteries of life.” I believe
there cannot be too many liberation advocates like Sprinkle nor enough numbers of essays
like this one. Western society is fucked up, true, but not fucking wide awake & high & happy
enough, true. I think I used to believe change would come in obvious, tangible ways, as
tolerance & knowledge of sexual & psychedelic varieties spread through the lands, as more
leaders & worker bees alike turned on, walked through the door, didn’t come back.
Now I wonder if human consciousness paradigm shifts don’t happen more like
tectonic plates in the earth: effect long after cause.
We want it now, we want it now. It’s happening, nearly invisibly. Impossibly,
incredibly, great, everyday. Despite doubts & legions defensing the status quo. They slow
change, but nothing stops it. Waves rolling in farther & farther, occasionally the great
monster crash but mostly a few more inches, now a few more. For better? Oh if I could tell!
It was late November when Cenacle | 59 | October 2006
finally appeared. Where the previous issue was continuance, this
one was much more breakthrough. We’d met some gifted artists
at Burning Man & kept in touch with them. On C59’s front cover
is psychedelic art by Nemo Boko & on the back cover is art by his
wife Emma Brochier. There is also work by each within Cenacle
59’s pages. They run a website called Nemo’s Utopia
(www.nemo.org) from their house in Portland, Oregon. What
excites me about their work is that it is turned-on & superlative both.
The best visionary art does not stumble in craft or conception, in
fact re-conceives these for its purposes. Working with myth,
symbolism, ideas & images derived from nature, sometimes a dash of obscure humor, Nemo
& Emma each produce work of depth & delight.
Another Burning Man find was a contributor who published “Revolution Evolution”
in C59 under the name George Dorn. Dorn is a young film-maker, in his twenties, & his
essay fires out with the enthusiasm of a radical young artist. I think his conclusion best sums
his argument: “…live the revolution everyday. I know this is somewhat of a cliché, but it’s
true… Time to ramp up your evolution and start your revolution.” This essay has impressed
a lot of readers since its publication. Reflecting on it, I think that no period of time lacks its
fiery youth, or adults for that matter. Idealism is some years more prominent, more visible
by events & publications. But it always exists. No night in human history, no land, lacks for a
pressing heart, an anxious, restless mind rejecting whatever talk or morals please & placate
most. I think even that idealistic ferment brews best when a kingly hand is trying to press
down hardest on dissent & tolerance. To be able to think one’s own thoughts, & try putting
utterance to them, however smoothly or clumsily is, in my view, somewhat endemic to the
amorphous thing called human nature. One may indeed in the end, love Big Brother, but
there is a deep wish to have this be a choice. Revolutions evolve from a realization among
The Cenacle | 63 | December 2007