BACK IN NO TIME
- some aspects of Brion Gysin
and suggestions for use
"Do not look at my outward shape,
but take what is in my hand".
Jalauddin Al Rumi
"My mind rebels at stagnation - give me
problems, give me work, give me the most
obtuse cryptogram or the most intricate
analysis, and I am in my own proper
atmosphere.
I can dispense with artificial stimulants,
but I abhor the dull routine of existence.
That is why I have chosen my own
particular world - I claim no credit in
such cases, my name figures in no
newspaper.
The work itself, the pleasure of finding a
field for my own peculiar powers, is my
highest reward".
Sherlock Holmes
One of the most fascinating aspects of the ancient art of
Quabalism is the intrinsic functional possibility to take a
word in any language, and on hearing it spoken, then to
convert it to whichever matrix suits the form being
practised, and then to be able to discern its meanings -
without any previous knowledge of that language.
It is detective work of the highest order: the travel
through a symbol originated independently of the traveller,
involving the integration and orientation of that person in
uncharted territory by recourse to their own capabilities,
and more importantly, intuition.
Rather than the contemporary demand for all things
everywhere to be instantly available for mass consumption
on a plate at the drop of the proverbial hat, it involves
payment, and moreover, payment in kind: emphathatic
reckoning - the only legitimate barter system available In
the spiritual and truly creative life of a human being.
How similar and interrelated then, is the attempt to
penetrate the wall of contradictory information, rumours
implications and ego-based supposition by others
surrounding the manifestations grouped around the heading
'Brion Gysin'. It would certainly not be innacurate to
assume that all of the above complications and mass of
confusion was at one time or other directly or seemingly
indirectly encouraged, or indeed, initiated by the man
himself. And so, this present set of examinations will seek
to preserve, at the very least, a certain vestige of that
smokescreen.
"If you want to disappear, come
round for private lessons..."
Within the body of a persons work on this planet,
whichever plane or area this happens to be acting upon or
in, there comes a point where the creator must give up the
creation in the final stages of the process in order that it
may be truly worthy of the name. The creator, in order
that they themselves may aspire to the justification of the
appellation, must become invisible, merged, and indivisible
with the created.
"What does not grow out of
tradition is merely plagiarism."
As so, it can be revealed and can be realised that the
tradition from which much of Gysin's work springs and is
continually informed and fed by is cloaked in this concept
of invisibility - stemming directly from the rejection total
and absolute of idolatry that is built into the foundations of
Islamic law. This is the circle which is formed by the
rotation of one point around another, the third that is
created whenever two points are present. It is created by
and encloses these two starting points of any and every
manifestation in all worlds, and is named within the
terminology of the religion, "Tarika". What is perhaps more
important is the fact that during his 23 years in Morrocco,
in daily contact with what may be termed 'The Devout' (but
again, not necessarily seeming so), is the often
unrecognised fact that these people are, for the most part,
part of the 'inner core' of Islam - namely, Sufi's.
Even at this first point of departure is the striking feature
that they themselves have never, throughout their long
history, referred to themselves by this name. The
philosophy (incidentally looked down upon by the orthodox
forms of Islam) has no name unto itself.
There are many forms in the actual practise of Sufism,
which regards itself as chiefly concerned through the
particular disciplines special to each region, as dealing with
the journey from the outer circle (Tarika) back to the
central point or axis. This is mirrored in the symbolism
contained and presented within its textiles, patterns lining
and decorating its Mosques, and so on. These are all of
intensely practical intent and purpose, serving both to
remind and influence the 'recipient' on viewing, whether
initiated or not, towards ever more deep contemplation of
higher realms, planes and modes of existence.
Thus, the circular movement has very great significance,
and is incorporated into the basis of the liturgical
celebrations associated with Sufism. These are no dances of
the profane, as they often interpreted by Westerners more
used to and aquainted with the more static forms of
spiritual contemplation, but a means of total liberation from
just these forms, through the use of ecstacy.
These are the creation of fields of energy described by the
sacred geometries running through the above mentioned
implementation of patterns, dance, breath control and the
highly developed practical application of the effects that it
is possible to create in physiological terms, of the vibration
of sound, both musical, spoken, and architecturally
engineered.
The word 'Q'ran' itself means 'recitation', and this of
course is immediate verification of the recognition that the
word is a living entity which must have at all points energy
invested into it by the aspirant 'communicator', in order
that it may travel from one state to another and achieve the
intended corresponding sympathetic vibrations in the other
matrix to be eventually 'decoded'.
"He who runs may read"
The very act of the encapsulation of a vibration (the
essence of all matter) into a printed or written form
involves, in the Sufic train of thought, the genesis of the
magical act. It is, once again, a portal which must be
entered into, invested with 'spirit' (c.f. the chanting of the
divine name ALLAH - involving and neccessitating the
creation of a state of ecstacy by hyperventilation) - and so
made flesh. And not only this, but it can be seen as a kind
of door through which one may immediately walk through to
visit realms of the self in their state of being connected
with the 'universal Self.
This finds essential correspondence with Gysin's work on
reading his recorded and transcribed explantation of his
first contact with the conscious ritual of fixing words on
paper, stemming from his enforced learning of the Japanese
language whilst on military service. He relates how his
grasp of the meeting place of words, ink and paper sparked
off what was to be a lifelong experimentation and research
into the written word and its transformation into
experiential 'being'.
His painting, therefore, bears the imprint of this essential
message of that which he was dealing with. For this was
the transmogrification of the real essence of things in their
complete aspects, by the distillation of that essence into the
symbolical world - returning form into content in direct
opposition to centuries of effort on behalf of the contrary
motion.
This involves on the part of those exposed and those
wishing to interpret correctly, effort. But effort that is at
odds with the standard meaning) given to the word in recent
memory. It is the letting loose of the stagnation that we
mistakenly believe as capable of providing food. It is the
paradoxically opposite state of the 'letting through' of
forces, rather than trying to create that which is already
there.
A kind of payment with being. Easy, but hard to allow.
Unlike earlier sects and religions, modern mystical
movements are predominantly anti-guilt and anti-sacrificial.
They are mainly concerned with the development of the
'individual' - as if it were possible to separate this imagined
entity from all the rest, focussing on his or her daily
experience and its supposed enrichment. They are then
part of the avant-garde of the reformism of everyday life,
that is, on the surface level which it then claimed to be
able to move inwards from.
What 'cults', as well as e.g., the 'Growth Movement'
ultimately sell is a sense of belonging through the
consumption and participation in a 'whole way of life'.
People are no longer being sold 'things' (which one would
of course expect, if we assume as above, that the starting
point of the 'transformation' begins at the point of contact
with the so-called outside world) - but are emotionally
seduced by consuming experiences, 'Growth', and
readymade communities, often mediated by high-energy,
powerfully charismatic leaders or 'Gurus'.
The commodity basis of these "scenes" is obscured by its
participatory nature, whereby 'individuals' seem to dominate
the proceedings and centre of interest. However, the
personal liberation being sold, despite certain genuine
attractions and possibilities amongst some aspects of these
organisations remains ultimately frustrated because of its
narrow, narcissistic a-historical view of the individual: the
search for passionate activity founders on its triviality and
blinkered aspirations to that which is already present. Each
scene remains closed and enfolded in a vacuum, and in the
end it becomes stupidifying, and more importantly,
dependence inducing.
Nevertheless, it is just one aspect of the 'revolutionary
movement' to have failed to have hardly experimented with
diverting the techniques and knowledge (however illicitly
gained) to radical use, generally preferring to crudely
dismiss them as 'Escapism', 'Middle-Class Pastimes', etc.:
just one more terrain given up without much of a fight.
"Guerilla Conditions...
In the secret society, the individual is still relying on a
collective organisation to effect his differentiation for him:
that is, he has not yet realised that it is the individuals
task to differentiate himself from all the others and stand
on his own two feet, and then to relinquish that
differentiation in another more positive way that feeds no-
body. All collective identities, such as membership of
organisations supporting the use of 'isms' and so on, are
crutches for the lame, shields for the timid, beds for the
lazy, nurseries for the irresponsible: but they are equally
shelters for the poor and weak, a home port for the
shipwrecked, the bosom of a family for orphans, a land of
promise for disillusioned vagrants and weary pilgrims, a
herd and safe fold for sheep, and a Mother providing
nourishment for a kind of growth.
Collective organisations seem so essential today, that to
oppose in the name of individual autonomy almost every
organisation's structure and illusions as being somewhat
distorted mirrors (without the possibility of travelling
through them) of the dominant reality, appears as
megalomania or simply hubris.
"Be in the world, not of it..."
The major upsurge of these movements occured during
Gysin's
The major upsurge of these movements occured during
Gysin's development
into the creator of trip work by which we came to know
him the most poisonous fruit that these systems bore must
surely be the creation of the transparent ethic of "Become
Like A Sponge" a phrase which lurked with open jaws
behind many pronouncements of his contemporaries. But
sponges absorb piss and perfume indiscriminately; they got
heavy but never grow, and they can be easily be squeezed
by anyone who chooses to exercise the muscles of a careless
hand. They remain inanimate objects.
The magic of the past communalist practised, first
playfully, then seriously, had a material and concrete basis
when technology was primitive, which constituted on a basic
level, a game within nature. Contemporary application is
now only a ludicrous substitute for what is now materially
possible; a real game with Nature without religious
meditation, without conscience, and without it being
explained in terms of God or gods, even if this is the
source of the original impetus and eventual return and
resolution.
To make the result of research live in the present, it is
necessary to understand the past (and, for that matter, the
present itself - as Gysin preferred, the pre-sent) - not in
terms of its own understanding of itself - the knife trying
to cut itself but as a state of Man's historical development
of his relationship s with the world, and the productive and
creative forces. To rip off the potential of the past in the
highest act of sacred thievery, without becoming ensared in
its limitations.
And this follows on naturally from the tradition spoken of
earlier: in texts associated with it lies the premise and
practical tool that the Teacher first be 'seduced' by the
Pupil (hence the allegories of love in the sacred and
enlightened poetry not to be found in the Q'ran), in order
that knowledge can be 'stolen' from him. It is a sleight of
hand, a real form of Conjouring, and requires the highest
qualities of awareness and alertness in order to complete
and wrest this understanding for it must not be thought
that this is mere knowledge or accumulation of data that we
speak of here.
Unlike everyday ordinary 'criminal' theft, this is of
decidedly another order altogether: the Teacher finds the
Student in order to present the temptation, the challenge.
The true Teacher has more than enough to spare, but
knows full well that the Student must stretch to the upper
limits of whatever they are or conceive of themselves of
being and beyond before anything worth 'having' can
possibly be passed from one being to another.
"In Present Time..."
The word 'Alchemy' has its roots in the Islamic world,
originally being taken to mean "the black art" (AI-Chemy) .
This should not be taken to imply 'evil' as it is so often
interpreted in the Western world. Rather, it means to rise
from the dirt of existence we are placed in merely through
'knowledge' to the higher realms. It is the cleansing of the
earthly dirt from our real selves. Its sacred nature is
contained within the fragment of the divine name ALLAH -
the first outward breath being taken to mean that in order
to create, one must first give (out), not knowing, and
indeed, not being able or even allowed to expect reward or
any form of completion whatsoever, save in the
transcendence of mere words and terminology - as if this
was not great enough reward in itself.
It is a complicated metaphor, which of course has its most
familiar expression in Western forms; but both East and
West have the same but commonly ignored or misinterpreted
basis: that of raising base material into higher. This is
very potently exposed in the rituals of The Master
Musicians of Joujouka, where the breathing and circular
movements, plus the precisely co-ordinated rhythmic and
tonal structures of the accompanying music (The claims for
its healing qualities for example having been recently
investigated and verified by recent French laboratory work)
create by resonance on the physiological and spiritual levels
a raising of those vibrations within the participant in the
rituals, to higher and higher states.
What is curious and almost unique in this particular modus
operand! is the dual nature of its effects - on the one
hand, the participant (there are no 'observers' or
'onlookers') has a very personal and seemingly exclusive
connection with the Universal Spirit or consciousness,
represented in this system by ALLAH, and at the same time
cannot separate the individuality of the justifiable and
legitimate sort from the utter dissolution and immersion into
the ritual experience. Not just the group of practitioners,
but with life itself. Not only is he singing, but has become
the song and is being sung.
Here we have the beginning of a practical approach to
correct empathy with the output of Gysin himself. The
confusion resulting from the total paradox which it presents
in part and as a whole is generally dealt with or merely
expressed by those attempting to comment or pigeon-hole it
as "the-stranger-in-the-skull" feeling which permeates in an
almost subliminal manner the entire 'ouvre'. The closest we
have in an actual printed form from Gysin himself that
confirms this is the statement that he felt that he was,
"Delivered in the wrong packaging wrong address, wrong
number. . . "
What this skilfully manages to hide is the underlying
formula for the initial point of the Alchemical process, the
'materia confusa', which is seen as the basis for all creative
life. It is the divorce, separation and dislocation of all
things that must be fused back together again in the
crucible of the body in order that a soul might be 'cooked'.
The disparate elements must be wedded once more within
the person. Hence the derangement of the senses, not only
it) the legacy of the ecstatic rituals of the Joujouka, but
the progression of the perhaps more Western application of
the fragmentation of the world as perceived by our new
'eyes', i.e., the media, technology and so on - by The
Cut-Ups. This is now transformed by reference and
cognition of the aforementioned into a private ritual (made
more explicitly so because of our antagonism resulting from
our enforced and tutored laziness), which is at the same
time able to deal with the rest of the world/s in the
broadest aspects possible.
All these techniques have the same underlying message:
that of the separation and externalisation (therefore
ennabling the achievement of 'objectivity') of image from
reality to go out in order to see the necessity and
possibility of returning inwards once more - in a very real
and immediate sense.
And this current can be seen to inform Gysin's creation all
the way along the line; the general and indicative function
of shaping experience into one multi-dimensional time frame.
With both his paintings (whether calligraphic or more
conventionally pictorial - although this distinction is
perhaps merely an academic one), and arguably his most
important realisation, the Dreamachine, areas are outlined
and the completion of the cycle is only possible by recourse
to the completely ruthless examination of the state of the
viewer. What they get out is utterly dependant on what
they put in. This unconventional and neglected approach
allows the maximum possible space within the given
parameters, but does not prevent their further expansion.
It reduces imposed meaning by 'speaking roughly', in order
that the real message or import/content is apprehended
through interaction, or at the best moments, mutual
feeding. Few though they are, Gysin's writings bear this
same hallmark. It is like trying to plait with fog, if they
are approached in the same way as other kinds of writings
where an explanation and resolution is implicit in their
construction. There are no solutions in the back of Gysin's
books.
All of Gysin's work can best be compared to guide books,
where the basic information is supplied as to the area or
region, but to make the process come alive or in fact to
become meaningful in any way, in order that the pages do
not remain mere writing, one must actually BE in that
place. And also, just as it is with guide books dealing with
particular lands, the information can actually lead the
reader to a specific real place, but the act of travelling
itself must be carried out by the person concerned
themself.
Once again, the close connection with the Sufic conception
and attitude to the word, or symbolic creation if you will,
can be detected - words have no power unless intoned,
i.e., acted upon, dealt with or assimilated.
This has personal ramifications that should not be
overlooked.
It is not a question of Gysin's trying to hide behind his
work in order to create an air of mystery that forces the
cult of personality into operation (sadly not the case with
most of his contemporaries), rather he is almost unique in
recent memory in allowing the focus of his work and the act
of focussing on and into it, to pull the recipient back to
themselves through light, and not reference to the author.
Gysin always maintained in painting, print and in
interviews, that his purpose (although he realised and
allowed us to deduce this realisation by his constantly
partial mode of representation, that to encapsulate this
phenomenon was doomed from the outset to failure) was to
simply deal with, all colours. The 'black' from which we
must rise contains all the colours in the physical realm.
"Every magician eats his own
excrement eats his own words..."
...and words are never enough. They are the jumping-off
point for most of so called Humanity, but the dim realisation
that Gysin is able to pin-point and touch remains. And that
is that the word must now be abandoned as an outmoded
artefact. It is the imprisonment of ideas, simultaneously
enabling the commerce of same, and therefore the beginning
of communication, but also the seeds of its destruction. And
to reinforce what may have been a very dim realisation of
the essential truth of the matter was the fact that most of
his close associates, i.e., the Joujouka Musicians, could
neither read nor write. Their interaction with the world and
with others was on the intuitive and non-verbal level - that
is, when dealing with matters of some importance.
That Gysin was almost entirely unaware of his sphere of
influence is a measure of his adherence to the tenet of
'giving out' and 'letting through" - not the grasping of the
illusory and temporary 'rewards' of this life. Admittedly,
much of this was conveyed by such as Burroughs, who
exploited for better or for worse many of the techniques
either invented or re discovered by Gysin. Further
evidence, as if it were needed, is provided by his
statements concerning those in direct lineage to the
techniques initiated by him - whether consciously intended
or no. His approach to them as people reveals a bond
between his thinking and that of his spiritual ancestors,
whom he briefly came into contact with to learn, not by
rote or parrot fashion, but by experience.
And this is the opportunity, so rare in recent times, where
the offer on the plate is held in the highest esteem, that
allows reciprocation - involvement in the positive sense -
interaction with the roots and source of the creative act be
engaged and connected with. It contains in germ form, the
ground floor of being.
His terminology reveals much - 'deceptual' as anathema to
his credo - it is evident that Gysin always sought the real
world, which is an area or plane infinitely more real than
the world of appearances, formalised labelling of tables,
chairs, etc., and once more, an acceptance found in all
religious and philosophical systems - that what is important
"when the chips are down' are those things that cannot be
grasped with the hand, pinned down like butterflies,
dissected like laboratory rats.
And yet, on another level, they CAN! It only requires that
the terminology passes from that which is capable of
reduction to that which is only capable of expansion.
This is the realm where shadows speak, small people and
creatures as yet uncatalogued scamper unfettered, building
tiny homes from the debris we cast aside thinking it
worthless. These jewels ignored by us glitter in the half-
light, noticed as abberations by those with rudimentary
periferal vision.
This, it must be realised, is a kind of war - mirrored in
the struggle against delusion and artifice spoken of
earlier - and it involves and necessitates Shamanism of the
highest order. The best metaphor for this process states
that for the apellation to be fully deserved and therefore
applicable, the Shaman must become purer and purer,
giving up more and more like an ever more sophisticated
transistor radio. The better the quality of the receiver, the
clearer and more faithful the energy allowed through the
network becomes. The reproduction has less 'interference'.
But this, on the human level, involves great cost. It is a
price that few are willing to pay. But it is the only price
worth paying.
That the source must spring up through every sentient
being on the planet is a fact that, yet again, is contained
in the writings and teaching techniques (no matter how
obscured) of all religions. And this brings us to the
realisation that there is no place to hide. It is a modern
metaphor that can be utilised in view of our present
circumstances for our benefit, and the eventual raising of
our collective and individual consciousness.
"There comes a point where
everything becomes the Guru..."
Human endeavour and activity has, for as long as recent
memory can recall, made a concerted effort to replace
periferal vision with a set of permanent 'blinkers'. The
concentration and distillation of creative output of all kinds
witnessed in the absorption that is accomplished scarcely in
the bat of an eyelid, means that categorisation and
therefore limitation is the language that is imposed on all
individuals.
If this were to suggest that the individual has no status
except for that as reconciled within the greater whole,
there would be little cause for alarm. Indeed, this would
indicate a healthy and consciously determined state of
affairs. Instead, a cellular mentality is now nearing a state
of symbiosis with the host, and threatens to rot away to
nothingness the very supports of sanity. Small pieces of
worthless territory are seized with increasing fervour,
violently and totally defended from interaction and
encroachment by any other party, regardless of any other
possibilities for development that may or may not exist.
The walls are becoming thicker and thicker, the tongues in
which messages are being sent out into the world become
more and more insular, and the word 'understanding' is in
grave danger of being supplanted by a knot' jerk reaction
to elements that the recipient feels encumbent upon himself
to encode and further coat with his own sticky, but
nevertheless sweet layers, in order that his own house of
Straw is not blown down.
On the one hand, we crave for proof - however slight -
that we are not alone in thinking the way that we do, that
our roots are firm and embedded in the same soil as our
ancestors, traditions and loved ones. Any chance for
identification (another running away) with another system
or process - preferably as far removed from our own
experience as possible - is ruthlessly gobbled up in order
to present it to others as unique and unshareable, save by
an elite few.
On the other, the terror that shakes us and causes more
hours of sleepless nights that nearly anything else, is tftat
the path which we embark upon may have been trodden |ay
others before.
This is truly a modern malaise, and sharply contrasts with
still existing (though nonetheless fading, due to our
penchant for fixing that which is not broken), traditions,
in generally considered 'backward' or 'undeveloped'
societies, where tradition is seen as the only way to avoid
plagiarism.
And yet, the way to circumvent this process which seeks to
destroy the very fabric of Nature and replace it with the
deafening and deadening hum of machinery, which knows
nor recognises no such concept of the Soul, has always
been with us, under our very noses, in the self-same sets
of information and teachings that current circumstances
artificially created by those that 'know better' strongly
suggest we should abandon as outmoded and useless -in
present time.
Although there is in everyone the realisation glimpsed in
moments of crisis, ecstacy, or other inexplicable flashes of
the real world that only a fool would ignore, that we are
separate entities in the box that we call 'ourselves', there
is always the backdrop that sets the scene and feeds and
initiates the germination of the seeds: that is, that we are
mortal. We share the same fate. All of us.
This is the axle upon which the world turns; that
everything is fed by everything else. And though the
symbols are as numerous as the lives of human beings,
what these symbols represent contains the same essence as
all the rest. A grain of salt has exactly the same properties
as a bushel of it.
The aforementioned fact, for it is truly of that status,
allows the only legitimate identification, that of being able
to enter into the position of others.
This facility, given free by Nature in order that She might
be repaid, is at once mediumistic and shamanic. It requires
possession in the positive sense of the word in order that
the person realises that they cannot be said to own
anything at all - save for that which they have paid for.
"Effort is our money."
Complacency brings us to a state of utter destitution, and
all energy grounded in this way is lost forever. It requires
the destruction of what we call, wrongly, ourselves, in
order that others may live.
"We are what we can do."
This should not be taken to imply that mindless so-called
"creation" upon which so high an importance is placed at
the present time, which only fills the worlds rubbish bins
to the brim, but should be understood as the possibility to
reach out from, and confront the challenge of, our physical
and mental limitations - insofar as the apparent safety net
of our self-pride constrains us.
It is a truism that we cannot tell anyone that which they do
not know already. But what do we know? The answer is
that which has been continually answered since time
immemorial: that connections with higher realms of
vibrations, being and development is possible, but only in
the act of collaboration and interaction with others. The
solo attempt is only valuable when it serves as a
preliminary rnap for the use of others.
There exists the very real capability to build structures
within this world that are in accordance with the old cliche
that states that the whole can be greater than the sum of
the individual parts.
The assimilation of any kind of food implies conversion of
one kind energy given out. And change, when considered
in Isolation, is frightening - seeming as it does to strike at
the foundations that it is expedient to think of as solid.
But the real and natural base upon which it is truly
legitimate to strike out from is necessarily at all times in a
state of flux; if it were not so, no exchange would be
possible. Note the paradox: ex-change.
The realisation of the necessity for such an access point
does not spring from a desire for personal self-
agrandisment, or a cloudy vision of distant peaks impossible
in reality to ascend. The work now being undertaken
requires, it can and is perfectly realised, the hardest
effort of all, and the individuals now engaged in these
practices have, through personal experience gained in a
multiplicity of situations, come to these commitments with
their eyes wide open. The bread is being cast out upon the
waters. By their deeds shall ye know them.
The concept of sympathy, or more correctly, empathy, is to
be found throughout the history of the production of all
kinds of sonic information. Even in the physical properties
capable of exposition, one finds that a vibration starts from
the alternation of the extreme opposite of its parameters,
affecting its immediate surroundings, speading out to affect
so many others as the limits of its orgininal imetus permits.
And so, the laws of vibrations (i.e., sound) form the basis
of all religions and philosophies in the beginning of the
passing from one 'state' to another.
Vibration is the very cloth from which all things are cut,
and thus is the vehicle in which all may travel, it does not
preclude the attribution given it by the Alchemists, those
experts and architects of life, of materia confusa.
But it provides the format from which all else arises.
COMMUNICATION is built on the cognisance of this
SPIRALIC property of life; it is its life blood, and seeks to
amplify those points of initiation and of impetus that
ennables the world to turn. By acting in sympathy and with
empathy as mentioned above, by resonating in accordance
with the forces that we are so keen to ignore but provide
the only escape from compartmentalisation - and ultimately
the only real "freedom": that is, being in the world and not
of it.
"Freedom is always a threat to someone."
And yet once more, this is a cause celebre: for by
'threatening' in a manner that denotes capacity for
development in place of estrangement the possibility is
created - and then the 'fellow-through' initiated - brings a
shock that awakens and stimulates the inherent but
constantly denied potential to real-ise. To come to now. To
be here.
And only by knowing where we are can we know where we
can go to.
Denial of whatever state we are in is not conducive to
survival: to willingly accept the scraping of the jailer's key
in the self-made lock that confines us to our 'individual'
cells can be treated with nothing but contempt. Mistaking
discipline for the death of real pride in oneself (one of the
rarest of the rare) is the easiest and yet one of the most
reprehensible faults available to anyone, anywhere.
It is also a gross mistake to think that these ideas are the
ramblings of some abtruse philosophical system based on
mere mentation, and not that which it really represent; that
is, a combination of a group of people working as much as
it is possible to co-ordinate the three centres under our
control:- impartial mentation, feeling (emotion), and
physicality.
Unless these centres are in balance with each other and
themselves, and with what is named 'conscience', it is
indeed possible to turn the world into a flat, two-
dimensional picture that it is impossible to vandalise with
impunity.
Let the vandals multiply, and the desecrators of sacred
cows flourish and prosper - no matter how their own
conscience sits - for only giving and not taking can bring
true fulfilment.
The ripples in the pool spread out from us and create more
water capable of creating more ripples; that the force that
generates this endlessness may be misinterpreted is not at
issue.
We await the first overflow of conscience and of hope that
is inherent in all; that of progression and acceptance of
what is possible and not merely desireable becomes the aim
of an ever more widening frame of reference; that trust,
appreciation of beauty that is underneath the surface dirt
of being in this world on this limited and limiting plane
from day to day can regain its rightful place; and that
people can actually learn from being alive, is our hope.
Was Brion Gysin's hope.
And there is hope.
Always.
Back in no time.
A.M.McKenzie
Amsterdam 1989
(Revised from 1987)
-oOo-
The DREAMACHINE as presented here is constructed and
annotated with regard to the eventual supplantation and
possible further enhancement off its effects by the
reciprocal feedback by the purchaser and/or viewer. To
this end, here follows a questionnaire which it would be of
the greatest help to further work on the project if you
were to complete and send it to us. These questions are
not to be regarded as imperative, but we would hope that
all 'participants' would write down in as clear a manner as
possible, and as fully as possible, their reactions and
responses to the construction.
* Was the Dreamachine decorated or otherwise altered from
the pattern here enclosed?
* What base colours were used?
* Was Calligraphy used, and if So, what style, what
language, and of what content?
* Was the speed as suggested elsewhere in this text?
* Was the wattage of lightbulb as suggested elswhere in
this text?
* Was the positioning of the lightbulb as suggested
elsewhere in this text?
* In what situation was the Dreamachine used - type of
room - general description of ANYTHING pertinrnt - and
including the time of day, atmosphere, weather, etc?
* In what direction was the Dreamachine pointing - or, in
what direction was the viewer pointing while viewing?
* Were any other additional stimuli involved - drugs,
music, etc. , etc. ?
* Please give a general description of yourself - this
should be as full as possible, containing details of physical
build, general health, gender, location, job or occupation
(if any) and what expectations were present before
viewing.
* Please give details of pulse rate and temperature before
and after viewing.
* Were there any physical reactions or responses,
voluntary or involutary during viewing?
* In what way (if any) was experimentation with
positioning of the viewer's head in relation to The
Dreamachine carried out? If so, please give details.
* Was there any deliberate attempt to align the
Dreamachine to North, South, East or West? If so, which
direction was the viewer facing etc?
* What was the length of time of viewing?
* At what time of day did the viewing take place?
* Please give as full an account as possible of your
experience whilst viewing - preferably written down as
soon as possible following the experience/s
itself/themselves.
* Please give any other impressions which may have
carried on following the experience.
Please address this report, which will be acknowledged in
writing, and used only with permission, in further
research and publicatory work with regard to The
Dreamachine, to:
THEE TEMPLE OV PSYCHICK YOUTH/THE HAFLER TRIO
Alexander Boersstraat 30
1071 KZ
Amsterdam
The NETHERLANDS
All material is welcomed on any level, and will be regarded
as private and confidential.
-oOo-
NOTES ON THE RECORDINGS
"Sound to enhance the effect of Brion Gysin's
DREAMACHINE", parts one, two, and three (part three
being available only on the Compact Disc version of this
release), are composed with regard to three separate
processes developed, unfortunately, without the knowledge
of Brion Gysin himself. They are, however, constructed
alony principles laid down, not only from the original
impetus and construction of The DREAMACHINE itself, but
from guidelines gathered from Gysin, in conversations and
written works concerning the machine itself. Every effort
has been made to align the principles suggested by him
with those made evident by the researches carried out by
ourselves with The DREAMACHINE. Developed from a
chance occurrence as described elsewhere, the initial
recordings were made by A.M. McKenzie of The Hafler Trio
on a specially modified binaural system, with the
DREAMACHINE in the collection of TOPI. These recordings,
which feature vocal and breathing effects, based loosely on
Bon-Po Tibetan Breathing exercises, from A. M.McKenzie,
Genesis, Alaura, and Caresse P-Orridge, were then layered
and modified at the facilities In Suitcase Studios, England.
Selective equalisation was used, with the technical
assistance of J. Hoskins, of the Department of Neurology,
University of Newcastle Upon-Tyne, in order to emphasise
to the point of ultimate effectiveness and maximum
utiisation, frequencies present in the original recordings.
These emphasised frequencies corresponding to the Alpha
waves in the brain, that is, between thirteen and eight
pulses per second. The purpose of the various layers was
to bring into balance the Male and Female forces In direct
proportion with one another, given that it is expected that
Male and Female persons will eventually be subject to the
effects and influence of The DREAMACHINE.
The second part of these experiments deals with the
Quabalistic applications of the word 'DREAMACHINE' Itself.
Admittedly, The DREAMACHINE is constructed from Islamic
principles, and the form of Quabalism used with respect to
these constructions is essentially Judaic in nature, but as
Gysin also knew, the roots of this ancient Art stem from
precisely the same root : the realisation that sound
encapsulated