57. ABCDNA

     ABCDNA began as a stoner-concept; the innocent notion that we could wrestle millennia-coded, mass-programmed DNA from the powers-that-be, manifesting blatantly in the 1980s in the form of Dirty Wars1, corporate hegemony, and hyper-consumer-hysteria. As self-appointed, avenging angels of the dead-to-us society, it was our cross to bear counter-slogans and propaganda antidotes; to this end, we fed our nascent revolution "sonic ritual magic".

     ABCDNA, the band, consisted of Francophone on drums, myself on bass, M's satyrical guitar chops, and the demolishing synth tracks of the Baron. To unwind, or to further collective creativity, everyone switched playing whatnot. Minimalists at heart, we transmogrified musical variations on the theme, "MUTATION" for hours, chanting and droning out the singular word, "MUTATION" faster and faster, like punk Hare Krishnas. We applied for and received an art grant from the Québecois government, who kindly supported half-starving, junk-sick, hash-frenzied, subversive artistes, bent-on liquidating CONTROL.

                                                                            Brion Gysin and W.S. Burroughs, Tangiers
     We collaborated on a color-xeroxed, collaged magazine with an accompanying audio cassette tape, entitled ABCDNA....code lingo for Automatic Behavior Control DeoxyriboNucleic Acid! We tweaked a graphic of the serpentine, DNA double-helix, inside a neon rainbow blaze (an effect of xeroxing aluminum foil) on the cover, and applied twists of W. S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin's famous cut-up techniques to the text; we exulted in our cryptic and necromantic iconographic style. Like everything else we did, it manifested itself brilliantly (in total obscurity!) (entertaining ghosts again!) (though we did have the pleasure of presenting a copy to El Hombre Invisible; the sight of him leaving the building, after a reading in Vancouver, clutching ABCDNA to his chest, made it oh-so-worthwhile).  

                                                                     Gysin, Brion, Rub Out the Write Word

1 Scahill, Jeremy, Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield (2013)

56. THE POWER TO MUTATE

                                                                                      Art by Amanda Sage
I.
drafting youth in the city;
seeds of cosmic consciousness,
calling for creators of self; 
in united purpose to liberate
sentient beings from suffering.
using raw will 
to elevate acts of freedom,
with ever-evolving compassion;
an understanding
of unity within diversity;
a sixth sense of becoming
the central flower
in the spiraling vortex of chaos.

                                                                              Morrison, Autumn Skye, Beloved (2010)
seeking the occulted idea
hidden upon the cross
of the alpha and the omega;
the first and last (month's rent);
the opening of the third-eye
dream-portal
to the fifth dimension;
the beginning of the end
spelled backwards: D N A.

when the spaceship city
of lights dawned upon
the adam and eve astralnauts
(space freaks on natural X T C),
the waters of Babylon arose;
aliens sucked the spirit
out of our naked, porous flesh;
genetically reprogrammed
to denial and fear,
the years of persecution 
had begun.

now drink bottled water 
from the Pole Star!
in a toast to invoke
the infinite becoming.....
this time we will be.....
physically...mentally...
spiritually....emotionally...
wholly and intrinsically...
redeye Jedi.

II.
yeah....drinking water
in the city's a crime!
we survive on sidewalk cafés
and concrete dandelions,
on the in-between time
the dole, pawnshops
and drug dealers trickle;
filling in with church basements,
old lady's furs
and buddha bowls,
we chant the panhandle;
wandering like sages
from wonderland,
with nothing,
liking nothing,
like nothing else,
liking nonsense.

                                                                                                     Adventure Time
squatting in demolition voids,
sharing with nasty ghosts
all-night passages,
hustling human guilt and mercy,
we stalk a million peeps'
dream remnants in junk heaps
under the iron buttresses
of the city's giant bridge;
collecting scraps of metallic enchantments,
motherboards of machine souls,
carbon and silicon chips,
tokens, puzzle pieces,
alchemical lead;
units of personal savior epics
and possible mojo recovery,
if freakazoid intent is laden.

lights of the wizard electronica
accompany laser spectacles;
books of magical verse
surrender cheap thrills.
pharm heists provide glitter
to break body language
and inner submission codes,
playing thrash noise
through the wailing walls
of the subway sects.

                                                                                                     Montreal Biosphére
we echo the curse of the linoleum;
as strangers stand together
in polluted abasement,
undertaking pilgrimages
to the island
of the burnt fuller dome.
entering mt. royal cemetery,
acid-grimaced stalking 
tombstones for peace
in the misted nocturne.

others gathering to
tam-tam the mountain
and its severed cross;
relics of long-lost mojo
appear to lead us sighing,
following cryptic signs,
paranoiac, insomniac, dead ends....
we stagger, crawling the ancient paths,
looking for Nature in vain,
in our blasted veins, 
and in this vain creation,
we rush
to the comforting smell
of burning buildings;
the wet, black soot
a soothing sight of city's blood.

we trance climb fire escapes,
watch acid-bending
light-shows of fallen stars
among tangled wires,
acting as message-exchanges / U F O s.
by dawn, hungry vampires sing psalms
for bakery palms and past-midnight bagels.
soul kitchen,
still nowhere to go....
laughing hysterically
as the trench-coated, brief-cased throng,
enter and clutch,
populate and savage,
the grey future.
the masses' material exodus
doomed to repeat / repent
its cries of slavery.

III.
home's single room's humming;
dream pyramids of synthesizers droning;
om-ing while we're out.
time to feed
the guardian angels formulas;
shapeshifter melodies,
magic squares of sound,
litanies of agnus dei.
we play heavenly chords
and babies' lullabies,
to spirits that may never return.
no one pays us, any mind.

we are the invisible naked souls,
screaming our youth,
until random accident rises us
above the human ocean.
blood, memories and desires
pulse, semi-cease and dwindle;
stereo images of mystery's plan
cinemize the stillscape,
archetypes bearing headlights
scan our crystal will,
share essences,
and leave us tarot.

                                                                                   Montreal Student Demonstrations (2012)
we are now empowered
to destroy the code
of the runaway replicant society;
spreading its contagion,
dull and meaningless,
and less, each day;
bottled, caged and stuffed in
dead butcheries,
poisoned pills,
museums of groceries,
churches of locks
and canals of mocking dirges.

it is within we encounter
with freakazoid truth
the power to mutate
the cellular elevator.
rebel uprisings
in multi-dimensional frequency,
destinies of spiraling D N A,
writhe under
cosmic portents
of kundalini awakenings;
mixed marriages of opposing forces,
blue diamond-ringed,
solar and lunar equations
keep us alive,
alchemically 
glittered
beyond words.

55. THE BE-ALL END-ALL


"Only psychos and shaman create their own reality."
                            -- Terrence McKenna

"Thinking you are immortal is weirdly similar to being immortal."
                            -- Douglas Copeland

"The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set-up by non-dreamers."
                            -- William S. Burroughs

     In previous chapters, we have maintained the mindset that "unicorns are real", i.e. the seemingly impossible or highly improbable exists, despite the inability of Science to prove it. Now, it is up to YOU! to (genetically) decipher the enigmatic catch-phrase; The Be-All End-All, apropos to the evolution of the genus, H. sapiens, subspecies, Homo sapiens sapiens ...........hint: Go FURTHER than you've ever GONE before.

     Let's review: the only mutation worth its weight in gold is one which enlightens the Spirit, liberates the Mind, and expands our Collective Consciousness.....i.e. the cultivation of hearts as light as feathers! Mutate the pain and suffering of existence with compassion and joyful affirmation (I'm O.K., You're O.K.1). Dream into Being the lasting peace so crucial to further our evolution. Quiet the mind, revamp emotions of fear into trust, and curb material desires. Simplify. Get back to the basics. Eat light to be Light! Ditch those weary Control mechanisms of the Ego. Time and Space are grand illusions we've manipulated to seduce and imprison ourselves. We yearn to take a giant leap of No Return.....to a freedom we've allowed ourselves, paradoxically, no place to Imagine. No worries! Nature always solves a paradox....Imagination is the key!
       Begin to perceive time and space as infinite, abundant and fluid - playful gifts, rather than profitable, diminishing commodities (yes, I am referring to the concept of "ownership" - that uncharitable, socially debilitating lie). Take the leap of faith that religious and superstitious folk "Make-Believe" to access a Higher Power. Use your inherent "Gotteskraft" (Godpower) to "Make it so". "Wish upon a Star!" (with your personal unicorn-horn-third-eye-star!). Believe in your own.....divine transcendence.....and everyone else's as well! Rise above the murky quagmire to bestow the flailing faerie-tale with a happily-ever-after! We have the collective potential to become Superhuman - in order to create the changes we wish to see in our world and to activate a lasting Plan for Peace.

                                                                             Kuan Yin and the Water Dragon (DNA?)
     Engage in Random Acts of Kindness and Intelligence - to understand who we are, where we've come from, and why we are here. Truth is: No one knows. But we do see the difference we make in each other's lives, when we actively love and help one another. Success is not a career, money, car, phone or reality television show. Spirituality arises from participation in the alchemical Arts; transmuting fury to calm acceptance; going Within to commune with Nature; engaging in philosophical contemplation, meaningful relationships and entheogenic introspection; and sharing and creating stories and rituals which honor the Great Mystery (Life and Death) and make us worthy of it. Nationalism, false economics, divisive politics, dogmatic / fanatic religions, psychopathic leaders and perpetual war are insidious crocks - unhealthy diversions the Empire Machine rolls over us, and capitalizes on, to prolong the glorious moment at hand; the day we finally realize we have NOTHING TO FEAR (implanted scenarios which violently unfold in the media, to terrify and distract the masses, are termed "false flag events", those whom expose them are "conspiracy theorists").

                                                                                              Grey, Alex, Metamorphosis
     The evolutionary mandate of our planetary Mother is Inspired Change. DNA mutates, sooner or later! Via the intentional activation of our Imagination, we are undergoing a process mirroring the caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis. "Once inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar, unable to move, dissolves into an organic goop / nutritious soup. Cells, which had been dormant in the caterpillar and which biologists have the poetic genius to call "Imaginal cells", begin a process of creating a new form and structure. These cells carry different information, and vibrate to a different frequency - the frequency of the emerging butterfly! At first, the cells are attacked by the caterpillar's immune system, but are not deterred, as they increase in greater numbers, bonding together and forming clusters, until they are numerous enough to organize into the new winged creature they delightfully become!"2 We'd best mimic the miraculous caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation; surrendering and seeking collective rebirth in the primordial soup of Creation.

     I AM THAT I AM : INFINITE LOVE AND LIGHT! MAGIC! TAT TVAM ASI : THAT THOU ART! (Death will ultimately prove this, but why wait until then?). We hold the key to our impending "Be-All to End-All" mutation - in dreams, free-floating in umbilical oceans of stars, flying on cosmic waves of sound. Meditate to resonate with the heartbeat of Gea (7.8 Hz). Ask the cetacean giants of the deep (telepathically) to echolocate the next step of our evolution! Awaken from illusions of Ignorance, Aversion, Greed and Desire, into the H. luminous and H. numinous destiny which pre-cognitively awaits us. Which imagines us even now! How much Joy can YOU radiate?! Mutate that exponentially!!!

1 Harris, Thomas Anthony,  I'm OK - You're OK
2 Judith, Anodea, Waking the Global Heart

54. MUTATIONS THAT MIGHT SUCK


        “Immortality is prolonged future, and the future of any artifact lies in the direction of increased flexibility capacity for change and ultimately mutation. Immortality may be seen as a by-product of function : “to shine in use.” Mutation involves changes that are literally unimaginable from the perspective of the future mutant. Cold-blooded, non-dreaming creatures living in the comparatively weightless medium of water could not conceive of breathing air, dreaming, and experiencing the force of gravity as a basic fact of life. There will be new fears like the fear of falling, new pleasures, and new necessities. There are distinct advantages to living in a supportive environment like water. Mutation is not a matter of logical choices.”

                                            Astronaut Nicholas Patrick, International Space Station (2010)
        
    "The human mutants must take a step into the unknown, a step that no human has taken before."

    "We were the first that ever burst into that silent sea."
             -- William S. Burroughs, excerpts from "Immortality"

     Microwave Beams: Orchids are mutated by microwaves to produce a variety of new colors. Laser beams provide a unique testing ground; the possibility of humans mutating into holographic clones or astral shadows is lightly appealing.

                                                                               Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, Batman comix

     Weird Science: A fave of comic book heroes. Experiment with small dosages of exposure to elemental table break-outs; neon, freon, plutonium, kryptonite, mercury and cinnabar, for starters. Shy away from super villain recipes that involve falling into giant vats of steaming chemicals.

     Lightning: According to urban legend, a man struck over 700 times by lightning became a super conductor. In the process, he got hooked on electromagnetism, suffered side effects of severe arthritis, and mutated his DNA. Will it pass onto his offspring?!

                                                           "We can rebuild him....better, stronger, faster........"

     6 Million Dollar Man: Not exactly a physical mutation, per se, although bionic-computer implants are becoming more organic (silicon has replaced breastmilk in Los Angeles County). Beware of built-in expiration dates and factory recalls. Volunteer for top-secret government projects - hidden benefits include receiving free medical check-ups for life; disadvantages of being locked up in Arkham Asylum, if things go too horribly wrong.

                       
     Cyborgs, Androids, Transhumans, Posthumans: Like the above but less.......human......possibly the most realistic way we will collectively "mutate". Recurring theme in science fiction and Hollywood, from The Terminator1 to the Borg....are steam punks analog androids? Would you transfer your consciousness to a solar-energized, humanoid machine? Forever latex.

    Genetically Modified (Human) Organisms: What will they think of next? Take your pick of mutating with any living organism for a beneficial symbio-genesis of combined traits. Been done in ancient Egypt and Sumeria - with present-day gene splicing, genetic coding and DNA cloning, it's brand new again. Everyone's looking for that Immortal shelf-life package. Side effects are celebrity notoriety, obesity and adaptable appendages (including animal / insect parts and multiple heads and limbs). Riddle the Sphinx for Her Tricks (and never, never trust Monsanto).

               "Popeye, the Sailor Man, he's strong to the finish, 'cause he eats his spinach"
     Weird Diets / Drugs: Mutate body chemistry through better indigestion. Embalming fluid is not advised. Spinach has had it's Defender. Go RAW and ORGANIC! Make like a Zombie & Eat Intelligent Brains! Psychedelic schroom symbiosis will seed a new planet Earth with your spore body. Nix benzene, bromine, nitrosamines (found in tobacco and smoked meats), mustard gas, vinyl chloride and food preservatives (MSG). Remember: Sugar is White Death, and nuclear fall-out may cause mutations, but it's not viable if you're undesirably.....(dead).

     Adapt to Strange Environments: Relocate to Death Valley, the Moon, or Mars. Live Undersea, or orbit the earth in a Space Station for a lifespan or two. Ionizing radiation from cosmic rays, UV radiation, gamma rays and alpha particles are potent (hazardous) mutagens. Go for a swim in a black hole, or conceive a mutation by making love in zero g or a crop circle. Beware of metallic aftertastes.

     The Ultimate Assassin: Hassan-I-Sabbah's recipes mixing hashish and post-hypnotic suggestion mutates even the laziest do-good-nik into a psycho-crazed killer. Explore what's behind the CIA's Project MK Ultra, and the Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Aurora shootings. Beware of plane-downing, Manchurian Candidate-types.2 We still don't know the half-life of 9 /11. Behind every wacko killer lies political necessity; follow the money to expose the Big Lies (verbal mutations serving de-evolution).

     Shapeshift and Don't Turn Back: Walk-in to the Body of Jesus before the Second Coming nabs Him. Trouble finding Him? Ask renowned psychic, intelligent personal assistant and knowledge-navigator, Siri! Better yet, mutate into a phone app. Disembodied incarnations benefit from exciting opportunities online.

                                                                                  Griffith, Bill, Zippy the Pinhead

     Sex with an Alien: Zippy, now we're having fun! Besides receiving a completely different PH (with off-the-charts acidity or alkalinity), you'll be chock-full of another star system's planetary vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Alien DNA is a hot item, and a pleasurable way to mutate (if the alien is humanoid, otherwise, it can get gnarly, involving......devices (cattle prods and anal probes). Though better probing technology exists today, it wouldn't hurt to ask for manual insemination, if anything resembling hands, with fingers, exists.....and don't forget to ask for the brainwipe severance package afterwards....it's not as glamorous as it sounds, but what's a little pain and sacrifice in the name of a really bomb mutation?

                                                                                              Marvel comix, The Fantastic Four

     Why Bother Looking For Aliens Department?: We already have the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Sasquatches, Nessies, Elvises, Wolfmen, Two-Headed Dogs, Giant Centipedes, Siamese Twins and Elvira! Take your libido out to a Comic-Con, Freakshow, Circus, Carnival, or the swamp at night, wearing sexy lingerie, and hook-up with "The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon"3 ! You might just inherit a third-generation mutation. Don't wear protection.

     Bizarre Industrial Accidents: (not the vat again?!) Fake a high-tech security clearance to mishap into particle beams, death-rays-on-low, cathode rays, particle accelerators, chem-trail residue, cross-species viruses, untested alien / military weapon prototypes, etc.......if all else fails...dumpster dive at a nuclear waste facility - plenty of mutating agents to play with.

                                                                                         Kraftwerk, "Radioactivity"
    Live in a Toxic Waste Hazard Site: Why should only  marginalized poverty sectors receive this privilege? Superfund sites! Plutonium! Uranium! Cesium-131! Radioactive isotopes! Sign up for guided tours of Chernobyl, Bhopal and Fukushima, spend the night spinning on the North or South Pacific Gyres! Mutations of The Plague4 may resurrect, or a deadly epidemic created by scientists in a lab targeting undesirables. Chant Nietzsche's mantra - "That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger" - the whole premise to a worthwhile mutation (and a vaccine).

                                                                      Neumann, Kurt, The Fly (1958)

     Get Bitten or Infected by Weird Creatures: The all-time classic way to induce spontaneous mutations! Poke Cousin It! Reanimate dead things! Presto Change-o! Zombies, Mummies, Spiders and Flies (all been done)...... cozy-up to half-crazed, experimental, lab subjects: genetically-modified sheep, bunny-rabbits, rats, monkeys, fish and vegetables.....(Be kind - release them afterwards).

     Entheogenic Elixirs, Algae, Absinthe, Grass Juices, Etc.: Finally, we are courting beneficial mutations! (or, at least, protection against, and neutralization of, the harmful ones). Drink until your blood turns green, your Third Eye pops out, and the Green Faerie dances on your head! Side effects of positive mutagens include: super strength, tetrachromacy (the ability to sense high frequency colors), regenerative capacities (grow back that Third Eye!), anti-cancer capabilities and superior oxygen-utilization. The key to Super-Human-ability is activated by the simplest and most profound nutrition: the cellular absorption of anti-oxidants, enzymes and photo-nutrients; including Vitamins A, C, and E, as supplied by fresh, organic fruits (berries, lemon, lime, avocado) and steamed, cruciferous vegetables; polyphenols (flavonoids, as in green tea); healthy carbs (squashes, sweet potato, yam, carrot); garlic, turmeric and ginger; fermented foods (sauerkraut, cod liver oil); healthy fats (coconut oil, ghee); pastured, grass-fed, animal protein, wild fish, and eggs; gluthathione peroxidase (selenium, whey protein); and resveratrol (red wine). Provst!

Meditate on Compassion While Chanting AUM: Mutagenic Immortality in the Wink of the Spirit Eye!

Necromantic Blood / Sex / Death Rituals with Vampiric Immortals:
                          HELLO NEW FLESH!!!

1 Cameron, James, The Terminator (1984)
2 Frankenheimer, John, The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
3 The Cramps, "Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon"
4 Camus, Albert, The Plague (1947)

                           Cronenberg, David, Naked Lunch (based on the novel by William Burroughs)

53. PLANET LOVE

    "The human body,
     Like everything else in nature
     Is subject to certain governing principles,
     All the principles of nature are derived from one basic law,
     The oscillation of Yin and Yang.

     The mutations of Yin and Yang are the Universal Force, or Tao.
     In the Tao, Yin is receptive and Yang is active.
     Their function is mutation
     And the result of their interaction is continual creation.

     In every element of life
     There is both Yin and Yang.
     In one is contained the seed of the other.
     In life is the seed of death;
     In death is the seed of life."
            -- Corinne Calvet, "Acupuncture and the Human Galaxy"

      Do we really believe we can mutate our DNA? Affirmative. I believe in faeries, elves, vampires, dragons, mermaids, sprouting yin-yangs and every other "impossible thing" under the Sun! Mutating DNA is one surefire way to get answers from the Freaky Source of Creation, a possible way to checkmate the insanity built-in our chromosomal make-up, and legendary as the Quest for the San Grael. It implies asking the greatest questions of all time, "Who am I, from Whence I came, to Where (for the Grace of God) Go I?"1 Hamlet, step aside. We will immanentize the eschaton (fixate Heaven on Earth) by mutating our cancerous blight upon Gea, to effect a healing rebirth of Planet Love. Our mission is to unwind Humanity's twisted, hard-wired, cellular morphology / psychopathology / T. Gondii bacteria, to release Love's guiding Light in our empirical DNA (cancer = living cells reprogrammed to electro-magnetically self-destruct, by fear-based input data - from toxic bio-forms to negative thought forms).

     "In the Beginning" (16.4 billion years ago, according to Ian X Lungold's encryptions of ancient Mayan calendrical observations), the Cosmic AUM / Big Bang in our local Multi-Universe created some very big waves, which, in turn, effected endless ripples, which, we are still, miraculously, surfing. The same elements unleashed in that uncontrolled (and very loud? silent?) experiment continue to reverberate inside us. Carbon units evolved from stardust, fish walked the earth, matriarchal fertility cults spread, and invocations were babbled to tame dragons and fire. Advances in evolution, however, kept breaking down, negated by invaders, warlocks, genetic manipulation, UV radiation, and the sheer necessity of dealing daily with nasty creatures, baring sharpened incisors.....the Word / the Gospel / the Code of Life, became a WARNING, written (burned) in stone, in ALL CAPITALS.....

    Thus DNA de-evolved, in response to, and reflecting the wrathful pathos (malnutrition, hoarding) and oppression of brutal, sacrifice-driven, totalitarian tyrants and chieftains. Matriarchal tribal cohesion proved vulnerable to spears, arrows, swords, and other breaks in the chain, namely War, Control, Greed, Aggression, Fear, Dis-ease, Decay, Cannibalism, Organized Religion and Death (the weak links in our game of Snakes and Ladders). Our responsibility is to adapt our Power to Mutate: to Re-Evolve and to CHANGE LINKS: selecting friendly, positive, Harm-None, hereditary genetic traits, in order to immortalize the nobler qualities of Sentient Life: Peace and Love, Trust and Co-operation. Subdue the Inner Beast! (not sure where this leaves tigers and their ilk?). Good Luck and Hurry Up! (has it ever occurred to anyone besides the Boys From Brazil2 that the practice of storing the aberrant DNA of violent perpetrators may result in the genetic engineering of the Most Inhuman Clones of All Time?)

                                                                                  Villagrana, Roman, Back to Creation
     Mutations can be effected by copying "errors" in genetic material during cell division (i.e. sexual reproduction, kids), UV or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens or viruses, or induced in the organism itself, by an Extreme Act of Will, a magical process termed Hypermutation. Mutator: Know Thyself! It is our theory we can induce Somatic Mutations, which will eventually become Germline Mutations, passing onto all Kindred, by a love bite from our proactive, Vam Pyrrhic saliva (smitten with P-53 - the "Guardian Angel" gene, whose activation inhibits cell death). Get Bitten! Kiss-Kiss! Suck-Suck! Beyond hierarchies and victimhood, the Bliss of Conscious Co-Creation awaits! All we have to lose is our Killer Instinct! Tuck in that reptilian tail. To be or not to be? Nature or Nurture? Mutate. Mutations fix everything.

1 The Buddha, and Buddhists, consider these questions immaterial; they would direct us to the Path of Liberation, guided by The Four Precepts, and the cultivation of the Eight Attributes, towards Nirvana (the Cessation of Desire).
2 Schaffner, Franklin J., The Boys From Brazil (1978)

      "Mutation's great! Mutation's really fun! It's a great little hobby - you know, mutation for fun and profit. And it's cool as hell. You end up with some cool stuff and some ugly stuff and stuff no one has ever seen before and it's just great."
     She asked him what the point of it was. "Hey, mutation is the answer to everything," he said irritably. "Look, why do you think some people are smarter than others? Obviously, it's because they mutated when they were babies! I'm sure I was one of those people. When I was a baby I probably got exposed to something that mutated me, and now I'm incredibly smart. Mutation is great. It's the way evolution moves ahead. And I think it's good for the world to promote mutation as a hobby. You know, there are an awful lot of wasted lives out there and people with nothing to do. This is the interesting sort-of stuff they should be doing."
                   -- Susan Orlean, The Orchid Thief

                                       EIGHT




          THE POWER TO MUTATE

           
        IT IS WITHIN WE ENCOUNTER
            WITH FREAKAZOID TRUTH
              THE POWER TO MUTATE
            THE CELLULAR ELEVATOR.

52. ME AND YOU

"The Passion of Lovers is for Death."
           -- Bauhaus

"Aaahh Freak out! Le Freak, c'est Chic!"
           -- Chic

     Me and You is a classic drug-overdose "script". It is the prescription, medicine and antidote to the reality I became one evening. We are settling into a long night of utopia enhancement, parlaying "Grimly Fiendish"1 with the Holy Spirit of Coca, ensconced in a warm cove, the snug harbor of Ivan's living room / lounge. All Systems are Go! The night is young, our brains and retinal fluid express willingness to be saturated with the mix, the alchemical light formula. The vein purification rites commence. Suddenly, in the early firing procedures, a tremendous glitch occurs; the syringe is pumped to deliver an overdose, and I am the fated morsel, the One whose Flesh will be eaten by the Goddess.

                            Dali, Salvador, Dream Caused by a Bee in Flight Around a Pomegranate 
 One Minute Before Awakening (1944)
     With zero time to react, graciously primed by my Chosen and Most Faithful Knight, I sink under. Our eyes meet in a surprisingly emotionless display of questionable betrayal and quixotic, soul fancy, before regressing to a primal, root-chakra, seeing-red, Kali-esque survival impulse: my last move is to claw his eyes out. Like a tiger springing up towards the face of its Deliverer, propelling itself into the shot, "Resistance is Futile"2. I am swept under a giant tsunami of brain and blood boil, fading to the floor beyond Instant Revival, hovering between infinite portals and mirror existences of Selves. Dropping the key to Wonderland's door, I am Nowhere Fast, frantic to brake the art of free-falling. Instead of landing and coming out of the prolonged moment, I am simply No Longer There............

             Craven, Wes, The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) (based on the book by Wade Davis)
     How long do I remain Insubstantial? My next memory is cold, hard and strange. Alone in the adjoining makeshift basement kitchen, I'm standing over an electric stove, staring into a big pot with leaves boiling in it. A swirling cauldron brewing a magical herbal potion? A link to my intended demise? A clue to reveal my Lost Identity? My insane calm hides a murderous, schizoid Id, which re-emerges seeking Revenge. As tears gently roll down my face, I undergo a Crisis of Soul Reckoning, unleashed from a freakish karmic Bardo, whereupon I AM.....IT, THE ZOMBIE (reliving a past life whereby having committed an unpardonable, heinous crime, I AM, by punishment decreed by tribal council, administered a poisonous, Zombie-inducing, cataleptic). I DETEST pufferfish / Datura neurotoxins. I've fallen up, and can't get down (everything's reversed in Snake God Iwa Damballah Wedo's land).........

                                    Russell, Ken, Altered States (1980) (screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky)
     I cannot talk or express myself......don't know who or what I am......desperate to play hide 'n' seek, counting backwards from ten. I find the Others, who are...totally casual?....daring to ask whether I've yet to come to my senses? The acrobatic, alien replicant in Bladerunner fritzes out, experiencing Sensory Deprivation (escaped from the John Lilly's isolation tank in Altered States, and de-evolved to amoeba-status). Choices leave me glazed, uncomprehending........

                                                   Jackson, Peter, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
     ZaZa and M are standing in front of me; tall, elfin warriors, concerned and sympathetic to my situation...... a million light-years away, simultaneously Here and Now, I SEE TWINKLING STARS, THE PITCH BLACK SPACE BETWEEN PARTICLES MOVING.....MY FRIEND'S FACES MORPH INTO DRAGONS, COLUMNS OF MISTY WHITE SMOKE REEL FROM THEIR CURLED LIPS, AND IN TANDEM FLARE FROM THEIR NOSTRILS......I am utterly amazed as a child, not wanting it to end, nor for it to go on without "me". Freak-out is the only available option........  
     
     The Sanskrit term for Vision or Sight is Darshan, literally "Seeing the Divine": "Beholding with inner or outer vision, a temple image, Deity, holy person or place, with the desire to inwardly contact and receive the blessings and grace of the Venerated Beings or Beings. Darshan is also the feelings of the emotions of a holy person, the intellect, the spiritual qualities they have attained, and most importantly, the Shakti, the power, that has changed them and is there constantly to change others. Darshan is the emanating rays from the depth of an enlightened Soul's being. These rays pervade the room, penetrating the aura of devotees and enlivening the Kundalini, the white fiery vapor-like substance that is actually the heat of the physical body in its natural state."3    

     Kundalini Ether! Bingo! Golden Rule: Don't hang on to peaks of epiphanies! Instead of letting the rich, auric revelations wash over me (observing Shakti flowing in the True Nature of the Universe!), I panic, refuse to come down, and freeze like a computer mouse......game over, pinball past the flippers, no extra ball. I cling to the machine, becoming a liability to my friends, who'd like to see me out of the grey area, into the warm, pink, fuzzy, Throbbing Gristle (faint smile). A cold shower ensues - from which I emerge kicking, biting and scratching......poor, wet, wild animal, cringing from the Light.

                                                                                               Wile e Coyote
     A family jaunt is to be undertaken. Pile into the station wagon, everybody! We're going to the HOSPITAL! Harsh reality time for naughty cretins. It's the last thing the Retrieval team wants to do, however, they know real downers in downtime are the perfect antidote for stabilizing a "Major Tom to Ground Control" ("strung- out in heaven's high)4....did I grab the wheel, nearly killing us on the way? Sorry, no grace. God. That's messed-up. Surgically-garbed Earthlings whisk the ambulated frightshow down a long hallway on a stretcher; keeping up her best beastly antics, she bites down hard on anything within reach; screaming, clawing....no "Sympathy For the Devil"4. 
     It ends somewhat anti-climatically; I'm shut in a room, and given a shot of my own tears (a saline solution). Up like a bolt, cognating reality, I demonstrate I'm capable of "leaving the building"...resonating a mix of Dorothy's "Oh! Auntie Em" and Alice's Wonder. I recall ZaZa's radiantly beautiful face peering from the shadows of the hall, sweet Sister of Mercy. A wholesome peace, a religious tide, washes over me. Accompanied by my Archangel Death / Soul Brother Light, I write an epitaph / epigram on the sign-out register:

                              Me and You. Meow. 

1 The Damned, "Grimly Fiendish"
2  The Borg, Star Trek
3 Darsanam, Guru Kripa, Darshan, Grace of the Guru
4 Bowie, David, "Major Tom"
5 The Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil"

A Poem: The Lingering

I was a lonely Psychick;
My third eye was nailed blind,
Yet I could still feel
the floating flowers
dancing on my spine.

When I began to wobble,
the doctors took me away;
I bit their hands
and bit my tongue
and still the night was very young.

I sprang some leaks,
chanting revelatious squeaks,
screaming with all my might;
til Albert E. appeared out of the blue
and began to lip-sync my rights.

I wept as all my beautiful friends
turned into demonic fiends,
and laughing hysterically like a fool
watched my pineal gland sprout wings.

I awoke in the night,
feeling the light,
in a hole where my bindi usually seems;
I remember asking the ladies-in-white,
Is it really all just a dream?