Franz Anton Mesmer

Before I talk about Mesmer, I'd like to celebrate the one year existence of this blog. Yaaay! Attracted more traffic than I thought (since my hope was a million a day but my more realistic expectation was zero). Nice to see that that's approaching 150k hits now. Although sometimes I fear the end is near. And then I'm not talking about the rapture but about this blog. But we will see, sometimes I do seem to still come up with inspiriation.

Inspiration such as when someone says to me "oh, that's just mesmerizing!" and I ask (in stead of reacting to the marvel) "do you know where that word came from?" It's a reference to Mesmerism which is in turn the invention of Franz Anton Mesmer. At a time when such new things as magnetism were being discovered, this man thought he'd try and use this for therapeutic means which is also known as animal magnetism. He devised enormous metal tubs that he connected people to and put them in some sort of trance and his subjects were reported as having all sorts of visions and of course Mesmer could cure them. So was Mesmer a gifted healer, a misguided man of hope or a charlatan? Who the hell cares, the guy devised enormous metal tubs, hooked people up to it and it didn't even occur to them that this might be funny! Now thát's hilarious!

 Mesmer doing his thing without any tools. Yeah baby I like it raw!

 Tub action.

 Picture of the legendary tub itself. Not sure where this is.

 For those curious cats who want to build a tub of their own.

Ethereal Art: Maria Roeder Snedecor

So as a kid I went to a Montessori school. Why? Because of parental cultural economy really. Every parent wants to think their kid is special. Not only that, but more special than the kid of others. In fact their kid is so super special that a normal education system just wouldn't work on him, oh no, not on their special little boy. It would in fact corrupt all his special talents. So that's why they put their kids on schools with alternative and more experimental teaching methods like Montessori or Dalton or whatever schools. Of course these schools were terrible, focusing on creativity and social skills leaving you unprepared for a hard and economic real world out there.

Okay it wasn't that bad perhaps. What was that bad then you ask? Anthroposophical educational systems. They really were that bad. Based on a philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, discouraging all that reeked of color because that might upset the tender souls of these poor sensitive children. Oh so sensitive they were, sensitive to the whisperings of mother Earth! Doesn't that make these kids super special? Us Montessorians had it tough but the Anthroposophy kids, they were just lost. Born dead. I have my doubts about the claim of Richard Dawkins that all religion is child abuse, but in the case of Anthroposophy I do tend to agree.

Art like that of Maria Roeder Snedecor sort of reminds me of this. Trying to say a lot but not really being able to say anything at all. Something that is meant to look deep but really expresses some non-descript feeling in an all-too shallow manner. What perhaps was intended to be sensitive and subtle seems to me more like cheap sentiment. And of course with not much of a palette.

 Horsie!

Website: http://www.etherealart.com/

The Secret

The Secret is a book written by Rhonda Byrne, published in 2006. The book description on Amazon is very much the perfect (self help) salespitch:

"Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you'll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life -- money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You'll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that's within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers -- men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible."

Doesn't tell you much about what the Secret is supposed to be though, does it? Bloody marketing techniques! From what I understand, the Secret is supposed to be about the idea that if you really want something it will come true. That sounds a bit obvious, but it has some more religious connotations. I believe it puts emphasis on imagination for example. If you can imagine yourself be rich and famous, that will bring the realization of it closer. Something along the lines of a Law of Attraction that will see to the actualization of the way you imagine things to be. This is how the manipulation of the physical world is thought to be possible. It seems to draw heavily from diverse currents in what is known as Western esoteric traditions. It might also be considered to be sympathetic to certain mainstream American ideas.

It is also turned into a movie and the trailer is just fantastic. It suggests a whole lot more myth than I was aware of in fact. Who doesn't love a good whoosh wham bam flashy montage video with arbitrary "great men" being stuffed an opinion down their throat while some Carl Orff knockoff music is playing in the background?