Re: virus: the sacred mushroom and the cross

Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Wed, 26 Aug 98 23:50:14 -0400


>Speaking of etymology, has any body else read or heard of "the sacred
>mushroom and the cross" by John M. Allegro? I just finished reading it,
>and according to my dad it caused a great stir when it was first published,

It was _extremely_ popular among a small group of, well, mushroom-heads,
you can be sure.... And it did come out at the time of Jesus Christ-
Superstar, I think. Anyway, lots of discussions at the sort of parties
where fungus was among us....

Nicely concurrent of course, the 'spores' episode of Star Trek, and, BTW,
John Cage was one of the most respected mycologists in the country....

Incidentally, I have always considered Cage's work to be entirely
dependant upon the environment of its presentation, and as such, while
completely contextual, the actual genesis of the music- the altered
instruments, the aleatorily structured scores- made the work itself
entirely implicit. He was the first to separate the performer and the
composer entirely, so in fact, he was implicitly denying a context....

But to use Cage as an example of _anything_ involving 'meaning'- gack,
what sheer audacity! I wonder if he made mention of Hof. comments, or
knew of them?

*****************
Wade T. Smith
morbius@channel1.com | "There ain't nothin' you
wade_smith@harvard.edu | shouldn't do to a god."
******* http://www.channel1.com/users/morbius/ *******