I woke early to a cloudy Sunday in the Old South, however, this dark little gem has polished my resolve. Wrap yourself in melancholy and join Terence McKenna for this trip through the history of The Great Work.

Terence McKenna’s The Alchemical Dream: Rebirth of the Great Work is a 2008 film produced by the good people at Sacred Mysteries.

Here’s the propaganda from the website:

In the mid-1990′s Terence McKenna and Mystic Fire’s Sheldon Rocklin teamed up to make this rich and exciting film. Little did they know that this would be their last film. Originally titled Coincidencia Oppositorum: The Unity of Opposites and filmed in Prague with Terence portraying his usual erudite rendition of the Irish Bard, this filmed classic takes us on a journey into the alchemical renaissance of King Frederick V and his wife Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia. Playing the role of John Dee, court magician for Queen Elizabeth of England, Terence McKenna shows us how the promise of a return to the tradition of alchemy was almost instituted in Europe. He also shows us that this early attempt at the creation of an alchemical kingdom actually lead to the European Renaissance and the institution of Cartesian science and the beginnings of rationalism within the western mindset. This incredible film is not only beautifully filmed but is Terence McKenna’s finest performance and a worthy eulogy to his genius.

Ladies and gentlemen, The Sleepless Film Festival presents The Alchemical Dream…

The story of alchemy is a fairy tale – maybe more of an angel tale? – of sorts and, like any great fairy tale, this one comes with pictures:

Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom 1604

One of Goosen van Vreeswijk's "flying bird" images. “‘To make the Bird fly’ is to free the Spirit from its material prison, that it may soar in the alchemical sky and bring back Below the benefits of what is Above.

The engraving, Tabula Smaradina (“Emerald Tablet”) is Merian’s interpretation of the alchemical cosmology, a schemata and representation of the order of things. It appears (first) in Johann Daniel Mylius Tractatus III Seu Basilica Philosophica… (1618) and makes subsequent appearances in other works by the author, as well as in Lukas Jennis’ Musaeum Hermeticum, 1625

An engraving from Michael Maier's alchemical text, Atalanta fugiens, (1618), showing the Sun and Moon as the twin complementary principles of the alchemical work.

Engraving from Trismosin Aureum vellus, 1708

Frontispiece from Monte-Snyders Metamorpohosis planetarum, 1663

Woodcut 8 from the Rosarium philosophorum, 1550

Stay Awake!

Joe Nolan

Check out the player below. Listen to songs from my CD’s Blue Turns Black and Plain Jane. �
JOIN THE MAILING LIST AND DOWNLOAD FOUR GREAT SONGS FOR NOTHIN’!

Workers of the World Unite!

Today we celebrate Labor Day in America with this screening of The Wobblies. This 1979 documentary tells the story of the Industrial Workers of the World through interviews with the people who were there during it’s American heyday.

Here’s what the Fulvue Drive-In has to say about the film:

“…they changed the course of labor power in the U.S. and the world. Even since the 1980s, where the decline of The Industrial Age, overseas labor, Reaganomics, Neo-Conservatism and the collapse of most Communist governments, the precedents they set are still benefiting labor today.

The I.W.W. organized unskilled labor into a force to be reckoned with, including rights for female and minority workers. At the time before larger populations and mass media, they were able to get their act together and attacked what they saw as corporate greed. They also gained from the sense of fair play in that those who work should benefit with a living wage and won the 8-hour workweek battle. As is the case today with lesser companies, there were no education or advancement opportunities, meaning a sort of un-American caste system cleverly disguised as free market economy.”

You're Welcome!

This doc was re-released on DVD a few years back and it has rightly generated a new-found interest in the I.W.W. With all the confused propaganda about Socialism in America nowadays, this film goes a long way toward setting the record straight.

Be sure to enjoy all the great old Labor songs in this film. It’s practically a musical!

Ladies and gentlemen, meet The Wobblies:

Check out this great graphic history of the I.W.W.!

Stay Awake!

Joe Nolan <3

As a special treat – an amuse bouche if you will – leading up to our Sleepless Film Festival special installment on Dennis Hopper, here is a cool little documentary that was put together by BBC Channel 2 for their Moving Pictures series.

This biography of Hopper follows him from his rise as a young star to the triumph of Easy Rider. It finds the artist lost in the deserts of Taos, New Mexico and redeemed again with roles in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers, and another turn behind the camera as the director of the powerful and provocative Los Angeles gang-film Colors.

Throughout it all, Hopper is a relentlessly creative artist and a visionary in the truest sense.

An Artist's Artist

Watch the full documentary on my YouTube channel here:

Dennis Hopper documentary BBC 2