KerslakeSobreDeleuze&Malfatti.doc

8/17/2019 KerslakeSobreDeleuze&Malfatti.doc

1/25

The Somnambulist and the Hermaphrodite: Deleuze andJohann de Montereggio and Occultism

Christian Kerslake

One of Gilles Deleuze's first articles, published in 1946, was an introduction to anew rench edition of an arcane work of philosoph! bearin" the title Mathesis: or Studieson the Anarchy and Hierarchy of Knowledge, b! one Dr #ohann $alfatti de $ontere""io%1Deleuze was twent!&one when he published his introduction to the rench edition of

$alfatti's Mathesis, which was the first new edition for a hundred !ears% '$athesis, cienceand (hilosoph!' is one of a "roup of fi)e te*ts he published in the period 194+&, and whichhe subse-uentl! repudiated and o.itted fro. rench biblio"raphies of his work% / 0n the pre)ious rench edition of $alfatti's work published in 12493, the entire book had been"i)en the abbre)iated title of what is in fact the first of its fi)e essa!s, La Mathèse% heedition to which Deleuze adds his introduction in 1946 is a re)ised translation of this)olu.e%5 he ori"inal book had first been published in eipzi" in 124+ as Studien über Anarchie und Hierarchie des Wissens, mit besonderer e!iehung auf die Medicin 7tudieson the 8narch! and ierarch! of Knowled"e, with special reference to $edicine:% hetitles and topics of the fi)e separate but interconnected studies are enou"h to show that weare dealin" with a rather curious )olu.e;

1% '$athesis as iero"l!ph or !.bolis. of the riple ife of the


2/25

=apoleon Bonaparte's fa.il!, and to Beetho)en, as well as to other fi"ures fro. ro!alt!and the nobilit!% Studies on the Anarchy and Hierarchy of Knowledge was his second book, published thirt!&si* !ears after his first, an $ntwurf einer %athogenie aus der $&olution und 'e&olution des Lebens 7ketch of a (atho"enesis out of the >)olution and ?e)olution of ife: 1293% 8nother work on .edicine followed, "eue Heil&ersuche 1243, and what

appears to be his final work, published in 12+5, was an account of Kartoffel()ran)heit , with particular reference to the her.aphroditic nature of the potato $alfatti 12+53% e died in12+9% 8lthou"h it is true that his two .ain books are rarel! referred to in histories of "atur#hiloso#hie, it turns out that Anarchy and Hierarchy e*erted a si"nificant influence ina .ore subterranean .ilieu of .odern culture% @hen ?enE GuEnon, the leadin" renchesotericist of his ti.e, re)iewed the 1946 edition of $alfatti, whose book was 'one of thosewhich is often spoken about, but which few ha)e read'3, he acknowled"ed the historical)alue of the re&publication, due to 'the considerable role that this work and others of thesa.e "enre pla!ed in the constitution of occultis. at the end of the 19th centur!' GuEnon194; 223% $alfatti's influence is found .ost e*plicitl! in the work of one of the leaders of the esoteric .o)e.ent of $artinis., GErard >ncausse, otherwise known as '(apus' see?e""io /53% (apus appended a detailed anal!sis of $alfatti's Mathesis to his 1294.edical dissertation L*Anatomie #hiloso#hi+ue et ses di&isions, and in his ensuin" occultworks he continued to refer to $alfatti at crucial points%4

$artinis. was one of the .ain currents of occultis. in the nineteenth centur!,ori"inatin" in the thou"ht of $artinFs de (as-uall! A&143, and his follower ouis Claudeaint&$artin 145&1253% he for.er, a panish or (ortu"uese #ew, had inau"urated anu.ber of secret societies in rance de)oted to theur"ic ritual, while his follower aint&$artin was the author of .!stical tracts includin" one entitled L*Homme du dsir 3 which"a)e pri.ac! to the .!stical task of interior transfor.ation o)er ritual ar)e! /+3% B!the end of the 19 th centur!, a nu.ber of ?osicrucians, ree.asons, 0llu.inati andtheosophists inhabited (aris and asse.bled to for. a new .o)e.ent of rench $artinis.,in which (apus and tanislas de Guaita were the intellectuall! do.inant fi"ures% + hetheoretical foundations of late rench $artinis. were pro)ided b! $alfatti and one@ronski also cited b! Deleuze, in his .ain philosophical treatise, -ifference and 'e#etition3% he philosophical ideas of $alfatti and @ronski .ediated the $artinists'access to the traditional te*ts of er.etic and occult philosoph!%

he new edition of Anarchy and Hierarchy for which Deleuze wrote theintroduction was issued in a li.ited edition b! a s.all publishin" house, 'Griffon d'Or',which published books .ostl! on occult the.es in the i..ediate after.ath of the war,includin" a nu.ber of books on $artinis.% he unna.ed editors re)ised the 1249translation, reproducin" the e*ceedin"l! stran"e illustrations of 0ndian di)inities andher.aphrodites that $alfatti had included in the Ger.an )ersion%6 Gi)en that $alfatti'sna.e does not appear e)er a"ain in Deleuze's writin"s, we could be for"i)en for thinkin"that Deleuze's introduction to $alfatti's Mathesis is .erel! a !outhful dalliance withoccultis.% But occult the.es continue to run throu"hout Deleuze's work; not onl! does theter. '.athesis' appear at crucial points of -ifference and 'e#etition, alon" with a weirde.phasis on the esoteric use of the .athe.atical calculus, but his interest inso.na.bulis., the notion of the world as an e"", the theor! of the second birth and therecurrin" i.a"e of the her.aphrodite all refer back to ideas found in $alfatti's book% $an!ideas that can be traced back to $alfatti's Mathesis resurface in dis"uise in one of Deleuze's

2

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%204http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%205http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%205http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%206http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%204http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%205http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%206


3/25

)aledictor! te*ts, 'o a)e Done with #ud".ent', published in 1995 in .riti+ue et .lini+ue%

Could the esoteric theor! of .athesis found in $alfatti's Anarchy and Hierarchy bethe ke! that unlocks the .!ster! of Deleuze's a)owedl! 'esoteric' use of the calculus in -ifference and 'e#etitionA here Deleuze e*plicitl! sa!s that there is a mathesis

uni&ersalis that corresponds to his theor! of 0deas Deleuze 1962; 121H 193% tran"el!,Deleuze's ad.ission that his interest lies in 'the esoteric histor! of differential philosoph!'ibid, 13 has been o)erlooked% 0t has been assu.ed that b! 'esoteric' Deleuze si.pl!.eans 'obscure'H and of course it is true that the fi"ures of olo.on $aI.on, one@ronski and #ean Bordas&Des.oulin are rarel! referred to in standard histories of the.athe.atical calculus% But it is also true that both $alfatti's .athesis and @ronski's use of the calculus pla!ed i.portant roles in the birth of .odern occultis.% arane 8le*andrianwrites that '@ronski holds, in occult philosoph!, the place that Kant holds in classical philosoph!' 8le*andrian 1925; 1553%2 Both $alfatti and @ronski had arri)ed in thenebulous terrain of occultis. after apprenticeships in post&Kantian philosoph!% @ronskiwas the author of the first e*hausti)e presentation of Kant's philosoph! in rench %hiloso#hie criti+ue dcou&erte #ar Kant , 1253% e subse-uentl! de)eloped a post&Kantian theor! of calculus and atte.pted to de)elop a cabala&influenced philosoph! of theabsolute which he called '$essianis.'3 that would surpass that of chellin" and e"el%$alfatti was a chellin"ean nature&philosopher who de)eloped and s!nthesised chellin"'sideas in the areas of .edicine, so.na.bulis. and .!tholo"!% Deleuze's interest in thesethinkers re)eals le"acies of post&Kantian philosoph! which are -uite other to the landscapesof $ar*is., neo&Kantianis., e*istentialis., etc, that are fa.iliar to conte.porar!continental philosoph!% 0t is a possibilit! worth considerin" that one of Deleuze'sclandestine ai.s, fro. the be"innin", was to contribute to a specificall! post&Kantianresurrection of the esoteric notion of .athesis%

0n his fascinatin" sur)e! of occultist philosoph!, the surrealist arane 8le*andrianconnects both $alfatti's account of '.athesis' and the philosoph! of @ronski with an older occult tradition of 'arith.osoph!'% he notion of .athesis, he tells us, is used b! theolo"iansand occultists to denote the conJu"ation of .etaph!sics and .athe.atics in a scientia -ei,or science of God% or instance, in 166 the bishop of i"ena)o, #uan Cara.uel, wrote a Mathesis auda/, in which he declared that 'there are nu.erous -uestions in the philosoph!of the di)ine which can not be understood without .athesis' cited in 8le*andrian 1925;11/3% rances 8% ates, the scholar of the er.etic tradition, has brou"ht to li"ht a traditionof '.athesis' that first full! e.er"es in >uropean thou"ht in the work of ?a.on ull, butwhich has influences further back in 8rabic alche.! and the er.etic writin"s of 5 rd

centur! 8le*andria% ates's ai. was to show that Giordano Bruno was burned at the stakenot because of his affir.ation of Copernicanis., but because of his atte.pts to initiate a'new reli"ion of o)e, 8rt, $a"ic and $athesis' ates 1966; 51H ates 1964; 5+43% 0n hisintroduction, Deleuze places $alfatti in a .ore .ainstrea. philosophical tradition,re.indin" us that, despite his .ind&bod! dualis., Descartes too accordin" to Baillet's bio"raph!3 drea.ed of a mathesis uni&ersalis% But he could ha)e cited other earlier andlater philosophical sources with .ore o)ert connections with her.etic esotericis., such aseibniz or =o)alis both i.portant to his work3% eibniz searched for an arithmeticauni&ersalis or scientia generalis, which would allow one to deal with all possible per.utations and co.binations in all disciplines% =o)alis in turn took up the proJect of anarithmetica uni&ersalis 000, /5&/+H D!ck 19+9; //3% his uni)ersal .athesis was to include

3

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%207http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%207http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%208http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%208http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%207http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%208


4/25

'all .ental operations, )olitional and aesthetic e*periences, and all knowled"e' D!ck 19+9;953% 8fter @ronski and $alfatti, philosophical interest in .athesis declines, and the worksof (apus and Guaita are notabl! lackin" in philosophical references apart fro. to @ronskiand $alfatti the.sel)es3% But the pro.ises .ade for .athesis were )er! "reat% Deleuzecites $alfatti's clai. that '.athesis shall be for .an in his relations with the infinite, what

loco.otion is for space' Deleuze 1946; *)3% o the -uestion is; what happened to.athesisA @as it e)er declared to be i.possibleA Did an!one e)er think there was an! need to declare it i.possibleA hat $alfatti and @ronski both e*plicitl! e*plore the possibilit!of a #ost(Kantian .athesis, and that Deleuze, the "reat 'conte.porar!' rench philosopher,takes the. up on it, su""ests that the -uestion of the .eanin" of .athesis needs to be posedfro. scratch% Kantian philosoph! .a! ha)e killed 'intellectual intuition' && but did it kill.athesisA

0 do not atte.pt to answer an! of these -uestions in this essa!, the pri.ar! purposeof which is to pro)ide so.e basic historical infor.ation about #ohann $alfatti de$ontere""io, whose life turns out to be al.ost as bizarre and fascinatin" as his ideas% heai. here is to sketch out the back"round and conte*t of $alfatti's life and thou"ht, not toatte.pt a philosophical anal!sis of his ideas, nor of the details of his possible influences onDeleuze's thou"ht%9 is ideas are frankl! so stran"e that a basic realit!&check on hise*istence and .o)e.ents needs to be carried out before an! further e*a.ination of hiswork% he first section looks at $alfatti's back"round in .edicine and chellin"ian "atur#hiloso#hie, while the second section looks at the conte*t for his turn to esotericis.in Studies on the Anarchy and Hierarchy of Knowledge% 0n the concludin" section, 0 .akeso.e su""esti)e re.arks about Deleuze's relationship to $alfatti and occultis.%

4

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%209http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%209


5/25

Johann Malfatti de Montereggio and Romantic Medicine

$alfatti was born in 0tal! in 1+ and in the last decade of the ei"hteenth centur!co..enced a stud! of .edicine under ui"i Gal)ani in Bolo"na% Gal)ani had de)ised thefa.ous e*peri.ent in which the li.bs of fro"s were electricall! sti.ulated to producecontractionsH but he had insisted that the electricit! ori"inated in the ani.al rather than inthe .etal conductors which supported it, and his opponent olta was pro)ed ri"ht% $alfatti,howe)er, re.ained de)oted to Gal)ani, who is discussed and lauded in the second essa! of Anarchy and Hierarchy% 0n 19+ $alfatti .o)ed to ienna to work at the General ospital,under #oseph rank, who was his ne*t .aJor influence% rank was an enthusiastic follower of the .edical theories of #ohn Brown 15+&1923, whose dru"&based therap! was taken

up with "reat enthusias. b! ph!sicians influenced b! ?o.anticis., and in the first !ears of the nineteenth centur!, b! chellin" hi.self% 0t is essential to understand a little about'Brunonian' .edicine if we are to understand $alfatti's back"round%

#ohn Brown was a theolo"ian who turned his attention to .edicine after ha)in"disco)ered the healin" properties of opiu., which he used to cure his "out% e had hadlittle .edical trainin" when he wrote the $lements of Medicine, published in 19 in two)olu.es of church atin% is basic idea was that or"anis.s should not be treated on the.echanical .odel as conduits for e*ternal e*citations, but that the! also ha)e an internal

5


6/25

e/citability% @hat the doctor should do is e)aluate the co.bination of de"rees of internale*citabilit! with the -uantities of e*ternal sti.ulus recei)ed% i)in" bein"s respond toe*ternal and internal sti.uli; e*ternal e*citin" powers include heat, wine and poisons,while internal sti.uli arise fro. the bodil! functions% (atholo"! can be treated as a result of o)ersti.ulation sthenia3 or understi.ulation asthenia3% O)ersti.ulation leads to an

e*haustion of the internal -uantit! of e*citabilit!, while understi.ulation lea)es -uantitiesof the intrinsic acti)it! of the or"anis. unused% 'ealth' e.er"es when the appropriate-uantit! of sti.ulation is found for the patient% One of Brown's well&known dicta was that' Life is a forced stateH if the e*citin" powers are withdrawn, death ensues as certainl! aswhen the e*citabilit! is "one' Brown 19+; 0, c**)ii3% ince the or"anis. necessaril!depends on sti.uli fro. the e*ternal world, the state of balance .ust be achie&ed rather than presupposed, and disease is to be treated b! supportin" the self&re"ulatin" power of theor"anis.%1

Brown thou"ht that .ost illness was caused b! lack of sti.ulation, which could bere.edied with )arious .eans, ran"in" fro. spirituous li-uors, alkaloids such as ether,while 'hi"hest of all, as far as e*peri.ents ha)e !et thrown li"ht upon the subJect, is opiu.'Brown 19+; 0, 1&23% e specificall! used li-uid laudanu., also known then as the 'wineof the urks'% Brown disa"reed with pre)ailin" opinion that opiu. was a sedati)e, citin" itsuse b! urkish soldiers as a counter&e*a.ple% e clai.ed that opiu. was the best treat.entfor "out, as well as nu.erous other disorders% 'Opiu. is not a sedati)eH on the contrar!, as itis the .ost powerful of all the a"ents that support life, and that restore health, and a trul! blessed re.ed!, to the di)ine )irtue of which the li)es of so .an! .ortals ha)e been owin",and in future, will be owin"H so it .ust be identified that spas.s and con)ulsions, o)er which it has such "reat power, do not consist in increased, but di.inished e*cite.ent, andthat opiu. cures the. b! the sa.e operation b! which it cures an! other of the diseases,dependin" on debilit!' Brown 19+; 0, /413% 8l.ost a hundred !ears after the @esterncri.inalisation of dru"s, it is hard for us to i.a"ine how easil! a)ailable and widel!consu.ed dru"s like opiu. and hashish were in the nineteenth centur!% or centuries,opiu. in particular had been in co..on use in >urope as a uni)ersal panacea for instance,a census in 51/ 8D in ?o.e re)ealed 95 shops sellin" opiu. in the cit! of ?o.e aloneH>scohotado 1996; /3% 0n the nineteenth centur! opiu. was e)en re"ularl! ad.inistered tochildren under brand na.es such as 8tkinson's 0nfant's (reser)ati)e, or treet's 0nfantLuietness3 Kohn 192; +43, althou"h the practice was also conde.ned b! so.e ph!sicians% 8lthou"h the addicti)e properties of opiu. had lon" been known see ewin19/4; /&43, and accounts such as Luince!'s .onfessions of an 0#ium $ater 12/13 werewidel! read, it was not until a decade or so after the in)ention of .orphine, durin" the125s && and then, e)en .ore decisi)el!, after the deri)ation of heroin in 124 && thatopiates be"an to cause widespread )isible death and destruction across >urope and be!ond%11 Durin" the first half of the nineteenth centur!, a lar"e bod! of .edical opiniondatin" its linea"e back to fi"ures such as ho.as !denha. in the se)enteenth centur!and be!ond3 still held stron"l! to the )iew that opiu. was essential to .edicine, and should be harnessed and put to .ore precise use for a )ariet! of ail.ents, rather than le"all! prohibited% 8lthou"h conte.porar! reports of Brown's beha)iour su""est that he was in facta total, al.ost .aniacal, opiu. addict,1/ the ai. of the $lements of Medicine && totransfor. the proble. of opiu. throu"h the creation of a 'science' of dosa"es && wouldne)ertheless ha)e been "ranted a welco.e e)en b! .an! sober&.inded doctors workin" inBritain at the end of the ei"hteenth centur!%

6

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2010http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2010http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2011http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2012http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2010http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2011http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2012


7/25

8t the turn of the nineteenth centur! Brown's work suddenl! "ained rapid popularit!in so.e parts of Ger.an! and 8ustria, throu"h the efforts of 8ndreas ?Mschlaub and8dalbert $arcus, who ran the hospital in Ba.ber" in northern Ba)aria% he! de)elopedtheir own $rregbar)eitstheorie e*citabilit! theor!3 on Brunonian principles% ?Mschlaubshowed that Brunonian 'e*citabilit!' was different in kind to aller's .ore .echanical

theor! of '?eiz' irritabilit!'3, to which it bore so.e rese.blance% he difference was thatBrown posited an internal e*citabilit! which is actualised b! the reception of sti.uliH theresponse to sti.uli was therefore the co.bined product of the sti.uli and the internale*citabilit! sou!opoulos 1922; 63% ti.ulation does not onl! co.e fro. the outside, butalso tri""ers the powers of internal e*citabilit!% Luantitati)e .easure.ents therefore had toe*press a proportional relationship% he e.er"ence of ichte's philosoph! in 194 pro)idedanother conte*t for the reception of Brown's ideas% 'ichte's Wissenschaftlehre is the theor!of e*citabilit!', wrote =o)alis, e*citedl! Wer)e 5; 5253% ichte's account of the relationship between the '0' and the 'not&0' found its biolo"ical correlate in the relationship between theor"anis. and its en)iron.ent%

chellin" too ca.e under Brown's influence, and saw in Brunonian .edicine thedo.ain in conte.porar! science which was .ost suitable to the de)elop.ent of "atur#hiloso#hie% 0n 199, the Ger.an idealist .o)e.ent in #ena had encountered a .aJor setback when ichte was dis.issed fro. the uni)ersit! of #ena on the char"e of atheis.%chellin", who was not under attack, left #ena in solidarit! with ichte, and de)oted hi.self for the ne*t few !ears to .edicine, in which he had put his hopes for the de)elop.ent of his )ersion of idealist philosoph!% '0f natural scientists are all % % % priests of the powers of nature, still the ph!sician "uards the sacred fire at the centre' Wer)e , 1513% is chosen.edical instructor was ?Mschlaub in Ba.ber", where he sta!ed before "oin" on to ienna,where the Brunonian .o)e.ent was also "ainin" force%15 chellin"'s 1irst 0utline of aSystem of a %hiloso#hy of "ature 1993 was stron"l! influenced b! Brown's ideas%

0 ha)e to sa! that rown was the first to understand the only true and genuine #rinci#les of all theories of organic nature, insofar as he posited the "round of life ine*citabilit!% Brown was the first who had had enou"h sense or fortitude to propound that parado* of li)in" pheno.ena, at all ti.es understood, but ne)er articulated % e was thefirst who understood that life consists neither in an absolute passi)it! nor in an absoluteacti)it!, that life is a product of a potenc! hi"her than the .erel! che.ical, but without bein" supernatural, i%e% a pheno.enon sub.itted to no natural laws or natural forceschellin" 199; 623%

0n this i.portant 199 s!ste., chellin" atte.pts to put Brunonian .edicine on a.ore solid "atur#hiloso#hische basis, 'deducin"' the concept of e*citabilit! accordin" totranscendental principles% e also atte.pts to sol)e the proble. of whether opiu. is asti.ulant or sedati)e b! dialectical .eans ibid, 65H cf% 16/3% chellin"'s own in)ol)e.entwith opiu. in this period has not been well&docu.ented, but certain inferences can be.ade% 0t is known, for instance, that in 12 chellin" prescribed opiu. to 8u"usteBMh.er, the 16 !ear&old dau"hter of his partner, Caroline chle"el, who died as a resultNeltner 19+4; 563% @hether chellin" continued to use opiu. after this tra"ed! is unclear, but his no)el .lara, written after the death of Caroline 1213, is full of i.plicit referencesto the hallucinator! properties of opiu.%

chellin" found in Brown the .aterials for a d!na.ic account of the de)elop.entof the life&process% e su""ested that his concept of a 'for.ati)e dri)e' operatin" throu"h biolo"ical e)olution was identical to Brown's; that 'or"anic for.ation happens onl! throu"h

7



8/25

the .ediation of the #rocess of e/citability' chellin" 199; 423 14owe)er, he thou"htthat Brown's apprehension of the principle of e*citabilit! was 'disco)ered .ore throu"h aluck! "ropin" than deduced in a scientific wa!', and stated that ?Mschlaub was the onl! oneof 'Brown's disciples 7to: ha)e understood the scientific seeds which lie in his principles'ibid, 623% Brown's own account of the d!na.ic relationship between sti.ulation and

e*citabilit! could be confusin"% or instance, o)ersti.ulation resulted in the e*haustion of internal e*citabilit!, but the latter itself also needed to be supported, and the prescription of sti.ulants was therefore also necessar!, so Brown's ar"u.ent went, for o)ersti.ulation aswell as understi.ulation% hus, rather than cal.in" o)er&e*citation throu"h bloodlettin" aswas still co..on3, one si.pl! had to ad.inister .ore opiu.% chellin" tried to elicit thedialectical .eanin" of such apparent contradictions% he poles of sthenia and asthenia asstates of disease re-uired that one e*plain what a 'nor.al a.ount of e*citabilit!' was%chellin" ar"ued that as e)er! indi)idual or"anis. is in a continual state of self&reproduction, it re-uires a special 'rh!th.', in which the de"rees of sensible recepti)it! and'.a"netic' acti)it! are balanced% Disease e.er"es when the rh!th. of self&reproduction isdisturbed, and -ualitati)e chan"es result in the or"anis. ibid 162&1/H see sou!opoulos19223%

chellin"'s atte.pt to trans.ute 'Brunonian' .edicine into a s!ste. of "atur#hiloso#hie in turn found its own enthusiastic disciples in ienna in the earl! !ears of the new centur!% ro. a histor! of the ienna $edical chool in the nineteenth centur!esk! 196+3, we learn that $alfatti pla!ed a leadin" role in this .o)e.ent% $alfattiworked at the ienna $edical chool as an assistant under #ohann (eter rank and his son#oseph3% esk! writes that under the ranks and $alfatti, 'the so&called 'sti.ulatin"'.edicines, opiu., cinchona bark, ca.phor, wine, etc, now do.inated the therap! of theienna clinic', in place of the custo.ar! pur"ati)es, la*ati)es and e*pectorants esk!196+; 13% owe)er, the new wa)e of Brunonian .edicine soon ran into proble.s after ite.er"ed that .ortalit! rates in the ienna General ospital had risen as a result of itsinfluence% (atients were fre-uentl! to be found l!in" drunk in their beds, after i.bibin"lar"e, 'in)i"oratin"' doses of wine ibid, 113% Gi)en Brown's fer)ent ad)ocac! of opiu., itis likel! that $alfatti and his cohorts were also deplo!in" lar"e -uantities of that substance%0n Anarchy and Hierarchy, $alfatti e*plicitl! .entions the use of opiu. as a .eans of sti.ulatin" what he calls 'artificial fire' $alfatti 124+; 1943% 1+ is deplo!.ent of alche.ical ideas in the book also su""ests the use of .ore unusual co.pounds such asarsenic and .ercur!3, but it is unlikel! he was usin" these at the ienna ospitalH this sideof his research was so.ethin" he went on to de)elop onl! later%

Despite the scandal at the hospital, $alfatti did not relin-uish ?o.antic .edicine%e beca.e a friend of 0"naz (aul ital ro*ler 12&12663, a follower of chellin", who.he was sti.ulated to stud!% he .ain publication b! chellin" on .edicine at this point wasthe 199 s!ste., with its speculati)e appropriation of Brunonian .edicine% 0n 129$alfatti published his first .aJor work, $ntwurf einer %athogenie aus der $&olution und 'e&olution des Lebens 7ketch of (atho"enesis fro. the >)olution and ?e)olution of ife:,which de)eloped chellin"ian "atur#hiloso#hie throu"h the .ore practical .edical ideasof Brown and ?Mschlaub% pecificall!, $alfatti atte.pts to appl! the principles of chellin"and Oken within the sphere of hu.an onto"en!% (refaced b! a lon" introduction in which$alfatti discusses the current state of "atur#hiloso#hie, the ai. of the work is to present aco.plete account of the onto"en! of the hu.an bein", fro. 'he ife of the etus' 12tusleben3, throu"h childhood, !outh, .aturit! and old a"e, endin" in '$aras.us'

8

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2014http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2015http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2014http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2015


9/25

wastin"&awa!3% chellin"'s ideas about the self&producti)e nature of the or"anis., alon"with his theor! of '.eta.orphosis', per.it a deter.ination of the internal polarities andthresholds of transfor.ation of each sta"e of de)elop.ent% 8lread! for $alfatti, thee.br!o is the pri.ar! .odel of self&de)elop.ent, with spatial di)isions arisin"autono.ousl! in the e"" throu"h polarisation of the li)er and brain% 0n 3he Anarchy and

Hierarchy of Knowledge, the .odel of the e.br!o beco.es co.pletel! do.inant, and'e.br!os' are unco)ered in the abdo.en, the thoracic re"ion, and e)en in the head of thede)elopin" hu.an bein"% he S)etch of %athogenesis is .ore con)entional, albeit withinthe nor.s of earl!&nineteenth centur! "atur#hiloso#hie% $alfatti is concerned to identif! periodic rh!th.s within the bod! itself, for instance, the c!cle of respiration, sleepin" andwakin", the periodic se*ual i.pulses in .ale and fe.ale on rh!th. and t!pe, cf% $alfatti129; **ii3% >ach de)elop.ental sta"e has its own "o)ernin" polarit!, and dise-uilibriu.within this polarit! is correlated with the tendenc! towards particular patholo"ies% >ach a"ehas its own particular diseases childhood has its rickets and scrofula, !outh phthisis7tuberculosis or lun" disease "enerall!:, .aturit! has arthritis, old a"e scirrhus and cancer3%he childhood propensit! to rickets, accordin" to $alfatti, is due to 'the abnor.all! persistin" direction of the two predo.inant polarities of head and sto.ach, brain and li)er'$alfatti 129; +2H esk! 196+; 593%

B! all accounts after the publication of his first book $alfatti went on to beco.ehi"hl! sou"ht&after as a ph!sician% e was ph!sician to the brother and sister of =apoleonBonaparte, as well as =apoleon 00, the Duke of ?eichstadt% 16 e is said to ha)e had anoutstandin" reputation as a doctor, and in 121+ the forei"n heads of state who con)ened for the Con"ress of ienna reputedl! benefited fro. sessions with $alfatti 8lt.an 1999; 243%he fact that $alfatti "ained such success as a ph!sician to ro!alt!, nobilit! and politiciansusin" a Brunonian s!ste. of .edicine su""ests that, if chellin"'s "atur#hiloso#hischetrans.utation of Brunonian .edicine failed to achie)e acceptance in the subse-uent'official' histor! of science and .edicine, it found a co.fortable niche as a s!ste. of .edicine for Elites% (erhaps it re.ained a .ore or less 'secret' s!ste. of .edicine, until itwas disco)ered and de)eloped b! the rench $artinists at the end of the centur!%

ro. 129 until 121, $alfatti was Beetho)en's doctor% he co.poser and thedoctor enJo!ed a close but turbulent relationship, and $alfatti attended the .aster at hisdeath&bed% Gi)en $alfatti's de)elop.ent of chellin"'s appropriation of Brunonianis., wecan i.a"ine $alfatti preparin" an elaborate s!ste. of in)i"oratin" and into*icatin" potionsfor Beetho)en in this period which coincides with the end of the second period in theco.poser's de)elop.ent and the be"innin" of the e*peri.ental final period3% 0n 1214,Beetho)en wrote a cantata for his doctor 4n lieto brindisi, @erke ohne Opuszahl, 153H'r >lise' was written for $alfatti's niece, herFse% owe)er, in 1216, Beetho)en be"an tode)elop the peculiar illness which was to pla"ue hi. until his death% here re.ainscontinuin" doubt about the nature of the illness, but Gail 8lt.an has noted that itss!.pto.s are consistent with arsenic poisonin"% @hispers about Beetho)en's condition of .ind persisted throu"hout his lifeti.e, but these ru.ours reached a pitch in 121, 'whenthe $aster showed a hi"h de"ree of e*citabilit! and his beha)iour and appearancedeteriorated' =ettl 19+; 993% 0n 8pril 121, there is a sudden breakin" off of relations with$alfatti, who Beetho)en then went on to denounce in a letter as a 'sl! 0talian 7 ein #fiffiger italiener : 7who: had powerful secondar! .oti)es 7 so star)e "ebenabsichten: where 0 wasconcerned and lacked both honest! 7 'edlich)eit :and insi"ht 7 $insicht :' etter of #une 19,121 to Countess >rdMd!H in Beetho)en 1961; 00, 6253% =e)ertheless, Beetho)en returned to

9



10/25

$alfatti for help in 12/ durin" his final illness% $alfatti prescribed the ailin" Beetho)en a.i*ture of ru., tea and su"ar, and Beetho)en wrote '$iracle of .iraclesP % % % Onl! throu"h$alfatti's science shall 0 be sa)ed' cited in ha!er 19/1; 15/3% owe)er, Beetho)en soon be"an to o)erindul"e in the frozen punch, and died a few .onths later% he possibilit! that$alfatti correctl! saw that Beetho)en's illness was incurable and therefore tacitl! licensed

his o)erindul"ence in the punch should not be ruled out, and in fact this is how ha!er presents it in his life of Beetho)en ha!er 19/1; 15/3% his in turn leads to the possibilit!that the reason for Beetho)en's break with $alfatti was a conflict o)er dosa"esH Beetho)en.a! ha)e been o)erindul"in" in 1216&1, which would ha)e been linked with his chan"e in beha)iour and appearance%

0n 1216, $alfatti took up $es.er's theor! of ani.al .a"netis. in a .odified "atur#hiloso#hische )ersion% 'e had .eanwhile beco.e a practitioner )er! .uch inde.and in ienna % % % and treated patients sufferin" fro. paral!sis and chronic sin"ultus b!.a"netic healin" but without a ba-uet' esk! 196+; 513%1 0n 121 $alfatti beca.e personal ph!sician to the 8rchduchess Beatri* of >ste, and was sent b! the iennese courtto in)esti"ate ani.al .a"netis. in the clinic of K%C% @olfart, a follower of $es.er whohad set up a state subsidised clinic in Berlin for the .a"netic treat.ent of the poor Gauld199/; 293% 0n 1251, he was asked b! $etternich, the 8ustrian pri.e .inister, to care for hisseriousl! ill son% 0n 1254, there is record of a )isit to the Catholic theosophist ranz )onBaader, with who. he discussed the decadence of .edicine due to .aterialis.% Both )onBaader and $alfatti saw in ani.al .a"netis. the proof of the incorrectness of .aterialis., but a"reed that $es.er hi.self had been an 'arch&.aterialist' whose therap! could onl! beunderstood properl! within chellin"ian pantheis. ai)re 1996; +53% 0n 125, $alfattiwas honoured b! the 8ustrian "o)ern.ent, and beca.e a .e.ber of the nobilit! an $dler 3% e beca.e the first president of the iennese ociet! of Doctors 5esellschaft der 6r!te3, founded in 125 chMnbauer 1944; 453% 0n 124+, when he was se)ent! !ears old,he published Studies on the Anarchy and Hierarchy of Knowledge% 0n Anarchy and Hierarchy, $alfatti recalls presentin" his ideas on .athesis in 1241 in a speech at the endof his ter. as president of the iennese 5esellschaft $alfatti 124+; 3%

Despite $alfatti's on"oin" success with .e.bers of Elite societ!, a series of his patients appear to ha)e .!steriousl! died in his care% =o doubt our first suspicions will bedirected at the notorious Brunonian s!ste. of .edicine itself% owe)er, the truth .a! not be so si.ple% $alfatti is suspected of bein" a state assassin in Gail 8lt.an's historical'whodunnit', 1atal Lin)s: 3he .urious -eaths of eetho&en and the 3wo "a#oleons 19993%8ccordin" to 8lt.an, $alfatti poisoned Beetho)en, dilutin" lead into the punch,dispatchin" both =apoleon's sister and the Duke of ?eichstadt in si.ilar wa!s% 8lt.ansu""ests that $alfatti was workin" for the 8ustrian "o)ern.ent who had interests insuppressin" the Duke3, and that this e*plains how he re.ained unscathed, beco.in" awealth! and respected fi"ure in the nobilit!, e)en after a series of his hi"h&profile patientshad e*pired 8lt.an 1999; 25&9, 121&/+3% he concludes that $alfatti is the pri.esuspect in 'the cri.e of the nineteenth centur!' 1963%

One starts to feel that there so.ethin" a little too perfect about that na.e, Malfatti,with its literal .eanin" of 'ill&fashioned', and its se.antic resonances mal fati % % % 'baddeeds'A, 'ill fated'A, or Just 'badl! .ade'A3% @ho was this characterA @as he one of the bi""est .edical buffoons in histor!, accidentall! killin" the "reatest co.poser in the @estA@as he a state assassinA Or was he in fact Just an e*cellent Brunonian doctor, whounsuspectin"l! e*posed the disastrous shortco.in"s and dan"ers of Brunonianis. as a

10

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2017http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2017http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2017


11/25

's!ste.' of .edicineA et us note onl! that in late /+, a sa.ple of Beetho)en's hair showed the presence of )ast -uantities of lead, thus appearin" to confir. the theor! that hewas poisoned% Beetho)en foru.s on the internet are currentl! ali)e with speculations aboutthe doin"s of the sinister Doctor $alfatti% But the truth .a! be .ore co.plicated than Gail8lt.an .akes out% er thesis is hi"hl! speculati)e, and o)erlooks the possibilit! that

$alfatti's 'poisonin"' of his clients could be the result of o)erzealous application of Brunonian .edicine, .i*ed with alche.ical recipes in)ol)in" to*ic .inerals% or instance,if arsenic were detected in Beetho)en's re.ains, that would not necessaril! .ean that hewas deliberatel! poisoned b! it% 8lthou"h arsenic was indeed the poison of choice at thisti.e, it was used as an aphrodisiac and for health reasons, as well as ha)in" a lon" traditionof alche.ical use%12 0t see.s possible that arsenic, alon" with other to*ic substances, .i"htha)e ser)ed as eli*irs in $alfatti's phar.ac!, to be used in carefull! re"ulated dosa"es,rather than as poisons% @hether the lead found in Beetho)en's hair can be traced back to$alfatti will be a )er! difficult -uestion to answer, and is co.plicated b! the fact that$alfatti's .edicine was b! this point 12/3 alread! hi"hl! unorthodo*%

@e lea)e aside now the -uestion of whether $alfatti was responsible for the 'cri.eof the nineteenth centur!'% $ore research needs to be done% he tantalisin" report that the>uropean heads of state paid hi. a )isit at an international con"ress in 121 certainl! raisesthe possibilit! at least that $alfatti pla!ed an i.portant role in an s!ste. of .edicine for use b! Elites, the risks of which .i"ht indeed ha)e been known b! those who felt itnecessar! to take the., in order to "ain andQor .aintain power, be it creati)e or political%owe)er, $alfatti's turn in the 125s to .es.eris. and theosoph!, cul.inatin" in the publication of Anarchy and Hierarchy, is still unaccounted for% he ne*t section ai.s to brin" to li"ht the historical back"round of $alfatti's transition fro. Brunonian "atur#hiloso#hie in the S)etch of a %athogenesis to the e*tra)a"ant theosophical theoriesof .athesis that characterise Anarchy and Hierarchy%

Malfatti and the Esoteric Turn of German dealism

0n 126, chellin" .ade the ac-uaintance of the ranz )on Baader 16+&12413,who at that ti.e doubled as an en"ineer and as a )ocal ad)ocate for the introduction of thetheosophical thinkin" of BMh.e, aint&$artin and the Ger.an .!stical tradition intoCatholic thou"ht and practice% or Baader, the ter. 'theosoph!' indicated a world&)iew inwhich hu.an consciousness is understood as the co.in" to consciousness of God hi.self%0n BMh.e's theosoph!, the course of the world, its de)elop.ent in nature and histor!, wasunderstood as the .anifestation of a dra.a takin" place in God hi.self% Baader had foundin BMh.e a .eans of e*periencin" the life of God, and thus achie)in" a )ersion of theintellectual intuition apparentl! e*cluded b! Kant% Baader also introduced the discussion of se*ualit! into theosoph!% 0n an article published in chellin"'s 7ahrbücher in 122, Baader su""ested that there is an analo"! between knowin" and se*ualit!, and that se*ual instinctand consciousness contains a ne"lected ke! to co"nition% e went on to de)elop anelaborate theor! of lo)e, in which the i.a"e of the her.aphrodite ser)ed as the s!.bol of the di)ine union achie)ed throu"h the se*ual act see Betanzos 19923%

0n the fa.ous 129 essa! on hu.an freedo. chellin" appealed to BMh.e andBaader for a conception of pantheis. which could, unlike pinoza's, take account of thee*istence of freedo. and the choice of "ood and e)il% he answer was to treat hu.anfreedo. as a replication of God's own inner stru""le between radical selfhood e)il, wrath3and uni)ersalit! the "ood, lo)e3% '@rath' 7 8orn: was a di)ine force rather than a hu.anweakness, and 'lo)e' was the ele.entar! for. of uni)ersalit!% 8s ho.as O' $eara showed

11



12/25

in his 192/ work 'omantic 9dealism and 'oman .atholicism, subtitled Schelling and the3heologians, Baader's influence was decisi)e for chellin"% '0 know a .an who is b! naturea subterranean .an', he wrote "lowin"l! of Baader at one point durin" these !ears, 'inwho. knowin" has beco.e solid realit!H in who. knowin" has beco.e bein", Just as in.etals sound and li"ht recei)e .ass' O'$eara 192/; 24H 'Kritische ra".ente', in Wer)e ;

/43% 0n 126, under the influence of Baader, chellin" had announced his renunciation of the ichtean episte.olo"ical approach to philosoph!, statin" that he now was not afraid tostand in 'the co.pan! of .!stics' O'$eara 192/; 24H Wer)e , 1/3% ro. 126 onwards,chellin" beca.e full! i..ersed in the occult, workin" on so.na.bulis. and'clair)o!ance'% is later philosoph!, cul.inatin" in the .onu.ental '(hilosoph! of $!tholo"!', was to be do.inated b! theosoph!% ollowin" Baader, his $r!eugungsdiale)ti) or theor! of potenc!Qpower, beca.e .ore centred around the .odel of the reproducti)e actsee Beach 1994 for an account of chellin"'s theor! of potencies3% owe)er, chellin"'sa.bi)alence towards Christianit! beca.e a point of increasin" disa"ree.ent between thetwo thinkers% or Baader, theosoph! was ulti.atel! a self&re)elation of the Christian God%chellin", on the other hand, increasin"l! tended to treat all reli"ions and .!tholo"!,whether Christian, (ersian or 0ndian, as e-uall! Justified within their own sphere of historical de)elop.ent% Baader saw throu"h chellin"'s clai. that the dialectic of .!tholo"ies ter.inated in an o)erco.in" of .!tholo"! itself in the internalised conscienceof Christianit!% chellin" had in fact refashioned the notion of 're)elation' b! de)elopin" theher.etic idea that the onl! re)elation is to be found in the recapitulation in the .ind of cos.ic and ci)ilizational histor!, with .!tholo"! as a "uide% Baader was also irritated thatchellin" had taken to .ockin" aint&$artin in his lectures O'$eara 192/; 1543% 19 ereJected the late chellin"'s de)elop.ent of theosoph! as barbarous and pa"an% 'he li"ht of Christ', he said, 'did not co.e fro. the swa.p of .!tholo"!' ibid3%

0n his 129 S)etch of %athogenesis, $alfatti was alread! notin" ?oschlRub'stendencies towards 'theosophical' thinkin" $alfatti 129; )3% ?oschlRub was tr!in" tofollow chellin" on his increasin"l! erratic path sou!poulos 192/; /3% chellin" had presented the Ger.an&speakin" Brunonians with a philosophical deplo!.ent of Brunonianis., but had hi.self then "one on to throw hi.self into .!sticis. andtheosoph!% or se)eral !ears, chellin" had been followin" the ideas and practices of theBrunonian doctors && but could the Brunonians now follow hi. into theosoph!A 0n 124+,with Anarchy and Hierarchy, $alfatti at last outdoes an! pre)ious atte.pt at s!nthesisin"?o.antic "atur#hiloso#hie and theosoph!, with results unprecedented in either .edicineor in the histor! of reli"ious thou"ht% $alfatti reJects the residual traces of Christianit! inchellin", and traces the ori"ins of theosophical thou"ht back to indu .!sticis., which isthe ori"in, he clai.s, of a .!sterious, ecstatic techni-ue of thinkin" he calls .athesis%$alfatti tells us that the '.other&idea' of his later studies is 'the unit! of science' as spelledout in 'the .!stical 0rganon of .athesis of the 0ndians' $alfatti 124+; **)ii3% 0n hisopenin" re.arks to the first stud!, on .athesis itself, he asserts that .etaph!sics and.athe.atics ori"inall! .aintained a li)in" unit! in ancient 0ndia% 0f we look hard enou"h,we can find in .athe.atics the '.ute debris of a spiritual .onu.ent' ibid, 63% $athe.aticsdid not be"in as a for.al science, but functioned as an essential part of an inte"rated s!ste.of esoteric knowled"e and ecstatic practice% he nu.erical decad, and the for.s "eneratedwithin and fro. it, were ori"inall! related to a s!ste. of occult anato.!, in which the )italforces that rule the bod! were ordered hierarchicall! in polarities, potencies and planes% he purpose of mathesis was to articulate bodil! forces nu.ericall!, identif!in" their points of

12

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2019http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2019http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2019


13/25

threshold and transfor.ation, and relatin" the. back to .acrocos.ic patterns in thee)ol)in" uni)erse% @hat $alfatti has to sa! about 0ndian .!sticis. is rooted in ideas fro.the antric tradition of 0ndian .!sticis., the "reat se*o&cos.ic s!ste. which took hold of $edie)al 0ndia for se)eral centuries before under"oin" con)ulsion and dissolution ataround the ti.e of the flowerin" of the >uropean ?enaissance%/ $alfatti puts chellin"'s

e.phasis on $r!eugung 7procreation: ri"ht at the centre of his s!ste., takin" the concept at both se*ual and .etaph!sical le)els, atte.ptin" to find the pathwa!s between the two% econtinuall! focusses on the se*ual and ecstatic aspects of 0ndian .!sticis., la!in" out a)ast se*ualised ontolo"!, cul.inatin" as in Baader's s!ste.3 in the 'her.aphroditic'consciousness of the hu.an se*ual act% 0n Anarchy and Hierarchy it is as if chellin"'s finaltheosoph! co.es to co.pletion in a hallucinator! antris., in which the li)in" bod! of God, in its .ost co.plete self&de)elop.ent, itself appears in her.aphroditic for. inhu.an se*ualit!, where the co.in"&to&di)ine&consciousness beco.es identical to the ps!chose*ual attain.ent, alon" antric lines, of spiritual 'bise*ualit!'% his 's!ste.',unco)ered b! $alfatti, is said to for. the basis for all subse-uent >astern and @esternesoteric thou"ht, and now furnishes us with the lon"&lost ke! to the ulti.ate s!ste. of .edicine%

Ger.an ?o.anticis. had had a lon"&standin" fascination with 0ndian tradition, be"innin" with erder and reachin" an earl! hi"h point with riedrich chle"el's Languageand the Wisdom of the 9ndians 1223H $alfatti refers to chle"el's work as an influence%/10n his %hiloso#hy of Mythology, chellin" describes the triad of Brah.a, hi)a and ishnuas e*e.plifications of his three pri.ar! di)ine powers% chellin" did not "i)e pri.ac! toan! one world reli"ion, and thus treated the 0ndian trimurti as parallel to the >"!ptian triadof !phon, Osiris and orus, and indeed the Christian trinit! of God, on and ol!pirit%// $alfatti is .ore reckless in su""estin" that there is one uni)ersal philosoph!which e.anates first of all fro. 0ndian .!sticis., and then repeats itself in different for.sthrou"hout the histor! of reli"ion, throu"h the =eo&(latonis. of (roclus and Dion!sius the8reopa"ite, down to BMh.e and aint&$artin% his con)iction that so.ethin" eternal isrepeated b! )arious 'initiates' throu"hout histor! is a back"round assu.ption of $alfatti's book, as well as of the esoteric and occult traditions in "eneral% he influence of riedrichCreuzer's idealist histor! of reli"ion, Symboli) und Mythologie der alten 2l)er 121&1/3is also apparent%/5Creuzer had clai.ed that there was ori"inall! one prehistoric reli"ion,s!ste.atised b! a caste of Oriental priests, who had deliberatel! )eiled their doctrines ins!.bolsH the cult had tra)elled throu"h >"!pt and arri)ed in Greece, where it underwent ade"radation into anthropo.orphis.%/4 8lthou"h $alfatti refers to a nu.ber of sourcesapart fro. Creuzer he adheres to Creuzer's h!pothesis that a 'pri.ordial re)elation' in theOrient is at the root of all world reli"ions%

But $alfatti's .ain source for 0ndian reli"ion is =iklas $ller's 5lauben, Wissenund Kunst der alten Hindus 73he eliefs, Science and Art of the Ancient Hindus: 12//3%he illustrations of indu deities and fi"ures which appear unchan"ed in Anarchy and Hierarchy are but a s.all selection fro. o)er a hundred re.arkable en"ra)in"s appendedto $ller's )olu.e, with detailed e*plications% =iklas $ller 1&12+13 worked as acurator at the .unicipal art "aller! at $ainz, writin" local histories alon"side erudite workson 0ndian reli"ion and $ithrais. Kucharski 1962; /3% is 12// work on 0ndian philosoph!, reli"ion and art is i..ense and bizarre% Despite the acknowled"ed influence of Creuzer and GMrres, his approach is ori"inal, and is structured around a hi"hl!.etaph!sical and detailed account of the relationships between indu deities, based on

13

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2020http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2021http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2022http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2023http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2024http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2024http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2020http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2021http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2022http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2023http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2024


14/25

their place in a s!ste. of e.anations% On this basis, there are len"th! discussions of cos.icse*ualit! cf% $ller 12//; /99&55/3, includin" references to 'hakti&ener"!' 5/53 whichforeshadow $alfatti's later se*o&cos.ic ideas% he twelfth chapter deals with the the.e of 'inner Doublin"' 7innern $nt!weiung :, rooted in the stru""le of two cos.ic foundin" principles of pri.al "ood and pri.al e)il ibid, 4653% he funda.ental idea that the hu.an

bein" is 'duple*' all the wa! up, fro. its ph!siolo"! up to the her.aphroditic consciousnessof se*ual acti)it!, is central in $alfatti's book, findin" its fullest e*position in the finalchapter on the 'Double e*' i.plied b! her.aphroditic consciousness%

he inau"ural character of $alfatti's Anarchy and Hierarchy co.es fro. its atte.ptto s!nthesise 0ndian reli"ious ideas with conte.porar! ideas about so.na.bulis.% =either 'histor! of reli"ion', nor '.edicine', $alfatti's te*t stands at the ori"in of the atte.pts of nineteenth centur! occultis. to co.bine ancient lore with conte.porar! theories of so.na.bulis.% is "uidin" clai. is that .odern "atur#hiloso#hie, in conJunction withconte.porar! theories of .es.eris., is the condition of possibilit! for the redisco)er! of the powers of ecstatic healin" first disco)ered in 0ndian occultis.%

hat which, in the conte.plation of life, was attained in principle throu"h the.ortification of the senses, b! the abase.ent of the indi)idual, has been subJect in our ti.es althou"h rarel! with enou"h purit! and ele)ation3 throu"h the .eans of a sort of artificial anticipation of death ani.al .a"netis.3% he sa.e fact has lon" been obser)edin the case of fortuitous alterations of health, which ha)e for their particular effect theconcentration and .o.entar! ele)ation of the so.atic life of the indi)idual% 0n the firstcase it is called artificial so.na.bulis., in the second case spontaneous so.na.bulis.$alfatti 124+; +3%

or $alfatti, the process of self&healin" throu"h natural and artificialso.na.bulis. in)ol)es the liberation of the sa.e forces deplo!ed in the occult anato.! of antric .!sticis.% But the 0ndians had also had the ad)anta"e of the 'ad.irable .!sticalOr"anon of .athesis' as the .eans to articulate a theosophical anato.!% Conte.porar!nature&philosophical .edicine, he ar"ued, should therefore return to 0ndian tradition inorder to e*ploit the disco)eries opened up b! recent research into so.na.bulis.% or whereas conscious thou"ht is nor.all! deter.ined b! self&consciousness, if consciousnessis rela*ed throu"h natural or artificial so.na.bulis., then the sin"le&.inded apprehensionof ps!chic tendencies which are usuall! unconscious beco.es possible, allowin" in turn for the production of a hi"her s!nthesis of co"nition% $alfatti's Anarchy and Hierarchy is anatte.pt to control the power of drea.s, to harness what Colerid"e called the 'so.niacal.a"ic % % % superinduced in the acti)e powers of the .ind' durin" states of artificiall!induced so.na.bulis. Colerid"e 1252; 000, 593% '@hat an astonishin" ad)anta"e .anhas drawn fro. the ni"ht&side of his life', re.arks $alfatti in a passa"e that is still to befound echoin" in Deleuze's late essa! 'o a)e Done with #ud".ent' Deleuze 1995; 153;'to open up throu"h sleep 7 sommeil :, b! .eans of a state of interior )i"il the )i"il of sleep7la &eille du sommeil :3, the hi"hest, .ost hidden astral re"ion; this is what the .a"neticde)elop.ent of clair)o!ance and ecstas! de.onstrates to us, in the sa.e wa! as the naturallife of drea.s' $alfatti 124+; 1+53%

$alfatti's Anarchy and Hierarchy inhabits the borderline between .edicine albeitof an unorthodo* kind3 and occultis.% 0f GuEnon is ri"ht to assert the influence of $alfattion later occultis., this is not onl! due to his s!ncretic co.bination of nu.erolo"!,er.etis. and 0ndian reli"ion, but also due to his e*plicit discussion and deplo!.ent of dru"s in the production of 'artificial so.na.bulis.'% @e find traces here of a historical

14


15/25

bifurcation between 'occultis.' and 'esotericis.'% @hereas occultists like tanislas deGuaita, (apus and (aul Edir in his Les #lantes magi+ues, 19/3 wrote e*plicitl! about therole of dru"s in attainin" altered or 'hi"her' consciousness, the 'esotericist' tradition tendedto cast its "aze awa! fro. the haunted, half&swa.ped a)enues e*plored b! the ps!chophar.acolo"ical alche.ist% 8lthou"h $alfatti did not think of hi.self as an

occultist, it is not i.possible to see how his ori"inal s!nthesis of dru"&e*peri.entation with0ndian ideas of 'subtle' anato.! .i"ht ha)e inspired the ad)entures of a re)i)ed 'occultis.'at the end of the nineteenth&centur!%

Deleuze and Occultism

@e ha)e seen that $alfatti's influence was felt at a nu.ber of 'sin"ular' points in thede)elop.ent of .odern thou"ht and culture, in the fields of .usic and .edicine, and in fin(de(siècle occultis.% he histor! of the real and .anifold influence of the post&chellin"ian )ein of 'occultis.' on later nineteenth and earl! twentieth&centur! thou"ht andculture has !et to be written% he na.es of the foundin" fi"ures of .odern occultis. &&$alfatti and @ronski && re.ain al.ost unknown, and Deleuze was unusual for referrin" tothe. at all% o what e*tent, then, .i"ht the ideas of $alfatti ha)e continued to influence or infor. Deleuze's '.ature' philosoph!A Because of the difficult! of $alfatti's central work, Anarchy and Hierarchy, and the need for a relati)el! detailed preli.inar! anal!sis of the.eans for e)aluatin" works of this nature,/+ it is not possible to atte.pt here an!substanti)e co.parison of $alfatti's and Deleuze's theses% '$athesis, cience and(hilosoph!', Deleuze's te*t on $alfatti, .oreo)er, is often "no.ic in itself, particularl! inits passa"es on the .eanin" of 'initiation'%/6he followin" re.arks .erel! atte.pt tosu""est, as .ini.all! and "entl! as possible, that so.e of Deleuze's ideas .i"ht berendered .ore intelli"ible b! bein" related back to the .odern >uropean occult tradition% /

or e)idence, let us refer to Just one of Deleuze's last essa!s, 'o a)e Done with#ud".ent' 19953% 0n this essa! && which .akes no bones about bein" hi"hl! spooked &&Deleuze is to be found inhabitin" the sa.e border zone between .edicine and .a"ic as hisold friend Doctor $alfatti% 'o a)e Done with #ud".ent' presents four interconnected practices that Deleuze holds to be essential for a proposed ethics that will break with'#udeo&Christian' .oralit! and in the words of 8ntonin 8rtaud3 'ha)e done with the Jud".ent of God'% 8lon"side 'power' and the capacit! for 'co.bat', Deleuze proposes that)isionar! dru" e*perience and occult anato.! ser)e as pri)ile"ed .eans for escapin" 'theconsciousness of bein" in debt to the deit!' which, he sa!s followin" =ietzsche3, is the basic condition of the s!ste. of 'Jud".ent' Deleuze 1995; 1/63% he conJunction of dru"&e*perience, on the one hand, and occult anato.!, on the other, installs us fir.l! back within the conte*t of .odern occultis.% Distinct echoes of the !oun" Deleuze's earl!encounter with $alfatti can be heard, as he retraces in this piece the path fro. )isionar!dru" e*perience to occult anato.!% Deleuze was one of the few philosophers to continuethe tradition of ps!chedelic e*peri.entation whose last "reat philosophical proponent was@illia. #a.es% here are a nu.ber of passa"es in his work which discuss dru"&e*peri.entation see Boothro!d /6; 1++&2+3% 0n an article published in 19+ for therench $ncyclo#edia 4ni&ersalis, 'chizophrenia and ociet!', Deleuze .ade a case for thei.portance of ps!chophar.acolo"! in the stud! of ps!chopatholo"!%/2 0n passa"es of A3housand %lateaus, howe)er, and 'o a)e Done with #ud".ent', the the.es of dru"&e*perience and occultis. are re&united once .ore, as the! were in $alfatti% Dru"into*ication, Deleuze tells us, can harness the power of drea.s, throu"h .aster! of what hecalls sommeil a ter. which is inaccuratel! translated as 'sleep' in >n"lish3% (e!ote rites, for

15

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2025http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2025http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2026http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2027http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2028http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2025http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2026http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2027http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2028


16/25

instance, 'are not drea.s, but states of into*ication or sommeil '% here e*ists, sa!s Deleuze,a 'drea.less sommeil in which one nonetheless does not fall asleep 7dormer :'H and,.oreo)er, 'such is the state of Dion!sian into*ication' Deleuze 1995; 153%/9 hen,i..ediatel! after this passa"e, so e)ocati)e of $alfatti's own description of the powers of sommeil , Deleuze proceeds to i.pl! that the basis of his own theor! of the 'bod! without

or"ans' lies in ideas of occult anato.!, indirectl! deri)ed fro. the tradition of antris.%'he bod! without or"ans', he be"ins, 'is an affecti)e, intensi)e, anarchist bod! that consistssolel! of poles, zones, thresholds, and "radients'% e states that D%% awrence 'paints a picture of such a bod!, with the sun and .oon as its poles, with its planes, its sections, andits ple*uses' Deleuze 1995; 1513% his is the sole e*a.ple "i)en, alon"side a brief reference to 8rtaud's use of the notion which is also occult&influenced3% Deleuze isreferrin" here to awrence's 1antasia of the 4nconscious 19/53, which contains a chapter entitled '(le*uses, (lanes and so on', an account of the 'subtle bod!', .ade up of a ')ital.a"netis.' or"anised in d!na.ic polarities%5 awrence's account of the cha)ras in thischapter, howe)er, is itself deri)ed, accordin" to @illia. ork indall 1949H confir.ed b!$ont"o.er! 19943, fro. another piece of occultis., a antric interpretation of the Book of ?e)elation no less && 3he A#ocaly#se 4nsealed , published in 191 b! #a.es (r!se, anassociate of $ada.e Bla)atsk!'s "roup of heosophists% (r!se reads the Book of ?e)elation as a )eiled account of occult anato.!, deri)ed fro. ancient antric sources%51e atte.pts to relate each of the s!.bols of the ?e)elation back to the 'intensi)e self&e)olution' of esoteric practice%5/ 8lthou"h it is i.possible to ar"ue that awrence's accountof the bod! in 1antasia of the 4nconscious not to .ention his own A#ocaly#se of 19513 isentirel! deri)ed fro. andQor entirel! consistent with (r!se's own )ersion of antrictheosoph!, it shares .an! of the sa.e pre.ises% >)en thou"h awrence de)otes hi.self toshakin" off the faith in a secret 'radition' that is a recurrin" .otif in occultist thou"ht, hisaccount of the 'subtle', 'intensi)e' bod! is structurall! si.ilar to the theories of occultanato.! ad)anced b! both (r!se and $alfatti%

he si.ilarit! of the occult anato.ies of awrence, (r!se and $alfatti .a! be dueto the fact that each indirectl! refers itself back to ideas deri)ed fro. 0ndian occultis.Halternati)el!, the structural identit! .a! arise due to an appro*i.ation of practices betweeneach of the three thinkers% >ither wa!, it would be unwise to i"nore the te*tual connections between Deleuze's 'bod! without or"ans' and occult ideas of the 'subtle bod!'% 8"ain, it isi.possible to ar"ue that Deleuze's account of the bod! without or"ans in 'o a)e Donewith #ud".ent' is deri&ed from andQor fully consistent with an! of the )ersions of occultanato.! held b! awrence, (r!se or $alfatti% awrence onl! 'paints a picture' of the Bod!without Or"ansH there could be an! nu.ber of pictures and e)en portraitists of this peculiar 'Bod!'% But it is hard to escape the i.pression that so.e passa"es of the late Deleuze dosee. to carr! the last, d!in" and frenzied echoes of the >uropean occult tradition% 8fter ha)in" directed the reader in search of a picture of the 'bod! without or"ans' to awrence'ste*t on ple*uses and planes, Deleuze states; 'this nonor"anic )italit! is the relation of the bod! to the i.perceptible forces and powers that seize hold of it, or that it seizes hold of, Just as the .oon takes hold of a wo.an's bod!' Deleuze 1995; 1513% 0t is difficult toi.a"ine a .ore arcane utteranceH it sounds like so.ethin" out of E)i's -octrine and 'itual of High Magic%

0n order be able to assess the possible influence or not3 of occultis. on Deleuze,and on .odern thou"ht in "eneral, we need to be open to reconcei)in" our ideas about thehistor! of .odern >uropean philosoph!, its relation to practical techni-ues which put in

16

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2029http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2030http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2031http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2032http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2032http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2029http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2030http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2031http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#Note%2032


17/25

-uestion the traditional di)ision between bod! and .ind, and to s!ste.s of '.edicine' thatha)e .ore in co..on with ?enaissance .a"ic or 0ndian occultis. than with an! current@estern conceptions of .edicine%

!otes

1 Called '#ean' in the rench translationH so.eti.es also called 'Gio)anni'%

/ he rench biblio"raph! of Deleuze's writin"s published at the end of 3he -esert 9sland , a collection of earl! articles o.its all te*ts published prior to 19+5, apparentl! inaccordance with wishes e*pressed b! Deleuze prior to his death% owe)er, an >n"lish biblio"raph! b! i.oth! $urph! lists the .issin" articles $urph! 19963% hese writin"sare on -uite disparate subJects% he! be"in with two so.ewhat libido&soaked .usin"s onse*ualit!, centred around a pronounced cult of wo.an e%"% 'Description of a @o.an','tate.ents and (rofiles'3% ee Keith @% aulkner's translations of these articles in Angela)i;5 //3 and 2;5 /53 respecti)el!, and his co..entar! on the. aulkner //3% heother articles are 'ro. Christ to the Bour"eoisie', published in the literar! Journal $s#ace,which co.bines esoteric, elitist political ideas with a dialectical account of the relationshipof Christian 'interiorit!' and .odern capitalist bour"eois subJecti)it!H and an introduction toDiderot's La 'eligieuse fro. 194% 8ll these te*ts are e*tre.el! interestin" and deser)efurther stud!H there .a! e)en be a funda.ental unit! to these writin"s as a "roup% But it isar"uabl! the introduction to $alfatti's Mathesis that is the .ost interestin" for Deleuzescholars, for both Deleuze's introduction and, .ore intri"uin"l!, $alfatti's own work, shedune*pected li"ht on so.e of the .ore obscure concepts of Deleuze's philosoph!% Da)id?e""io has posted a draft translation of Deleuze's $alfatti piece online see ?e""io /53%

5 0t still contains a 1249 preface b! a (olish $essianist, Christian Ostrowski% ee?e""io /5%

4 ee the philosophical chapter of (apus's What is 0ccultismA, translated into>n"lish in 1915 (apus 193% 0n his article on $alfatti, Da)id ?e""io notes that another $artinist, (aul Edir, "a)e lectures on $alfatti at the turn of the centur! to the Amities s#irituelles or"anisation in (aris ?e""io /53%

+ (apus clai.ed to ha)e been initiated into $artinis. in 122/ b! a .es.erist,enri Delaa"e 12/+&122/3% Guaita is the .ore eni".atic fi"ure, and beca.e notoriouswhen #oris&Karl u!s.ans broadcasted alle"ations that Guaita had killed another renchwizard the 8bbE Boullan3 in a .a"ical feud% e denied this alle"ation, clai.in" thatBoullan had died of natural causes3% Guaita wrote a .assi)e and unfinished3 atte.pt at as!nthesis of occult philosoph!, 3he Ser#ent of 5enesis, based on the ideas of #akob BMh.eand >liphas E)i a.on" othersH the last chapter of the third )olu.e was to be de)oted to.athesis, but he died of a .orphine o)erdose at the a"e of 56% Guaita also possessed a cop!of the 1249 rench edition of $alfatti's Mathesis, which is described as 'e*tre.el! curiousand rare' in the auction catalo"ue of his occult librar! (hilipon 1299; 2+3% Da)id 8llenar)e!'s recent sur)e! of $artinis., eyond $nlightenment: 0ccultism and %olitics in Modern 1rance /+3 "i)es a lucid and colourful account of the .o)e.ent and itsinfluences% he $artinists were e*tre.el! prolific for about two decades, with two Journals, L*9nitiation and La oile d*9sis, and "roups spreadin" as far afield as 0tal! and?ussia% L*9nitiation was founded in 1222 and continued until 1914% here was also anoffshoot of $artinis., the Gnostic Catholic Church, which atte.pted to brin" about areturn to .ore Gnostic ideas about the relation of spirit to .atter% or this church, the wa!of sal)ation la! throu"h the two e*tre.es of libertinis. or asceticis.% owe)er, the

17

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#1http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#2http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#3http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#4http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#5http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#1http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#2http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#3http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#4http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#5


18/25

popularit! of these .o)e.ents did not sur)i)e the first world war, which clai.ed the li)esof .an! of the ke! pla!ers%

6 he .edie)alist $arie&$adeleine Da)! edited a series entitled 'ources and ires'7ources et feu*: for Griffon d'Or% Deleuze had dedicated his article 'ro. Christ to theBour"eoisie' to her, and had attended intellectual soirEes hosted b! her durin" and after the

war also attended b! (ierre Klossowski, #ac-ues acan and #ean (aulhan3% 0n the book series directed b! her are listed a book on pal.istr! with a preface b! Da)! herself3,C!rille @ilczkowski's Man and the 8odiac: $ssay on 3y#ological Synthesis, selectionsfro. (aracelsus, #ean ?icher's 194 book on the esoteric si"nificance of the works of GErard de =er)al, trindber"'s 9nferno and, rather on its own, ucien Gold.ann's Man,.ommunity and the World in the %hiloso#hy of 9mmanuel Kant %

$an! of the artists and writers Deleuze is interested in for e*a.ple, 8rtaud,Castaneda, late D%% awrence, $alcol. owr!, $allar.E, $ichau*, tockhausen, illiersde l'0sle 8da.3 ha)e stron" interests in occultis.%

2 8lthou"h >liphas E)i is often held to ha)e inau"urated the rench occult re)i)alin 12++ with his -octrine and 'itual of High Magic translated into >n"lish as3ranscendental Magic3, E)i was hi.self first initiated into the occult b! @ronskiH prior tothe !ear he spent with @ronski, he had been a utopian socialist Chacornac 19/6; 151&159H$c0ntosh 19/; 96&1H @illia.s 19+; 66&3% 0n an obituar! for @ronski, E)i wrote thathe had 'placed, in this centur! of uni)ersal and absolute doubt, the hitherto unshakeable basis of a science at once hu.an and di)ine% irst and fore.ost, he had dared to define theessence of God and to find, in this definition itself, the law of absolute .o)e.ent and of uni)ersal creation' cited in $c0ntosh 19/; 9&23%

9 ee .! -eleu!e and the 4nconscious Continuu., /3 for .ore on Deleuze'sinterest in occultis.Qesoterica% Chapter 4 contains further discussion of $alfatti, andchapter 6 looks at Deleuze's use of occult approaches to the unconscious%

1 Brown's ideas were also taken up in rance b! % #&% Broussais, first in his 12//3rait de #hysiologie a##li+ue ; la #athologie 73reatise on %hysiology a##lied to %athology:, and then in his -e l*irritation et de la folie 7On 0rritation and 0nsanit!:, published in 12/2% Co.te clai.ed that Broussais' work contained the first for.ulation of the idea that 'the pheno.ena of disease coincided essentiall! with those of health fro.which the! differed onl! in ter.s of intensit!' cited in Can"uilhe. 1945; 493% Can"uilhe.shows that what Co.te called 'Broussais's principle' in fact deri)es fro. the ideas of Brownibid, +6&613% rench caricature of the earl! 125s, incidentall!, is full of satires andcaricatures about the failure of Broussais' s!ste. to co.bat cholera%

11 he stor! of opiu. is a kind of historical tra"ed!% B! the end of the nineteenthcentur!, with the increasin" industrialisation and '"o)ern.entalisation' of .edicine and asa result of conflicts of interest between the state, ph!sicians, phar.acists and apothecaries3opiu. had beco.e subJect to increasin"l! strict le"al controls% ollowin" the earlier spreadof .orphinis., the decisi)e .o.ent in its recent histor! ca.e with the s!nthesis of diacet!l.orphine in 124, which was first .arketed in 1292 in Ger.an! under the brandna.e 'eroin' deri)ed fro. 'heroisch', heroic3% eroin entered the ner)ous s!ste. .ore-uickl!, creatin" sensations of intense pleasure, but the ph!sical withdrawal s!.pto.swere so .arked that the dru" was unusable without the hi"h risk of addiction% he stor! of the rise of )irulentl! hedonic dru"s like heroin and cocaine in the earl! twentieth centur! isalso the stor! of the loss of another a"e, in which dru" e*peri.entation was an inte"ralaspect of the ?o.antic tendenc! in .edicine and science% 8n account of the i.portance of

18

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#6http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#7http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#8http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#9http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#10http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#11http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#6http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#7http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#8http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#9http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#10http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#11


19/25

dru"s to ?o.antic thinkers in Ger.an! has !et to be written, althou"h it is "enerall!known that opiu. was i.portant to chellin" and =o)alis% On the latter, see =eubauer 191, and also Boon's o)er)iew in his infor.ati)e book on dru" use b! writers, 3he 'oad to $/cess Boon //; /2&513% 8lethea a!ter's classic 0#ium and the 'omantic 9magination discusses Colerid"e's and De Luince!'s in)ol)e.ent with dru"s in detail%

1/ ho.as Beddoes recalls that 'before he be"an his lecture, he would take fort! or fift! drops of laudanu. in a "lass of whisk!H repeatin" the dose four or fi)e ti.es durin"the lecture% Between the effects of these sti.ulants and )oluntar! e*ertion, he soon wa*edwar., and b! de"rees his i.a"ination was e*alted into phrenz!' cited in awrence 1922;+3%

15 '$! plan is de)eloped this far% 0 ha)e decided to "o for the su..er to Ba.ber"%?Mschlaub insists that 0 stud! there #ri&atissima, and, as !ou can i.a"ine, this is Just what 0want' Wer)e ; 123% 8dalbert $arcus wrote to chellin" that 'Ba.ber" was one of the first places where the public hospitals e.plo!ed the Brown s!ste.% =ow Ba.ber" will ha)e the praise of appl!in" in .edical treat.ent that which !our philosoph! of nature is de)elopin"'%or these citations, see O'$eara 192/; 5/&5+%

14 '0t is Just b! this process of e*citabilit! that the product is ele)ated, beco.in" a product of a potenc! hi"her than the .erel! che.ical% herefore, in the followin", we will.ake use of his 7Brown's: concept, as lon" as we are able to lead this concept back tonatural causes' ibid3%

1+ Opiu. is placed in a polarit! with ipecacuanha a dried root used as a pur"ati)eand e.etic3%

16 Octa)e 8ubr!'s no)el 3he King of 'ome includes an episode featurin" therelationship of $alfatti with the brother and sister of =apoleon Bonaparte, Kin" ouisBonaparte of 0tal! and >lisa Bacciochi% 8ubr! describes how collea"ues )iewed $alfatti as'.uch less a scientist than a .an of the world% is li)el! chatter and the pleasant taste of his.edicines had endeared hi. to e)er!bod!' 8ubr! 195/; 193%

1 $es.er put his patients in a 'ba-uet', a tub filled with '.a"netised' water%12 here e)en e*isted a curious tribe of intentional arsenic eaters who inhabited the

.ountain re"ions of t!ria, alzbur" and the !rol in 8ustria )on Bibra 12++; /143% he!used it to help their breathin" at those altitudes, and it also had other functions in thesesocieties, both as an aphrodisiac, and as a wei"ht&"ainin" dru" which also induced anattracti)e ros! "low in the cheeks% Bibra reports that workers in arsenic .ines ha)e health!and florid looks once the! ha)e endured the first period in the .ines /163%

19 Baader's dia"nosis of the faults of chellin" and e"el is worth notin"; '@e seethe error of both chellin" and e"el as the! treat the relationship of nature to spirit% or chellin" spirit is ne)er free of nature or e.ancipated fro. nature% e thinks that freedo.would .ean bein" without a nature or bein" incorporeal3% @hile, on the other hand, e"el pictures a natureless spirit that is onl! a "host .o)in" o)er fallen nature' Baader, Wer)e1+; +95H cited in O'$eara 192/; 15+3% Baader holds on to an idea of pure, spiritual freedo.,whereas chellin" insists that freedo. ne)er entirel! escapes its roots in irrational will% or Baader, this .eans that chellin" is ulti.atel! not a Christian%

/$alfatti does not use the word 'antris.' fro. antra, a anskrit word .eanin",a.on" other thin"s, 'web' 'wea)e', 'warp', 'unfoldin"' and 'e*pansion'3, but his h!perse*ualreadin" of 0ndian .!sticis., and his e.phasis on occult anato.!, su""ests that it is whathe had in .ind% here are two for.s of antris., indu and Buddhist% antris. beca.e awidel! spread cult in 0ndia durin" the ei"hth to ele)enth centuries C>, fro. which .ost of

19

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#12http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#13http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#14http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#15http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#16http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#17http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#18http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#19http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#20http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#12http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#13http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#14http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#15http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#16http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#17http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#18http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#19http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#20


20/25

the antric te*ts antras3 date% he tantrikas belie)ed that the antras were a 'fifth eda',supersedin" the others% But there is still disa"ree.ent as to what e*tent the .a"ical writin"sin the ancient Athar&a(eda and the h!.ns to Kali in the 'ig(eda contain the basic tenetse*pounded in the antric writin"s and culture that e.er"ed in .edie)al 0ndia% Onl! a portion of antric writin"s e*plicitl! deal with se*ualit!H the rest is concerned with .a"ic,

ritual, astrolo"!, the construction of .andalas and the preparation of in"redients for rituals%/1 ollowin" eide""er, it is now often assu.ed that the Ger.an ?o.antic .indwas oriented s-uarel! towards the Greek world as the pri.ordial source of thou"ht and life%But it is truer to sa! that it was the ancient Orient which was held to be the cradle of theidealis. which was then in the ascendant in Ger.an!% 8ccordin" to >rnst Benz, chle"elwas con)inced that the disco)er! of edic literature would be as i.portant for conte.porar! Ger.an philosoph! as the redisco)er! of the ancients in the ?enaissanceBenz 1962; 13% $!sticis. was considered to be a pri.ordial re)elation, and 0ndian.!sticis. in particular was seen b! chle"el as bearin" 'e)er!where traces of di)ine truth'cited in Benz, ibid3%

// =e)ertheless, $a* $ller, who translated so.e of the liade .akes an interestin" distinction between 'occultis.' and 'esotericis.' which has so.e rele)ance to Deleuze's approach%Basin" his discussion on the role pla!ed b! occultis. in nineteenth&centur! literar! rance,

20

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#21http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#22http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#23http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#24http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#25http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#26http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#27http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#21http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#22http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#23http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#24http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#25http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#26http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#27


21/25

>liade ar"ues for a bifurcation between a conser)ati)e 'esotericis.' which insulates itself fro. an! contact with wider societ!, and an anti&establish.ent 'occultis.' dedicated to thetransfor.ation of societ! throu"h the production of works of art with s!.bolic power, andthrou"h the desi"n and enact.ent of re)olutionar! political strate"ies% 'Luite another orientation 7fro. conser)ati)e esotericis.: is e)ident a.on" those rench authors of the

second part of the nineteenth centur! who beca.e attracted to occult ideas, .!tholo"ies,and practices .ade popular b! UVliphas E)i, (apus and tanislas de Guaita% ro.Baudelaire to erlaine, autrea.ont to ?i.baud, to our own conte.poraries, 8ndrE Bretonand his disciples, all these artists utilised the occult as a powerful weapon in their rebelliona"ainst the bour"eois establish.ent and its ideolo"!% he! reJect the official conte.porar!reli"ion, ethics, social .ores, and aesthetics% o.e of the. are not onl! anticlerical, like.ost of the rench intelli"entsia, but anti&Christian' >liade 194; +/3% here is so.ethin"about the "aud!, concertedl! s!ncretic approach of occultis. which .akes it .ore suited toan e.ancipator! Deleuzian perspecti)e than the closed $asonic world of 'esotericis.'%

/2 '(har.acolo"! in the .ost "eneral sense pro.ises to be so e*tre.el! i.portantfor practical and theoretical research on schizophrenia% he stud! of the .etabolis. of schizophrenics opens up a )ast field of research in which .olecular biolo"! has a crucialrole to pla!% 8 che.istr! at once intensi)e and e*periential see.s able to "o be!ond thetraditional or"anicQps!chic dualit! at least in two directions; 13 the e*peri.ental schizoidstates induced throu"h .escaline, bulbocapnine, D, etcH /3 the therapeutic initiati)e tocal. the an*iet! of schizophrenics, while dis.antlin" their catatonic shell in order to Ju.p&start the schizophrenic .achines and "et the. runnin" a"ain the use of '.aJor tran-uilizers' or e)en D3' Deleuze 19+; //3% 8t the e*peri.ental le)el, ps!choacti)esubstances can be used to induce schizoid states, sa!s Deleuze% he idea that hallucino"enscan be ps!choto.i.etics was ad)ocated .ost influentiall! in the 19+s, but proponents of this )iew such as Gordon Clarid"e3 are still to be found toda!% Deleuze elaborates that'schizophrenic deliriu. can be "rasped onl! at the le)el of this '0 feel' which e)er! .o.entrecords the intensi)e relation' ibid3 between stasis and e*citation% 8t the practical le)el,Deleuze sa!s, dru"s such as D can help restore )italit! and .o)e.ent to schizophrenicswho ha)e plun"ed into a catatonic stasis% 0f Deleuze's ideas in this area are to be taken as.ore than .ere sketches of positions, then it should be asked how essential these ideas areto his own "eneral theor! of schizophrenia, and his philosoph! in "eneral% he! .a! beaberrations or the! .a! be intrinsicH or a"ain, the! .a! be .erel! confused% he .eans for pursuin" and resol)in" such -uestions, howe)er, barel! e*ist at present%

/9 0n the second part of his %syche: 3he .ult of Souls and elief in 9mmortalityamong the 5ree)s, >rwin ?ohde contended that Dion!siac into*ication is e)idenced in its pure for. in the practices of the hracian and c!thian tribes which bordered 8ncientGreece% ?eferrin" to erodotus's fa.ous account of the funerar! he.p rituals of thec!thians Histories 0; 53, ?ohde stresses that 'into*ication 7 'ausch: is "enerall!re"arded b! sa)a"e tribes as a reli"iousl! inspired condition' ?ohde 1294; /53%(roceedin" to co.pare the use of he.p in the )apour&huts of the c!thians, hracians withthe practices of the =orth&8.erican 0ndians, ?ohde su""ests that the effects of this particular perfu.e are consistent with descriptions of 'the real ba)choi at the ni"htl!festi)al of Dion!sus' ?ohde 1294; /43% ?ohde, of course, was a close friend of =ietzschedurin" the 12s, publicl! defendin" the latter's ideas about Dion!sus in irth of 3ragedy%owe)er, ?ohde does not refer to =ietzsche b! na.e in %syche% Deleuze and Guattari alsoof course discuss the wa!s of the c!thians at len"th in A 3housand %lateaus, but Deleuze

21

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#28http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#29http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#28http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#29


22/25

ne)er actuall! .akes the .o)e of identif!in" =ietzsche's Dion!siacs, or his pri.alo)er.en, as c!thians or hracians% o.e .i"ht ar"ue that such e.pirical correlates are beside the point for Deleuze and Guattari, who are not historians but philosophers% he proble. is how to deter.ine the function of Deleuze and Guattari's historical e*a.ples%(aul (atton's recent article '$obile Concepts, $etaphor and the (roble. of ?eferentialit!

in Deleuze and Guattari' discusses de)elop.ents in Deleuze scholarship which encounter and atte.pt to treat this proble. (atton /63%5 0n 3he isionary -%$% (aul (enns!l)ania; (ickwick, 19253%Betanzos, ?a.on 19923 1ran! &on aader*s %hiloso#hy of Lo&e, ed% $%$% er.an

ienna; (assa"en erla"3%Bibra, >rnst )on 12++3 %lant 9nto/icants, trans% % chleiffer ?ochester; ealin"

8rts (ress, 199+3%22

http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#30http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#31http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#32http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#30http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#31http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/243/225#32


23/25


24/25

&& 195/3 A#ocaly#se ondon; ecker3%esk!, >rna 1963 3he ienna Medical School of the BCth .entury Balti.ore;

#ohns opkins % iannopoulol, )ol% 1/,no% 1 October /63%

(hilipon, ?enE 12993 Stanislas de 5uaita et sa bibliothè+ue occulte (aris;Dorbon3%

(r!se, #a.es $or"an 1913 3he A#ocaly#se 4nsealed ondon ; #%$% @atkins3%?e""io, Da)id /53 '#ean $alfatti de $ontere""io; 8 Brief 0ntroduction', in

Wor)ing %a#ers on .ultural History and .ontem#orary 3hought , paper 1 =o)e.ber /53, a)ailable at 8 draft translation of Deleuze's $alfatti piece is attached to this piece%

?ohde, >rwin 12943 %syche: 3he .ult of Souls and elief in 9mmortality among the 5ree)s, )ol% 00, trans% @%B% illis =ew ork; arper T ?ow, 1966H first translated19/+3%

Edir, (aul 19/3 Les #lantes magi+ues< otani+ue occulte (aris, 19/3%

24


25/25

chellin", %@%#% 1993 1irst 0utline of a System of the %hiloso#hy of "ature, trans%K%?% (eterson 8lban!;

KerslakeSobreDeleuze&Malfatti.doc

Documents