How come no one ever says this about glue or poppers? https://twitter.com/daatdarling/status/1388301325750857728

NB: I am not condoning or advocating either. Glue is fucking horrible stuff and I'm really glad I met the sixth form hippies who turned me on to better things. I'm just interested in the way some drugs get "spiritualised" and others don't.

I've had some great times with psychedelics. But "responsible", "moderation" or "spiritual improvement" were not part of the agenda. So I'm probably not a great role model in that respect.

Also had some really great magical experiences after a night in the pub or round amate's house getting pissed on cheap booze.

There was this one time I was co-running a course on "shamanic techniques" (yeah, I know, it was the 80s okay) and we'd told everyone to come back the next week with at least 1 home-made musical instrument. 1.

So one of the things I was making was a pair of claves, by sawing a bit of a mop handle in two. Anyhow I spent the night in the Royal Park pub in Leeds and reeled home completely plastered, only to have a marvellous dream. 2.

These two spirits turned up and spake thus "We are the spirits of the claves. Here are our names. You must burn them into the wood and worship them with butter." So that's what I did (after recovering from the hangover). Still have the claves. Will post photo later. 3.

Another possible point for discussion. How the discourse of "spiritual improvement" increasingly colonises every arena of experience, subjecting it to self-monitoring, generating anxieties etc.