Invisible College Publishing
We are proud to present our new 2nd edition of
The Hasheesh Eater & Other Writings!
(From The Archives)
Chronology of the Life of Fitz Hugh Ludlow
Reviews Of “The Hasheesh Eater” (From the 1850’s on)
What shall They do to be Saved?
The Apocalypse of Hasheesh
The Vision of Hasheesh – Bayard Taylor
The Vial of Dread
E Pluribus Unum
(Inclusive of 11 additional illustrations not included in the first edition!)
232 Pages, 30+ Unique Images. Crafted Details on Each Page.
Soft Cover Edition! $45.00/Inclusive of $6.00 Shipping! (US Only):
Hard Cover Edition! $55.00/Inclusive of $6.00 Shipping! (US Only):
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Some of the Illustrations:
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An abbreviated version of Gwyllm’s talk from the Ashland Oregon “Exploring Psychedelics” Conference May 24-25th 2018, covering all salient points… (All Artwork from “The Hasheesh Eater & Other Writings” – All Original Artwork, Book Designed & Compiled by Gwyllm Llwydd)
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Reviews:
2010
The suggestion that Pythagoras received inspiration from cannabis was first put forth by the 19th century author and hashish experimenter, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, who suggested elements like Pythagoras hearing his name called out in the gurgling of a stream along with taking on the identity of deities and other events, indicated, as in Ludlow’s own experience with the drug, intoxication with hemp “It would be no hard task to prove… that the initiation to the Pythagorean mysteries, and the progressive instructions which preceded it… consisted in the employment… of hasheesh” (Ludlow), 1856). Pythagoras based his system around the hemp using Thracian Orphic teachings, and he himself can clearly be described as a shaman-as Pythagoras allegedly had the ability to leave his body while in trance. – Chris Bennett /Cannabis and the Soma Solution
1998
Twenty-one year old Fitz Hugh Ludlow became the best-selling author ofThe Hasheesh Eater in the years before the Civil War. His bestseller related his visionary experiences with large, oral doses of hashish, along with his religious, philosophical, and medical reflections on the altered states they produced. He became a celebrated figure in the Bohemian circles of New York City, along with such friends as Walt Whitman. A short-story writer, a drama and music critic, and a journalist, he mingled with the high society of New York while dissolutely wandering among the disreputable hard-drinking literati. Traveling west, he talked politics with Mormon leader Brigham Young and traded witticisms with Mark Twain in California. Ludlow later wrote perhaps the first great novel on the theme of alcohol abuse. He then became a leading expert in the treatment of opium addiction after the Civil War. “Drinking buddy of Whitman and Twain, New York Bohemian of the Sixties (the 1860s, that is), pioneer psychedelic psychonaut and frontier Pythagorean, America’s first Hasheesh Eater and confessional junky.” – Hakim Bey/Review of Pioneer Of Inner Space – The Life Of Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Hasheesh Eater By Donald P. Dulchinos
1992
“After Bayard Taylor the next great commentator on the phenomenon of hashish was the irrepressible Fitz Hugh Ludlow. This little-known bon vivant of nineteenth-century literature began a tradition of pharmo-picaresque literature that would find later practitioners in William Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson… There is in Ludlow’s cannabis reportage a wonderful distillation of all that was zany in the Yankee transcendentalist approach. Ludlow creates a literary persona not unlike the poet John Shade in Nabokov’s Pale Fire, a character who allows us to see deeper into his predicament than he can see himself. Part genius, part madman, Ludlow lies halfway between Captain Ahab and P.T. Barnum, a kind of Mark Twain on hashish. There is a wonderful charm to his free-spirited, pseudoscientific openness as he makes his way into the shifting dunescapes of the world of hashish.” – Terence McKenna/Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge New York: Bantam
1970
“Ludlow takes an honored place in the stoned procession of dope adepts that stretches from the author of the Vedic hymns to William S. Burroughs.” – Archivist Michael, ‘’America’s De Quincey’’
“The alchemic-shaman tradition of Paracelsus, Ludlow, and William James…” – Timothy Leary
1910
“Deeper and clearer is the information to be gained from the brilliant studies of Baudelaire… and Ludlow…”- Aleister Crowley
1864
“If Fitz Hugth Ludlow, author of The Hasheesh Eater, comes your way, treat him well.” – Mark Twain
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Notes On The Project:
Definition of Hashish/Hasheesh
: the concentrated resin from the flowering tops of female hemp plants (Cannabis sativa or C. indica) that is smoked, chewed, or drunk for its intoxicating effect — called also charas, hash; compare bhang, marijuana
This project started in all reality in 1975 when I first purchased the brilliant edition of “The Hasheesh Eater” put together by Michael Horowitz (Timothy Leary’s Archivist) with the collage art from one of my great influences, Wilfried Sätty. I stumbled upon it in a bookstore in Venice California, and it changed my life. The writings combined with the art spoke deeply to me. It has been my constant companion ever since. The combination of written word, image meshed brilliantly in my mind.
At that time, Hashish (Hasheesh) was my go-to mode of inner exploration. Fitz Hugh Ludlow’s writing mirrored some of the experiences I was going through, exploring heavens, harrowing hells, being transported to distant lands. I remember vividly in one of my own visions of sitting in a desert with a blazing sun setting in the west with the sounds of caravan bells passing just beyond my vision.
This project came out of those moments but is in its own way a homage to Michael & Wilfried’s work and the influence it had on me. I wanted to re-introduce Ludlow’s brilliant volume to our times. There are versions of the book out there, but not like this one I posit.
The project was originally assembled over two years, with the late Diane Darling helping to edit the first draft. It has been revised several times since, as other of Ludlow’s other writings were added, along with additional artwork.
The artwork is a major component of the book, along with the layout; all of it is designed to flow with the unfolding story, and it also mirrors my own explorations over the years.
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About The Artist:
Gwyllm Llwydd has long swum through the seas of Art & Entheogensia. His early artistic influences were Willifred Sätty, Max Ernst, Rick Griffin and various schools of Buddhist Mandala Art.
He lives in the Pacific Northwest and is currently working on art, publishing projects such as this one and of course the “The Invisible College Review”.
He has a long running blog, “The Hares Tale/aka Turfing” (15 years and counting!) and a Substack: “Gwyllm Llwydd’s Substack ” that is largely excerpts from writings intended to be published eventually.
He sincerely believes that community, art, love, and opening up your mind are part of the puzzle (among many) to a Brave New Exciting World.
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About The Writer:
From Wikipedia: Fitz Hugh Ludlow, sometimes seen as Fitzhugh Ludlow (September 11, 1836 – September 12, 1870[1]), was an American author, journalist, and explorer; best known for his autobiographical book The Hasheesh Eater (1857).
Ludlow also wrote about his travels across America on the overland stage to San Francisco, Yosemite and the forests of California and Oregon in his second book, The Heart of the Continent. An appendix to it provides his impressions of the recently founded Mormon settlement in Utah.
He was also the author of many works of short fiction, essays, science reporting and art criticism. He devoted many of the last years of his life to attempts to improve the treatment of opiate addicts, becoming a pioneer in both progressive approaches dealing with addiction and the public portrayal of its sufferers. Though of modest means, he was imprudently generous in aiding those unable to cope with drug-induced life struggles.
Ludlow died prematurely at the age of 34 from the accumulated effect of his lifelong addictions, the ravages of pneumonia and tuberculosis, and overwork.
