Encyclopedia of Polish psychedelia trips into print

Image: Krytyka Polityczna

Author Kamil Sipowicz places special emphasis on artists and writers in his history of psychedelic drugs and Poles, chronicling the little known psychedelic adventures of luminaries such as Solaris author Stanislaw Lem and poet Adam Wlodek, husband of Nobel Prize-winning scribe Wislawa Szymborska.

Meanwhile, Sipowicz stresses that while composer Frederic Chopin's use of opiates is beyond dispute, the pianist's contemporary, national bard Adam Mickiewicz, may also have been dabbling in mind-expanding substances.

He makes a similar case for the eccentric 18th century count Jan Potocki, whose novel The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, inspired the favourite film of acid-chomping US band The Grateful Dead.

The first Pole to openly explore his fascination with hallucinogenics was Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, aka Witkacy (1885-1939). The multi-talented artist even published a book in 1932 about his experiments, revealing a strong preference for peyote.

“Down with nicotine, alcohol, and all forms of 'white lunacy',” he wrote.

“If peyote turns out to be a universal antidote to all those filthy poisons, then in that case, and only in that case: long live peyote!”

The Encyclopedia of Polish Psychedelia (Encyklopedia polskiej psychodelii) has been published by Krytyka Polityczna. (nh)

Source: PAP