THE ALCHEMICAL DREAM

Rebirth of the Great Wor

By Terence McKenna

A Mystic Fire Production

by Sheldon Rochlin.

Released by Sacred Mysteries.

This Sacred Mysteries presentation brings us an unusual film that was started

in the 1990s and not previously finished. Since the passing of Terence McKenna

in 2000 and filmmaker Sheldon Rochlin in 2002, some of that footage was at risk

of being lost forever.

Taking the initiative, Rochlin's stepson Morgan Harris spent two years completing

it. I think it has been worth the wait.

Born in 1946, Terence McKenna was a writer,

philosopher and botanist with a passion for entheogens and their influence

on human consciousness.

He was an advocate of the use of psychedelics and plant-based hallucinogens,

considering himself to be a shaman. He was much beloved of the counter-culture

of the 1960s, although he did not consider himself part of it. Terence McKenna's

life and ideas are generally fascinating, but would need to be the subject

of an article.

The film itself concerns the brilliant Elizabethan polymath and one of

the instigators of the English Renaissance, Dr. John Dee. He lived at the

time in

which Alchemy was about to separate into the two separate fields of science

and 'magick' of the Hermetic tradition. (Philosophical readers will already

see that

the imminent

Cartesian division in science and philosophy at that time became the Western

mindset for the next four hundred years.) Had Dr. Dee succeeded in his mission

to the Europe of the late sixteenth century, the political and philosophical

landscape of our world would be far different today. His mission was to institute

alchemical reformation governments through the agency of the Electors Palatine,

especially Frederick V and his queen, Elizabeth of Bohemia. It was a highly

complex and secret undertaking.

It sounds incredible, but in this film McKenna outlines the political,

economic and alchemical history of Europe and the entire Hermetic tradition

virtually

from its inception to the seventeenth century.

In re-enactments, McKenna plays

Dr. Dee, in costume, and gazes into the middle distance at gothic cathedrals

and castles while ruminating over Alchemy. It has to be said that his voice

is sonorous and compelling. He speaks slowly and clearly, but at no moment

talks down to the viewer. Instead, like

all skilled storytellers, he draws the viewer along with him into a half-known

world of intrigue, espionage and mystery. The background scenery is gorgeous

and the film is stunning in its cinematography. This is a feature of most Mystic

Fire films. They are always beautiful, visual feasts. Many historical buildings

and locations in Prague were used, some of which may have even been places

where Dr. Dee walked. With this film the viewer gets more than expected.

Firstly there is a glimpse into the history of late Middle Ages England

and the beginning of the English Renaissance. Secondly the reader will get

a first-rate

survey of the Western mystery tradition in the form of Hermetic operant Alchemy

and magic.

Thirdly there is a glimpse into the life and times of one the most mysterious

and brilliant minds of the sixteenth century. There are many people who

still draw attention through their mystery or accomplishments from the reign

of Elizabeth

I. Notable are Sir Philip Sidney, Christopher Marlowe, William

Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, John Donne, Edmund Spenser, John Milton, and so

many more. But the most mysterious and fascinating of all was Dr. John Dee,

who was

either revered or hated.

As a final point, the viewer gets a glimpse of Terence

McKenna's ideas, who was clearly 'sympatico' with Dr. Dee.

It is easy to see that for him the concept and making of this film was

a labour of love. That the film has been completed is a minor miracle for

which those who seek knowledge should be ever grateful. It is truly a legacy

for

modern

mankind from both the creative minds of Terence McKenna, Stephen Rochlin

and the perseverance of Morgan Harris. -- Jennifer Hoskins (Published in New Dawn No 111, November-December 2008)