43: Gurdjieff & 4/20 Celebrations (feat. Martin Ferretti & Jefferson T. AKA Steve Buschemi)

This episode is a cannabis-fueled 4/20 celebration! Alas, I was not here to record for it -- but Jefferson Tilamookslinger was thankfully available to fill in and keep the flame alive! For those unaware, Jefferson first appeared in Black Hoodie Alchemy #34 and is a former Illuminati cloning-lab-manager that has since relocated to the Florida Everglades, joining the forces of Tippy Patson's League of Extordiarny Gentlemen! (For the uninitiated, you can listen to it all through episodes #14, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 38, and learn about these men that are too stupid to be a cult but too organized to just be hanging out in a swamp.) As I am preparing for a family wedding/reunion and everything that this will entail out-of-state, this will be the last Black Hoodie Alchemy episode until May 8th -- but rest assured the show will come back swingin' as as always! So, aside from Jefferson smoking dope, we have a friend of the show and fellow alchemist, Martin Ferretti, joining the program to tell us all about the life and philosophy of contemporary philosopher and mystic, George Gurdjieff. Most active during the turn into the 20th century, Gurdjieff was an eccentric figure that aspired to find a path to a practical enlightenment -- i.e. an enlightenment that did not inherently require a monkhood or hermetic nature that eschewed the rest of society. If he hadn't been so genuine and effective, you could potentially see the mechanics of a cult in Gurdjieff's Fourth Way of Enlightenment, and some might still consider it as such! But is there any real merit to this? Who was Gurdjieff anyway? An eccentric mystic, an opportunist, a charlatan, or what? Listen in as Martin and Jefferson give you a thorough and detailed explanation of these concepts and so much more! Oh, and happy toking -- don't forget to roll up and blow that sacramental ganja to the sky this 4/20 season! We hope you dig this week's show. See you May 8th. This week's featured music -- don't forget to support your all your favorite independent artists! Shore Leave - Doc Hammer Ganja Dub - Chris Fiato Phantasmagoria Blues - Cowboy Matt Hopewell Gurdjieff's link in the Encyclopedia Brittanica Martin Ferretti's The Alchemical Mind