Medieval Flashbacks

In August, 1951, in Pont-Saint-Esprit in mid-southern France, three people died and fifty others went completely insane for about four weeks because of ergot (mold) infested rye flour.

Hundreds were affected with 20 day bouts of insomnia, but that was the mildest of the effects. The fifty or so people who had eaten a lot of the bread were plagued by horrifying visions and obsessions, one man counting pot lids in the kitchen for three weeks, people unable to stop crying for days, then laughing hysterically for days more. One local bruiser broke out of seven consecutive straightjackets, and had to be strapped to a bed with heavy cowhide belts. He broke out all of his teeth biting through the straps, jumped from a three storey window and ran half a mile on two broken legs before they wrestled him down. He had visions that huge tigers were chasing him.

from: The Garden of Earthly Delights by Heironymous Bosch, ca. 1510

There is debate about the actual source of the madness. The French government, under pressure from the miller's unions, has tried to say that mercury based insecticides were to blame. Nevertheless, outbreaks of ergotism were common throughout the dark ages, and less disputed episodes occurred in Russia in the 20's.

This was horrible, impure psychedelic, and is an extreme example of why only the purest should be used. Anything even slightly suspicious should be avoided.

It is also evidence of the effects of lack of psychological preparation and controlled setting. A psychedelic journey must not be undertaken lightly, and should always be prepared for, and respected. The Shamans know this. Abuse of the psychedelic state will wear a person out, and some people have been reduced to vegetables by doing too much. Psychedelics show you what a rare miracle it is to be given a body, and make you want to take care of it. Most people know when they've had enough or when they have learned what they need for the time being. Vitamins are very important, to replenish the well worked system.

from: The day of St Anthony's Fire by John Grant Fuller, New York: Macmillan, 1968.