Paul Laffoley's Metaphysical Madness
Psychedelic Artwork, Aliens, DMT, and a Divine Influx?
The intersection between psychedelia and extraterrestrial life enjoys a long and storied history. In my last piece I wrote about the possibility that DMT is a technology. In a podcast interview, neurobiologist Dr. Andrew Gallimore proposes this idea, while also discussing the surreal dimension that DMT entities and aliens inhabit. The same dimension we find ourselves in, following a DMT breakthrough. Did Paul Laffoley cross this threshold of reality into another dimension, resulting in metaphysical madness, artistic genius, or both?
Who was Paul Laffoley?
In the last few years the conversation around DMT realms and alien encounters has been overlapping. The conversation continues upstream to consciousness, and after watching Dr. Gallimore, my mind went straight to Paul Laffoley, the czar of bizarre.
Laffoley was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1935, and died in 2015 at the age of 80. Right from the start, Paul began an atypical life, and just the nuts and bolts of Laffoley’s youth will leave you scratching your head. Laffoley claimed his first spoken word was “Constantinople” and that he didn’t speak again until age 4. Not long after, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. That didn’t stop him from achieving.
After studying at Waldorf, Laffoley graduated from Brown University with honors in 1962, with a degree in classics, art history and philosophy. Laffoley continued his education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where he studied architecture for a brief stint, but his “conceptual deviancy” made him unwelcome. Then things started getting weird.
Either in 1961 or 1962, Laffoley said he received 8 electroshock treatments after, “..about a year of weekly sessions with a psychiatrist, who had treated [him] for a mild state of catatonia.” Catatonia is “a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by disturbances in movement, behavior, and thinking, often involving rigidity or stupor. It can be a symptom of various mental health conditions like schizophrenia, mood disorders, and other medical or neurological issues.”
Coincidence or not, Ted Kaczynski, aka ‘The Unabomber,” attended Harvard from 1958-1962, where he was tortured under the CIA’s MK-Ultra program. Who knows what happened to Laffoley from 1961-1962. All we know is something did happen. Then Laffoley began to paint.
The Mind Manifesting Art of Paul Laffoley
Laffoley's art explored the intersection of science, metaphysics, and philosophy. Think a blend of Hermes Trismegistus, blended with Carl Jung and M.C. Escher.
From the same basement in Boston he worked in for 35 years, Laffoley became:
…recognized internationally as a visionary architect and Outsider Artist who has consistently pursued an epistemological-metaphysical inquiry through a prolific archive of large-scale oil paintings and work in a variety of media that bear no relation either to conventional art history or current art trends.
Laffoley gained notoriety for his outsider art thanks to “architectonic thoughtforms.”
Laffoley branded himself as a “utopian artist.” He wanted to design novel ways of thinking and being. Even though he worked outside the mainstream art world, to this day truth seekers and psychonauts form a cult following who revere his work. Psychedelic publisher Synergetic Press celebrated Laffoley’s passing saying:
He had an extraordinary grasp of multiple fields of knowledge compulsively pursuing interests that often lead him into uncharted territory. His complex theoretical constructs were uniquely presented in highly detailed mandala-like canvases largely scaled to Fibonacci’s golden ratio.
Did Laffoley’s Talent Flow From an Alien Chip in His Brain?
While Laffoley was from Earth without a doubt, his art may have originated from an alien implant in his brain. No, seriously.
…a 1992 CAT scan revealed a shard of metal lodged in his brain, an intrusion he has come to believe is an extraterrestrial implant motivating his artistic work.
The closing of the same Artforum article states:
Located somewhere between sense and nonsense, between the realm of genius and the province of the crackpot, Laffoley’s work poses tantalizing questions about the line separating brilliance from bushwa—questions whose pertinence for contemporary art is by no means confined to the sphere of the outsider.
This is where the visionary artist’s story becomes uber weird.
Did Paul Laffoley Have a Divine Influx on DMT?
Who knows? I know I don’t. For the record, this is all obvious speculation, and there are a number of intriguing things to ponder.
We know that DMT is endogenous to the human brain, thanks to Rick Strassman. According to Strassman, DMT has “levels as high as serotonin,” and is “made in the visual cortex.” Although Rick is trying to find DMT production in the pineal gland, no one has been able to prove it yet.
“Is DMT a Technology?” included the interview of Dr. Andrew Gallimore by Michael Phillip. In that conversation, they discussed how DMT is more of an “observation” that lets you “see.” Phillip recounts a psychedelic journey of his own when he felt a third eye appear on his head. The pineal gland doesn’t surrender its psychedelic connotations with ease.
Gallimore also talks about DMT being a technology to interface with entities and aliens. Or perhaps, aliens and entities are using DMT to interact with us.
Phillip also uses the word “influx” to describe DMT’s cosmic downloads, or what I call a “divine influx.”
In addition, Gallimore mentions that if we can find a way to turn off whatever inhibits endogenous DMT uptake, we can enter the DMT realm under our own volition.
So the question is this…
What if Laffoley unconsciously discovered how to activate his own endogenous DMT, inspiring his work?
The guy had a lot going on in his brain between the electroshock treatments and the Asperger’s. Keep this in mind. Often people who have suffered great trauma are bestowed with metaphysical and/or mystical gifts.
Was Laffoley’s Alien Brain Implant Metaphysical?
Do you know Chris Bledsoe? He’s a fascinating watch. He’s from North Carolina, and he claims to have had dozens, if not hundreds, of alien encounters on his property. The fascinating thing he says is that aliens aren’t material. Rather they’re metaphysical beings. This argument persuades me more than spindly, green men with oversized heads skittering about.
Is there a possibility that Laffoley had an endogenous DMT activation somehow, and had an “alien” encounter? Maybe during this encounter he felt as if he had a chip planted in his brain. However, maybe that “chip” was the “aliens” tweaking his neurochemistry.
What if the “aliens” accessed Laffoley’s brain, during an endogenous DMT uptake? Speaking for myself, this would feel like a “chip” in my brain. Crazier yet, what if the “aliens” can jumpstart your pineal gland to produce DMT? Maybe the “aliens” smokescreen over hijacking your brain/pineal gland with a ludicrous story about implanting a chip. Don’t forget how Gallimore describes “entities” as tricksters and “trixy.”
Is an Alien or Entity Encounter a Divine Influx?
Maybe, I don’t know. I feel pretty sure this is going to become a more and more intriguing question in the near future.
Does an alien or entity encounter, impart a cosmic download, or a divine influx on occasion?
It’s obvious Laffoley’s artwork didn’t come from Earth. His stuff is way far out there. Here’s a quality explanation of Laffoley’s work, described as “mysticism as information design.”
Furthermore, I have zero clues or ideas what his artwork means. If you’d like to learn more about him and his work, check out the official Paul Laffoley site.
If you’d like to browse and gaze more, check out this collection of Paul Laffoley’s artwork.
Never Forget
How different the world could have been after 9/11. How different you ask? Well after the collapse of the Twin Towers, Laffoley was one of the architects who submitted a 2002 design to construct the Freedom Tower.
Laffoley’s design didn’t win. Boo.
Why?
He submitted a design inspired by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Laffoley conceived of the Freedom Tower as a hotel version of Gaudí’s famous, La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain.
A lot of YouTubers say our architecture is depressing and miserable nowadays. Well there you go. Have you ever been to La Sagrada Familia? I have, and that building may be the most psychedelic and awesome edifice on the planet.
If Paul Laffoley’s design for the Freedom Tower won, the United States could have enjoyed a divine influx of truth, beauty, astonishment, and wonder to stoke the nation’s soul. A soul we’re still searching for today, that Laffoley glimpsed over 20 years ago.
Remind me to tell ya more about Chris.