Hey friends,

Spring has begun in February, shown itself in March and will complete in April.

Surely you feel the waking up of the year and so do we.

We have begun teaching and sharing “Life and Work in the Rhythm of the Seasons” again. Like last year, we are meeting you on Interintellect to speak with you about the qualities and energy of the months and the seasons.

At the same time we are trying to be a bit more topical and generous with what we are sharing, so we recorded a new episode of Spiritual Mischief — The Show (!) to introduce the topic of Freedom and Frustration, which is our tagline for April.

April is a time that asks of us to be free, to do what we are called to do, to let the seeds sprout. This is a birthing process, which can come with much straining and frustration, and therefore asks for precision.

To join the conversation about April, its Freedom and Frustration, and how you can make use of this in your creative life and work, please join us on 13 Apr 2023 at 8:30pm CEST on Interintellect. We’re looking forward to seeing you!

In the same vein of precision, we kept this conversation concise at 40 minutes, in the hopes to respect the time of our production team (us), our editing team (me, Simon) and our listeners (you).

Sending much Love and Mischief

Simon & Louis

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spitmief.substack.com

Hello friends,

Simon and Louis did some spitting, and it was completely miefed. It was spiritual, and a tiny bit mischievous. But you be the judge. Judging, by the way, a topic of Louis’ last letter of news.

We tried to keep it within the hour and failed, but not miserably. We forgive ourselves and will try again, and hope you will allow it, and forgive us as well. Forgiveness, by the way, also a topic of Louis’ last letter of news.

Louis was sick last week, and still is a little bit, and had a conversation with his self-destructive side. Why is it that self-destruction also feels good, and how to deal with that Lord of Darkness?

We asked the I Ching, and it answered with tips and tricks regarding the Darkening of the Light, and ultimately, how to bring light into the darkness. Simon and Louis get into it, discuss, converse and create a three-step program to deal with evil. So, if you have some 82 minutes to spare, and are interested in the fighting of evil, watch Lord of the Rings, oh no wait, that’s 600 minutes long, so better yet, listen to this episode of Spiritual Mischief.

Enjoy the episode and please forgive the shitty audio quality. We are, in fact, humans and not robots. We are working on it, and aiming for actual human-sounding sounds in the next episode.

If Spiritual Mischief nurtures your soul, why not share some of its nourishment with other fine people?

You might want to follow the individual endeavors of Simon & Louis. If that is indeed the case, follow the links. Follow Simon, for he is now is artist-in-residence at Medley in Berlin. Follow Louis, for he now has a newsletter.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spitmief.substack.com

Friends and Fools,

Village fools, they say, are only fools for being in the wrong village.

Stepping out of the norm, a fool appears, a crazy person, someone different. This might, in the best of all possible worlds, be a neutral statement. But, somehow, in the way we usually experience the world, the other is also less. But what if we could experience other as a portal into renewal, into fresh perspectives, into new ways of living. Or — and I would argue this to be even better — what if we could experience other as just being other. No transactional value to it. Just basking in diversity.

To bask in diversity! A feeling I would wish for everyone, myself included.

The fool is also a(n) (Jungian) archetype related to the clown, the jester and the dummling. A description of these archetypes is to be found by the patient reader or impatient scroller at the end of this newsletter.

All this is good and nice and Very Interesting, however, it isn’t really related to our podcast, so let’s get into that. Who knows, you might be persuaded to actually listen to us village fools!

Here goes:

In this episode of the Spiritual Mischief podcast you will hear the very first appearance of our theme song, we discuss the awfulness of our own show (it is appalling, after all), talk about the experience of watching the Team Amdverica barf scene with disabled people, we supply an even and balanced look at German social service and a perspective on this from the book ‘Island’ by Aldous Huxley, look into the ways in which Louis is disabled, create the possible new hit show ‘MTV Crypts’, relive a failed attempt of a public religious ritual by Simon, embrace Love & Care InCompany and the importance of a healthy mental diet: you are what you eat, after all!

If you are time-wise disabled and need your mief spat more quickly, subscribe to our YouTube channel where you will find various clips of the podcast. We are working on making them even shorter, really stepping into the zeitgeist, hoping we will find a way to release valuable and life altering 0.5 second videos. Until then, good luck with these clips or the full 2.5 hour episode.

So, that was that from the desk of Simon and Louis. We hope you enjoy the podcast — or just this newsletter — and tell all your friends if you did (and don’t tell anyone if you didn’t)!

Some links and stories:

The book ‘Island’ by Aldous Huxley

Where ‘Brave New World’ was his dystopian vision of the future, in ‘Island’ he describes his view of possible Utopia. It’s pretty great. But I guess most Utopias are…

The book ‘Shōgun’ by James Clavell

A short description of the Clown/Fool archetype:

The Clown archetype is associated with three major characteristics: making people laugh, making them cry, and wearing a mask that covers one’s own real emotions. The Clown is generally male, with few women playing the role either in literature or the theater. This may well be explained by the social attitude that associates weakness and loss of control with a man who expresses emotions. Therefore, the man has to wear a mask, which often portrays a crying face. The Clown reflects the emotions of the crowd, making an audience laugh by satirizing something they can relate to collectively or by acting out social absurdities. In general, the messages communicated through a Clown’s humor are deeply serious and often critical of the hypocrisy in an individual or in some area of society. Because of the mask he wears, the Clown is allowed–indeed, expected–to cross the boundaries of social acceptance, representing what people would like to do or say themselves.

The Court Jester or Fool is the manifestation of the Clown in a royal setting. Since no one can possibly take a fool seriously at the physical level, he is allowed entry into the most powerful of circles. While entertaining the king with outrageous behavior, the Fool is actually communicating messages that the king trusts. Political satirists often have dominant Court Jester archetypes, revealing the motivations of the highest officials in the nation in a manner that is generally granted freedom from the legal retribution that might be leveled against an ordinary citizen making the same comments.

Related to the Fool is the Dummling, the fairy tale character who, although often simple-minded, acts with a good heart and is usually rewarded for it. Modern film characters such as Forrest Gump and Nurse Betty embody this aspect of the archetype, which does not so much impart wisdom as foster living with kindness and simplicity.

The shadow aspect of the Clown or Fool manifests as cruel personal mockery or betrayal, specifically the breaking of confidences gained through knowledge from the inner circle.

In reviewing your relationship to this archetype, consider your use of humor in association with power. Since everyone is prone to jesting, you are looking for a connection to a pattern of behavior that is fundamental to your personal protection and survival. In distinguishing Clown from Fool, note that the Fool is connected to arenas of power, while the Clown does his best work as an Everyman, like Ralph Kramden on “The Honeymooners.” Reflect on whether “clowning” around is an essential channel for expressing your emotions over and above simple play. Ask yourself if, like the Fool, you carry truth into closed circles or closed minds.

Films: Danny Kaye in The Court Jester; Buster Keaton in The Navigator, Sherlock Jr., The General; Charlie Chaplin in The Circus, The Gold Rush; Giulletta Masina in La Strada; Barbra Steisand in What’s Up, Doc?; Rene Zellweger in Nurse Betty; Woody Allen in Zelig.

Drama: He Who Gets Slapped by Maxim Gorky.

Opera: I Pagliacci, by Leoncavallo.

Literature: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes; Gimpel the Fool by Isaac Bashevis Singer; Holy Fools and Mad Hatters by Edward Hays; The Autobiography of Henry VIII with notes by his Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George.

Religion/Myth: Mullah Nasruddin, a.k.a. Hoja Nasredin (Sufi figure in Egypt, Iran, and Turkey, half saint and half fool, who acts like a ninny to teach wisdom); Sir Dagonet (the fool of King Arthur who was knighted as a joke, but who also performed bravely in tournaments); Heyoka (in Lakota Sioux lore, someone who does things backwards to teach people not to take themselves too seriously); Coyote (in Native American lore.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spitmief.substack.com

Dear friends, foes, lurkers and loiterers,

Well, something happened in March. Some spit was miefed and some mief was spat. In other words, spitmief happened, in other words still, Spiritual Mischief happened. Spiritual Mischief is what happens when we, Simon and Louis, get together. It’s also a podcast that combines culture, comedy and ancient wisdom. It was streamed, it was recorded.

It took us some weeks, but it is now released on our YouTube Channel, and many podcast platforms. Watch a groovy clip right here, right now!

It’s quite the jazzy conversation, all improvisation, but, in the end, there appears to actually be some cohesive structure. So if you have 217 minutes lying around, you might listen to it, or you might not. I’m reading a biography of composer John Cage* right now and he is about to talk at Darmstadt in 1958 that will change and influence music forever. The talks are called ‘Changes’, ‘Indeterminacy’, and ‘Communication.’ Cage’s thinking and life were heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism, the mystic Eckart, Heisenberg’s theory of indeterminacy, Taoism and the I Ching, the book of changes. His most famous work is probably 4”33 where silence is ‘played.’ Why am I telling you this? I open the book, and it opens on this passage: 

“It was important to Cage that the stories “be themselves,” that their order be random, and that no obvious theme would emerge (…). “I know perfectly well that things interpenetrate. But I think they interpenetrate more richly and with more complexity when I myself do not establish any connection.”

There seems to be some interpenetration going on…

The mind, and life, goes wherever it flows, and there really is no great choice in the matter. We might follow, and I would advice this, since order and structure seems only to be something that is ‘added’ by our mind, after the fact, so as to be able to orderly function in what just might be absolute chaos. Heisenberg repeated the following question to himself again and again, after developing the Uncertainty Principle in 1925: “Can nature possibly be as absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments?”

But, alas; although I believe that the opening up of our minds and Minds to the Chaos, absurdity and mystery of life is a beautiful pursuit, I believe this is not the place for it. Or now is not the place for it. So, order!

Therefore I will now (randomly?) pick some topics discussed, miefed and spat in our podcast, for everyone’s nourishment, pleasure and need for order. Including mine, by the way:

We talked about the Genesis of Genesis (the band - spoiler alert: it’s 1967), Nina Simone (and her gum, some champagne, cocaine and sausages) and moving spirit, spirit Beethoven, Donda West and absolute love (for), Kanye West and dragon energy, Warren Ellis, Nick Cave and his magnificent newsletter ‘The Red Hand Files’, the documentaries ‘10,000 days on earth’, ‘One more time with feeling,’ the artist inside all of us, spirit dudes (white and black), how to listen to your spirit dudes (white and black), the need to embrace your (black) spirit dudes, imposter Zen masters, broken tea pots, beards.

And here are some links and stories:

We talked about that beautiful moment when ‘the spirit takes over’ and the artist channels the divine. What is absolutely amazing is that some of these moments are captured on tape! Here are a few (we might create a Youtube playlist on our channel later, who knows):

The Nina Simone concert at Montreux (1976) is all out amazing. Please, at the very least, check out:

‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’ - the moment is there, and she even says it : ‘oh the spirit’s moving now!’

“Stars” - it begins tense, with Simone calling out a girl in the audience “SIT DOWN GIRL”, some uncomfortable laughter, but Simone is dead serious: respect the moment and the art, it seems, and damn, what comes after is ART. The comments below the video say it all.

Then, Kanye West: I feel it every time. Kanye with the legend Mos Def, and Kanye is bringing everything in his verse, and everyone around him sees it, hears it, FEELS it. There is no way around it.

Jay-Z in the studio with Rick Rubin recording the song 99 problems. Something is happening and Rick Rubin - and everyone present - know it. Or, as Jay-Z says at the end : “It might be something special”

There’s a 23 minute version of them recording in the studio as well. Highly recommended.

A scene from the film ’20,000 Days on Earth’ with Warren Ellis where he shares his Nina Simone anecdote. It’s hilarious and it’s also the moment that turned out to be the Genesis of the amazing Warren Ellis’ book ‘Nina Simone’s gum.’

Unfinished threads:

In the podcast some threads were opened but not followed. This happens a lot in our conversations. Some things we didn’t get to:

Structure and freedom: the ‘structured jazz’ from the Warren Ellis book that I mention at the beginning of the episode. I feel it’s a nice addition to our conversation, so here it is:

“When I saw Alice Coltrane play a few years after Nina Simone, I couldn’t believe it. It was that moment again. Those times you think are never going to happen in your life. She was someone who totally shifted my world in the eighties when I discovered a record of hers by accident in some sale bin. She arranged the kind of orchestral strings I’d always imagined in my head, this combination of classical and free form, yet incredibly structured as well, almost like a pop song. She totally changed how I saw things musically, in the same way John Cale’s viola changed how I saw a stringed instrument could be used in rock music. In many ways, Alice Coltrane did what a lot of the other people around her couldn’t do. She took loose aspects of free-form jazz and contained them into these beautiful spiritual songs. Structure and freedom. Every recording I have gone into I have in my own way tried to honour her.”

Also, we didn’t get to ‘the wanderer’, by Friedrich Nietzsche. It hits home for me and here it is; perhaps more on this in a future episode:

The wanderer. 

He who has come only in part to a freedom of reason cannot feel on earth otherwise than as a wanderer - though not as a traveler towards a final goal, for this does not exist. But he does want to observe, and keep his eyes open for everything that actually occurs in the world; therefore he must not attach his heart too firmly to any individual thing; there must be something wandering within him, which takes its joy in change and transitoriness. To be sure, such a man will have bad nights, when he is tired and finds closed the gates to the city that should offer him rest; perhaps in addition, as in the Orient, the desert reaches up to the gate; predatory animals howl now near, now far; a strong wind stirs; robbers lead off his pack-animals. Then for him the frightful night sinks over the desert like a second desert, and his heart becomes tired of wandering. If the morning sun then rises, glowing like a divinity of wrath, and the city opens up, he sees in the faces of its inhabitants perhaps more of desert, dirt, deception, uncertainty, than outside the gates - and the day is almost worse than the night. So it may happen sometimes to the wanderer; but then, as recompense, come the ecstatic mornings of other regions and days. Then nearby in the dawning light he already sees the bands of muses dancing past him in the mist of the mountains. Afterwards, he strolls quietly in the equilibrium of his forenoon soul, under trees from whose tops and leafy corners only good and bright things are thrown down to him, the gifts of all those free spirits who are at home in mountain, wood, and solitude, and who are, like him, in their sometimes merry, sometimes contemplative way, wanderers and philosophers. Born out of the mysteries of the dawn, they ponder how the day can have such a pure, transparent, transfigured and cheerful face between the hours of ten and twelve - the seek the philosophy of the forenoon.

From: Friedrich Nietzsche - Man Alone with Himself - 156

Interestingly enough, after the recording of THE MIEF I decided to randomly (?) watch an episode of the Star Wars: Visions series on Disney+ in which the wanderer, or a wanderer, makes an appearance. But I’m pretty sure it’s THE wanderer. Episode 1, The Duel, for those interested. It’s a good episode. 

And so! Mief is miefed, spit is spat and mischief managed. Thank you for reading and maybe listening, a good day to you all, friend, foe, lurker and loiterer alike.

Love,

Simon Ohler and Louis Bijl de Vroe

PS If you want some spit on your mief, follow @spitmief on instagram and Twitter, or Simon and/or Louis separately on their internet personas nowsimon and latelewis (late_lewis on twitter).

*Where the Heart Beats; John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists - Kay Larson

**Nina Simone’s gum - Warren Ellis

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spitmief.substack.com