Drugs are like the siren call of mermaids. They have a seductive allure but lead only to the shoals of broken relationships, hardship, misery, and self-destruction.
Many years ago I took a course called Law and Psychology. A psychiatrist was one of the students. He said, “I do not know why someone would want to pickle their brain in alcohol.” The same might be said of illicit narcotics.
I once watched a piece on the evening news where cameras followed an addict. He spent much of the day trying to get a heroin fix by asking people for money to purchase the drug. At one point the unfortunate man went to the city hall building because the restrooms were clean and the building was safe. In a stall he folded a dollar bill, placed it on a toilet seat, added some powdered valium, and snorted it to take the edge off of his addiction.
Heroin was developed by Charles Romley Adler Wright (Sept. 7, 1844-1894). He earned a DSc (Doctorate of Science) in 1870 and was one of the founders of the Royal Institute of Chemistry.
Wright’s Virgo Sun was at 14 degrees. It was conjoined with Chiron at 7. Mars at 2 d. was also together with Chrion. He had a stellium in Aries. [Jupiter 0 d., Uranus 5, and Pluto 23 d.] Saturn and Neptune were both in the scientific sign Aquarius.
As Chiron is the wounded healer, and Virgo is the sign of practical service, Charles was trying to aid others by inventing medicines that would make them better. The sign is good for research, for the mind is meticulous, attention is paid to detail, and there can be much trial-and-error to perfect matters.
Wright searched for a non-addictive substitute for morphine. He combined morphine with acetic anhydride over a stove for several hours. This produced diamorphine or heroin. (Wikipedia article on Charles Wright)
“Repeated heroin use changes the physical structure and physiology of the brain, creating long term imbalances in neuronal and hormonal systems that are not easily reversed.” (National Institute on Drug Abuse Heroin Research Report: What are the long-term effects of heroin use?) The brain’s white matter deteriorates. This causes poorer decision-making abilities and less ability to regulate behavior. Use of the drug also causes dependence. (Ibid)
Though cocaine has been around for thousands of years—Incas used it in the Andes—it sped up breathing and counteracted the effects of living at high altitudes—it was first isolated from the cocoa leaf by Albert Niemann, a German chemist in 1859. [Nieman’s DOB: May 20, 1834- 1861]
Niemann had a Sun/Chiron/Jupiter conjunction in Taurus. [28 to 20ds] Saturn at 4d Libra was trine the Sun and Neptune at 1d Aquarius. It was also opposed a Mars Pluto conjunction in Aries.
The Sun trine Saturn would have given Albert patience while the Neptune trine would have gifted him with a powerful intuition. Niemann would have been a hard worker. (Parker, The Compleat Astrologer, p.136, 146)
Sigmund Freud initially took cocaine when he was slightly depressed. He felt the blues almost instantly dissipate, and they were replaced by euphoria.
“With excessive or prolonged use cocaine causes itching, fast heart rate, paranoid delusions, and sensations of insects crawling on the skin. Acute exposure can lead to heart attack and heart failure. An overdose can cause convulsions and cardiac death.” (Wikipedia, article on Cocaine)
Lazar Edeleanu, a Romanian chemist, synthesized amphetamine first in 1887. Methamphetamine is a chemical derivative of amphetamine and was invented in 1893. Both were developed as alternatives to the ephedra plant and its ingredient, ephedrine. (Article: “Who Invented Meth: The History of Meth & Its Links to WW-II”, www.therecoveryvillage.com).
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant. 61% of individuals treated for addiction relapsed within one year.
I took a train ride to Klamath Falls, Oregon to visit a good friend. My seatmate revealed he had been a meth addict. He had a buddy who took the drug and played the guitar for three or four straight days. At the end of this stint, the man was so exhausted he rolled into a fetal ball and slept.
While it can produce energy and euphoria, the long-term physical effects are these: permanent damage to the brain and heart, high blood pressure and strokes, damage to liver, kidneys, and lungs, tooth decay, and skin sores.
Psychological problems stemming from use include anxiety and confusion. Delusions, mood disturbances, and paranoia (Internet article: SAMSHA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Learn About Methamphetamine).
The peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) is small and button shaped. It grows in Mexico and the American southwest. For thousands of years Native Americans used it as part of their religious ceremonies. “Most people who take it experience vivid hallucinations.” (Internet article: “What to Know About Peyote,” www. medicalnewstoday.com)
Peyote contains the alkaloid mescaline, and it is this that produces the psychedelic effects. Mescaline interacts with brain receptors which are part of how serotin is used.
One user described a trip thusly: “There is a feeling of distorted spatial awareness and a sense of shrinking and expanding perception like Alice in Wonderland. Bright light becomes painful to the eyes. Life, death, and time become irrelevant because of the euphoria. There is a mist like haze over everything.” (Stephen J. Christophers, “The Peyote Experience, Mushroom Magazine, April 28, 2015)
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid similar to morphine but at least fifty to a hundred times more powerful. (Internet website: National Institute on Drug Abuse) The most dangerous effect is respiratory depression. “That means decreased sensitivity to carbon dioxide which leads to a reduced rate of breathing.” That can cause brain injury or death. (Wikipedia, article on fentanyl)
Fentanyl poses a very high risk for overdose. Two milligrams would be lethal for most people. That amount would only cover the mint year on a penny.
Dr. Paul Janssen (b. Sept. 12, 1926-2003) first prepared fentanyl in 1959. He founded his own research laboratory in 1953 with money borrowed from his dad.
He discovered ambucetamide which relieved menstrual pain and haloperidol, a breakthrough drug for schizophrenia. He founded his own pharmaceutical company in 1956. (Wikipedia, article on Paul Janssen)
Janssen had a common stellium in Virgo. [Sun 18 d., Mercury 12, and Venus 0d 41m] His Moon and Saturn were in Scorpio while Jupiter was in Aquarius. Two aspects of import would be Venus together with Neptune [Neptune is at 25d Leo] and the Sun and Mercury both trine Mars. Saturn is trine Uranus and Pluto but square Neptune.
Janssen would have been excellent at research (Virgo/Scorpio). The trine of Mars to Sun/Mercury would have lent an entrepreneurial bent while the Saturn placement would have probably given some executive ability.
Life is a hard go. We all face the departure of loved ones. Many must deal with job loss, divorce, ill health, or simply not making enough money to make ends meet. Taking drugs, a form of escapism, only makes matters worse, for they impair our ability to think and reason, our greatest asset. Drug use is a faulty respite from reality. Tough times must eventually be faced, the sooner the better. We are here only for a short time, and it is best to take a long view: this too shall pass. It is the quality of our relationships that give real color and texture to our lives. When you are in a rough patch, pick your friends and associates carefully, grit your teeth, move one foot forward, then another, and soldier on. Grind It out. Pray frequently.
Brian Hill, MAAS blog writer