Envisioning an Advertisement Campaign that touches on several elements of the “Old Silk Road”
Sufis were long known for their use of inebriants in their various ceremonies. Taking that to note, I decided that the run away Sufi practitioner,
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff who brought some of the distilled teachings of Sufism to the West was the perfect choice for this piece. He was well known for his use of alcohol in the sessions at Prieuré des Basses Loges in Fontainebleau-Avon south of Paris. It was purported by Gerald Heard that Gurdjieff only “put up with” the (apparently annoying) Ouspensky because O. always had the best hash and opium in Paris.

It is no great leap to assume that early in his life he partook of Hasheesh, as did many of the Sufi Schools. Turkmenistan Hasheesh was renowned for it’s illuminatory nature, which dovetails nicely with Sufism.

Cheers,
Gwyllm
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God has given us a dark wine

so strong that,
drinking it, we leave both worlds.

God has put into hashish a great power
to free the taker of the consciousness of self.

God has made sleep so
that it stops us thinking.

There are thousands of wines
that can overpower our minds.

Don’t think all ecstasies
are similar.

Every object, every being,
is a wine-jar of delight.

Be a connoisseur,
taste with caution:
any wine will make you drunk.

Judge like a king, and choose the best,
the ones unadulterated with fear of what folk say,
or some contingent “duty” or “necessity.”

Drink the wine that makes your soul float,
moves you
as a camel moves when it’s been untied,

and is just ambling about – loafing, if you like.

– Rumi