Included here are some miscellaneous incidents
and details of yet another ‘friendship’ that ended badly. The material speaks
for itself; it is all typical of Strindberg and his life; it is all typical of
things that happen to people who use occult instead of natural methods to go
through life and get what they want.
The meal that backfired
This is a very small incident, but it is
significant in terms of what happens to people who use psychological black
magic.
Strindberg’s mother-in-law cooked what she
said was his favourite dish; not only was it not at the top of his list, it was
something he disliked more than anything else. He had to force himself to eat
the revolting dish.
He got the exact opposite of what he expected.
The worst towns in Sweden
Strindberg said this:
“There are ninety towns in Sweden, and the powers have condemned me to go to the one which I most dislike.”
The powers? He blamed ‘occultists and their secret powers’ for his many misfortunes when he himself was often the cause.
The powers? He blamed ‘occultists and their secret powers’ for his many misfortunes when he himself was often the cause.
He moved on to another Swedish town:
“...I have made personal enemies here, and
have contracted debts under circumstances which set my character in a dubious
light... I have also here relations who ignore me, and friends who have left me
to become my enemies. In a word, it is the worst place I could have chosen for
a quiet residence; it is hell...”
So he ended up in the exact opposite of the
peaceful refuge he wanted, with more former friends who had become his enemies
and more debts. Same old same old...
Strindberg and his ‘friend’ the doctor
I have already reproduced in detail some of Strindberg’s
accounts of his relationships. What he says about his encounters with a doctor
‘friend’ he was staying with in Sweden is mostly more of the same.
I can’t face going through the whole story in
detail as I did with the others, and anyway it is all very predictable. Yet
again we have Groundhog Day, a stuck record and the repetition compulsion
syndrome!
A few extracts will give the picture:
“The doctor seems to me to be struggling with
conflicting emotions. At one time he seems prejudiced against me, looks at me
contemptuously, and treats me with humiliating rudeness; at another he seems
himself unhappy, and soothes and comforts me as though I were a sick child. But
then, again, it seems to give him pleasure to be able to trample under his feet
a man of worth for whom he has formerly had a high regard. Then he lectures me
like a pitiless tormentor. I am to work, but not to give way to exaggerated
ambition; I am to fulfil my duties to my fatherland and family”.
In other words, this is yet another ‘friend’
who tries to impose his will on Strindberg from a position of superiority!
“After this adventure, open hostility breaks out between my friend and me. He gives me to understand that I am an idler, and that my presence is superfluous. To this I rejoin that I must wait for the arrival of important letters, but that I am ready at any time to go to an hotel... He now plays the rôle of the injured party. As a matter of fact, I cannot leave for want of money.”
So they fall out, and Strindberg is penniless
yet again. What a surprise! Maybe the doctor sensed that he was being used and
exploited. Maybe Strindberg brought out the worst in him.
Strindberg has an essay published in a
reputable French publication, and this makes things even worse:
“I show the article to the doctor, who
betrays his annoyance, since he cannot deny the fact. Then I say to myself, ‘How
can that man be my friend, who is vexed at my success?’"
How can anyone keep on making the same
mistakes about people? Strindberg previously had to conceal his success from
his mystery man artist ‘friend’.
Strindberg the invisible man
I have mentioned in other articles that people
may feel invisible after being in the company of a witch, an energy vampire or
someone who practises psychological black magic. Something, bad energy or a
smokescreen perhaps, stops other people from seeing them. The victims may feel
like ghosts in the world.
According to Colin Wilson, this happened to
Strindberg, although he caused his own lack of visibility by his bad action.
His friends who were looking for him in the street didn’t even see him until he
went up and spoke to and touched them. He literally had to seize their
attention.
I had barely heard of Strindberg and would
probably never have investigated Inferno with its account of his misfortunes if
I hadn’t seen Colin Wilson’s intriguing references.
I had no idea that I would find so much to
write about, and there is still some more to come.
Portrait of August Strindberg by the Norwegian artist Christian
Krohg - whose wife Strindberg quarrelled with:
