Jakob Boehme

In: G. Quispel (ed.), De hermetische Gnosis in de loop der eeuwen, Haarlem 20034, 383-394.

German translation: ‘Gisbertus Voetius, Hermes Trismegistos und Jakob Boehme, in: G. Quispel (ed.), Die hermetische Gnosis im Lauf der Jahrhunderte, Birnbach: DRP Verlag 2001, 389-401

Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism 18.1 (2018), 3-20.

The article discusses the historiographic neglect of one of Germany's most influential authors, Jacob Böhme. Seventeenth-century philosophers such as Leibniz and Henry More recognized Böhme as a philosopher and scholars of the period included him in lexica of the "Republic of Letters." Yet later histories either ignore Böhme or dismiss him as a "fanatic." The article traces this treatment of Böhme not to the content of his thought, but to his status as a lay philosopher and theologian, who lacked the approval of the state church and university.

Alchemy is not only the origin of systematic experimentation and chemistry but also the first attempt to create a cohesive science of consciousness. Those early philosophers of nature treated mental contents as objective phenomena, and they believed the universal operations used in their laboratories could transform a dark leaden mind into a shining golden one. The Hermetic philosophy behind alchemy taught that our thoughts and feelings are the thoughts and feelings of the whole universe, and that intrinsic perspective generated deep insight into the structure of mind. Alchemists viewed consciousness as a natural force that could be harnessed through a marriage of logic and intuition – a union of objective and subjective realities. Like modern seekers of a unified field theory, alchemists sought one true philosophy of universal principles that were as valid in Nature as they were in their own minds and souls, and in the One Mind of the Cosmos. The resulting cauldron of ideas on mind and matter leads to a truer understanding of the Philosopher's Stone – not as an object but a state of mind. Les racines d'une Science de la Conscience dans l'Alchimie hermétique par Dennis William Hauck, Ph.D. Résumé L'Alchimie n'est pas seulement à l'origine de l'expérimentation systématique et de la chimie, elle constitue également la première tentative de créer une science de la conscience. Ces premiers philosophes de la nature tenaient le contenu du mental pour un phénomène objectif ; ils croyaient en effet que les opérations universelles, qu'ils effectuaient dans leurs laboratoires, étaient en mesure de transformer un esprit sombre de plomb en un d'or resplendissant. La philosophie hermétique, sous-jacente à l'alchimie, enseignait que nos pensées et nos sentiments sont les reflets des pensées et des sentiments de l'univers tout entier, cette vision intrinsèque générant un aperçu profond de la structure du mental. Les Alchimistes énonçaient que la conscience est une force naturelle pouvant être jugulée par un syncrétisme de logique et d'intuition – autrement dit, une union des réalités objective et subjective. À l'instar des actuels chercheurs d'une théorie unifiée de l'Univers, les alchimistes d'antan recherchaient une véritable philosophie de principes universels qui fût autant valable dans la nature, dans le mental et l'âme humaine, que dans le Mental cosmique. Le chaudron de réflexions sur l'esprit et la matière qui en résulta, conduisit à une compréhension plus vraie de la Pierre philosophale – non pas comme un objet, mais comme un état d'esprit.

This publication accompanies the exhibition "Light in Darkness: The Mystical Philosophy of Jacob Böhme, held 29 April-5 July 2019 in Coventry Cathedral. The volume includes sections about Böhme's life, his main philosophical concepts and his reception, particularly in the English-speaking world. A short selection of passages from Böhme's "Aurora" is also offered, together with explanatory notes.

The essay focuses on Moller's role as an author of devotional works, who promoted meditation as a way to improve individuals, church and society. His attitudes foreshadow those of his friend and parishioner Jacob Böhme, who would develop them much further.

The essay explores the parallels between the Republic of Letters and the so-called Invisible Church. Both communities arose from the desire to overcome the divisions brought about by the Reformation and the splintering of Protestantism into further confessions. Religious reformers and scholars thus shared similar universal goals: the betterment of society and the world. Central interests for both were history, biblical criticism and tolerance. International correspondence networks were the glue that held these virtual communities together and both relied on similar structures of patronage and communication.
After comparing the two communities in general, the essay analyses the correspondence of one sub-group within the Invisible Church, the Philadelphians, to illustrate how they used correspondence networks as a discursive space in ways that paralleled practices in the Republic of Letters. The Philadelphians, whose most important leaders in the German territories were Johann Wilhelm Petersen and Johanna Eleonora Petersen, had a massive impact on nonconformists from London to Zurich. The letters of the group show that the key doctrine of apokatastasis panton or universal salvation was worked out in a multi-party conversation in letters. The doctrine paved the way for a more „enlightened“ approach to religion that did not center on eternal damnation. The group’s correspondence also served as an alternative site of education for participants.
Finally the essay questions the way that historians have traditionally labelled some individuals as „scholars“ and others as religious „radicals“. Often these designations have mainly to do with the individuals‘ institutional status. „Radical Pietists“ who fled persecution and settled in North America provide an example. So long as they were in opposition to the German state church, they were labelled as fringe figures, but upon arrival in North America some could be re-categorized as „scholars“. In light of such contradictions and of the many overlaps between the two communities, the essay calls into question a strict division between the Republic of Letters and the Invisible Church.

The essay focuses on the problem of freedom in Jakob Böhme’s thought (1575-1624), examining some textual places where this problem assumes a great importance. What emerges is the conception of a “freedom without essence” (Freyheit ohne Wesen), proper to the foundation without grounds of reality, whose power resonates in the wheel of essences. The condition of possibility of individual freedom is then problematised, starting from the recognition of the human soul as an infinite divine emanation. Finally, the echo that this conception of freedom has had in two modern German thinkers, Friedrich Schelling and Martin Heidegger, is outlined.



Il saggio si concentra sul problema della libertà in Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), indagando alcuni luoghi testuali in cui tale problema assume una consistenza preponderante. Emerge la concezione di una "libertà senza essenza" (Freyheit ohne Wesen), propria del fondamento senza-Fondo della realtà, la cui potenza risuona nella ruota delle essenze. Si problematizza, allora, la condizione di possibilità della libertà individuale, partendo dal riconoscimento dell'anima umana come infinita emanazione divina. Infine, si accenna all'eco che tale concezione della libertà ha avuto in due pensatori tedeschi moderni, Friedrich Schelling e Martin Heidegger.

Histories of Early Modern religion in Europe typically contrast the activities of ordained theologians with those of laity. The thought and writings of the former usually constitute " theology " and those of the latter " piety. " The result has long been a divided history. Confessional church historians have written histories that were essentially genealogies of (male) officer holders, while scholars of folklore, culture or literature analyzed the contributions of laity. Since the so-called cultural turn, the contributions of laity as organizers, transmitters and patrons of Early Modern religious movements are being recognized. What has been less studied are the intellectual achievements of laity, many of whom possessed deep knowledge of theology, history, and ancient languages and played important roles in Early Modern religious history. This article provides an overview of the main issues and the development of lay theology in the period and argues for increased study of the phenomenon.

The article traces the influence of Jacob Böhme's concept of "Sophia," a female element in the godhead, from 1600 into the eighteenth century. Based on Böhme's concept , different groups within the dissenting milieu offered competing plans for the organization of society. To overcome gender difference, some implemented sexual-religious rituals, while others promoted celibacy. The previously unresearched correspondence of Anna Magdalena Francke with the "Angelic Brethren" reveals that such ideas were not limited to a radical fringe, but reached into the heart of the powerful Franckesche Stiftungen.

Jacob Boehme’s Of the Three Principles of Divine Being, 1619, is vital for understanding his work as a whole, its relationship to its epoch, and its role in intellectual history. Reproduced here using the methods of critical edition, the original of the work and its adjacent translation, together with an extensive introduction and commentary, provide unprecedented access to this essential work of early modern thought and cast a fresh light on the revolutionary theological, philosophical, and scientific developments coinciding with the start of the Thirty Years’ War.

The 1730 edition is annotated with reference to the manuscript sources to clarify ambiguities so that the translation can interpret the text without refracting its meaning. This makes it possible to interpret Boehme’s complex theories of the origin of the divine being and of nature, the human creature, and the female aspect of divinity.

The main purpose of this article is to reflect on the sources of the modern postsecular theory presented by John D. Caputo in The Weakness of God. The American theologian reinterprets Genesis’s creation narrative and suggests that God took “the beautiful risk of creation.” One of the guiding spirits of Caputo’s idea is Angelus Silesius, the Baroque poet, who transposed the theosophy of the German mystic Jacob Böhme into a poetic language. The comparative analysis of the mystics’ works also contains the work of Adam Mickiewicz, who creatively paraphrases and applies their ideas to the Polish conditions. If compared with Caputo’s philosophy, the interpretation of Böhme, Silesius and Mickiewicz’s reveals their original anthropology and theology. At the same time, it shows their postsecular intuition. Such analysis helps to understand fully the contemporary dimension of postsecularism.

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Głównym celem tekstu jest namysł nad źródłami współczesnej myśli postsekularnej zaprezentowanej przez Johna D. Caputo w książce pt. "The weakness of God. A Theology of the Event". Amerykański teolog rozważa stworzenie jako igraszkę, grę, zabawę, sugerując, że Bóg podjął się "pięknego ryzyka kreacji" ("The Beautiful Risk of Creation"). Caputo przyznaje się do inspiracji zaczerpniętej z poety barokowego – Anioła Ślązaka. Wrocławski mistyk przełożył zaś na poetycki język idee teozofa ze Zgorzelca – Jakuba Böhmego. W analizie porównawczej nie sposób też pominąć twórczości Adama Mickiewicza, który przetłumaczył i twórczo rozwinął myśl obu mistyków, zaszczepiając ją na gruncie polskim. Boża igraszka nie jest wszelako znanym z literatury renesansu toposem bożego igrzyska –  wizji bezwolnego stworzenia rzuconego na pastwę bóstw igrających bezlitośnie z losem ludzkim. Koncepcja gry, igraszki, zabawy w zwierciadle postsekularnym ukazuje Boga podejmującego w wolności, ale i w radosnym zachwycie stwórcze działanie, zapraszając do niego stworzenie. Relacja między Bogiem i człowiekiem objawia się zatem jako czuła igraszka, której zasady polegają na darze i wolności, nie zaś na dialektyce pana i niewolnika. Analiza twórczości Böhmego, Ślązaka i Mickiewicza zestawiona z teologią Caputo odsłania zawartą w nich oryginalną antropologię i teologię oraz wspólny horyzont poszukiwania „innej” religijności. Wskazuje też, że koncepcje te wpisują się w nurt myśli postsekularnej jako iskry ją wieszczące. Innymi słowy, pisma analizowanych mistyków pomagają pełniej zrozumieć współczesny wymiar postsekularyzmu.

In this essay I try to inspect the interpretation of the light-darkness dialectic by Jakob Böhme (1575-1624): it is a fight, which involves every aspect of the theosophist's thought, from psychology to natural philosophy, from morality to gnoseology, from ontology to theology. Starting from the reference to Böhme’s famous vision of sunshine reflected by the dark surface of zinc, I try to characterize the experience of “seeing” as the cornerstone of a sensorial mystic, understood as an attempt to translate what “has been seen” in the inwardness. The analysis of Ungrund’s concept allows me to make explicit the co-essentiality of light and darkness: there is no reality other than the divine reality, which however has a rhythmic nature; and light and darkness are the phases of this rhythm.

Surprisingly, perhaps, it turns out that the face is not only a finite object of art but also an infinite art object, yielding three inimitable standards of facial beauty, but what these really entail remains essentially unexplored. Surprising new research indicates a fundamental restriction on achievable aesthetic meaning within portraiture.

Readers interested in the latest findings on the face are advised that the present paper is part of a series of writings on this page attempting a total integration of the Visage of Man through theoretical comprehension, scientific investigation, and sensual appreciation of its place in actual life and within artistic conventions as ordinarily practiced.

Three other papers on this page should be read for an integrated and particularized approach to the context, the form (or plan), the neurophysiological underpinnings, and the exhibition of the Trifurcated Face of Man (namely, 'Prospectus of the Society for Faces,' 'The Soul of Life and the Spirit of War,' and 'Desiderata for Primary Exhibition of the Face').

A planned fifth paper ('The Human Face in Life and Death') in due course will, it is hoped, summarize, clarify, and strengthen the contributions to the theory of the face by the present author and form the basis for substantial new research on the idealist theory of the Visage of Man in the 21st century. The depth of the human face remains essentially unknown within idealism and is totally masked by the delusions of materialism.

Integral study of individual facial conformation at first maturity with the face in death (the Totenmask) in volunteers across the globe soon will be proposed, more or less as first envisioned in the 'Prospectus of the Society for Faces,' but with concrete reference to true (idealist) anthropology and its newfound insight into the profound psychophysical separation constituting Trifurcated Man.

You tube video of a short curator's tour of the exhibition at the Embassy of the Free Mind / Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam, which took place 14 December 2019 - 1 August 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPGzHA5XFAM&feature=youtu.be

THE TIME OF THE LILY: The mystical Philosopher Jacob Boehme and the Renewal of the World

Wrocław University Museum, Poland, May 25-September 11, 2022. Curated by Lucinda Martin and Claudia Brink.

For the last five years, the Dresden State Art Collections have partnered with the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica and Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam to present a series of exhibitions on the work and influence of Jacob Böhme (1575-1624). After stops in Dresden (2017) and Coventry and Amsterdam (2019), the next exhibition is taking place at the University Museum of Wrocław.

Böhme’s thought has had a lasting influence on literature, philosophy, religion and art over the centuries. His work arose during a time when Europe was shaken by great turmoil. Wars, religious conflicts and epidemics led many people to believe that the end of time was near. In this situation, the shoemaker and lay philosopher from Görlitz tried to provide answers to existential questions. Boehme's writings were controversial and at times even banned, but his writings survived, mainly thanks to his supporters in Silesia and Lusatia, who made handwritten copies of his writings and circulated them underground in their networks. In this way, Boehme's works eventually reached the Netherlands in the 17th century, where they were printed for the first time, translated into other languages, and disseminated more widely.

The history of Jacob Böhme's writings is connected with the war in several ways. After the authorities banned Böhme from writing, he initially obeyed. On the eve of the Thirty Years' War, however, he resumed his writing in light of the time of crisis. During the Second World War, it was again Boehme’s supporters ideas who secretly preserved his manuscripts in the German town of Linz on the Rhine. Since the Nazis suspected forbidden ideas in them, the writings were confiscated. However, Böhme experts succeeded in having the confiscated works transferred to his hometown of Görlitz. There they were brought to safety from the destruction of the war in places on both sides of the Neisse, which is why today they are partly in Germany and partly in Poland. However, some writings were lost.

The exhibition at the University Museum in Wrocław presents Boehme's basic ideas, outlines his beginnings as a mystical philosopher in Görlitz, and sheds light on his networks in Silesia and Lusatia. The reception of his works in the Netherlands and England is also a topic, as are the winding paths through which his manuscripts reached their present-day repositories in the 20th century. An important collection is located in the Wrocław University Library. The exhibition shows important documents from this collection, supplemented by loans from the Oberlausitzische Bibliothek der Wissenschaften in Görlitz and the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam.

Even though Böhme lived in a time of great political and religious turmoil, he did not doubt the beginning of renewal. In reference to the lily as a symbol of hope and new life, he called the coming era of peace the "time of the lily." His appeal to people to face the challenges of their time is as relevant today as it was 400 years ago.

The catalog for the 2017 Exhibition, "All in All: The Conceptual World of the mystical Philosopher Jacob Böhme" contains sections on Böhmes thought, his context and his later reception by visual artists. In the first section, Lucinda Martin and Cecilia Muratori engage intensively with Böhme's central concepts. The section on Böhme's context includes contributions on the political, scientific and artistic environment within which Böhme wrote, while the part on Böhme's reception deals especially with his influence on the artists of the German Romantik movement, the English artist and poet William Blake and the modernist painters Wassily Kandinsky and Jean Arp.

From a purely Pietistic approach to unlocking Alchemy through ‚faith and prayer‛ Eriksson shifts abruptly into sharper, veiled allusions to the seething ‚Nuclear‛ Heart of Creation, and the fiery, flowing Gold whose intimate details are possessed by ‚concealed‛ Custodians of such Knowledge (reminding this translator of the awesome, if not awful, Catalyst that occurs within a modern Reactor -how ‚in growing unctuous or fat, and luxuriant, it increases and spreads itself forth infinitely in power.‛Aurora 22: 101)* *See the Meditation, "Holocaust of Regeneration," immediately following the translation of Eriksson below. RR Dated Feb. 22, 1756: Addressed to my dear confidant Wän. A Chymical Faith Confession, dealing primarily with my opinion on the Gold Tincture. A short description where I reflect upon the way of the Heavenly Pearl-Stone and concealed treasure; which is Christus in the entire Fulness of his eternal and adopted Manhood. The outcome of God's fiery judgments, is the pleasant and beautiful Lily-Time, when the Sons of God will pass through to Summer by means of Wisdom's lush greenness. For when the weeds, thistles, thorns and all seedlings that prevented God's Work are uprooted by the roots and burned, then breaks forth the Deity's Lily-League in its right Depth, Height, Length, and Breadth. The entrance to the veritable wealth which is hidden from this grieving earth, and consists of fine gold, Bedolah and Soham, or the vaunted Stone of the Wise (Genesis 2: 11, 12), shall be a victorious Faith, a Cross of Fruit-Bearing Virtues, God's Love and Righteousness through Christum Jesum.

This catalog accompanying the exhibition of the same title (25 May-11 September 2022) in Wroclaw, Poland contains both Polish and English essays. It treats Böhme's history and his thought, with a special focus on his early contacts in Silesia and Lusatia.

ISBN 978-3-95498-693-4

(1575-1624) is een van de belangrijkste Duitse denkers. Zijn werken hebben ver voorbij de landsgrenzen invloed uitgeoefend op de literatuur, filosofie, religie en kunst, vanaf zijn eigen tijd tot de dag van vandaag. Honderd jaar na het begin van de protes-tantse Reformatie-aan de vooravond van de Dertigjarige Oorlog-wilde Böhme uitdrukking geven aan de behoefte aan een diepgaande spirituele en filosofische vernieuwing. In een reeks tentoonstellingen-in Dresden, Coventry, Amsterdam en Wrocław-herdenken de Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden deze oncon-ventionele denker, wiens ideeën over de relatie tussen wetenschap en geloof, tussen mens en natuur, tussen man en vrouw heden ten dage actueler zijn dan ooit. F. W. J. S c h e l l i n g (17 7 5-18 5 4) " M a n k a n n n i c h t u M h i n v o n J a c o b b ö h M e z u s a g e n , e r s e i e i n e W u n d e r e r s c h e i n u n g i n d e r g e s c h i c h t e d e r M e n s c h h e i t, u n d b e s o n d e r s i n d e r g e s c h i c h t e d e s d e u t s c h e n g e i s t e s. " P h i l o s o P h i e d e r o f f e n b a r u n g G e o r g C h r i s t o p h L i c h t e n b e r g (17 4 2-17 9 9) " d i e W e r k e J a c o b b ö h M e s s i n d e i n e a r t P i c k n i c k , W o d e r a u t o r d i e W ö r t e r b e r e i t s t e l l t u n d d e r l e s e r d i e b e d e u t u n g. " a P h o r i s M e n K a r l Ma r x (18 18-18 8 3) " d e r s c h u s t e r J a c o b b ö h M e Wa r e i n g r o s s e r P h i l o s o P h. M a n c h e P h i l o s o P h e n v o n r u f s i n d n u r g r o s s e s c h u s t e r. " d e b at t e n ü b e r P r e s s e f r e i h e i t OOG VOOR DE WE RE LD De visionaire denker S A N D S T E I N G .W. F. He g e l (17 7 0-18 3 1) " J a c o b b ö h M e i s t d e r e r s t e d e u t s c h e P h i l o s o P h. " v o r l e s u n g e n ü b e r d i e g e s c h i c h t e d e r P h i l o s o P h i e S a m u e l Ta y l o r C o l e r i d g e (17 7 2-18 3 4) " J a c o b b ö h M e , t h e P h i l o s o P h e r , s u r P r i s e s u s J u s t a s M u c h a s b ö h M e , t h e v i s i o n a r y, h a s a s t o u n d e d o r P e r P l e x e d u s. " M a r g i n a l i a F r i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l (17 7 2-18 2 9) " b ö h M e i s t o h n e z W e i f e l d e r u M f a s s e n d s t e , r e i c h h a l t i g s t e u n d M a n n i g f a l t i g s t e v o n a l l e n M y s t i k e r n. " P h i l o s o P h i s c h e v o r l e s u n g e n , 1 8 0 4-1 8 0 6 Wi l l i a m B l a k e (17 5 7-18 2 7) " P a r a c e l s u s & b ö h M e a P P e a r ' d t o M e. " l e t t e r t o J o h n f l a x M a n , 1 2 s e P t e M b e r 1 8 0 0

An interview (in German) with the journalist Claudia Friedrich on the life of the radical reformer Johann Georg Gichtel, aired on 21 January 2020:
https://www1.wdr.de/radio/wdr5/sendungen/zeitzeichen/gichtel-100.html

Photos can be seen at:
https://claudiafriedrichblog.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/johann-georg-gichtel/

Article by Reiner Schweinfurth published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany's largest national newspaper, on 14 August 2019. The print and on-line versions (see permalink) are slightly different.

https://www.faz.net/-in4-9q0o1

The short film in German with English sub-titles gives a glimpse into the exhibit "All in All: The Conceptual World of the Mystical Philosopher Jacob Böhme," held 25 August-19 November 2017 at the State Art Collections in Dresden.  In the experimental exhibition, the curators -- Claudia Brink, Lucinda Martin and Cecilia Muratori -- sought to structure the exhibit itself according to Böhme's system. The interdisciplinary exhibition displays manuscripts, books, art works and scientific Instruments. The blueprint for the exhibition is a sketch created by Böhme himself.

Invitation to the Böhme Exhibition in Amsterdam
14 December 2019 - 14 March 2020
Opening 13 December 2019, 7 p.m.

(1575-1624) zählt zu den wichtigsten deutschen Denkern, der die Literatur, Philosophie, Religion und Kunst über die Landes-grenzen hinweg nachhaltig geprägt hat. In einer Zeit, in der das traditionelle Weltbild durch bahnbrechende wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse ins Wanken geraten war, suchte Böhme nach einer universellen Theorie, um Religion und Wissenschaft miteinander in Einklang zu bringen. Für die Verbreitung seiner Ideen kam der Stadt Amsterdam im 17. Jahr-hundert eine große Bedeutung zu, denn während seine Werke in Deutsch-land meist nur als Abschriften unter der Hand zirkulierten, konnten sie in den Niederlanden in gedruckter Form erscheinen. Eine umfangreiche Sammlung der Schriften Böhmes befindet sich heute in der "Embassy of the Free Mind" in Amsterdam, deren Grundstock durch Böhmes Erstlings-werk "Aurora" gelegt wurde.

State Art Collections. 27 August-19 November 2017. Palace Chapel, Dresden Royal Palace.

One of the most important German thinkers, the philosopher and mystic Jacob Böhme (1575-1624) made an Impact on literature, philosophy, religion and art that resonated well beyond German borders and that persists even today. One hundred years after the Reformation -- on the eve of the Thirty Years' War -- Böhme wanted to give voice to the need for a far-reaching spiritual and philosophical renewal. He was active in many different disciplines, promoting inter-connections and asking questions which are still remarkably relevant today. With the exhibition "All in All" the palace chapel of the Dresden Royal Palace functions as a museum space for the first time. Graphics, paintings, scientific instruments and handcrafted objects are exhibited alongside selected manuscripts and printed editions of Böhme's works. Since the floor plan of the exhibition follows Böhme's "philosophical sphere," a model for the workings of the cosmos, visitors are able to enter and walk through his world.

Nothing can restrain subjectivity except sleep. Thus, animals would inwardly destroy themselves if not restrained by the chains of somnolence.  The chains are forged with iron discipline in animals by vegetative being itself at the cellular level, where protection from the impetuous carnal will, which is capable of self-restraint only in moral behavior through conscious resignation (cf. Jacob Boehme), is needed most. The result is optimum tissue maintenance.

Very important experimental validation of our thesis from 2016 was found by D. Zada, et al., "Parp1 Promotes Sleep, Which Enhances DNA Repair in Neurons," in 'Molecular Cell' 81 (Dec. 16, 2021), pp. 1-15. It is shown that sleep deprivation in animals is the equivalent of morbidity, and that complete deprivation of sleep, whether by intention or as a side-effect of some other morbidity or condition, will destroy the cellular life of the organism. The pertinent protein ("Parp1") has a dual role in DNA repair and in the direct maintenance of "sleep pressure," though the exact mechanism of sleep pressure is not yet elucidated.

It is now clear from the foregoing that forced deprivation of sleep as a form of torture for national security purposes, which by hearsay is practiced by many so-called "civilized" countries, is reckless assault verging on attempted murder and should be prohibited by law, with the usual penalties, upon conviction after trial, for 1st degree assault and attempted murder, or if the subject dies, premeditated murder in the 1st degree.