mickey mouse: a hyperspatial spiritual entity?

 “what happens when you do shrooms?” i asked my cousin darrell when i was 13.

“you see mickey mouse.”

i’ve heard it a lot. ask people who has eaten 5g of mushrooms or more, and some of them will tell you they see mickey mouse or something mickey mouse-esque. it’s evident in the work of psychonautic artists joe roberts (jeffries), keiichi tanaami (street art nyc), and many others whose work features mickey as a recurring element.

“mickey mouse has been a part of our mental and emotional universe for over eight decades… the masters of twentieth-century figurative painting all paid homage to the mouse” (apgar 9, 15)

mickey mouse is an entity who is very real and has probably played a more important role than any historic figure in american history. in his book ‘mickey mouse’, writer garry apgar goes as far as saying he is emblematic of the american spirit.

mickey was channeled in by walt disney around 1928 and appeared on paper during a time when spirit mediumship, home circles, and the seance was becoming a popular topic (although that may not have been disney’s conscious approach). mickey, as a form, in some way, demanded to be animated. it’s hard to say whether mickey was animated, or whether he animated disney. this idea wasn't strange to disney because there are even drawings of mickey directing the art-creation experience (guida 17).

from mickey’s success, so many other forms were born. mickey is like an anchor for an alternate dimension to be experienced.

mickeys impact is huge. he’s ushered us through the advancement of motion image, experience design, graphics processing, and basically has spearheaded human civilization and been the dominant force operating the american myth making engine. disney still has that impact today. in 2019, only three years ago, disney was ranked no. 4 top most innovative company by fast company.

that’s why we need to really go in on the subject and decode it to really know who, or what is mickey mouse? why does he show up in psilocybin trips? what kind of spiritual force does mickey embody and how does that get conveyed through representation? what is the direction that mickey is going, and what transformations will he make, and through whom?

these are questions i hope to explore further, either through my private meditations, my art practice, or in my writing.

thank you for taking the time to read, i hope this writing has been enjoyable and insightful for you!

works cited

• jeffries, stuart. "artist joe roberts: ‘the psychedelic experience is an incredible tool’.” the guardian. dec. 4, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/dec/04/artist-joe-roberts-interview. aug 8, 2022.
• street art nyc. "mickey: the true original exhibition continues through feb. 10 with: keith haring, kenny scharf, katherine bernhardt, keiichi tanaami, michael john kelly, london kaye & more.” jan 16, 2019.  https://streetartnyc.org/blog/2019/01/16/mickey-the-true-original-exhibition-continues-through-feb-10-with-keith-haring-kenny-scharf-katherine-bernhardt-keiichi-tanaami-michael-john-kelly-london-kaye-more/. aug 8, 2022.
• apgar, garry. mickey mouse: emblem of the american spirit. weldon owen. 2015.
• "disney ranks high among fast company’s most innovative companies.” the walt disney company. feb 21, 2019. https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-ranks-high-among-fast-companys-most-innovative-companies/. aug 8, 2022.
• martina, guida. disney’s wonderful world of knowledge. book #24. the danbury press. 1973. (image)

related:

• ‘carl gustav jung, quantum physics and the spiritual mind: a mystical vision of the twenty-first century’, diogo valadas ponte and lothar schäfer (2013)