There are several themes to ‘Memoirs’ before you come to the theme of casting an idea into the physical world, or personification. Like layers of an onion, the skin is something that you see at first, like the normal physical world. The plant you see, cannabis, is leafy and green, like most plants. However, all people, like a fingerprint, have receptors for THC. The same thing goes for all animals that I know of.
The words that I uttered after my first joint were, “why is this illegal?”
When I pondered this question, smoking pot was vilified in schools and in general society during the mid-50s. The government induced idea was finally dispelled by some states, with California being the breeding ground, and the rebirth of cannabis starting with the Vietnam “War” in the 60s. Even today many people are ignorant to the benefits of smoking pot.
However, people a generation earlier knew about and grew pot. Jazz musicians of the 30s and 40s knew all about pot. This and other historical facts were listed in editions of Jack Herer’s fine work, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”.
One of Jack’s editors, Chris Bennett, did historical research and a broader theme comes into play, the theme of Time. As a Christian this was a Godsend because he showed where cannabis is in the Bible.
However, don’t look for cannabis per se. Instead look for ‘seed bear herb’, but the word ‘cannabis’ is in the Bible. The fact was covered up by Hitler’s amped-up run through Poland that happened at the same time. This put the discovery of pot in the Bible back another generation from the general public.
Even as you read this, millions either don’t believe or know that the Joint of Hope was the only thing that didn’t fall out of Pandora’s Box
The third theme is that of personalization is the creation of the420Nurses. This group of women, some of which look like model and some like moms or pilot boats, all suffer from some ailment either made better or eliminated by the use of cannabis, rather than some prescription medication which carries side effects. And the 420Nurses are a Christian group, although there are some Christians in most organizations.
The final theme illustrated is that of a magic side to Life that many put down as coincidence. There is no such thing. This is the side of Life that Robert Frost talks about in his poem, “The Path Less Traveled”.
In “Memoirs” this path is highlighted so people can actually see how it operates. Most people don’t walk this path, but for those who do, it is strange, different, and can wonder off into the woods, so to speak, and is far more interesting with more colorful personalities that the ‘normal’ side of Life.
This is the side I traveled, starting with Chapter 7, and it continues for the rest of the book’s real life story. All the words in the book’s are true, though the names are changed to protect the guilty. It is God who judge the progress, but I was never disappointed. Had WWII not happened when it did, my father would have never met my mother and had me as a son. Then i would have been like my cousins, more stable and normal. Then I wouldn’t have had the life that I wrote about.