For those of us who grew up hearing Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” it seemed obvious that Lewis Carroll (pen name of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) had to be on drugs when he wrote “Alice in Wonderland.” In fact, this hotly debated topic perks-up internet-chat-rooms to this day. After all, what else can a hookah-smoking caterpillar mouthing incomprehensible ersatz wisdom mean? Just what was in that water pipe anyway? And sitting on a mushroom, for heaven’s sake? Come on, give-me-a-break!

But a slightly deeper analysis reveals something else about author, his writing and the creative process. Sure there are hallucinogenic images in the story. Alice sips a strange beverage, and shrinks in size, then munches that old mushroom to grow bigger. A cat disappears, leaving only its smile behind. But don’t these and similar circumstances, so nonsensical and bizarre, engage us every evening in our dreams. In that nether world of night we fly without benefit of planes, speak with lizards and furniture, change clothing, location or circumstance in the blink of an eye.

Drugs do give us access to that unfettered world of the subconscious, where logic is no passport, and rules don’t apply. As any artist can tell you, (and that definitely includes writers): the subconscious is the wellspring of all creative activity. But, there are definitely other, arguably better ways to access it then with drugs, particularly if we want to cart back its treasures into the waking world. With a little practice, beginning, say, with writing down our dreams every morning, the portal to that inner world grows wider. Our subconscious, in fact, wants nothing more than to please us. Think about the times we have given up trying to remember the name of some old movie we’ve seen, and then suddenly, without warning, without our even thinking about it, five minutes or five days later, the name pops into our mind, seemingly out of the blue. That’s our subconscious at work, while we were busy with other things.
I believe we can safely say that Dobson, who was a mathematician by trade, was used to venturing into that deepest of inner worlds to find patterns, solve problems and discover new mathematical proofs. In fact, mathematics is a perfect example of the marriage of logic with creativity.

Yet, to be even-handed, it should be stated that in the mid 19th century, when Dobson’s alter ego, Carroll was writing his tales, opium was legal, and considered, in some social circles, a quasi-acceptable form of recreation. So it is conceivable that he was familiar with the substance, and its effects, either through his personal use or from that of his acquaintances. However, Dobson never wrote about it in his personal papers, nor does one find any contemporary accounts that suggest he indulged in that way.
For those who insist that Carroll had to be on drugs, I suggest it’s much more likely he was simply unafraid to explore inner realms, and exquisitely equipped to share them with the world.

Alana Morgaine
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