A million and one conflicting test-patterns: Wrapping up The Sex Magicians

 

Bobby Campbell (from RAW Art)

Happy Maybe Day!

The Sex Magicians Chapters 15-18

After my long absence, I'm going to cover the last four chapters of The Sex Magicians. Much of the end of the book is composed of the pornographic climax of the novel and we see greater examples of sexual excess and greater doses of profane humor. Wilson needed to give the reader what they came for, right? I could spend a lot of time talking about the potentially uncomfortable or disturbing aspects of the orgy at the Kelly house and along Hugo de Naranja's milk route before he arrives and joins said orgy. But I feel as if I've already dissected so many of the potentially ethical issues and developments in attitude while also pointing out that the novel was supposed to be sensationally salacious, so I'm going to refrain. (This is a LIE. I ended up doing this despite my intentions.) Instead, I'll go ahead and point out the "moral" of The Sex Magicians, if it can be said to have a moral. 

Being penned by Wilson, I think it is understandable to presume there is some messaging herein. I'd say that one of the first messages can be picked up on in Sput's asides to his butler as he contemplates the tribadic encounter long after his party has otherwise died down. "The whole world is crazy...Literally crazy. Stark raving mad. Imagine, there are guys busy tonight, crawling through stinking fly-infested jungles to blow up other guys- or women and children even. And other guys trying to square circles or find subatomic particles smaller than the quark. Imagine! when we could all be balling each other. The whole world is mad." Now, being Sput it is going to have some irrational element (he later has the two girls sit astride his penis and face while making them pretend to be Gloria Steinem and Kate Millet): I don't think Wilson thought mathematics or physics was a waste of time. I also believe Wilson was aware that many people in Vietnam (or other warzones) didn't want to be there. But, I think that if anyone were to raise a contemporary objection, Wilson could have pointedly asked why is a fictional work of pornography more upsetting or pressing than the myriad of larger issues we have in the world? 

This has been used often in defense of pornography and other "obscene" materials. What does it matter what a fictional character does? What does it matter if people consensually film or photograph themselves in sexual situations? Now, this argument isn't foolproof: the objector can point out that it is possible to have multiple concerns, that elements of the porn industry have always been rife with exploitative practices; they could even ask you to think about the children. But, I will say this: those voices are usually very focused on pornography (and, seemingly inevitably, the private sex lives of others) and not antiwar activism, they don't seem to think very highly of pornographic actors in the first place and I'll be damned if I ever let someone of a conservative persuasion convince me they actually care about any children that aren't in front of their goddamn face. Napoleon, famed pacifist and benefactor of humanity, was very concerned about the effects that de Sade's writing could have on society. So, in conclusion to this paragraph; if someone is concerned about the contents of The Sex Magicians or other such similar materials in 2025- go fuck yourself. 

I believe that message could be taken literally, as anyone overly concerned about "obscene" books could probably deal with a bit of relaxation and self-exploration. 

Some more elements of Illuminatus! appear in these closing chapters: the first published appearance of Miss Portinari in Chapter 15 is notable and the further integration of the Illuminati and the Church of Scientific Illuminism in Chapter 17 brings up the mention of Weishaupt's science of fives, funfwissenschaft, which evidently he uncovered during a game of strip poker. It is also during Chapter 17 (and Chapter 18) that Wilson portrays his contemporaneous beliefs in the energies that arise during sex. Having been influenced by the work of Crowley and the (mis-)interpretations of Louis T. Culling, Wilson would have experimented with sex and magic by this point in his life. We can also see his conviction that sex is a way of merging together, of greater understanding, evident in the final pages of his first novel. With a greater awareness of consent and exploitation, our current times don't always have the same rosy view of sexuality as the counter culture of the Seventies; and, somewhat conversely, we have a greater idea of expression and spectrums than that day and age. 

In today's world, most of us would rankle at the idea of John Kelly propositioning his fourteen year old little sister, while simultaneously having a negative reaction to the portrayal of gay men in the YMCA and the racial aspects of some of the sex scenes. Then again, is that not perhaps the public face that we put atop the desires of the unconscious and preconscious mind? It is easy to find thinkpieces written in the last decade about the prevalence of incest porn. Craigslist was famous pre-Pandemic for the sheer variety and the scope of imagination demonstrated by sleazy advertisements for gay hookups. The rate of Grindr downloads explodes wherever the Republican National Committee is holding a convention. And it doesn't take much effort at all to find pornographic content centered around race. There will, most likely, always be a seediness to sex; whether this is because of moral failings, or manifestations of the id that should be tamped down upon, or because of societal shame and repression is for each person to ruminate over. 

So we leave The Sex Magicians with the Mama Vibe defused, Josie and Markoff Chaney inducted into the Church of Scientific Illuminism and Dr. Prong's new relaxation method. The relationship between Stella, Tarantella and himself is as sexually charged as anything else in this book, but with a distinct element of love. We say goodbye to Mongolian Cluster Fucks and pornographic Tarot cards with Dr. Prong relieved of his anxieties about Ezra Pound and living in a world that is a good place to be. Like most of Wilson's protagonists, the end is illumination- a greater awareness of the pleasurable and the beautiful suffusing the character's worldview and hopefully the reader's. I do believe that is what Wilson was trying to turn us all onto over the course of his career and we can find here that his commitment goes back to the beginning of his career. A dirty mind and a great soul can accomplish a lot. 

Love is the law, love under will.