Category Archives: SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE

“I address this letter of introduction to the following monograph, written by my own hand. I have undertaken to commit this autobiographical revelation of the factual events of my life to writing, at the suggestion and encouragement of my best friend in the world, my brother Mycroft Holmes. The written record of my adventures as conveyed by Dr. John Hamish Watson, rather than myself, as you will read herein, are a fallacious perversion of the reality of my own identity and activities. – Sherlock Sherrinford Holmes”

A biography of Sherlock Holmes.

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A LETTER FROM MR. HOLMES TO H.P. LOVECRAFT

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“It is my observation that immortality is a state of spiritual existence that is native to all beings, regardless of whether or not that being currently inhabits a body.  A body is a only a temporary vehicle through which spirits may tour the physical universe and enjoy the sensations and adventures provided therein.  Factually, the spirit enters into a body, animates the body, and departs from the body when it becomes injured, diseased or spent.

Most beings will forget about that body when it is gone, and will also forget the identity and activities of that body – out of sight, out of mind.  However, I have discovered that many persons do not lose awareness of themselves between the lives of bodies they have inhabited.  Through mental discipline one may overcome the common affliction of Western men to deny and forget the spiritual essence of themselves.

This forgetfulness is a disease of the soul created and maintained by stupid brutes who are compelled to dominate and control their fellow beings.  They have long since lost themselves, and seek only to ensure that their disability is inflicted upon everyone.  Their greatest fear is that another being may inflict pain upon them, just as they desire to inflict pain upon others.

Immortality is not sustained by a desire for revenge against the real or imagined wrongs which have been, or may be, caused by others.  Immortality is realized through loving oneself and loving others as you love yourself.  The possession of a body is not a factor in love or immortality.

I have learned that certain Eastern sages, and their devote disciples, have learned methods of mental and spiritual discipline that enable them to identify themselves spiritually, and maintain a constant awareness of that identity from the lifetime of one body to the next and to the next, ad infinitum.  Ultimately, one may choose to inhabit a body, or not, at will.

Existence as a disembodied spiritual being is sometimes observed and acknowledged by people.  They are called ghosts, or angels, or demons, or saints or poltergeists, or gods – depending upon the disposition and behavior of these spirits toward men.

Therefore, the necessity of maintaining the health or longevity of a physical body is not only an aberration of the concept of immortality,  it is entirely unnecessary!  Moreover, this chemical trick obviates the existence of the immortal spiritual entity.  Personal spiritual immortality is self-evident.

However, the inability or unwillingness of Western priests – in a sanctuary or in a laboratory – to observe, explore and employ the potential ability of the individual spirit is nothing less than a denial of Creation itself.  The animating intelligence of the universe, whether it is manifested as the life force of an amoeba or the as the raging storms of Zeus, is the primal force of all creation, volition and existence.

Let us not waste any further time or energy in the study of religion or alchemy.  These are only small attempts to control manifestations of the immortal spirit.  Individually we are each a spirit.  Collectively, we coexist in several universes, both physical and ethereal.  Universally, we share a common source.  In every aspect and manifestation the spirit has always been and forever shall be.  Eternity is not subject to time, past, present or future: it is no time.  Likewise, the spirit is a no thing, which creates and animates all things.

Thank you very much for your confidences in consulting with me upon the subject of the letter from “Count Antoine”.  I am pleased to be at your service, if indeed you discover anything of value in this reply to you.

If you have an occasion to visit England I would be delighted to entertain you as a guest at my modest lodgings near Eastbourne.  The country in this region is quite pleasant, except in winter, and there are several lovely beaches upon which one may enjoy the nearby ocean.

To the end, and in new beginnings, I shall remain yours faithfully,

Sherlock Sherrinford Holmes, Sussex Downs, England“

Excerpt of a letter from Sherlock Holmes to H.P. Lovecraft, from the book SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, by Lawrence R. Spencer

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INSIDE THE BOOK, SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, UNIVERSES

WE’RE ALL MAD HERE

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“”‘What sort of people live about here?’

‘In THAT direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives

a Hatter: and in THAT direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March

Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’

‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.

‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad.

You’re mad.’

‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.

‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’

Alice didn’t think that proved it at all; however, she went on ‘And how

do you know that you’re mad?'”

“So, Mr. Dodgson, let me pose the same question to you that young Alice asked of the chimerical cat in your own story: how do you know whether you are mad or not mad? How would you satisfy yourself that I am not mad? How do we know that everyone is mad or not mad?”, I said, rising from my chair to place the manuscript upon the sideboard. 

I refilled my pipe once again, in anticipation of the protracted debate that was sure to follow on the heels of these profoundly absurd, yet existential queries and arguments.

Mr. Dodgson did not seem the least bit nonplused by my insinuation  regarding his sanity, or the sanity of all. Rather, he thanked us very cordially for our hospitality, rose from his chair and reached the door to exit the apartment. As he reached the door he turned back to me. 

“Mr. Holmes, I will leave the resolution of this mystery entirely in your very capable hands. If anyone were able to solve the questions you pose to me, I assure you that I am not that man. Neither are any of the mentors whom I have studied, including Sir Isaac himself. I trust that you will be kind enough to inform me of your eventual success, if such is possible. Good day to you, gentlemen”.

With that, he departed, clomped down the stairs. Through the window we saw him walk briskly away through a light drizzle of rain in the direction of the train station.

“What do you make of it Holmes?”, asked Watson, who seemed to have been disquieted by our visitor. “I must admit that our meeting with this  gentleman is the most perplexing I have ever had,” he said, resuming his seat in front of the fire.

“Yes. Most perplexing, indeed”, I agreed, taking my own seat and refilling my pipe. “Most perplexing.””

— Excerpt from SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, by Lawrence R. Spencer

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THE ADVENTURE OF ADVENTURES

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( Painting:  “Cupid Sleeping” by Miridori Louis, 1652 )

“Just a politicians abuse the trust of their constituents to gain personal power and wealth, rather than to serve their electorate,  so does the myopic mind consider that wisdom or wealth might be had from a magic potion!  Indeed, the mythical Fountain of Youth could never be discovered by an explorer in the New World at the cost of murdering countless native inhabitants.  The proverbial ‘eye of the needle’ does not admit the soul of a wealthy or brutal man into Nirvana.

As with many other alchemists before me, I have conducted a continuing series of careful observations upon the effects of a vast variety of chemical combinations.  The purpose of these is to discover and perfect a solution which can be ingested or injected into the human body to enhance the ability to perceive, understand and operate at an elevated level, both physically and spiritually — the latter being of senior importance to the former.

Originally, I was introduced to the notion that chemical alteration of the human system might alter or enhance the ordinary state of awareness or ability, through my study of chemistry, or more correctly, alchemy.  Many a sage has dabbled seriously with attempts to transmute the soul of man to a more profound understanding of life through chemical manipulation.  No less a personage than Sir Isaac Newton himself, as Mr. Dodgson observed during our first visit, spent a considerable number of years in this quest.  What results he may have obtained are not known, although it goes without saying that the scientific accomplishments of the great man are virtually unparalleled in human history!

Is it not probable that his mental acuity, or indeed his phenomenal genius, could have been augmented by his experimentations in alchemy? Reportedly, the man invested a prodigious number of years into this science, yet never shared his findings with anyone.  For what purposes did he study alchemy, and for what reasons did he conceal his findings?

How is it that a single man can innovate and revolutionize so many fundamental understandings of nature and of the spirit within a single lifetime?  Arguably, his intelligence exceeded those of any other living man, before or since.  It is my own observation that the spiritual world permeates all that is material.  It is this spiritual essence from which intelligence, and life itself, is empowered.

There is nothing mystical or fanciful in this subject whatever.  It is a fact of simple observation, which is easily proven to even the dimmest mind.

To wit: when an organism is killed or dies of natural causes, is it not the absence of an unseen force of animation that causes the transition from life to death?  Conversely, when a life form is borne it is the animation of the physical form by the non-physical force that we call life.

Anyone who has witnessed the death of a human body — as I have many times during my career as a criminal investigator — or who has attended the birth of a child or animal, cannot deny the phenomenon of that transition from inanimate object, into a living, breathing, self-motivating life form.

My personal quest for a spiritual elixir consumed many hours over many years. I did not concern myself with the possibility of negative consequences from my experiments.  The reward of success, for me, far outweighed the risk of deleterious effects upon my own person or mental state.  I suspect that Sir Isaac Newton shared my own insatiable passion for this science.

My own methods are always meticulous and thorough.  My observations upon the behavior of various chemical concoctions upon my own state, whether positive or negative, are equally meticulous.  With each self-administered dose I gained a more certain knowledge of the effects upon my own perception, ability, and understandings of life, and the universe.

To say that I had already succeeded in transcending the commonplace life of the “normal” citizens of Earth would be a gross understatement.  However, all states of existence can only be measured relative to similar states.  To this degree I deemed that a few of my experiments proved vastly more successful than others.  It was these upon which I focused my entire scientific attention in order that I might refine and improve upon them.  In my inmost heart I believed I could succeed where others failed.  Now that I found myself overwhelmed by this bizarre set of circumstances I had a new opportunity to test myself.

As a general rule I discovered that the effect of any chemical upon the human body serves only one, singular purpose:  to drive out or release the spirit from the body.  The spirit, the soul, the invisible animating essence of all life forms, is the true source of intelligence, awareness, ability and volition.  Indeed, life is not possible in the absence of it!

When driven or released from the constraints of a frail, tiny biological organism, such as the human body, I have observed that I, as a spiritual essence, can travel, perceive, understand and transcend the state of relative misery I experience when confined inside a body.

I frequently float about the room for hours, observing the microcosmic  minutia of every object within the room.  Likewise, I have, occasionally, traversed across half of the planet!  Lingering upon the towering peaks of storm blown mountains, floating across the burning desert sands — perceiving the intense heat without injury or discomfort — or quietly absorbing the moistness of moss upon the bark of magnificent redwood trees in the rugged Northwest.

This, I am certain, has been the prize sought by so many masters of mathematics, alchemy, philosophy and mysticism who have trod upon this lonely path.  The transmutation of base metals into precious metals has never been the goal of an accomplished alchemist!  What is mere gold compared to this?  What Earthly price can be placed upon the value of the soul?  What is a lifetime or two or twelve thousand spent in human pain, grief, disappointment and death, when compared to the possibility of a transcendent state of ability and awareness?

Indeed, so far as my experiments have revealed to me, there is no greater prize than realizing the full potential of subjective experience as a living spirit.  Unfortunately, the chemical syringe has been my only gateway through the portal of time, space and perception which lies between painful reality of the body, and the joy of freedom from it.  My personal adventure — the adventure of adventures,  the investigation of the highest order – has been to discover a safe and permanent transition between the reality of the flesh and the immortality of the soul.”

— Excerpt from Chapter 11 – Alchemical Solutions – from the book SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, by Lawrence R. Spencer.

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