Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I think part of it for me is that I can't see the name "Magnus" without also thinking "Magus" with the n as a null character. It fits with Magnus as a continuum of a long priesthood in darker activities. Dick also specifically invokes the image of the alchemist.
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And that image (which I found on the internet) disturbed Dick very much. On the other hand, Magnus was also taking the drug, so I doubt he was deliberately trying to paralyse either himself or Dick.
It’s an interesting thought that he might have found some sort of old recipe in the house. We have no idea how he came to concoct the drug, but I can well believe it was accidentally, and also that he sampled it just to see what effect it had. There are many stories of scientists trying things out themselves.