High Weirdness

Author: Erik Davis
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 1907222871
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 562

Book Description
An exploration of the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson. A study of the spiritual provocations to be found in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson, High Weirdness charts the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality that arose from the American counterculture of the 1970s. These three authors changed the way millions of readers thought, dreamed, and experienced reality—but how did their writings reflect, as well as shape, the seismic cultural shifts taking place in America? In High Weirdness, Erik Davis—America's leading scholar of high strangeness—examines the published and unpublished writings of these vital, iconoclastic thinkers, as well as their own life-changing mystical experiences. Davis explores the complex lattice of the strange that flowed through America's West Coast at a time of radical technological, political, and social upheaval to present a new theory of the weird as a viable mode for a renewed engagement with reality.

TechGnosis

Author: Erik Davis
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1583949305
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Book Description
TechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekers How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.

American Trip

Author: Ido Hartogsohn
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262358948
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Book Description
How historical, social, and cultural forces shaped the psychedelic experience in midcentury America, from CIA experiments with LSD to Timothy Leary's Harvard Psilocybin Project. Are psychedelics invaluable therapeutic medicines, or dangerously unpredictable drugs that precipitate psychosis? Tools for spiritual communion or cognitive enhancers that spark innovation? Activators for one's private muse or part of a political movement? In the 1950s and 1960s, researchers studied psychedelics in all these incarnations, often arriving at contradictory results. In American Trip, Ido Hartogsohn examines how the psychedelic experience in midcentury America was shaped by historical, social, and cultural forces--by set (the mindset of the user) and setting (the environments in which the experience takes place).

Flesh of My Flesh

Author: Kaja Silverman
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 080477336X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
What is a woman? What is a man? How do they—and how should they—relate to each other? Does our yearning for "wholeness" refer to something real, and if there is a Whole, what is it, and why do we feel so estranged from it? For centuries now, art and literature have increasingly valorized uniqueness and self-sufficiency. The theoreticians who loom so large within contemporary thought also privilege difference over similarity. Silverman reminds us that this is but half the story, and a dangerous half at that, for if we are all individuals, we are doomed to be rivals and enemies. A much older story, one that prevailed through the early modern era, held that likeness or resemblance was what organized the universe, and that everything emerges out of the same flesh. Silverman shows that analogy, so discredited by much of twentieth-century thought, offers a much more promising view of human relations. In the West, the emblematic story of turning away is that of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the heroes of Silverman's sweeping new reading of nineteenth- and twentieth-century culture, the modern heirs to the old, analogical view of the world, also gravitate to this myth. They embrace the correspondences that bind Orpheus to Eurydice and acknowledge their kinship with others past and present. The first half of this book assembles a cast of characters not usually brought together: Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Marcel Proust, Lou-Andréas Salomé, Romain Rolland, Rainer Maria Rilke, Wilhelm Jensen, and Paula Modersohn-Becker. The second half is devoted to three contemporary artists, whose works we see in a moving new light:Terrence Malick, James Coleman, and Gerhard Richter.

High Weirdness by Mail

Author: Ivan Stang
Publisher: Touchstone
ISBN: 9780671642600
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description

The Gold of the Gods

Author: Erich von Däniken
Publisher: Tantor eBooks
ISBN: 161803037X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Erich von Däniken, whose books have enthralled millions of readers around the world, now presents astonishing new confirmation for his revolutionary theories. Erich von Däniken's The Gold of the Gods unveils new evidence of an intergalactic "battle of the gods" whose losers retreated to, and settled, Earth. He explores a vast, mysterious underworld of Ecuador---caves filled with gold and writings in solid gold that go back to the time of the Great Flood, bolstering von Däniken's theory of a prehistoric earthly "era of the gods."

Zig Zag Zen

Author: Allan Hunt Badiner
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 9780811832861
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Book Description
Buddhism and psychedelic experimentation share a common concern: the liberation of the mind. Zig Zag Zen launches the first serious inquiry into the moral, ethical, doctrinal, and transcendental considerations created by the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics. With a foreword by renowned Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith, along with numerous essays and interviews, Zig Zag Zen is a provocative and thoughtful exploration of altered states of consciousness and the potential for transformation. Accompanying each essay is a work of visionary art selected by artist Alex Grey, such as a vividly graphic work by Robert Venosa, a contemporary thangka painting by Robert Beer, and an exercise in emptiness in the form of an enso by a 17th-century Zen abbot. Packed with enlightening entries and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies, Zig Zag Zen offers eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.

Dark Awakenings

Author: Matt Cardin
Publisher: Mythos Books LLC
ISBN: 9780972854566
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Book Description
In "Dark Awakenings," author and scholar Cardin explores the ancient intersection between religion and horror in seven stories and three academic papers.

The Psychedelic Reader

Author: Timothy Leary
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 080654130X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
More than 50 years after Timothy Leary encouraged an entire generation to "turn on, tune in, drop out," there's been a resurgence of scientific research and popular interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for everything from therapeutic treatments to productivity boosts. The Psychedelic Reader collects the writings of luminaries from the dawn of the psychedelic era. With words from Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Sir Julian Huxley, Ralph Metzner, and more, this powerful anthology presents the entire psychedelic spectrum with both the seriousness and open-mindedness it requires. Once an alternative doorway into radical culture, LSD is now being re-examined for its possible mental health benefits. Take a visionary trip back to where it all began in The Psychedelic Reader... Half a century ago, the world changed forever when a Swiss chemist inadvertently ingested the experimental compound lysergic acid diethylamide. Many scientists expected LSD's radically psychoactive chemicals to revolutionize mainstream culture. The Psychedelic Review was founded in 1963 as a serious journal dedicated to the study of the potential of both natural and synthesized psychedelic substances. Presenting experts in the fields of anthropology, religion, pharmacology, poetry, and metaphysics, this pioneering journal had a dramatic impact on its times. Today, the benefits of LSD and other psychoactive drugs in treating depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD have sparked renewed research. The Psychedelic Reader offers a relevant guidebook to the foundations of a bold new era in mental health studies. Luminaries such as Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Sir Julian Huxley, and Ralph Metzner contribute insights on a variety of fascinating and controversial subjects. From precise dosage guidelines to ruminations on the poetry of Herman Hesse, this powerful anthology presents the entire psychedelic spectrum with both the seriousness and open-mindedness it deserves.

Alchemically Stoned - The Psychedelic Secret of Freemasonry

Author: P.D. Newman
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0578194007
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
P.D. Newman's bold and daring theory provides a radical interpretation of Masonic symbolism. In the tradition of Wasson, Hofmann and Ruck, in ""The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries"" (1978), and Heinrich's ""Strange Fruit: Alchemy, Religion, and Magical Foods"" (1995), Newman suggests that practical psychoactive pharmacology, rather than philosophy, lies concealed in the root of some of our allegories and mysteries. Admitting to being more than a mere theoretician, Newman draws from his own personal experiences, and a wide range of sources, in presenting his theory in a logical manner, which merits consideration. - Arturo De Hoyos, 33* Grand Archivist and Grand Historian Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction