Daniel Pinchbeck

A study of contemporary shamanism and the spiritual possibilities of psychedelic plants draws on the works of top thinkers and current studies while sharing the author's research of tribal, ritual, and shaman use of psychedelic compounds. Reprint.

A Psychedelic Journey Into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism

Breaking Open the Head

Sophia Rokhlin

Ayahuasca is a powerful tool for transformation, that more and more Westerners are flocking to drink in a quest for greater self-knowledge, healing and reconnection with the natural world. This formerly esoteric, little-known brew is now a growth industry. But why? Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew that has a long history of ritual use among indigenous groups of the Upper Amazon. Made from the ayahuasca vine and the leaves of a shrub, it is associated with healing in collective ceremonies and in more intimate contexts, generally under the direction of specialist – an ayahuasquero. These are experienced practitioners who guide the ceremony and the drinkers’ experience. Ayahuasca has gained significant popularity these days in cities around the world. Why? What effect might ayahuasca be having on our culture? Does the brew, which seems to inspire environmental action, simplified lifestyles and more communitarian behaviour, act as an antidote to frenzied consumerist culture? In When Plants Dream, Pinchbeck and Rokhlin explore the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact that ayahuasca is having on society. Part 1 covers the background; what ayahuasca is, where it is found, and its cultural origins. Part 2 explores the role and practices of the ayahuasquero in both Amazonian and Western cultures. Part 3 examines the medicinal plants of the Amazon, looking particularly at the ingredients in ayahuasca and their therapeutic qualities, covering the most up-to-date biomedical research, psychedelic science and psychopharmacology. It also covers all the legal aspects of ayahuasca use. Lastly in Part 4 Pinchbeck and Rokhlin question the future of ayahuasca. When Plants Dream is the first book of its kind to look at the science and expanding culture of ayahuasca, from its historical use to its appropriation by the West and the impact it is having on cultures beyond the Amazon.

Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance

When Plants Dream

Alan Watts

"Philosopher Alan Watts describes his experiences with consciousness-changing drugs and the levels of insight that they can facilitate, illuminating questions about the nature of existence and the existence of the sacred. Originally published in 1962; new edition includes article on psychedelics written for the California Law Review"--Provided by publisher.

Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness

The Joyous Cosmology

"Drawing on extensive research, Daniel Pinchbeck presents a compelling argument for the need for change on a global basis. The central thesis is that humanity has unconsciously self-willed ecological catastrophe to bring about a transcendence of our current condition. We are facing an initiatory ordeal on a planetary scale. We can understand that this initiation is necessary for us to evolve from one state of being - our current level of consciousness - to the next. Overcoming outmoded ideologies, we will realize ourselves as one unified being, a planetary super-organism in a symbiotic relationship with the Earth's ecology and the entire web of life"--Publisher description.

A Futurists Guide to Surviving Our Global Megacrisis

How Soon Is Now

Features essays originally published in the online magazine Reality Sandwich on a range of topics that explore psychic and paranormal phenomena including lucid dreaming, synchronistic encounters, out-of-body experiences, meditation, demons and plant medicines. Original.

Liminal Zones, Psychic Science, and the Hidden Dimensions of the Mind

Exploring the Edge Realms of Consciousness

Draws on cosmological phenomena of the modern world as well as the author's own research into shamanic and metaphysical belief systems to support the Mayan theory about an unprecedented global shift predicted for the year 2012.

The Return of Quetzalcoatl

2012

Drawing on a huge range of resources and references Daniel Pinchbeck presents a compelling argument for the need for change on a global basis - it is only when we see ourselves as one planetary tribe that this change can occur. The central thesis is that humanity has self-willed the ecological crisis in order to bring about the necessary conditions for transcendence of our current state of being, by undergoing an initiatory ordeal on a planetary scale. This collective ordeal is necessary for us to evolve from one state of being - our current level of consciousness - to the next. By passing through this initiation we realize ourselves as one unified being, a planetary super-organism in a symbiotic relationship with the Earth's ecology and the entire web of life. Covering everything from energy and agriculture, to culture, politics, media and ideology, Pinchbeck's book is ultimately about the nature of the human soul and the future of our current world. He calls for an intentional and consciously designed metamorphosis of our current systems. which transform capitalist and exclusive structures into participatory, democratic, and inclusive ones, based on an integration of Eastern metaphysics, social ecology, and radical political thought. "How Soon is Now? gives us the context we need to understand the chaos and turbulence of our times." – Sting

From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation

How Soon is Now? Sampler

Ken Jordan

An informed, challenging, and engaging collection of essays on the new choices in lifestyles and community as we begin the countdown toward the year 2012. This fresh and thought-provoking anthology draws together some of today’s most celebrated visionaries, thinkers, and pioneers in the field of evolving consciousness— exploring topics from shamanism to urban homesteading, the legacy of Carlos Castaneda to Mayan predictions for the year 2012, and new paths in direct political action and human sexuality. Toward 2012 highlights some of the most challenging, intelligent pieces published on the acclaimed website Reality Sandwich. It is coedited by Daniel Pinchbeck, the preeminent voice on 2012, and online pioneer Ken Jordan, and features original works from Stanislav Grof, John Major Jenkins, and Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky); interviews with Abbie Hoffman and artist Alex Grey; and a new introduction by Pinchbeck. Here are ideas that trace the arc of our evolution in consciousness, lifestyles, and communities as we draw closer to a moment in time that portends ways of living that are different from anything we have expected or experienced.

Perspectives on the Next Age

Toward 2012

In this unsparing tour of the perils and promises of the current era, visionary author Daniel Pinchbeck helps us understand that we don't need to wait for the dawning of the next age to radically change our perspectives. In the years since his pioneering work 2012, Daniel Pinchbeck has touched a legion of readers hungry for insight and guidance about new ways of living amid the crises of the current moment. Notes from the Edge Times collects Pinchbeck's most penetrating recent columns, articles, and essays that amount to an extraordinary mosaic view of the hopes, nightmares, and signs of breakthrough that mark our present era. Pinchbeck examines the current economic collapse (an event he had foreseen by many months), radical political and ecological alternatives, the uses of psychedelics for spiritual insight, the revival of the sexual revolution, unexplained phenomena such as crop circles and the Norway spiral, the imminent (and often-misunderstood) question of 2012, and what it means to be an artist in a time of radical change. Pinchbeck's virtuosity as a social critic, on full display in these pieces, is his ability to illuminate real and serious questions within unconventional topics that most literary intellects are unwilling to touch, from secret weapons systems to extrasensory abilities to the intelligence of plant life. In Notes from the Edge Times, Pinchbeck does more than critique present-day questions and conflicts; he provides fresh ideas for living more consciously now, and for constructing our own more enlightened futures, even as the world around us faces profound environmental, social, and spiritual challenges

Notes from the Edge Times

San Antonio Museum of Art

Robert C. Morgan

Telfair Museum of Art

David S. Rubin

This eye-popping book offers a visual history of the psychedelic sensibility. In popculture, that sensibility is associated with lava lamps, album covers, and "teashades,"but it first manifested itself in the extreme colors and kaleidoscopic compositions of 1960s OpArtists. The psychedelic sensibility didn't die at the end of the 1960s; Psychedelic traces itthrough the day-glo colors of painters Peter Saul, Alex Grey, and Kenny Scharf, the pill and hempleaf paintings of Fred Tomaselli, the intensified palettes of Douglas Bourgeois and Sharon Ellis,and mixed-media and new media works by younger artists in the new millennium. Although the term"psychedelic" was coined to describe hallucinatory experiences produced by drugs usedpsychotherapeutically, the story these images tell is about the influence of psychedelic culture onthe art world--not necessarily the influence of drugs. As contemporary art evolved into a diverseand pluralistic discipline, the psychedelic evolved into a language of color and light. InPsychedelic, more than seventy-five vivid color images chart this development, exploring the artchronologically, from early Op Art through recent work using digital technology. The book, whichaccompanies an exhibition organized by the San Antonio Museum of Art, includes three essays that setthe works in historical and cultural context.

Optical and Visionary Art Since the 1960s

Psychedelic

Az első és legteljesebb könyv magyarul az ayahuascáról! Az ayahuasca-főzet egy, az Amazonas-vidéken élő indiánok körében őshonos, többféle pszichoaktív növényből főzött szent ital, amit évszázadok óta használnak gyógyításra, ám egyre nagyobb népszerűségnek örvend a mi nyugati világunkban is. Daniel Pinchbeck bestselleríró és Sophia Rokhlin antropológus műve sok szempontból igazi felüdülést jelent a téma iránt érdeklődők számára. Ez a nagyon sokrétű könyv objektív és izgalmas módon közelíti meg a sámánizmus és a pszichedelikus kutatások témakörét, és eddig soha nem látott részletességgel mutatja be az ehhez tartozó néprajzi, kulturális antropológiai, vallástörténeti, lélektani, orvostani, történelmi és jogi kérdéseket. Mivel az eredeti könyv tavaly jelent meg angol nyelven, ezért jelen fordítás minden felsorolt szempontból a lehető legnaprakészebb információkat tartalmazza.

A Lélek indája – Ayahuasca

Most people believe that money is organic and inevitable; we forget that money is just a tool created to perform certain functions. But just as computer programmers drop out-of date tools and pick up better ones as soon as they become available, we might switch from bank-financed currency to a more equitable method for transferring goods and services. As an operating system for society, money needs a major upgrade. What Comes After Money? offers a wealth of alternatives to the current monetary system. In this anthology of essays drawn from the popular web magazine Reality Sandwich, 20 visionary thinkers explore the roots of the modern economic crisis and propose diverse solutions: instituting local currencies; creating reputation or gift economies (based on historical and contemporary); introducing spirituality into the equation; and many more. Contributors include economist Bernard Leitaer, media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, musician Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky), theoretical physicist Amit Goswami, Larry Harvey (founder of Burning Man), and Peter Lamborn Wilson (a.k.a. Hakim Bey). About the Imprint: EVOLVER EDITIONS promotes a new counterculture that recognizes humanity's visionary potential and takes tangible, pragmatic steps to realize it. EVOLVER EDITIONS explores the dynamics of personal, collective, and global change from a wide range of perspectives. EVOLVER EDITIONS is an imprint of North Atlantic Books and is produced in collaboration with Evolver, LLC.

Essays from Reality Sandwich on Transforming Currency and Community

What Comes After Money?

In den letzten Jahrzehnten befinden sich die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika auf einer rasanten Talfahrt, die in der Präsidentschaft von Donald Trump ihren unrühmlichen Höhepunkt findet. Die Supermacht, einstmals Vorreiter für Demokratie und Menschenrechte, wird von einer kleinen Clique in den Schaltzentralen der Macht beherrscht, die ohne Rücksicht den "amerikanischen Traum" von Freiheit und Reichtum verwirklicht – mit den bekannten Folgen: Klimawandel, Luftverschmutzung, Artensterben, Zerstörung ganzer Ökosysteme und letztendlich unserer Zivilisation. Daniel Pinchbeck, einer der wichtigsten amerikanischen Vordenker, liefert eine brillante Analyse der politischen und soziologischen Verhältnisse in den USA. Er zeigt, wie skrupellose Geld- und Machteliten aus den verschiedensten Sparten ihren Einfluss immer weiter vergrößern und versuchen, die Massen mit verschiedensten Instrumenten wie bewusster Falschinformation, Verschwörungstheorien u. Ä. unter Kontrolle zu halten. Doch es ist noch nicht zu spät, um dem entgegenzusteuern, ein neues Bewusstsein zu initiieren und unseren Planeten zu retten.

Die verratenen Staaten von Amerika

Conspiranoia

"Ayahuasca is a sacred hallucinogenic tea that has a long history of ritual use among indigenous groups of the Upper Amazon. Made from the stem of the Ayahuasca vine and the leaves of a shrub, Ayahuasca is traditionally associated with healing in collective ceremonies and in more intimate contexts, generally under the direction of specialist„Ayahuasqueros. These are experienced Shamans who guide the ceremony and the ïdrinkersÍ experience. Ayahuasca has gained significant popularity these days in cities around the world. Ceremonies happen nightly and Hollywood stars, Wall Street players and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs now drink the brew. Why? What effect might Ayahuasca be having on our culture? Could it be the LSD of our time? Does the brew, which seems to advocate for environmental action, simplified lifestyles and more communitarian behaviour, act as an antidote to frenzied western culture? In When Plants Dream, journalist and social commentator Daniel Pinchbeck explores the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact that Ayahuasca is having on society, both good and bad. Part 1 covers the background; what Ayahuasca is, where it is found, and its cultural origins. Part 2 explores the role and practices of the Shaman in both Western and Amazonian cultures, Part 3 examines the medicinal plants of the Amazon, looking particularly at Ayahuasca and its healing qualities, covering the most up-to-date biomedical research as well as psychedelic science and psychopharmacology. Part 4 looks more closely at how it is being used today, covering law, the drug wars, media and money. Lastly in Part 5 Daniel questions the future of Ayahuasca, including its possible use with AI. When Plants Dream is the first book to look at every aspect of Ayahuasca from its historical use to its appropriation by the West and the impact it is having on modern culture."

Daniel Pinchbeck

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