Into territory where expression is like chaos theory, where oddly symmetrical order manifests out of the seemingly anarchic swirl of images and events, the author ventures with the mind-set of a naturalist. What emerges is an objective landscape that embodies the Other and that represents a conscious state in which the barriers between self and not-self dissolve.
Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America uncovers a hidden history of the biggest psychedelic distribution and belief system the world has ever known. Through a collection of fast-paced interlocking narratives, it animates the tale of an alternate America and its wide-eyed citizens: the LSD-slinging graffiti writers of Central Park, the Dead-loving AI scientists of Stanford, utopian Whole Earth homesteaders, black market chemists, government-wanted Anonymous hackers, rogue explorers, East Village bluegrass pickers, spiritual seekers, Internet pioneers, entrepreneurs, pranksters, pioneering DJs, and a nation of Deadheads. WFMU DJ and veteran music writer Jesse Jarnow draws on extensive new firsthand accounts from many never-before-interviewed subjects and a wealth of deep archival research to create a comic-book-colored and panoramic American landscape, taking readers for a guided tour of the hippie highway filled with lit-up explorers, peak trips, big busts, and scenic vistas, from Vermont to the Pacific Northwest, from the old world head capitals of San Francisco and New York to the geodesic dome-dotted valleys of Colorado and New Mexico. And with the psychedelic research moving into the mainstream for the first time in decades, Heads also recounts the story of the quiet entheogenic revolution that for years has been brewing resiliently in the Dead's Technicolor shadow. Featuring over four dozen images, many never before seen-including pop artist Keith Haring's first publicly sold work-Heads weaves one of the 20th and 21st centuries' most misunderstood subcultures into the fabric of the nation's history. Written for anyone who wondered what happened to the heads after the Acid Tests, through the '70s, during the Drug War, and on to the psychedelic present, Heads collects the essential history of how LSD, Deadheads, tie-dye, and the occasional bad trip have become familiar features of the American experience.
Many people in the ancient world saw human life as deeply connected with the great cycles of nature: the rising and setting of the sun, the changing of the seasons, the death and rebirth of vegetation. In the same way that other patterns in nature repeat at regular intervals, they believed that human history also goes through cycles in which significant events repeat, and are likely to happen again in the future at predictable times. A penetrating study into the history of astrology, ancient religion,secret societies and the evolution of consciousness, 2012 and the Shift of Ages: A Guide to the End of the World is sure to be an invaluable resource in navigating a time of difficult transitions. Table of Contents 1. The Hopi Way 2. Aztec Migration Path 3. Mayan Timekeeping 4. Cosmic Cycles 5. Universal Religion 6. The Path of the Sun 7. The Master of Animals 8. Egyptian Mysteries 9. Mesopotamia the Far-Away 10. The Divine Harmony 11. The Zoroastrian Dawn 12. Mithras the Rejuvenator Epilogue: The Return of the King
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, originally published in 2005, is a landmark work in the burgeoning field of religion and nature. It covers a vast and interdisciplinary range of material, from thinkers to religious traditions and beyond, with clarity and style. Widely praised by reviewers and the recipient of two reference work awards since its publication (see www.religionandnature.com/ern), this new, more affordable version is a must-have book for anyone interested in the manifold and fascinating links between religion and nature, in all their many senses.
