Social sciences

"The most extensive review of U.S. intelligence-gathering tactics in generations." "--Los Angeles Times"

There's nothing 'alternative' anymore about clean energy and green design. As this book makes beautifully clear, the future is here"— Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

The pen is truly mightier than the sword in this collection of more than a hundred digs, jabs, and outright put-downs from the world's most respected writers, about—each other! Vicious Nonsense reveals the acerbic side of beloved authors who became brutal critics when writing about their fellow wordsmiths.

Love and Spirit Medicine chronicles the author's mystical journey through the end of her marriage and into a focused, shamanic exploration of entheogenic mushrooms. A love relationship unfolded during that time, sending her into a dark night of the soul. Shonagh continued her shamanic explorations with the plant medicine, and discovered a well of resources.

Salvia divinorum has been used since ancient times by the Mazatec shamans of Mexico for divination, vision quests and healing. Known by many names - nearly all associated with the Virgin Mary, who has come to symboliSe the spirit of salvia - this plant ally is now regarded as the most powerful natural hallucinogen.

Best known as the first person to synthesise, ingest and discover the psychedelic effects of LSD, Albert Hofmann was more than just a chemist. A pioneer in the field of visionary plant research, he was one of the first people to suggest the use of entheogens for psychological healing and spiritual growth.

Misfortune works in this world as living vibrant spirits - known in the Santería and Lucumí faith as Osogbo - that plague humanity but are, also, a catalyst for selfdevelopment and conscious evolution.

On May 27, 1963, Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Richard Alpert were dismissed from Harvard University's Psychology Department - a watershed event marking the moment when psychedelic drugs were publicly demonised and driven underground. Today, little is known about the period in the early 1960s when LSD and psilocybin were, not only, legal but, also, actively researched at universities.

Shamanic healing is making an astonishing comeback all over the modern technology-driven and consumerist world. Millions of people have felt called to integrate both ancient and modern healing systems into a new model of healthcare. But what makes shamanic healing so powerful? Why have indigenous healers kept it alive for thousands of years?

In this study of ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian and Hebrew myths, authors, Lloyd M. Dickie and Paul R. Boudreau, show that many classic myths contain instructions for awakening higher consciousness, allowing access to enlivened experience of the world and awareness of the divine within and around us. Inspired by the work of R. A.

A countercultural icon of the 1960s, John Michell (1933-2009) was perhaps best known for his books on sacred geometry, Earth mysteries and unusual phenomena. He was, also, beloved and reviled for his radical, idealistic, yet classically traditional views on a wide range of heretical topics, from sacred practices of the Stone Age to the evils of the metric system to the madness of modernity and ...

· Illustrated with vivid, full-colour photographs throughout · Details the many preparations and ritual objects as well as the struggles of the shamans to complete the ceremony successfully Near the radiant blue waters of Lake Baikal, in the lands where Mongolia, Siberia, and China meet, live the Buryats, an indigenous people little known to the Western world.

· Reveals faulty thinking and conceptual blindspots that distort beliefs in science, philosophy, and spirituality - from “the universe exploded from nothing in a Big Bang” to “we create our own reality” · Explains how “thought viruses” spread as we use these clichéd assumptions in our daily communications We live in a world filled with clichés - convenient assumptions and unquestioned ...

· With contributions by Sandra Ingerman, Hank Wesselman, John Perkins, Alberto Villoldo, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Tom Cowan, Lynn Andrews, Linda Star Wolf and others · Also includes shamanic awakening experiences from those with unique shamanic paths - teachers, mothers, social workers, academics and popular entertainers How does one receive the “call” to enter onto the shamanic path?

Throughout mediaeval Christianity, religious works of art emerged to illustrate the teachings of the Bible for the largely illiterate population. What, then, is the significance of the psychoactive mushrooms hiding in plain sight in the artwork and icons of many European and Middle-Eastern churches?

Through the Taoist tantric arts, women can experience the full flowering of their sexual energy. Rooted in Chinese energy medicine, Universal Healing Tao practices and ancient Taoist traditions from the Yellow Emperor and his three female advisors, these practices honour and celebrate each stage of a woman's life and allow women to awaken their genuine feminine sexuality - receptive, soft, ...

No other monument in the world evokes mystery like the Great Sphinx of Giza. It has survived the harsh climate of Egypt for thousands of years and will remain long after our own civilisation is gone. According to orthodox Egyptology, the Sphinx was built around 2500 BCE as a memorial to the pharaoh Khafre. Yet this “fact” has scant to no supportive evidence.