Social sciences

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. Providing the first practical guide to the shamanic, spiritual and therapeutic uses

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. His insights into the consciousness-expanding effects of psychedelics as well as human nature

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. Beginning with the story of his goddaughter's miraculous recovery from stage IV cancer, Ócha'ni Lele explains how Osogbo tries to bring us down and how if we follow the prescriptions of the Orishas

Traditional psychotherapy seeks to unburden the unconscious mind purely through talk and discussion. Psychomagic recognises that it is difficult to reach the unconscious with rational thought. We should instead speak directly to the unconscious in its own language, that of dreams, poetry and symbolic acts. By interacting on this deeper level, we can initiate quicker and more enduring change to res

· Details how to interpret the entire hand—the shape of the palm and fingers, mounts, lines, fingerprints, flexibility, nails, and skin texture · Reveals the personality archetypes, strengths, and weaknesses connected with each of the seven mounts and how the rest of the hand modifies these traits · Explains how lines change and the decisive influence of the person's own mind in healing defects fo

· Details the author's training and life as a curandero using ayahuasca medicine, San Pedro cactus, tobacco purges, psychedelic mushrooms and other visionary plants · Offers first-hand accounts of miraculous healing where ayahuasca revealed the cause of the illness, including how the author healed his mother from liver cancer

Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is still regarded by the world as the greatest scientist who ever lived. He invented calculus, discovered the binomial theorem, explained the rainbow, built the first reflecting telescope and explained the force of gravity. In his famous masterpiece, Principia Mathematica, he described the mechanics of the physical universe with unimagined precision, proving the cosmos was

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. Presenting the f

Our Stone Age ancestors discovered that the geometry of the Earth provided a sacred connection between human experience and the spiritual worlds. Exploring the numerical patterns of time and then the size and shape of the Earth, they created an exact science of measures and preserved their discoveries within sacred structures, spiritualised landscapes and mythologies, which interpreted the religio

Widely recognised by anthropologists as the most powerful and widespread shamanic hallucinogen, ayahuasca has been used by native Indian and mestizo shamans in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador for healing and divination for thousands of years. Made from the Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the DMT-laden leaf of Psychotria viridis, ayahuasca is regarded as the embodiment of intelligent plant being

Psilocybin, the active ingredient found in psychedelic mushrooms, is an invaluable natural resource for spiritually revivifying the human psyche and reconnecting us to the biosphere and the vast intelligence of Nature. Interweaving the most recent scientific studies in the United States and Britain, more than 25 years of sacred mushroom exploration and behind-the-scenes details on the political wa

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?Revealing his personal journey and stories from his more

Despite early recognition of his own psychic sensitivities and ability to see spirits, Von Braschler did not seek to become a ghost hunter. He entered on this path through a chance encounter with a professional ghost hunter. After training with her, he returned to Oregon where he began exorcising ghosts for friends and acquaintances and, as he reveals in these pages, quickly stumbled upon forces f

· A curated collection of interviews with 15 accomplished scientists, artists, and thinkers, including Albert Hofmann, Stanislav Grof, Rick Strassman, and Charles Tart · Explores their profound reflections on the intersections between psychedelics and a wide range of topics, including psychology, creativity, music, the near-death experience, DNA, and the future of psychedelic drug medical research

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. Schwaller de Lubicz, the authors examine in depth creation m

· Exposes the esoteric influences behind the National Grange Order of Husbandry · Examines the sacred design and hidden purpose of the Washington Monument · Reveals how the three obelisks in New York City depict the stars of Orion's Belt · Explains how every baseball diamond is actually a temple to the Goddess In AMERICA: NATION OF THE GODDESS, Alan Butler and Janet Wolter reveal how a secret caba

Our pagan ancestors knew that every forest has brownies and fairies, every spring its lady and every river malevolent beings in its depths. They told tales of giants in the hills, dragons in the lakes, marshes swarming with will-o'-the-wisps and demons and wild folk in the mountains who enjoyed causing landslides, avalanches and floods. They both feared and respected these entities, knowing the im

· Reveals spells and workings drawn directly from surviving magical books from the 16th to 20th century preserved at the National Library in Reykjavík · Explores the history of magic in Iceland through original translations of Icelandic folktales about famous magicians and about legendary grimoires, such as the Galdrabók, the oldest and most complete book of its kind · Explains how to personalize

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 the

· 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. After seventy years of religious pers