"Pharmako poeia: plant powers, poisons, and herbcraft focuses on familiar psychoactive plant-derived substances and related synthetics, ranging from the licit (tobacco, alcohol) to the illicit (cannabis, opium) and the exotic (absinthe, salvia divinorum, nitrous oxide)"--Provided by publisher.
Contemporary alchemist Dale Pendell completes his poetic study of botany, chemistry, spirituality, psychology and history in a volume covering the composition and uses of visionary plants. Chapters including Phantastica, Hypnotica and Telephorica explore the hallucinogenic plants, the bringers of sleep and the bearers of distance.
Delving deep into the world of psychoactive plants, including ayahuasca, Pharmako/Gnosis serves as a comprehensive and standalone guide. Celebrated by readers as a modern classic, this is a must-have for anyone interested in the science, history, and lore of psychoactive substances. In this third and final volume of the Pharmako trilogy, Dale Pendell embarks on a captivating journey through the botanical and cultural landscapes of a diverse array of mind-altering "teachers." From plant-based psychedelic substances to their synthetic derivatives, Pendell illuminates each with an erudition and playful wit uniquely his own. He delves into the worlds of traditional use and modern interpretations of substances such as: Amanita muscaria Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) Blowfish/Puffer Fish (Tetradontidae) Bufo alvarius Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) Jurema (Mimosa hostilis) Ketamine Kratom (Mitragynia speciosa) Mescal Bean (Sophora secundiflora) Morning Glory (Ipomoea, Rivea spp.) Peyote Psilocybe (Teonanacatl) San Pedro Cactus Tropane alkaloids Peganum harmala Pharmako/Gnosis offers more than a mere historical or pharmacological background of these substances. Pendell delves into the nuances of each substance's effect on consciousness with a poetic finesse, bringing to life our profound and intricate relationship with these potent compounds. He approaches the topic with genuine curiosity, acknowledging the transformative power these substances wield over individuals, societies, and cultures. The narrative, enriched by a wealth of quotations from acclaimed writers, is as intoxicating as the substances it explores, brewing a unique literary concoction. Taking the reader beyond the confines of traditional scientific discourse, Pendell's distinctive narrative style weaves in personal experiences, anecdotal evidence, and a profound sense of the sacred, resulting in a reading experience that is as deeply engaging as it is informative.
***WINNER, Best Science Fiction, 2010 Green Book Festival Based in scientific reality, Dale Pendell presents a powerful fictional vision of a fast-approaching future in which sea levels rise and a decimated population must find new ways to live. The Great Bay begins in 2021 with a worldwide pandemic followed by the gradual rising of the seas. Pendell’s vision is all encompassing—he describes the rising seas’ impact on countries and continents around the world. But his imaginative storytelling focuses on California. A “great bay” forms in California’s Central Valley and expands during a 16,000-year period. As the years pass, and technology seems to regress, even memory of a “precollapse” world blends into myth. Grizzly bears and other large predators return to the California hills, and civilization reverts to a richly imagined medieval society marked by guilds and pilgrimages, followed even later by hunting and gathering societies. Pendell’s focus is on the lives of people struggling with love, wars, and physical survival thousands of years in California’s future. He deftly mixes poetic imagery, news-reporting-style writing, interviews with survivors, and maps documenting the geographic changes. In the end, powerful human values that have been with us for 40,000 years begin to reemerge and remind us that they are desperately needed—in the present.
In ancient times, the Gnostics sought for salvation through personal, experiential knowledge of the Divine. Their methods of self-reliance and their sublime knowledge profoundly impacted society, such that the dominant powers felt threatened and the tradition was forced to disappear from public view. Now, after centuries of obscurity, the Gnostics have re-emerged, still carrying their profound message of Gnosis: knowledge of self and the Divine. In a simple and elegant way, Samael Aun Weor explains the basic methodology for people in today's world to begin to approach the greater mysteries of the Gnostics. In this basic and practical guide, Samael Aun Weor offers a breadth of exercises guiding the reader to discover within themselves a wealth of insight and understanding. Gnosis, after all, is Greek for knowledge, and the seeker is told, "Know thyself, and thou shalt know the universe and its Gods." "A great author deduced that the human being needs eight important things in life: health and the conservation of life, nourishment, sleep, money and the things money can buy, life in the beyond, sexual satisfaction, the well-being of his children, and a sense of proper importance. We synthesize these eight things into three: 1. Health 2. Money 3. Love "If you really want to acquire these three things, you should study and practice everything that this course teaches you. We will show you the path of success." - Samael Aun Weor Includes the lecture "How to Make Light Within" and the pamphlet "Marriage, Divorce, and Tantra." Topics include: An Exercise to Control Your Anger; The Power of Thought; Mental Force; Concentration of the Mind; The Law of Karma; Favorable Circumstances; The Descent of Cosmic Vibration; Prana; The Names of the Tattvas; Properties of the Tattvas; Money; Clairvoyance; Alcoholism; Meditation and Intoxication; Osmotherapy; Mental Relaxation; Concentration; Meditation; Contemplation; The Universal Mind; Imagination and Will; Mental Action; Mental Epidemics; Mental Hygiene; Vegetarian Diet; Self-observation; Chatter; “I’s” in the Five Centers; Matrimony, Divorce, and Tantra; and more.
When a mysterious and charismatic woman insinuates herself into a fringe religious group, its dozen members wonder whether she is a lunatic, a con artist, or a messiah. Sophia quickly upends the routines and expectations of the group--the last Christians in the inhabited solar system--while Peter, their struggling leader, becomes increasingly obsessed with her. Before long, Peter finds himself following Sophia on a perilous interplanetary adventure which may cost both of them their lives.
• Explains how to work with baneful herbs through rituals and spells, as plant spirit familiars, as potent medicines, and as visionary substances • Details the spiritual, alchemical, astrological, and symbolic associations of each plant, its active alkaloids, how to safely cultivate and harvest it, and rituals and spells suited to its individual nature and powers • Shares plant alchemy methods, magical techniques, and recipes featuring the plants, including a modern witches’ flying ointment Part grimoire and part herbal formulary, this guide to the Poison Path of occult herbalism shares history, lore, and information regarding the use of poisonous, consciousness-altering, and magical plants. Author Coby Michael explains how, despite their poisonous nature, baneful herbs can become powerful plant allies, offering potent medicine, magical wisdom, and access to the spirit realm. Detailing the spiritual, alchemical, astrological, and symbolic associations of each plant, the author explores their magical uses in spells and rituals. He focuses primarily on the nightshade family, or Solanaceae, such as mandrake, henbane, and thorn apple, but also explores plants from other families such as wolfsbane, hemlock, and hellebore. He also examines plants in the witch’s pharmacopoeia that are safer to work with and just as chemically active, such as wormwood, mugwort, and yarrow. The author shares rituals suited to the individual nature and powers of each plant and explains how to attract and work with plant spirit familiars. He offers plant alchemy methods for crafting spagyric tinctures and magical techniques to facilitate working with these plants as allies and teachers. He shares magical recipes featuring the plants, including a modern witches’ flying ointment. He also explores safely cultivating baneful herbs in a poison garden.
This work tells the history and civilization of the submerged continents of Atlantis and Lemuria, which are chapters from the Akashic records. Contents: from the Akashic records; our Atlantian forefathers; transition of the Atlantean into the Aryan root-race; Lemurian era; woman in the third root-race; humanity before the decision of sex; beginnings of sex duality, the origin of good and evil; man's first ancestors; first, or polar, race; second, or hyperborean, race.
We, the Elders, have done our best to represent our Red Nation as Ojibway, Cree, and Dakota. We present this story knowing it is an attempt to capture the richness and beauty of the Red Nation a people of the heart and the land. We are an oral people. We cannot transfer our way of life through written words alone. Sacred law must be spoken and heard. Our way of life is meant to be lived and experienced. Our words are meant to inspire and guide our fellow human beings to follow the path of the heart. We believe that there is one Creator for all, that there is one Mother Earth that sustains all of us. We do not own the Earth. How can anyone own their mother? We owe our existence to Mother Earth. We believe that the spirit of the original Red Man was lowered to Mother Earth and our spirit chose to be born on Turtle Island. This story tells of our human life and journey until our return back to the spirit world. We believe the Creator has always been within our reach and that we have to return to the Earth to be guided to our true purpose.
Fleet-footed and capricious, the essays in Glass, Light & Electricity wander through landscapes both familiar and unfamiliar, finding them equal parts magical and toxic. They explore and merge public and private history through lyric meditations that use research, association, and metaphor to examine subjects as diverse as neon signs, scalping, heartbreak, and seizures. The winner of the 2019 Permafrost Prize in nonfiction, Shena McAuliffe expands the creative possibilities of form.