This collection of essays on themes such as rain animals and therianthropes focuses on myth and ritual in San rock art. Visionary Animal details the ancient rock art of southern Africa and the significance of the animals depicted in it. Their significance is emphasized with their frequency and meaning can be found in the relationship of these animals and humans. Visionary Animal explores two fundamental categories of anthropology – myth and ritual which have defined the well-established iconological tradition of San rock art interpretation. This richly illustrated collection of essays explores themes such as rain animals and therianthropes that combine human and animal bodies from this point of view.
An important new way of viewing the prehistoric art of the Americas, The Jaguar Within demonstrates that understanding a work of art’s connection with shamanic trance can lead to an appreciation of it as an extremely creative solution to the inherent challenge of giving material form to nonmaterial realities and states of being. Shamanism—the practice of entering a trance state to experience visions of a reality beyond the ordinary and to gain esoteric knowledge—has been an important part of life for indigenous societies throughout the Americas from prehistoric times until the present. Much has been written about shamanism in both scholarly and popular literature, but few authors have linked it to another significant visual realm—art. In this pioneering study, Rebecca R. Stone considers how deep familiarity with, and profound respect for, the extra-ordinary visionary experiences of shamanism profoundly affected the artistic output of indigenous cultures in Central and South America before the European invasions of the sixteenth century. Using ethnographic accounts of shamanic trance experiences, Stone defines a core set of trance vision characteristics, including enhanced senses; ego dissolution; bodily distortions; flying, spinning, and undulating sensations; synaesthesia; and physical transformation from the human self into animal and other states of being. Stone then traces these visionary characteristics in ancient artworks from Costa Rica and Peru. She makes a convincing case that these works, especially those of the Moche, depict shamans in a trance state or else convey the perceptual experience of visions by creating deliberately chaotic and distorted conglomerations of partial, inverted, and incoherent images.
Winner of The Green Prize for Sustainable Literature A Finalist for the PEN/Bograd Weld Prize for Biography Four influential women we thought we knew well—Jane Jacobs, Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters—and how they spearheaded the modern progressive movement This is the story of four visionaries who profoundly shaped the world we live in today. Together, these women—linked not by friendship or field, but by their choice to break with convention—showed what one person speaking truth to power can do. Jane Jacobs fought for livable cities and strong communities; Rachel Carson warned us about poisoning the environment; Jane Goodall demonstrated the indelible kinship between humans and animals; and Alice Waters urged us to reconsider what and how we eat. With a keen eye for historical detail, Andrea Barnet traces the arc of each woman’s career and explores how their work collectively changed the course of history. While they hailed from different generations, Carson, Jacobs, Goodall, and Waters found their voices in the early sixties. At a time of enormous upheaval, all four stood as bulwarks against 1950s corporate culture and its war on nature. Consummate outsiders, each prevailed against powerful and mostly male adversaries while also anticipating the disaffections of the emerging counterculture. All told, their efforts ignited a transformative progressive movement while offering people a new way to think about the world and a more positive way of living in it.
The latest archaeology and history redefining book from bestselling author Graham Hancock (Fingerprints of the Gods), who is featured in Ancient Apocalypse, a hit Netflix original docuseries. "With the original unabridged text of Supernatural, I offer the reader an investigation that explores the human experience with psychedelics from the Stone Age to the Space Age and the role of these extraordinary plant medicines as tools to investigate the nature of reality itself."—Graham Hancock Discover the pathway to the gods. Less than 50,000 years ago mankind had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no innovative thinking. Then, in a dramatic and electrifying change, described by scientists as "the greatest riddle in human history," all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves appeared already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers. In Visionary, Graham Hancock sets out to investigate this mysterious "before-and-after moment" and to discover the truth about the influences that gave birth to modern human mind. His quest takes him on a journey of adventure and detection from the stunningly beautiful painted caves of prehistoric France, Spain, and Italy to remote rock shelters in the mountains of South Africa, where he finds a treasure trove of extraordinary Stone Age art. Hancock uncovers clues that lead him to travel to the depths of the Amazon rainforest to drink the powerful plant hallucinogen ayahuasca with Indian shamans, whose paintings contain images of "supernatural beings" identical to the animal-human hybrids depicted in prehistoric caves and rock shelters. Hallucinogens such as mescaline also produce visionary encounters with exactly the same beings. Scientists at the cutting edge of consciousness research have begun to consider the possibility that such hallucinations may be real perceptions of other "dimensions." Could the "supernaturals" first depicted in the painted caves and rock shelters be the ancient teachers of mankind? Could it be that human evolution is not just the "blind," "meaningless" process that Darwin identified, but something more purposive and intelligent, something that we have barely even begun to understand? Previously published as Supernatural, this definitive edition includes a new Introduction by Graham Hancock as well as restored chapters that were omitted from the original paperback release.
A guide to understand, support, and honor the soul missions of our animal companions • 2023 Coalition of Visionary Resources Silver Award • Explains how animals that live alongside humans are lightworkers helping to raise the vibration of collective consciousness and aid in humanity’s ascension process • Shares example stories of incredible animal Wayshowers from around the world whose actions and sacrifices on behalf of their human companions changed them all for the better • Offers meditations, rituals, and transformational soul practices to embrace 5D frequencies, intuit heart intelligence, connect to the Higher Self, and heal the shadow Animals are natural holders of 5D consciousness. The extraordinary animals who have chosen, at a soul level, to live alongside humans are lightworkers on the front lines of the animal kingdom’s mission to help people to heal, evolve, and assist in raising the vibration of the planet and collective consciousness to 5D. As Tammy Billups reveals, once we become aware of the soul path of our animal companions, we are then able to connect with them soul-to-soul, not only supporting their soul missions but also finding the healing we need to let go of 3D reality. Sharing stories of incredible animal wayshowers from around the world, she explores the many levels of service your beloved animal friends are providing you every day, including during disasters, storms, and pandemics. She shows how they help shoulder the psychological and emotional burdens we are not yet capable of holding on our own and show us the way back to our own hearts. The author offers meditations, rituals, and exercises for applying the teachings of the animal stories shared, including transformational soul practices to embrace 5D frequencies, intuit heart intelligence, connect to the Higher Self, and heal the shadow. Offering ways to embrace and emulate the soul teachings of our animal companions, Tammy Billups shows that, by honoring animals as courageous guides on our ascension to 5D consciousness, we too can become wayshowers in our own right
Tucked away in Siberia, there are furry, four-legged creatures with wagging tails and floppy ears that are as docile and friendly as any lapdog. But, despite appearances, these are not dogs—they are foxes. They are the result of the most astonishing experiment in breeding ever undertaken—imagine speeding up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to do just that, by starting with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. This is the extraordinary, untold story of this remarkable undertaking. Most accounts of the natural evolution of wolves place it over a span of about 15,000 years, but within a decade, Belyaev and Trut’s fox breeding experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, as well. The foxes were bred using selection criteria for tameness, and with each generation, they became increasingly interested in human companionship. Trut has been there the whole time, and has been the lead scientist on this work since Belyaev’s death in 1985, and with Lee Dugatkin, biologist and science writer, she tells the story of the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all. In How to Tame a Fox, Dugatkin and Trut take us inside this path-breaking experiment in the midst of the brutal winters of Siberia to reveal how scientific history is made and continues to be made today. To date, fifty-six generations of foxes have been domesticated, and we continue to learn significant lessons from them about the genetic and behavioral evolution of domesticated animals. How to Tame a Fox offers an incredible tale of scientists at work, while also celebrating the deep attachments that have brought humans and animals together throughout time.
Gennemgang af temaet verdens undergang hos forfatterne William Blake, Novalis, Gérard de Nerval, Comte de Lautréamont, André Breton, Louis Aragon, William Burroughs, Monique Wittig og Jamaica Kincaid
The wide spectrum of links and interrelations found amongst the diversity of human sexual expressions and spiritual practices around the world constitutes one of the most fruitful grounds of scholarly research today. Exploring Sexuality and Spirituality introduces an emerging academic field of studies focused on the multiplicity of problematizations intersecting spirituality and sexuality, from eroticism and ecstasy embodiments to inner spiritual cultivation, intimate relationships, sex education, and gender empowerment. This collection of essays addresses subjects such as prehistoric art, Queer Theology, BDSM, Tantra, the Song of Songs, ‘la petite mort’, asceticism, feminist performative protests, and sexually charged landscapes, among others. Through varied methodologies and state-of-the-art interdisciplinary approaches, this volume becomes highly useful for readers engaged in the integration of scholarly and practical knowledge.
A comprehensive exploration of chemically mediated extra ordinary human experiences. Scientist and psychonaut David Luke weaves personal experience and scientific research to create Otherworlds - Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience. “Emphasizing parapsychological aspects of the psychedelic experience, Luke’s new book fills in a fascinating and previously neglected lacuna in the burgeoning field of human studies with these compounds. ” – Rick Strassman, PhD “A psychedelic Indiana Jones. ” – Matt Colborn, PhD “David Luke’s delightful one-liner about his book is that it’s ‘about weird people in weird places taking weird substances doing weird things and, importantly, having weird experiences’ . . . On reflection, it’s much more profound than that . . . So weird reader, forge ahead without fear. ” – Dean Radin, PhD “In his fascinating book David plunges into this controversial topic and gives the backstory, the front story, and possible ways forward to bring paranormal and psychedelic research together, and further our understanding of both. ” – Dennis J. McKenna, PhD “A remarkable collection and a necessary one. This body of research illuminates aspects of psychedelic experiences usually obscured or denied in the medical and clinical research and sensationalized in the popular press. ” – James Fadiman, PhD “A real Dr Gonzo. ” – Will Self
