The Labyrinth of Ayahuasca

The Labyrinth of Ayahuasca PDF Author: Manuel Almendro
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527505014
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description
This book offers unique insights. Teachings from the Asháninka, Mazatec, Cocama, and the Navajo are recounted, which the author had the fortune to receive while spending extended periods with them. A unique and first-hand perspective of the world of Traditional Indigenous Medicine (TIM) and ayahuasca, and its complex world of plants, purging, and isolation is presented. The importance of spirituality and the need to deal with our past traumas are explored. The most representative authors in fields related to TIM and psychedelics are reviewed, and so are others, relatively unknown but very relevant. Innovative procedures in psychology and medicine are assessed. The School of Psychotherapy, Oxígeme, is also presented. The book analyses the abuse of sacred substances and psychedelic culture, potential positive discoveries, and disturbing contradictions and dangers. This book would appeal to readers ranging from the general public interested in the indigenous worlds, psychology, and spirituality, to more specialized audiences in the fields of anthropology, psychology, medical doctors, and health professionals in general.

The Labyrinth of Ayahuasca

The Labyrinth of Ayahuasca PDF Author: Manuel Almendro
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527505014
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 495

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers unique insights. Teachings from the Asháninka, Mazatec, Cocama, and the Navajo are recounted, which the author had the fortune to receive while spending extended periods with them. A unique and first-hand perspective of the world of Traditional Indigenous Medicine (TIM) and ayahuasca, and its complex world of plants, purging, and isolation is presented. The importance of spirituality and the need to deal with our past traumas are explored. The most representative authors in fields related to TIM and psychedelics are reviewed, and so are others, relatively unknown but very relevant. Innovative procedures in psychology and medicine are assessed. The School of Psychotherapy, Oxígeme, is also presented. The book analyses the abuse of sacred substances and psychedelic culture, potential positive discoveries, and disturbing contradictions and dangers. This book would appeal to readers ranging from the general public interested in the indigenous worlds, psychology, and spirituality, to more specialized audiences in the fields of anthropology, psychology, medical doctors, and health professionals in general.

The Ayahuasca Diaries

The Ayahuasca Diaries PDF Author: Caspar Greeff
Publisher: Jacana Media
ISBN: 1770097619
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
A lively travelogue, this book follows the author's psycho-spiritual odyssey in search of ayahuasca--a dark, psychedelic brew known as "the vine of the dead." Trekking through the rain forests of Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador in search of enclaves where ayahuasca is taken in the dark of night at ceremonies presided over by shamans, the author shares his experiences with otherworldly songs that are both magical and healing and ignite in him a new enchantment with life and a burgeoning sense of connection with the natural world.

The Green Labyrinth

The Green Labyrinth PDF Author: Sylvia Fraser
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 1459725743
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Limited time offer. In the critically acclaimed The Rope in the Water, Sylvia Fraser described her three-month pilgrimage to India in search of "something larger than myself, something deeper, something more." In The Green Labyrinth, Fraser continues her journey, this time deep into the jungle of the Amazon in the company of shamans, traditional spiritualists practicing ancient rituals. At the heart of Fraser’s quest lies the mind-expanding drug "ayahuasca", a gateway to worlds beyond her own, to a better understanding of the mysteries of existence. Fraser takes us to shamanic sanctuaries that hover at the edge of our modern world, providing a portal to the unknown. Along the way she introduces us to a diverse group of pilgrims searching for their own answers with the help of shamans and ayahuasca. Through meaningful visions and with spiritual guidance, Fraser and her fellow travellers acquire insight into their emotional and psychic lives, and discover that many of the answers they are searching for lie within themselves.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule

DMT: The Spirit Molecule PDF Author: Rick Strassman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594779732
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
A clinical psychiatrist explores the effects of DMT, one of the most powerful psychedelics known. • A behind-the-scenes look at the cutting edge of psychedelic research. • Provides a unique scientific explanation for the phenomenon of alien abduction experiences. From 1990 to 1995 Dr. Rick Strassman conducted U.S. Government-approved and funded clinical research at the University of New Mexico in which he injected sixty volunteers with DMT, one of the most powerful psychedelics known. His detailed account of those sessions is an extraordinarily riveting inquiry into the nature of the human mind and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. DMT, a plant-derived chemical found in the psychedelic Amazon brew, ayahuasca, is also manufactured by the human brain. In Strassman's volunteers, it consistently produced near-death and mystical experiences. Many reported convincing encounters with intelligent nonhuman presences, aliens, angels, and spirits. Nearly all felt that the sessions were among the most profound experiences of their lives. Strassman's research connects DMT with the pineal gland, considered by Hindus to be the site of the seventh chakra and by Rene Descartes to be the seat of the soul. DMT: The Spirit Molecule makes the bold case that DMT, naturally released by the pineal gland, facilitates the soul's movement in and out of the body and is an integral part of the birth and death experiences, as well as the highest states of meditation and even sexual transcendence. Strassman also believes that "alien abduction experiences" are brought on by accidental releases of DMT. If used wisely, DMT could trigger a period of remarkable progress in the scientific exploration of the most mystical regions of the human mind and soul.

Trail of Feathers

Trail of Feathers PDF Author: Tahir Shah
Publisher: eBook Partnership
ISBN: 1783011157
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
A shrunken head from Peru and a feather with traces of blood are the clues that launch Tahir Shah on his latest journey. Fascinated by the recurring theme of flight in Peruvian folklore, Shah sets out to discover whether the Incas really were able to "e;fly like birds"e; over the jungle, as a Spanish monk reported. Or were they drug-induced hallucinations? His journey, full of surreal experiences, takes him from the Andes Mountains to the desert and finally, in the company of a Vietnam vet, up the Amazon deep into the jungle to discover the secrets of the Shuar, a tribe of legendary savagery. Tahir Shah's flair for the unusual reveals Peru as we've never seen it. With his trademark humor, abundant curiosity, and oddball assortment of companions, he offers a journey that is no less illuminating than it is hilarious-and true.

Ecological Epistemologies and Spiritualities in Brazilian Ecovillages

Ecological Epistemologies and Spiritualities in Brazilian Ecovillages PDF Author: Luz Gonçalves Brito
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000901572
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
This book brings together ethnographic field research on four permacultural ecovillages in Brazil to highlight the importance of spirituality and ecological epistemologies as key analytical tools. It demonstrates that ecological spirituality can, and should, be understood beyond the dichotomy of personal and political, between people and nature, in the field of environmental anthropology. The book uses a broad philosophical methodology based on the phenomenological theories of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Tim Ingold and Alfred Schutz combined with post-structuralist conceptions of the relationship between person and world, individual and society. The field research consisted of ethnographic travel, observation and recorded dialogue with individuals based in each ecovillage: Arca Verde, situated in Campos de Cima da Serra; Vrinda Bhumi, a Vaishnava ecovillage in Baependi-MG; Goura Vrindavana, a Vaishnava ecovillage in Paraty-RJ; and Muriqui Assu Ecovillage Project, a secular ecovillage in Niterói-RJ. Throughout the book ethnographic research is woven together with poetic interludes, images, personal narrative experience and phenomenological theory, bringing a new understanding and approach to environmental anthropology as a discipline. Including a Preface written by Tim Ingold, it will appeal to academics, researchers and upper-level students in phenomenology, environmental philosophy, environmental anthropology, religious studies and social sciences more broadly.

Experiential Consciousness and the Nature of Human Identity

Experiential Consciousness and the Nature of Human Identity PDF Author: Vitor Jose F. Rodrigues
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527591700
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Consciousness is hard to bring to the laboratory as it confronts us with a classic dilemma: can a mind observe itself? However, who, then, is observing the observer? Without experiential awareness, culture, the arts, science, and philosophy would not make sense. Would it make sense if refrigerators were to produce a “refrigerator culture” without the experience of freezing food? Virtually all human culture is destined to provide conscious experiences. This volume provides a rich array of views on human nature and the way it shows up in the strange land of human identity.

Death, the Last God

Death, the Last God PDF Author: Anne Geraghty
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1782797084
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Anne Geraghty was a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist when her son, Tim Guest, author of My Life in Orange died suddenly. Her old life ended. She went on a search for her lost son. Where was he? What was he? Did he live on in some other realm? Or had he fallen into the darkness of oblivion? Her search for Tim became an exploration into the nature of death itself. We die as we have lived. Our lives are not like those of a C12th Tibetan, a C15th Cardinal or a Zen monk; we cannot, therefore, simply turn to old maps and myths of what happens when we die. We need a new narrative of death that embraces our modern understandings of our humanity and the workings of the universe. This book is the story of a grieving mother looking for her dead son, an investigation into death in our modern world, and an exploration of our struggles to live well in the ever-present shadow of death. It is not a book with answers; it is an invitation to look at death differently. This book offers fresh and original ideas about death and dying. And it will radically change your understanding of what death is.

Secrets of the Talking Jaguar

Secrets of the Talking Jaguar PDF Author: Martín Prechtel
Publisher: HarperThorsons
ISBN: 9780007142668
Category : Mayas
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Raised on a Native American reservation in New Mexico, Martin Prechtel wandered as a young man throughout the landscapes of Mexico and Guatemala. Drawn in his dreams to the traditional Mayan community of Santiago Atitlan, he carved a life for himself among the villagers. Though an outsider himself, Prechtel was adopted as an apprentice by a powerful ancient Shaman. He married a Mayan woman and became a village chief and famous Shaman in his own right - entrusted with the rich legacy of Atitlan's ancient Mayan heritage and its deepest spiritual traditions.

Mystery School in Hyperspace

Mystery School in Hyperspace PDF Author: Graham St John
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1583947329
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 537

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Book Description
Since the mid-1950s, the psychoactive compound DMT has attracted the attention of experimentalists and prohibitionists, scientists and artists, alchemists and hyperspace emissaries. While most known as a crucial component of the “jungle alchemy” that is ayahuasca, DMT is a unique story unto itself. Until now, this story has remained untold. Mystery School in Hyperspace is the first book to delve into the history of this substance, the discovery of its properties, and the impact it has had on poets, artists, and musicians. DMT has appeared at crucial junctures in countercultural history. William Burroughs was jacking the spice in Tangier at the turn of the 1960s. It was present at the meeting between Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and Tim Leary's associates. It guided the inception of the Grateful Dead in 1965. It showed up in Berkeley in the same year, falling into the hands of Terence McKenna, who would eventually become its champion in the post-rave neo-psychedelic movement of the 1990s. Its indole vapor drifted through Portugal's Boom Festival and has been evident at Nevada's Burning Man, where DMT has been adopted as spiritual technology supplying shape, color, and depth to a visionary art movement. The growing prevalence of use is evident in a vast networked independent research culture, and in its impact on fiction, film, music and metaphysics. As this book traces the effect of DMT's release into the cultural bloodstream, the results should be of great interest to contemporary readers. The book permits a broad reading audience to join ongoing debates in studies in consciousness and theology where the brain is held to be either a generator or a receiver of consciousness. The implications of the "spirit molecule" or "the brain's own psychedelic" among other theories illustrate that DMT may lift the lid on the Pandora's Box of consciousness. Features a foreword by Dennis McKenna, cover art by Beau Deeley, and thirty color illustrations by various artists, including Alex Grey, Android Jones, Martina Hoffmann, Luke Brown, Carey Thompson, Adam Scott Miller, Randal Roberts, along with Jay Bryan, Cyb, Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule, Art Van D'lay, Stuart Griggs, Jay Lincoln, Gwyllm Llwydd, Shiptu Shaboo, Marianna Stelmach, and Mister Strange. Regarded as the “nightmare hallucinogen” or celebrated as the “spirit molecule,” labelled “psychotogenic” or “entheogenic,” considered a dangerous drug or the suspected X-factor in the evolution of consciousness, DMT is a powerful enigma. Documenting the scientists and artists drawn into its sphere of influence, navigating the liminal aesthetics of the “breakthrough” experience, tracing the novum of “hyperspace” in esoteric and science fiction currents, Mystery School in Hyperspace excavates the significance of this enigmatic phenomenon in the modern world. Exposing a great many myths, this cultural history reveals how DMT has had a beneficial influence on the lives of those belonging to a vast underground network whose reports and initiatives expose drug war propaganda and shine a light in the shadows. This conversation is highly relevant at a time when significant advances are being made to lift the moratorium on human research with psychedelics.