Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
If Bob knew how many synchronicities surround the rediscovery and release of this "lost" studio session, which has been stored away for fifteen years and almost lost entirely, he would be chuckling in that half jolly, half mischievous way of his. 3|9|10
The excellent work seeks to understand ayahuasca shamanism, its relationship to other shamanisms, and its survival in the new global economy, through anthropology, ethnobotany, cognitive psychology, legal history, and personal memoir. 3|5|10
Covering the years between 1961 and 1972, this is the first volume focused exclusively on the emergence, growth, and lasting legacy of hippie culture in the USA, and how its revolutionary principles in the 1960s helped the shaping of modern culture. 2|25|10
It is impossible to overstate the cultural significance of the four men described in Don Lattin’s book. He provides the moving inside story of the "Cambridge Quartet," who crossed paths with the infamous Harvard Psilocybin Project in the early 60’s, and went on to pioneer the Mind|Body|Spirit movement that would popularize yoga, vegetarianism, and Eastern mysticism in the Western world. 2|17|10
These conversations on shamanism and mind-altering plants by filmmaker Jan Kounen, anthropologist Jeremy Narby, and writer|filmmaker Vincent Ravalec are exploring how ayahuasca and iboga are tools for communicating with other life-forms, and are offering insights into the role this indigenous knowledge can play in solving the current problems facing the world. 2|13|10
Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, memoir and his own detective work, Foer explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting. 2|9|10
Interviews about God, 5-MeO-DMT, zero-point energy and the Akashic Field, surprising results of a DMT study, hopes for an entheogenic research center, the roles of psychedelic mushrooms and other visionary sacraments in religion. Finally a detailed history of Salvia divinorum, and at the end, the author makes a strong case for the human right to entheogen use as religious sacraments. 2|5|10
Jaron Lanier, a Silicon Valley visionary since the 1980s, was among the first to predict the revolutionary changes the World Wide Web would bring to commerce and culture. Now, in his first book, written more than two decades after the web was created, Lanier offers a provocative and cautionary look at the way it is transforming our lives for better and for worse. 1|25|10
Allegro's study of the nature and origins of Christianity within the fertility cults of the ancient Near East, caused an outcry in 1970. Forty years on, new evidence demands a reexamination of the work and a fairer appraisal from more open-minded readers. This new edition of Allegro's original work comes with an addendum, Fungus Redivivus, by Carl A. P. Ruck. 1|21|10
One of the greatest discoveries of recent times is that the complex patterns we find in life are often produced when all of the individuals in a group follow the same simple rule. This process of self-organization reveals itself in the inanimate worlds of crystals and seashells, but as Len Fisher shows, it is also evident in living organisms, from fish to ants to human beings. 1|13|10
A strikingly written, wide-ranging physical and metaphysical foray out along the increasingly fraught frontier between humans and animals. At the end, the reader arrives at a deeper understanding both of the main character in the book and of our numerous other animal selves, a recognition that carries a new sense of responsibility for how we view and treat all animals, including ourselves. 1|9|10
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Scientists have found that sulphur-eating bacteria may be connected by a network of microbial nanowires that could shuttle electrons back and forth, |
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allowing communities of bacteria to act as one super-organism. 3|9|10
Scientists around the world continue to reveal that plants are much more than the primitive and passive entities that we once believed them to be. 3|9|10
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See some of 2009's most incredible science photos, illustrations, and installations – winners of the International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. 3|9|10
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Despite the unrelentingly repressive atmosphere that smothered the first decade of our brave new century, psychedelic research in America has entered its Golden Age. James Fadiman, gives us a valuable update. 3|9|10
The emerging and surprising view of how the enteric nervous system in our bellies goes far beyond just processing the food we eat. 3|5|10 |
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In this interview by Morgan Maher, Steve Beyer, the author of Singing to the Plants is exploring shamanism, ayahuasca, and the importance of building right relationships. In Expanding Mind Erik Davis and Steve are discussing sorcery, healing, and sex with plant spirits in a radio show. 3|5|10
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On the pros and cons of 21st Century technologies, and the enhancing of human health, cognition, and performance. An article by Surfdaddy Orca. 3|5|10
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If we are to build cultures of peace we have to start talking about something that still makes many people uncomfortable: gender. Riane Eisler explains. 3|5|10
"Rhythms of the Universe" is a musical project by Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart that caught the attention of Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist George Smoot of Lawrence Berkeley |
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National Laboratory. 3|1|10
The sophisticated mimicry we find among insects and animals might also exist on a hidden, higher scale. Via synchronicity, the natural intelligence of life initiates a kind of informative dialogue. An article by Simon G. Powell. 3|1|10
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A documentary about Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin, the rogue chemist who discovered the effects of MDMA (aka Ecstasy) and over 200 other mind-altering drugs. Shulgin’s alchemy has earned him the title “The Godfather of Psychedelics,”
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and a reputation as one of the great chemists of the 20th century. 2|25|10
The Buddhist monk and author Matthieu Ricard explains how meditation improves mind and body alike, and how altruism could transform economics. 2|25|10
A newly developed organic transistor has opened the way to new generations of neuro-inspired computers, capable of responding in a manner similar to the nervous system |
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of the human brain. 2|21|10
A Google Tech Talk video presented by Paulo Roberto Silva e Souza, Rio de Janeiro. 2|21|10
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Enthnobotanist, artist, and photographer Kathleen (Kat) Harrison speculates on the evolutionary advantages of DMT. She proposes that its appearance in plants and animals is nature's way of providing
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"little windows into another realm". 2|17|10
The founder of the Transition Towns movement explains why he is optimistic that we can survive peak oil and minimise climate change. 2|17|10
Human brains are slow to develop – a secret, perhaps, of our success. How do babies manage to turn things around in the end? Melody Dye explains. 2|17|10 |
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Psychologist and researcher Ralph Metzner about human consciousness and its various altered states. 2|17|10
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This documentary by Richard Meech explores a brave new world beyond the realm of the senses, offering insights into the nature of
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faith, mystical experience and self-healing through a heightened state of consciousness. 2|13|10
Transhumanism, technological psychedelia, and the Tao of being out of control: Erik Davis is chatting with RU Sirius, editor of h+ magazine. 2|13|10
An essay by Carl A. P. Ruck, best known for his work in mythology and religion on the sacred role of entheogens, or psychoactive plants that induce an altered state of consciousness, as used in religious or shamanistic rituals. 2|9|10 |
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There are six emotions that we know everyone feels. But others may also be universal – and for good biological reasons. 2|9|10
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Will they be super-smart predators, glass-veined acid-dwellers or giant microbial blobs? New Scientist asked astrobiologists for their best guesses. 2|9|10
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An Interview with Antonio A. Arantes, by Beatriz Labate and Ilana Goldstein. This interview addresses the 2008 request by Brazilian ayahuasca groups to be recognized as part of the immaterial cultural heritage of Brazil. 2|9|10
The songs of cetaceans can be beautiful to the ear. Now acoustics engineer Mark Fischer has created a way to make them visually pleasing too. What's more, his technique captures more information about the sound than traditional ways of visualising whalesongs. 2|5|10 |
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At any one time we are all tuned in to certain channels of information – a TV, radio, or internet channel, a book, a newspaper, a dialogue with another person. Psilocybin can tune us in to a hidden broadcast channel – natural intelligence – the only paradigm with a future. An article by Simon G. Powell. 2|5|10
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A new study has found that Yasuní National Park in Ecuador, which sits atop major oil reserves, is home to the most diverse array of plants and animals in South
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America and possibly the planet. 2|5|10
Our memories are strengthened during periods of rest while we are awake, not just during sleep, researchers at New York University have found. 2|5|10
Could Avatar be the first messenger of a new psychedelic wave ushered in by a new medium with psychedelic tendencies? Could it bring psychedelic values and ideas into mainstream thinking? An article by Ido Hartogsohn. 2|1|10 |
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It’s lack of balance that makes skunk cannabis do harm, says Amanda Feilding, and explains why the chemical composition of cannabis is of importance. 2|1|10
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From the Americas to Africa, from Tibet to Australasia, these times are seen as pivotal in the
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evolution of mankind. This film is about the shift in global awareness and the expansion of consciousness as we move beyond … 2012. 2|1|10
A new set of findings show that bats and dolphins not only do use the same method for echolocation, they also evolved nearly the exact same molecular means for hearing at high frequencies. 2|1|10
A unique psychedelic musical concept work, associated with psychedelic art by patients at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in New York, performed by The Psychedelic Ensemble … a one-man band. 1|29|10 |
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The ability to speak a second language isn’t the only thing that distinguishes bilingual people from their monolingual counterparts—their brains work differently, too. 1|29|10
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The ever-accelerating pace of technological change may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development, says psychologist Larry Rosen. 1|29|10
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An experiment showed that engaging in mental time travel resulted in physical movements corresponding to the metaphorical direction of time. Those who thought of the past swayed backward while those who thought of the future moved forward. 1|29|10
A musical & visual tribute by the Pagan Love Cult to the late Albert Hofmann, discoverer of LSD & psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. 1|25|10 |
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It’s a story of adventure, space exploration and the wonders of evolution on alien worlds, echoing the best of the Star Wars series … A review by Ralph Metzner. 1|25|10
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Erowid is currently archiving Dr. Alexander Shulgin's resources, and needs your donation for supporting an expert assistant, to cover scanning and processing
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costs, as well as for an assistant to help with the completion of The Shulgin Index, Sasha's current book project, which will provide information related to psychedelic compounds in a manner similar to The Merck Index. 1|21|10
The internet and other communications networks could use one-ten-thousandth of the energy that they do today if smarter data-coding techniques were used to move information around. 1|21|10
The documentary by Deborah Koons Garcia, director of The Future of Food (2004) will explore soil in a number of countries and |
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climates and include interviews and soil explorations with scientists, activists, academics and farmers. Release is planned for this spring. 1|21|10
An essentially sticking point for what has been called the "hard problem" in consciousness research is how can the non-physical mind stuff interact with the physical brain? A report by Serena Roney-Dougal. 1|21|10
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Dolphins have now been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so
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bright that they should be treated as "non-human persons". 1|17|10 |
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