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When Plants Dream: Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism, and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance
When Plants Dream: Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism, and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance
Sophia Rokhlin Literature&Fiction
Ayahuasca is a powerful tool for transformation, that more and more Westerners are flocking to drink in a quest for greater self-knowledge, healing and reconnection with the natural world. This formerly esoteric, little-known brew is now a growth industry. But why? Ayahuasca is a psychoactive tea that has a long history of ritual use among indigenous groups of the Upper Amazon. Made from the ayahuasca vine and the leaves of a shrub, ayahuasca is associated with healing in collective ceremonies and in more intimate contexts, generally under the direction of specialist – an ayahuasquero . These are experienced practitioners who guide the ceremony and the ‘drinkers’ experience. Ayahuasca has gained significant popularity these days in cities around the world. Ceremonies happen nightly and Hollywood stars, Wall Street players and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs now drink the brew. Why? What effect might ayahuasca be having on our culture? Could it be the LSD of our time? Does the brew, which seems to inspire environmental action, simplified lifestyles and more communitarian behaviour, act as an antidote to frenzied consumerist culture? In When Plants Dream , Pinchbeck and Rokhlin explore the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact that ayahuasca is having on society. Part 1 covers the background; what ayahuasca is, where it is found, and its cultural origins. Part 2 explores the role and practices of the ayahuasquero in both Amazonian and Western cultures. Part 3 examines the medicinal plants of the Amazon, looking particularly at the ingredients in ayahuasca and their therapeutic qualities, covering the most up-to-date biomedical research, psychedelic science and psychopharmacology. Part 4 looks more closely at how ayahuasca is perceived and used today, covering law, the drug wars, media and money. Lastly in Part 5 Pinchbeck and Rokhlin question the future of ayahuasca. When Plants Dream is the first book of its kind to look at the science and expanding culture of ayahuasca, from its historical use to its appropriation by the West and the impact it is having on cultures beyond the Amazon.
0879 viewsCompleted
PraiseENG - A Praise Of The Engineer
PraiseENG - A Praise Of The Engineer
Dionigi Cristian Lentini Biographies&Memoirs
It is progress that guarantees existence. Without engineering mankind would be an already extinguished species. The American writer James Albert Michener wrote: “ Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them”.<br><br>It is progress that guarantees existence. Without engineering mankind would be an already extinguished species. The American writer James Albert Michener wrote: “ Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them”. Between mathematics, physics, chemistry, technique and technology, from Archimedes of Syracuse to Samantha Cristoforetti, from Leonardo da Vinci to Larry Page, an extraordinary story of innovations and achievements. Nothing of what’s built nowadays by men, in any part of the world and space, would have been possible if there were no engineers. Therefore this praise is meant as a homage to the most beautiful job in the world and to the professionals that every day practice it, amongst countless difficulties but with awareness and pride.
0831 viewsCompleted
George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights
George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights
William G. Hyland Biographies&Memoirs
George Mason was a short, bookish man who was a friend and neighbor of athletic, broad-shouldered George Washington. Unlike Washington, Mason has been virtually forgotton by history. But this new biography of forgotten patriot George Mason makes a convincing case that Mason belongs in the pantheon of honored Founding Fathers. Trained in the law, Mason was also a farmer, philosopher, botanist, and musician. He was one of the architects of the Declaration of Independence, an author of the Bill of Rights, and one of the strongest proponents of religious liberty in American history. In fact, both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison may have been given undue credit for George Mason's own contributions to American democracy.
0795 viewsCompleted
In The East
In The East
Maria Pia Oelker Literature&Fiction
A child growing up, losing his father right after meeting him, the support and love of a half-brother taking care of him while facing hardships and people's judgments. The journey of a child becoming a man, wishing to spread his wings towards the East.<br><br>A desire to get to know the East, to discover the mystifying country of the rising moon, to take off in an attempt to discover new worlds: this is the dream the protagonist is chasing, without ever giving up while facing the greatest hardships. It is a story of a wonderful friendship, which is tainted by fright, desolation and conflict, yet triumphant in the end over everything. In the eighteenth century, while Europe is filled with new ideas that will lead to the great revolutions, in a castle that seems to belong to a fairy tale, but is more like a golden prison, the lives of three brothers are intertwined. Their personal stories are permeated with disappointment and refused affection. Despite all this, they find in their friendship the strength and courage to follow their dreams. The path to maturity is long and difficult, but during their journey, they discover that nobody is really a prisoner of one's history, that freedom can be seized, even if there is a high price to pay, and that love is stronger than any law. Beyond the accurate historic setting, the story transcends time and applies to everyone.
0722 viewsCompleted
Judge's Dreams I
Judge's Dreams I
Juan Moisés De La Serna Science Fiction
The judge fell asleep and, some three hours later, when he woke up rested and with his mind clear of the heaviness of the day, he established visual contact with a scene that he wasn’t familiar with. As if he was transferred to some other place, where he could see and hear everything that was happening. The kind of presence, where he could observe all the assistants in detail, whilst not physically there. It was the first time something like that has happened, and so he found himself with fear. In the beginning, he kept a distance from people that he was watching and events that he was witnessing. But soon, he realized that this could only be a dream, and nothing could really happen, and so he got mixing with the assistants, observing everything from different positions. When they did not detect his presence, he finally decided that, effectively, this was a dream, and that he could learn something from things that he was seeing and hearing.  
0713 viewsCompleted
Cars And Auto Accessories
Cars And Auto Accessories
There are many types of cars, or automobiles, as some people like to call them. There are the ‘family’ types that facilitate our daily lives, and get us to work and the shops; then there are the work-horses, the vans, lorries and trucks, named after the animals that they replaced; and the dream cars... the Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Rolls-Royces and the like. However, a new class has arrived too – the hybrid The conception of modern hybrid vehicles with their twin engines received a rather dubious first hearing by the automotive industry and the public. The cost was incredible, and the weight of two engines in one vehicle sounded unfeasible. We all know how that has turned out, but do you know how long mankind has actually been using hybrids? It will probably surprise you to learn that hybrid vehicles were among the very first cars produced in the Nineteenth Century. However, they were not powerful, and mighty oil was looking for a niche. Oil, in the forms of petrol and diesel eventually shoved hybrids aside, and set the path for the automotive industry for 150 years. As for auto accessories, it is in mankind’s nature to customise anywhere he spends a lot of time, such as the home, the workplace and, yes, even the car. We hang things from the rear view mirror, put items on the rear windscreen shelf, and add our favourite accessories to the dashboard. It has ever been thus. I hope that you will find the information in this booklet helpful, useful and even profitable. It is relevant to the topics just mentioned, and organised into eighteen chapters of about five to six hundred words each. I am certain that it will interest people who love cars and technology, and auto accessories. As an added bonus, I am granting you permission to use the content on your own website or in your own blogs and newsletter, although you should rewrite them in your own words first.
0703 viewsCompleted
Andropov's Cuckoo
A dying man recounts the story of the most amazing person he has ever met, a brilliant, Soviet linguist whom he calls Youriko. It is a tale of love, daring-do, spies and danger set in Japan, Germany, Turkey, the USA, Canada and the UK, but mostly in the Soviet Union of the Seventies. Two girls, born thousands of miles apart in Kazakhstan and Japan just after World War II, meet and are like peas in a pod. They also get on like sisters and keep n touch for the rest of their lives. However, one wants to help her battle-scarred country and the other wants to leave hers for the West. They dream up a daring, dangerous plan to achieve both goals, which Andropov, the chief of the Soviet KGB, is told about. He dubs it Operation Youriko and it is set in motion, but does it have even the remotest chance of success? Andropov’s Cuckoo is based on a ‘true story’ related to the author by one of the protagonists.
0658 viewsCompleted
Mad Monk Manifesto: A Prescription for Evolution, Revolution and Global Awakening
Mad Monk Manifesto: A Prescription for Evolution, Revolution and Global Awakening
Change The World By Changing Yourself Find answers: Today, it’s easy to get outraged by world events, frustrated by our own personal battles, and disenfranchised from government and leadership. Born of moral indignation, informed by decades of study, and seasoned by a life of devoted self-cultivation, Monk Yun Rou’s Mad Monk Manifesto has the answers we’re looking for, organically cohering personal prescriptions and calls to social and political action in one powerful document. Discover venerated wisdom: Based on ancient Chinese wisdom such as Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching , Mad Monk Manifesto is part tour guide to consciousness, part recipe for personal development, part prescription for environmental salvation, and part handbook for social change. In approximately 70,000 words, the book’s six chapters (framed by an introduction and afterward) follow the traditional Taoist prescription for changing the larger world by changing ourselves first. Improve yourself―and the world: In the same way ripples move away from a stone dropped into a pond, Mad Monk Manifesto begins with our personal lives, discussing topics such as diet, exercise, meditation, and mind/body practice, and spreads to our public environment, describing ideas such as what we can do to improve the community, the government, and the world. Full of everything from advice for a healthy, conscious lifestyle to suggested actions we can take to enhance the lives of friends, family, coworkers, and community members, Mad Monk Manifesto highlights spirituality and service, the goals of an awakened life. Learn something new: Each chapter of Mad Monk Manifesto is creative and fresh, offering proactive solutions in single-paragraph exhortations and prescriptions against a backdrop of lessons from Chinese history, the wisdom of ancient sages like Lao Tzu, and stories born of author Monk Yun Rou's journey from privileged Manhattanite to practicing Taoist monk. Inspirational and informative, exhortative and prescriptive, this modern Alan Watts creates a complete and immersive experience for everyone who picks up his Mad Monk Manifesto ―a portrayal of everything from the mundane to the sublime through the lens of the philosophy best known from George Lucas’ Star Wars saga, the Green Movement, and surf and hippie cultures. Emerge with a new way of seeing life, a series of concrete steps to take for personal transformation, and an action plan for working in the community to provoke change. Mad Monk Manifesto is precisely what the world needs at a time of unprecedented environmental disasters, international instability, and divisive and unreliable leadership. After reading this book, you will learn: How to relax, rectify, and rebalance life How to bolster the community and deepen culture How to effect positive change in commerce, government, power, and the environment For readers of Alan Watts, Ursula Le Guin, and Change Your Thoughts―Change Your Life by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
0653 viewsCompleted
The Forgotten Village: Rosemary Grey Cozy Mysteries, Book Three
The Forgotten Village: Rosemary Grey Cozy Mysteries, Book Three
A murderous past… Can come back to haunt you. It’s almost spring in Paperwick, Connecticut, and Rosemary Grey has never felt more content. Her job teaching history at the local university is fun and challenging and she’s all settled into her cozy cottage on Jack and Charlie’s farm. She’s made a whole host of friends in the tiny New England village, and is most definitely falling in love with the adorable Seth Maguire. But when the university calls and asks Rosemary to fill in for a fellow history professor who didn’t show up to work, she would never dream that she’s just about to stumble into investigating a sinister mystery—or that the case will take her, along with Jack, Charlie, and Seth, to the outskirts of town where the Forgotten Village, a relic of Colonial America, still haunts the woods. Will history repeat itself before she can solve the crime? Find out in this intriguing Cozy Mystery!
0378 viewsCompleted

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