Micah Hanks, the young Fortean researcher in charge of The Grailen Report, has just informed us his new book is now available; and if you are the kind of person interested in the links between shamanic trips, magick practices, & modern mysteries like ghosts & UFOs, then THIS is a book you definitely won't want to miss.

Since this is such an exciting time, I look forward to seeing where the road ahead will lead! Below are just a few of the topics featured in the book:

• What role did the infamous magician Aleister Crowley play in the history of modern Ufology? Furthermore, did he somehow manage to contact and interact with an alien “gray” during one of his magical rituals?
• Out of 80,000 plants that were available, how did native tribes in the Amazon jungles discover the right mix of ingredients that allow DMT, the psychoactive ingredient in their ritual ayahuasca brew, to become active; a feat anthropologist Jeremy Narby says stood a one in six-million chance of discovery?
• Do Tibetan mystics possess the strange ability to create “tulpas,” literal thought-forms that manifest physically from their thoughts alone? Even stranger, could a sixteenth century Jewish mystic have done the same thing in creating a “golem” in medieval Prague?
• Did famed scholar of the macabre, H.P. Lovecraft, somehow predict that the human pineal gland could act as a gateway between unseen worlds? If so, did the research of famous inventor Nikola Tesla not only prove Lovecraft’s own predictions, but illustrate ways we can literally contact creatures From Beyond?
• Do mirrors act as portals to other realms? According to Dr. Raymond Moody, the spirits of deceased loved ones can actually communicate through reflective surfaces… is this a psychological “trick” of the mind, or something else?
• How are sleep paralysis, UFO abductions, out of body travel, psychedelic visions and near death experiences all interconnected? Could they all be much more similar than we’ve previously imagined?

The book will be available on Amazon shortly, but you can already purchase it directly from Micah, by following this link.

Micah seems like the kind of investigator who's not afraid to look at the world of Esoterica with a holistic approach, daring to cross the interdisciplinary boundaries to see what sense we can make of such phenomena, instead of sticking with prestablished theories and dismissing evidence that might challenge long-held preconceptions.

I'm sure that Magic, Mysticism & the Molecule will rattle quite a few cages within the Fortean world.

The following is an excerpt from Paul Devereux's The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia (available from Amazon US and Amazon UK), reprinted with permission. The Long Trip is...

...probably the most comprehensive single volume to look at the use of mind-altering drugs, or entheogens, for ritual and shamanistic purposes throughout humanity's long story, while casting withering sidelong glances at our own times - as Paul Devereux points out, our modern mainstream culture is eccentric in its refusal to integrate the profound experiences offered by these natural substances into its own spiritual life.

This particular section discusses the little-known role of hallucinogenic substances by medieval witches, including a rather eye-opening theory as to the real use of the witches' broomstick...

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Witches' Brews
by Paul Devereux

The magical and medicinal plant lore of the rural “wise woman” (or man) in Anglo-Saxon, Medieval and Early Modern Europe may not occupy a period we can properly call prehistory, but we can say that it was outside history, in that it was a living knowledge largely overlooked or dismissed by the ruling classes and the sophisticates, or discouraged and repressed by the Church. The Church-orchestrated witch-persecutions of the late Middle Ages transformed what was in fact a quietly surviving country tradition into what was hysterically and neurotically seen as a satanic activity.

One of the key elements of “witch lore” was that witches were able to fly on broomsticks, rods or other implements to their sabbats and other night-time gatherings in the wilderness beyond the pale of the town or village. “Flying ointments” were often used, either smeared on the person’s body or flying implements. Long before the Church contextualised this “flying out” to the wilderness as a diabolic practice, however, it was happening simply as part of the practice of women and men wise in the rural magic arts and healing based on arcane plant knowledge. The people who became identified as “witches” by the Church were in actuality simply the continuation of an ancient tradition of “night travellers.” In northern Europe they were called qveldriga, “night rider,” or myrkrida, “rider in the dark.” In Scandinavia, there was the tradition of seidhr, in which a prophetess or seidhonka would travel around farmsteads and hamlets with a group of girls to give divinatory trance-sessions. She wore a ritual costume and carried a staff. The goddess Freya, who taught Odin the secrets of magical flight, was the patronal mistress of seidhr. “Night travellers and the later witches are carelessly lumped together,” Hans Peter Duerr warns.

Depending on the time or place in Europe they operated, the night travellers might join the flying hosts of Diana, or Frau Holda-Mother Holle, the Old Norse Hela, the veiled goddess of the underworld, whose sacred bird was the migrant snow goose – the winter snows were said to be feathers falling from these birds’ wings. She is remembered in the nursery-rhyme image of Old Mother Goose, who, when she wanted to wander, we will recall, would fly through the air on a very fine gander. Researcher Nigel Jackson has noted:

Very excited to see how "The Shulgin Project" is coming along, a documentary on a true modern-day alchemist, Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin. This new trailer is 9 minutes in length, so gives you a good feel for it:

No matter whether you are for or against psychedelics (or in between), I think you'd agree that (the now 84-year-old) Shulgin as an individual is a fascinating character, absolutely worthy of such a film. (h/t to Teleomorph)

Science journalist John Horgan has written a number of books that resonate with me, most particularly The End of Science and Rational Mysticism. So I was glad to see this review he wrote of Professor Benny Shanon's seminal book The Antipodes of the Mind (Amazon US and UK), which charts his investigation of the South American shamanic brew ayahuasca. Horgan praises the "sense of adventure" which suffuses Shanon's book, "of a kind that has virtually vanished from modern science." Indeed, he compares this new and daring exploration of the mind with the voyages of 18th century scientists such as Charles Darwin:

Like Darwin on the voyage of the Beagle, Shanon is concerned primarily with collecting and categorizing data rather than theorizing. But he also ponders his and others' experiences and draws some tentative conclusions. While believing that ayahuasca can be genuinely revelatory, he cautions that it can also be “the worst of liars.” He remains skeptical of occult claims often made for the tea – that it puts us in touch with ghosts, makes us clairvoyant, lets us leave our bodies and travel astrally. Ayahuasca visions are products of the imagination, Shanon suggests, rather than glimpses of a supernatural realm existing in parallel to our own.

This proposal will sound reductionist to some, but it is actually quite provocative and raises many questions requiring further consideration. Why does the imagination, when stimulated by ayahuasca, yield visions so much more vivid and powerful than those we encounter in ordinary dreams? Why do ayahuasca -drinkers from widely disparate cultures so often hallucinate similar phenomena, such as jaguars and snakes, or palaces and royalty? Why are the visions of even an areligious person like Shanon so often laden with religious significance?

As I've mentioned previously, it's these sorts of 'recurrent regularities'/archetypes which I think are fascinating aspects of numerous 'border' experiences, and which are worthy of further investigation.

Definitely recommend all three books mentioned above, they all make for fascinating reading.

Previously on TDG:

• Moses and the Psychedelics
• DMT Movie Clips
• The Mystical Skeptic
• Mystical Brain
• John Wheeler Passes Away

Australian journalist Rak Razam sends word that his new book, AYA: A Shamanic Odyssey, has just been released (available from Amazon US and UK). Here's what Rak has to say about the new book:

I travelled to Peru on magazine assignment in 2006 to research what the archetype of the shaman was like in the 21st century, and the business of spirituality that had sprung up around it. It's been a three-year mission to complete the book and launch Icaro Publishing to release it, and the time has never been more potent for this book to be shared with the world.

Ayahuasca usage has enveloped a large swath of the West and in the last few months following the legal victory of the Santo Daime ayahuasca church in Oregon, ayahuasca has been positively written up by such mainstream bastions of the establishment as Time magazine, NBC Today Show, and ayahuasca has previously been the focus of the LA Times, New York Times, National Geographic Adventure, BBC news, et.al.

In AYA I capture in intimate detail what the Peruvian ayahuasca trail is like, and detail my personal experiences drinking this powerful vegetal medicine. This book is for the millions of people across the world that are interested in not just shamanism, but what it represents a direct connection to the planet and a spiritual way to see the world. It's a unique adventure that echoes the archetypal Western quest, propelling the reader on a cosmological travel memoir that is at turns beautiful, terrifying, mind-blowing and ultimately, cathartic.

You can find a lot more information about the book, including an excerpt and image gallery, at the AYA website.

In April I posted a story linking to a bunch of video excerpts from the upcoming documentary DMT: The Spirit Molecule. For those that found the topic fascinating, there is now a new trailer available promoting the film (and of course, you can always check out the book that started it all on Amazon US and UK).

Daniel Pinchbeck sends word of a new web seminar series titled "Evolver Intensives". The series aims at discussing ways of overcoming "old patterns of thought and action [that] block our advance into a more awakened and self-sufficient way of life":

Reality Sandwich is pleased to announce our first Evolver Intensive teleseminar series, “Beyond 2012: Practical Tools for Your Transformation”, which will be hosted by me. In a series of interactive calls spanning June and July, we will explore how the deepening planetary crisis will affect us as individuals, and what we should do to prepare for massive changes ahead.

Each call will feature a guest who is an expert in at least one crucial area. We will be talking with David Wolfe, an expert in raw foods and super foods, on nutrition; Neil Strauss, bestselling author of Emergency, on preparedness and self-reliance; Burners Without Borders director Carmen Mauk on building communities; author Douglas Rushkoff on workable alternatives to the current monetary system such as local and complementary currencies; John Marshall Roberts on how to communicate the new memes to all strata of society; and more.

Note that the first call, this Thursday night, is offered as a free sample for those interested and features John Marshall Roberts. For more details about the program, including pricing, head to the Evolver Intensives website.

The resurgence of interest in the related topics of shamanism and altered states of consciousness has been picking up pace in the last decade - Terence McKenna's 'Archaic Revival' seems to be well underway. To complement this reinvigoration of the scene, Australian publisher and writer Rak Razam is offering a new and wonderful anthology dedicated to exploring the modern usage of sacramental plants, traditional and contemporary shamanism, as well as analysis of the current state of global psychedelic culture and its place in a sustainable future. Featuring a brilliant list of contributors and interviewees, The Journeybook offers...

...an essential map of hyperspace for the contemporary psychonaut and the uninitiated alike. Travel through time and space and partake of mushrooms at Harvard, hemp in Nimbin, DMT in the Amazon and anti-depressants in the suburbs of the West, to name but a few of the experiences which await you. Dance at Dionysian festivals, meet alchemists in the laboratories of Switzerland, trippers in the corporate highrises of Brisvegas, and journey to the edge of the universe within our anthology's pages...

It features interviews with Terence McKenna (previously unpublished), Dennis McKenna, Daniel Pinchbeck, as well as articles by Rak Razam, Erik Davis, Graham St John, Tim Parish, Tim Boucher, Dave Cauldwell, Des Tramacchi, Brummbaer and IS. At 250 pages, it is fully illustrated with over 50 pages of colour paintings, photography and digital graphics from the Undergrowth art collective, including new works by regular Undergrowth contributors Gerhard Hillmann, Oliver Dunlop, Izwoz, Ahimsa, Tim Parish, Rak Razam and others.

The Journeybook is an essential handbook for those interested in the subject of consciousness, spirituality and understanding the rich pharmacopia of thought that exists beyond the confines of mainstream cosmology.

Read on. Tune in. Discover.

You can preview The Journeybook using Flipbook at the website (or alternately there is a 'sampler' PDF available for download. At $AUS40, it works out quite cheap for those in the US and UK on current exchange rates, especially for a 250 page full colour, glossy book. So if you're interested, and want to support quality independent publications, grab yourself a copy.

Exploring ayahuasca shamanism in the Amazon, Metamorphosis is a new documentary by independent filmmaker Keith Aronowitz. Completely self-funded, Keith has done an amazing job and is currently seeking wider distribution, so if you can help out I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. It will screen at the 5th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference in Iquitos, Peru, this July.

Author of the Month at Graham Hancock's website is Dr David Luke, a psychology lecturer from London with a special interest in altered states of consciousness and parapsychology, from South America to India. His most recent paper on psychedelics and "species connectedness", co-written with Professor Stanley Krippner, is published in the Bulletin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (page 12). Join the discussions, David is an engaging AoM and it promises to be a fascinating month!

The Spring 2009 edition of the MAPS Bulletin is a special release titled "Psychedelics and Ecology" (PDF file download). The 76 page electronic booklet features a stellar line-up of interviewees and contributors, including Ralph Metzner, Jeremy Narby, Ralph Metzner, Stanley Krippner, Daniel Siebert, Kat Harrison, Daniel Pinchbeck and Dale Pendell, discussing shamanic plants and ecological awareness. Well worth the (completely free) 2.4 megabyte download.