Are language and consciousness co-evolving? Can psychedelic experience cast light on this topic? In the Western world, we stand at the dawn of the psychedelic age with advances in neuroscience; a proliferation of new psychoactive substances, both legal and illegal; the anthropology of ayahuasca use; and new discoveries in ethnobotany. From scientific papers to the individual trip reports on the Vaults of Erowid and the life work of Terence McKenna, Alexander and Ann Shulgin, and Stanislav Grof, we are converging on new knowledge of the mind and how to shift its functioning for therapeutic, spiritual, problem-solving, artistic and/or recreational purposes. In our culture, pychonautics, the practices of individuals and small groups using techniques such as meditation, shamanic ritual, ecstatic dance and substances such as LSD and psilocybin for personal exploration, is a field of action and thought in its infancy. The use of psychonautic practice as a site of research and a method of knowledge production is central to this work, the first in-depth book focusing on psychedelics, consciousness, and language.
" Xenolinguistics" documents the author's eleven-year adventure of psychonautic exploration and scholarly research; her original intent was to understand a symbolic language system, Glide, she acquired in an altered state of consciousness. What began as a deeply personal search, led to the discovery of others, dubbed xenolinguists, with their own unique linguistic objects and ideas about language from the psychedelic sphere. The search expanded, sifting through fields of knowledge such as anthropology and neurophenomenology to build maps and models to contextualize these experiences. The book presents a collection of these linguistic artifacts, from glossolalia to alien scripts, washed ashore like messages in bottles, signals from Psyche and the alien Others who populate her hyperdimensional landscapes.
With an entire chapter dedicated to Terence and Dennis McKenna and sections dedicated to numerous other xenolinguists, this book will appeal to those interested in language/linguistics and the benefits of psychedelic self-exploration, and to readers of science fiction.

Reborn to Live is the second installment of a futuristic trilogy in which humans are living in a dystopian world. Capitalism has failed, a great cataclysm has occurred, and an "End Times" of our own making has left our planet in chaos. In the first book in the series, Dying to Learn, an Avatar named OroCritshna comes to Earth to teach and to guide the resurrection of the human race. But because our planet is shrouded in superstition, ignorance, and darkness, OroCritshna finds few students who understand his messages of Truth, Love and Light. Only one Initiate - Vadusfadam - attains enlightenment. In Reborn to Live: Second Book of the Initiate, Monk Vadusfadam assumes the duty left to him by Master OroCritshna: To awaken human beings to their divine origin and help them spiritually ascend. However, time is of the essence. Vadusfadam must quickly gather a new crop of Initiates to defend Earth against the Forces of Darkness. He then leads the Initiates through a labyrinth of imagery and interior challenges that are designed to detach them from the material plane and support their quest for enlightenment. They must learn the rules of the "Game of Life," free themselves from illusion, and reach self-awareness ... before it's too late At the end of the book, multiple conclusions are proposed to test the dedication of the Initiate. The Initiate series includes three futuristic novellas written by Oberto "Falco" Airaudi, founder and spiritual guide of The Federation of Damanhur in Italy. Originally, Falco wrote the Initiate trilogy for students at the Damanhur Mystery School and to honor Damanhur's Temples to Humanity, which are often called the "Eighth Wonder of the World." Now, Falco's texts have been translated into English and are being offered to the public at large. The other books in the trilogy are entitled Dying to Learn: First Book of the Initiate and Seven Scarlet Doors: Third Book of the Initiate. The series also includes a free e-book entitled Road to the Central Fires: Prequel to Seven Scarlet Doors, which can be downloaded at The Oracle Institute website (www.TheOracleInstitute.org).

An exploration of the connections between feminine consciousness and altered states from ancient times to present day Women have been shamans since time immemorial, not only because women have innate intuitive gifts, but also because the female body is wired to more easily experience altered states, such as during the process of birth. Whether female or male, the altered states produced by psychedelics and ecstatic trance expand our minds to tap into and enhance our feminine states of consciousness as well as reconnect us to the web of life. In this book, we discover the transformative powers of feminine consciousness and altered states as revealed by contributors both female and male, including revered scholars, visionary artists, anthropologists, modern shamans, witches, psychotherapists, and policy makers. The book begins with a deep look at the archetypal dimensions of the feminine principle and how entheogens give us open access to these ancient archetypes, including goddess consciousness and the dark feminine. The contributors examine the female roots of shamanism, including the role of women in the ancient rites of Dionysus, the Eleusinian Sacrament, and Norse witchcraft. They explore psychedelic and embodied paths to ecstasy, such as trance dance, holotropic breathwork, and the similarities of giving birth and taking mind-altering drugs. Looking at the healing potential of the feminine and altered states, they discuss the power of plant medicines, including ayahuasca, and the recasting of the medicine-woman archetype for the modern world. They explore the feminine in the creative process and discuss feminist psychedelic activism, sounding the call for more female voices in the psychedelic research community. Sharing the power of "femtheogenic" wisdom to help us move beyond a patriarchal society, this book reveals how feminine consciousness, when intermingled with psychedelic knowledge, carries and imparts the essence of inclusivity, interconnectedness, and balance our world needs to heal and consciously evolve.

Revealing the interwoven energies of body and soul, love and spirit that illuminate the core of each being, Alex Grey's mystic paintings articulate the realms of consciousness encountered during visits to entheogenic heaven worlds. His painting Net of Being--inspired by a blazing vision of an infinite grid of Godheads during an ayahuasca journey--has reached millions as the cover and interior of the band TOOL's Grammy award-winning triple-platinum album, 10,000 Days. Net of Beingis one of many images Grey has created that have resulted in a chain reaction of uses--from apparel and jewelry to tattoos and music videos--embedding these iconic works into our culture's living Net of Being. The book explores how the mystical experience expressed in Alex Grey's work opens a new understanding of our shared consciousness and unveils the deep influence art can have on cultural evolution. The narrative progresses through a successive expansion of identity--from the self, to self and beloved, to self and community, world spirit, and cosmic consciousness, where bodies are transparent to galactic energies. Presenting over 200 images, including many never-before-reproduced paintings as well as masterworks such as St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolutionand Godself, the book also documents performance art, live-painting on stage throughout the world, and the "social sculpture" called CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, that Grey cofounded with his wife and creative collaborator, artist Allyson Grey.