Anthropologists report their findings on the use and importance of hallucinogenic plants in shamanistic practices.

    In addition to fieldwork and traditional methods, paleoanthropologists and archaeologists now draw upon genetics and other cutting-edge scientific techniques. In fifty chapters, Prehistoric Investigations tells the story of the many thought-provoking discoveries that have transformed our understanding of the distant past.

    Shamans, the physical and spiritual healers who are the central figures of many tribal cultures, share eloquent testimonies including harrowing tales of initiatory rites, vivid accounts of visionary journeys, and revealing expressions of their unique position as the link between the tribe and the cosmos.

    McCormick carefully argues, it can be a window that shows us how we interact with the world. The way we play is the way we live. This book is about the sport of Disc Golf, but it also is about so much more than throwing a disc at a basket. For the passionate practitioner, Disc Golf becomes a meditation, and practicing not only has the potential to make us better players, but better people as we begin to focus on what we are doing on the course that is working or not working versus what we are doing at home or in the office. "Zen and the Art of Disc Golf" is about becoming the best players we can be and in turn becoming the best possible version of ourselves through cultivation of attitude, focus, determination, and mental strength. It is about mastering the mind, body, and spirit in such a way that we score better and live better. Inside this book you will learn: -What Disc Golf can teach us about life and success -The secret formula for success on and off the course. -How to create the proper attitude and focus to become better Disc Golfers and in turn live better lives. -How visualization improves our game and our lives. -Who you need to be playing with on the course. -How to hit more chains and less trees. -How to take yourself off autopilot and elevate your scores and your game. -The 3 sides of Disc Golf and how to balance them. Most importantly, after reading this book you will walk away ready to Ace holes and Ace life. Disc Golf is life. Life is good.

    In this compelling first-person narrative she transports you into her world at the bedside in the maternity wards where childbirth dramas take place. In the challenging environment of urban clinics and crowded labor rooms the midwife strives to bring personalized care, dignity and a sense of empowerment to every patient. Like an updated U.S. version of "Call the Midwife," the British best seller and television series, this book describes some of the most unforgettable births, the most heartwarming -- and the rare heartbreaking -- experiences of her career. Memorable patients include Mia, a mentally ill woman whose stomach ache turns out to be a baby; teenager Shaniqua who breezes through birth despite her youth; and Jeremiah, a little boy born HIV-infected who captures the love of the entire staff. Through these stories, readers will gain insight into many variations in pregnancy and birth, and learn what is special about the midwifery approach to care. You may be surprised to learn how similar Cohen's patients' childbirth experiences were to your own, and where they differed.

    Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh presents the true path to a personal and global ethic in this stand alone chapter from "Good Citizens, Creating Enlightened Society, " by Thich Nhat Hanh.

    Overheating offers a groundbreaking new way of looking at the problems of the Anthropocene, exploring crises of the environment, economy, and identity through an anthropological lens. Thomas Hylland Eriksen argues that while each of these crises is global in scope, they are nonetheless perceived and responded to locally—and that once we realize that, we begin to see the contradictions that abound between the standardizing forces of global capitalism and the socially embedded nature of people and local practices. Only by acknowledging the primacy of the local, Eriksen shows, can we begin to even properly understand, let alone address, these problems on a global scale.

    MacMullen’s provocative conclusion is that mass conversions to Christianity were based more on the appeal of miracle or the opportunity for worldly advantages than simply on a “rising tide of Christian piety.”“Provocative to the Christian religious scholar and the nonreligious historian alike. . . . MacMullen’s style is lucid, and the story of a period with its own innate interest is narrated with compelling feeling. . . . It is an important book, and highly recommended for the general reader of history as well as the Christian who wonders how the ‘Jesus movement’ came, by Constantine’s time, to be the church we know—Choice“Written in a fresh and vigorous style, . . . [this book] offers an admirable survey of some major aspects of the history [of the early Christian church].”—Robert M. Grant, New York Times Book Review “Gently provocative. . . . MacMullen has written an instructive and enjoyable book on a great theme.”—Henry Chadwick, Times Literary Supplement  “A carefully argued and well-written study.”—Jackson P. Hershbell, Library Journal

    As written by priests, explorers, adventurers, natural historians, and anthropologists, the pieces express the wonder of strangers in new worlds. Who were these extraordinary magic-makers who imitated the sounds of animals in the night, or drank tobacco juice through funnels, or wore collars filled with stinging ants?Shamans Through Time is a rare chronicle of changing attitudes toward that which is strange and unfamiliar. With essays by such acclaimed thinkers as Claude Lévi-Strauss, Black Elk, Carlos Castaneda, and Frank Boas, it provides an awesome glimpse into the incredible shamanic practices of cultures around the world.

    It is an excellent, indepth description of mindfulness practice and its benefits. It includes a concise explanation of clear comprehension, which is the kind of mindfulness you use in the course of your daily life. It also presents an easily understandable explanation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.This new edition includes an introduction from noted author and teacher Sylvia Boorstein. Although the Buddha lived over 2500 years ago, his teachings on meditation are among the most effective methods for healing the pain of grief, finding inner peace, and overcoming the sense of dislocation caused by living in the 21st century. Mindfulness is a method not only for committed Buddhists. It is for everyone interested in mastering the mind.From the introduction by Sylvia BoorsteinThe Heart of Buddhist Meditation was the first serious, didactic Dharma book I read. It was the early nineteeneighties. My teacher, Jack Kornfield, suggested it as the beginning formal training of my becoming a Mindfulness teacher. I have that original copy and I am touched by how many underlined passages, how many exclamation points in margins, how many addendums of my own written in tiny scrawl appear in its fading pages.

    In six crisp essays, and a brilliant conclusion, he extends our understanding of the nature of peasant reactions to social change appreciably by his skill in isolating and analyzing those factors, which, by a magnification of the anthropologist's techniques, can be shown to be crucial in linking local grievances and protest to larger movements of political transformation."—American Political Science Review “An intellectual tour de force."—Comparative Politics

    Moreover, this simple daily practice purifies and opens us to our ecstatic inner realms, taking us on an exciting journey to inner space. The consequences of this journey are as practical as they are profound. This book provides easy-to-read instructions for beginning and continuing with the practice of "Spinal Breathing Pranayama," addressing in a surprising degree of detail the many experiences and questions that can come up. Yogani is the author of two landmark books on the world's most effective spiritual practices: "Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living," a comprehensive user-friendly textbook, and "The Secrets of Wilder," a powerful spiritual novel. The "AYP Enlightenment Series" makes these profound practices available for the first time in a series of concise instruction books. "Spinal Breathing Pranayama" is the second book in the series.

    Its story, however, extends deep into prehistory: the earliest Andean cultures depicted mescaline-containing cacti in their temples.   Mescaline was isolated in 1897 from the peyote cactus, first encountered by Europeans during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. During the twentieth century it was used by psychologists investigating the secrets of consciousness, spiritual seekers from Aleister Crowley to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, artists exploring the creative process, and psychiatrists looking to cure schizophrenia. Meanwhile peyote played a vital role in preserving and shaping Native American identity. Drawing on botany, pharmacology, ethnography, and the mind sciences and examining the mescaline experiences of figures from William James to Walter Benjamin to Hunter S. Thompson, this is an enthralling narrative of mescaline’s many lives.

    Strib takes a good look at who the Buddha was, meditation, karma, and more. With good humor and without sentimentalism (plus a sprinkling of hilarious cartoons), he explains these down-to-earth insights in everyday language. Showing how Buddhism boldly approaches life’s problems head on, unflinching and alert—like a soldier in a forward listening post in the dark of night—Strib emphasizes the Buddhist call to moral action for the good of oneself and others.

    Nothing like it has been made before and—to its millions of fans—nothing as good will ever be made again. It is a show that prompts endless debate, and the debates continue here. Is Omar Little the coolest criminal since Robin Hood? Which series has the best theme tune? Will Bubbles survive Baltimore? Avon or Stringer? How does McNulty have so much success with women? With the show now over, these and hundreds of other questions are discussed in this brilliant collection of features and comments from the Guardian's Wire Re-up blog. Together with interviews with the show's creators and stars, running totals per episode (murders, Bunk drunk, Herc screw-ups, and much more), and a quiz created by the stars themselves, this book will guarantee fans that one last fix they've been craving.