Showing results by author "Erik Davis" in All Categories

A study of the spiritual provocations to be found in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson, High Weirdness charts the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality that arose from the American counterculture of the 1970s. These three authors changed the way millions of readers thought, dreamed, and experienced reality - but how did their writings reflect, as well as shape, the seismic cultural shifts taking place in America?

In TechGnosis - a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword - Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah.

Half a century ago, the world changed forever when a Swiss chemist inadvertently ingested the experimental compound lysergic acid diethylamide. The Psychedelic Review was founded in 1963 as a serious journal dedicated to the study of the potential of both natural and synthesized psychedelic substances. Presenting experts in the fields of anthropology, religion, pharmacology, poetry, and metaphysics, this pioneering journal had a dramatic impact. The Psychedelic Reader now offers a relevant guidebook to the foundations of a bold new era in mental health studies.

From cultural appropriation and sustainability to diversity, inclusion, and venture capitalism, Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture examines the history of psychedelics, celebrates its present moment, and contemplates how advocates and policymakers can shape the future integration of psychedelics into general society.

[Contains explicit content] The Melting Pot. Sounds delicious, right? On this episode of Sounds Like America we're not talking about fondue or bubbling dishes of gumbo, we're digging into the theory of the melting pot. Outspoken comedian Michelle Buteau is the host of this episode, where she and a diverse crew of other comedians take on the idea of the melting pot and poke fun of all the ways America does and does not live up to this metaphor.

No more holding back! Hosts Erik Ulven and Dyer Davis tell you how they really feel about guitar models, gear, companies, the industry and all things guitar! Tune in to find out how wrong you are about guitars (and how wrong they are, too)!

Samantha Taylor is not your average teenager. From the moment she could speak, her first words were filled with questions of the way things worked around her. With a father who fostered her love of science, mirroring his own, Sam is fascinated with genetics and computer programming, two things that have been known to get her into trouble from time to time. While her eccentricities might make it difficult to make friends at her school, she does have one friend, Charlie, a teenage boy who dreams of one day becoming a paleontologist due to his obsession with all things primordial. Especially ...

An 800-Year-Old Amulet Holds the Secret – The Legends are Real The ancient magic that has been dormant for centuries will awaken and prove to the world that not all heroes wear capes. Some wear skirts, but only on special occasions. Because, really, let’s face it, how practical would a skirt be when you’re saving the world from the darkest magic known to man? When fourteen-year-old Seraphina Miles is sent to live with her archaeologist father, she has no idea she would be in for the adventure of a lifetime. Her boring summer is suddenly filled with a magic beyond her dreams.

Evil stirs in the darkness. Seraphina Miles can feel it bleeding into the world around her, suffocating the life of every living creature. The shadows become its playground, while it stalks the new Guardian. Evil will not stop until it possesses the magic flowing through her veins. Part of her wants to run as fast as her feet can carry her, but Sera’s destiny prevents her from giving in to her fears. Too much is at stake. Now that she is aligned with the elemental fire rippling just beneath the surface, the fourteen-year-old must learn to control her element without unleashing its rage ...

A compelling journey of seven legendary tusker superheroes and the one in line to be the next king. A war has raged for centuries in the African rainforest. Once a place of peace ruled by a great tusker king, the rainforest now lies in shadows as the ghosts of the Obambo fight for dominance. The story is older than time, but a glimmer of hope shines on the horizon. Change is in the wind, and the world is ready for it. Dakarai, a young African forest elephant, has grown up on the stories of his father, the great tusker king, Ajamu, one of the seven great tusker superheroes. It is not only ...

From the moment their parents moved them into the ancient relic of a house, Indigo Thornberg finds herself in a world beyond her worst imaginations. The wallpaper walls and clawfoot bathtub makes it clear the house was built long before the beginning of time. Their house isn’t even wired for the internet! To top it off, her room is—pink! Like bubblegum pink, the pale, pasty kind that ballerina girls would die for, but not Indigo. And while that might seem like the worst thing that could happen to a goth girl like herself, something even worse is lurking in the shadows. The only thing ...