Explores the visionary, mystical, and ecstatic traditions that influenced the music of the 1960s • Examines the visionary, spiritual, and mystical influences on the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, the Incredible String Band, the Left Banke, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, and others • Shows how the British Invasion acted as the “detonator” to explode visionary music into the mainstream • Explains how 1960s rock and roll music transformed consciousness on both the individual and collective levels The 1960s were a time of huge transformation, sustained and amplified by the music of that era: Rock and Roll. During the 19th and 20th centuries visionary and esoteric spiritual traditions influenced first literature, then film. In the 1960s they entered the realm of popular music, catalyzing the ecstatic experiences that empowered a generation. Exploring how 1960s rock and roll music became a school of visionary art, Christopher Hill shows how music raised consciousness on both the individual and collective levels to bring about a transformation of the planet. The author traces how rock and roll rose from the sacred music of the African Diaspora, harnessing its ecstatic power for evoking spiritual experiences through music. He shows how the British Invasion, beginning with the Beatles in the early 1960s, acted as the “detonator” to explode visionary music into the mainstream. He explains how 60s rock and roll made a direct appeal to the imaginations of young people, giving them a larger set of reference points around which to understand life. Exploring the sources 1960s musicians drew upon to evoke the initiatory experience, he reveals the influence of European folk traditions, medieval Troubadours, and a lost American history of ecstatic politics and shows how a revival of the ancient use of psychedelic substances was the strongest agent of change, causing the ecstatic, mythic, and sacred to enter the consciousness of a generation. The author examines the mythic narratives that underscored the work of the Grateful Dead, the French symbolist poets who inspired Bob Dylan, the hallucinatory England of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, the tale of the Rolling Stones and the Lord of Misrule, Van Morrison’s astral journeys, and the dark mysticism of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. Evoking the visionary and apocalyptic atmosphere in which the music of the 1960s was received, the author helps each of us to better understand this transformative era and its mystical roots.

A fascinating collaboration between a medieval historian and a professor of psychiatry, this enthralling book applies modern biological and psychological research findings to the lives of medieval mystics and ascetics. Drawing upon a database of over 1,400 medieval holy persons and in-depth studies of individual saints, this illuminating study examines the relationship between medieval mystical experiences, the religious practices of mortification; laceration of the flesh, sleep deprivation and extreme starvation, and how these actions produced altered states of consciousness and brain function in the heroic ascetics. Examining and disputing much contemporary writing about the political and gender motivations in the medieval quest for a closeness with God, this is essential reading for anyone with an interest in medieval religion or the effects of self-injurious behaviour on the mind.

“With the elegance of simplicity, this book takes you on an exploration of consciousness that will shift you to a higher reality.” —Deepak Chopra, New York Times–bestselling author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success Constructed around a series of late-night conversations around a campfire between Cheryl Simone and Sadhguru Vasudev on an island in the middle of a Western North Carolina lake near her mountain home, Midnights with the Mystic is the most thorough exposition of the teachings of India’s most sought-after mystic. Sadhguru challenges us to embrace the possibility that to each of us is available a higher realm of reality, a peak of consciousness—an entrée into the realm of freedom and bliss. Simone, an Atlanta real estate developer, was the typical baby boomer in search of an authentic spiritual experience. Professionally successful, yet spiritually arid, she discovered a way into what she was looking for in the teachings of Sadhguru. Concrete and down-to-earth, Midnights with the Mystic provides both an introduction to profound spiritual teaching and a personal glimpse of a charismatic guru. “If you read this powerful book, you will discover who you really are, who we all are.” —Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God

How does the mind experience the sacred? What biological mechanisms are involved in mystical states and trances? Is there a neurological basis for patterns in comparative religions? Does religion have an evolutionary function? This pathbreaking work by two leading medical researchers explores the neurophysiology of religious experience. Building on an explanation of the basic structure of the brain, the authors focus on parts most relevant to human experience, emotion, and cognition. On this basis, they plot how the brain is involved in mystical experiences. Successive chapters apply this scheme to mythmaking, ritual and liturgy, meditation, near-death experiences, and theology itself. Anchored in such research, the authors also sketch the implications of their work for philosophy, science, theology, and the future of religion.

A New York Times Bestseller. A scientist’s exploration into the mysteries of the human mind. What is the mind? What is the experience of the self truly made of? How does the mind differ from the brain? Though the mind’s contents—its emotions, thoughts, and memories—are often described, the essence of mind is rarely, if ever, defined. In this book, noted neuropsychiatrist and New York Times best-selling author Daniel J. Siegel, MD, uses his characteristic sensitivity and interdisciplinary background to offer a definition of the mind that illuminates the how, what, when, where, and even why of who we are, of what the mind is, and what the mind’s self has the potential to become. MIND takes the reader on a deep personal and scientific journey into consciousness, subjective experience, and information processing, uncovering the mind’s self-organizational properties that emerge from both the body and the relationships we have with one another, and with the world around us. While making a wide range of sciences accessible and exciting—from neurobiology to quantum physics, anthropology to psychology—this book offers an experience that addresses some of our most pressing personal and global questions about identity, connection, and the cultivation of well-being in our lives.

When we live our lives consciously, universal motifs, archetypes, and timeless patterns emerge through which we discover not only who we are but also why we are deeply connected to all others. This is life's greatest adventure; it is thoroughly described in the world's wisdom traditions. *Mystic Journey* uses a multi-faith approach to reveal the path of the soul; this not a solitary quest but rather a superhighway meant for everyone. As we explore the deeper story of our soul, we also discover that we are living a lifelong process of soul-making, leading us ultimately to personal and collective transformation. Getting to the heart of your soul's story is soul-making. *Mystic Journey* guides readers to: Use their life stories to help solidify their identities, Live with an eternal perspective in mind, and Reclaim their common spiritual heritage. "This is a reminder of Keats' immortal perception that 'the world is a vale of soul making' and that the uses of psychology have to do with understanding the soul in transformation." -Stephen Larsen, Ph.D., author of *The Mythic Imagination* and *A Fire in the Mind* "Robert Atkinson's new book offers us a thoughtful and thorough guide to a new kind of heroics... This is a rich read." -Gregg Levoy, author of *Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life*

Daniel Devereaux was the successful, rich and handsome owner of the Devereaux Fishing fleets in Boston, Massachusetts, with the world at his fingertips...but he was a man drowning in pain. Seduced into marrying the wrong woman, his life was a nightmare until the miraculous day a gentle smile from a beautiful stranger made him want to live again. From that moment, he could not rest until she was his. Alea Gabrielle was a brilliant orthopedic surgeon from Chicago, dedicated to her work, with no time for love. She never expected to feel the flames of passion that were lit the day she met Daniel Devereaux. But she hid a painful secret, a secret from her past she was too ashamed to reveal, until Daniel. From childhood, Daniel had learned to dive, surf and fish the sparkling turquoise waters of Spanish Wells, Eleuthera as well as any native Bahamian. He longed to share the wonders of the islands with Alea and took her on a trip that would ultimately change their lives forever. While on their honeymoon on his private cruiser, Into The Mystic, the most destructive solar flare in earth's history obliterates electrical power worldwide, flinging life for mankind 40,000 backwards. Alone and powerless on the Atlantic ocean with a hurricane approaching, Into The Mystic drifts to a stunning but curiously uninhabited island where Daniel and Alea must learn to survive, marooned and alone, until the world of men finds them once more. Little do they know the important role they will play in re-shaping the cruel new age in which they found themselves. Will the island people of Spanish Wells and Eleuthera be able to adapt to the perilous world threatening not only their lives, but the future of their children as well? Can man's true source of power defeat the forces of evil and oppression?Into The Mystic is a novel of Survival, Hope, and the Power of Love