TechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekersHow does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—E...

An intellectual biography of one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures of the late twentieth century, Terence McKenna.A stand-up philosopher who made a unique contribution to science, humanism, and the hidden arts, Terence McKenna (1946–2000) was the twentieth century’s psychedelic Renaissance man. Perfecting his rugged philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time, McKenna was a riotous charmer who stalked the shado...

In these wide-ranging essays, Erik Davis explores the codes-spiritual, cultural, and embodied-that people use to escape the limitation of their lives and enrich their experience of the world. These include Asian religious traditions and West African trickster gods, Western occult and esoteric lore, postmodern theory and psychedelic science, as well as festival scenes such as Burning Man (of which Davis is the best-known chronicler). Articles on media technology further explore themes Davis...

A romance of the far future, in which humankind has relocated underground, where it is beset by monsters from another dimension—but love leads on.In the far future, humankind’s survivors huddle below Earth’s frozen surface in a pyramidal fortress-city that, for centuries now, has been under siege by loathsome “Ab-humans,” enormous slugs and spiders, and malevolent “Watching Things” from another dimension. When our unnamed protagonist receives a telepathic distress ...

Essays on the history of psychedelics, the present renaissance, and visions for an inclusive and equitable future.As psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapies explode into the popular consciousness, what does it mean to cultivate and embody a psychedelic renaissance that learns from the past and prepares for the future?From cultural appropriation and sustainability to diversity, inclusion and venture capitalism, Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psyc...

In this wickedly entertaining and thoroughly informed homage to one of rock music's towering pinnacles, Erik Davis investigates the magic-black or otherwise-that surrounds this album. Carefully peeling the layers from each song, Davis reveals their dark and often mystical roots-and leaves the reader to decide whether [FOUR SYMBOLS] is some form of occult induction or just an inspired, brilliantly played rock album.Excerpt:Stripping Led Zeppelin's famous name off the fourth r...

Photographer Trey Ratcliff crosses borders to find beauty—both literally and figuratively. In a world where people are inundated with images of despair and violence, Ratcliff seeks out life’s gorgeous moments all over the globe and captures them to share with others. As a pioneer of High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, Ratcliff mixes technology and art together to make each photo as stunning as the real-life experience. Trey Ratcliff’s new eBook Light Falls Like Bits will be release...

Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Cambodia, Erik W. Davis radically reorients approaches toward the nature of Southeast Asian Buddhism's interactions with local religious practice and, by extension, reorients our understanding of Buddhism itself. Through a vivid study of contemporary Cambodian Buddhist funeral rites, he reveals the powerfully integrative role monks play as they care for the dead and negotiate the interplay of non-Buddhist spirits and formal Buddhist customs.

Essays on the history of psychedelics, the present renaissance, and visions for an inclusive and equitable future.As psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapies explode into the popular consciousness, what does it mean to cultivate and embody a psychedelic renaissance that learns from the past and prepares for the future?From cultural appropriation and sustainability to diversity, inclusion and venture capitalism, Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse a...

In this wickedly entertaining and thoroughly informed homage to one of rock music's towering pinnacles, Erik Davis investigates the magic—black or otherwise—that surrounds this album. Carefully peeling the layers from each song, Davis reveals their dark and often mystical roots—and leaves the reader to decide whether [FOUR SYMBOLS] is some form of occult induction or just an inspired, brilliantly played rock album.Excerpt:Stripping Led Zeppelin's famous name off the fourth re...

An intellectual biography of one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures of the late twentieth century, Terence McKenna.A stand-up philosopher who made a unique contribution to science, humanism, and the hidden arts, Terence McKenna (1946–2000) was the twentieth century's psychedelic Renaissance man. Perfecting his rugged philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time, McKenna was a riotous charmer who stalked the shado...

An exposé of the “World’s Most Dangerous Website” from a former WikiLeaks insiderThe basis for the movie The Fifth Estate (starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange), this eye-opening account by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the former spokesman of WikiLeaks, reveals never-disclosed details about the inner workings of the increasingly controversial organization that has struck fear into governments and business organizations worldwide and prompted the Penta...