Modern Shamanism, Psychedelics & 2012

Sep 10, 2006

In the late 1990s, after years of working in the media, Pinchbeck fell into the classic existential or spiritual crisis. Life seemed to have no point or transcendent meaning. His book “Breaking Open the Head” describes his own process of discovery, and a profound paradigm shift. Through direct experience, Pinchbeck learned that shamanism was a real phenomenon, that direct access to the spiritual world is available to anybody who is willing to explore for themselves and escape the prevailing orthodoxies, the "irrational rationality" of the current system. He supports the perspective of Christ in the Gnostic "Gospel of Thomas," who said: "Open the door for yourself, so you will know what is." Daniel Pinchbeck is also the author of "2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl." Listen as Daniel talks about his books, psychedelics, Mayan Calendar, 2012, Terrence McKenna, "the Cosmic Serpent", communication with entheogens and more.