The I Ching (Book of Changes): A Critical Translation by Redmond, Geoffrey.

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The I Ching (Book of Changes): A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
by Geoffrey Redmond (Author) Format: Kindle Edition


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The I Ching has influenced thinkers and artists throughout the history of Chinese philosophy. This new, accessible translation of the entire early text brings to life the hidden meanings and importance of China's oldest classical texts.

Complemented throughout by insightful commentaries, the I Ching: A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text simplifies the unique system of hexagrams lying at the centre of the text and introduces the cultural significance of key themes including yin and yang, gender and ethics. As well as depicting all possible ethical situations, this new translation shows how the hexagram figures can represent social relationships and how the order of lines can be seen as a natural metaphor for higher or lower social rank.

Introduced by Hon Tze-Ki, an esteemed scholar of the text, this up-to-date translation uncovers and explains both the philosophical and political interpretations of the text. For a better understanding of the philosophical and cosmological underpinning the history of Chinese philosophy, the I Ching is an invaluable starting point.
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978-1472505248
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1st
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Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date

July 13, 2017







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Editorial Reviews

Review
Among the many recent translations of the I Ching/Yijing, this book stands out in that it offers clear and insightful interpretations of the polymorphous philosophical structure and meaning of the complicated classical text. Redmond's highly readable renderings and commentaries provide useful guides to a broad spectrum of readers, helping them to explore the fascinating world of divination defined by the trigrams and hexagrams.

Geoffrey Redmond provides his readers with an excellent point of entry into the fascinating world of the I Ching-a lucid, insightful and extremely valuable translation, undertaken with a full appreciation of the scholarly controversies that have surrounded the cryptic classic for more than two thousand years.

This highly competent translation of one of the Ur-classics of China, the I Ching (or Yijing, the Book of Changes), not only accurately renders archaic words into accessible contemporary English, but also intervenes in the ancient text so that its present-day relevance is thrown into sharp relief. Offering patulous interpretations of the purport and import of the hexagrams, Geoffrey Redmond's capacious readings reach beyond the literal meanings to reveal the latent senses of this often befuddling canonic composition, thereby re-presenting the I Ching as a world classic with plural significances in our global world.

This new translation of the Zhouyi - the original divinatory portion of the Yijing - breaks new ground by incorporating recent scholarly advances in our understanding of its original historical context and making them accessible to users, as well as readers, of the book. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Geoffrey Redmond is an independent scholar. He is the author of The I Ching (Book of Changes): A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text (Bloomsbury, 2017). --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06XV6Z1QL
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic; 1st edition (July 13, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 13, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3118 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1472505247
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not EnabledBest Sellers Rank: #305,373 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)#26 in I Ching (Kindle Store)
#70 in I Ching (Books)
#143 in Greek & Roman Philosophy (Kindle Store)Customer Reviews:
4.8 out of 5 stars 9 ratings





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Editorial Reviews

Review

Among the many recent translations of the I Ching/Yijing, this book stands out in that it offers clear and insightful interpretations of the polymorphous philosophical structure and meaning of the complicated classical text. Redmond's highly readable renderings and commentaries provide useful guides to a broad spectrum of readers, helping them to explore the fascinating world of divination defined by the trigrams and hexagrams.

Geoffrey Redmond provides his readers with an excellent point of entry into the fascinating world of the I Ching-a lucid, insightful and extremely valuable translation, undertaken with a full appreciation of the scholarly controversies that have surrounded the cryptic classic for more than two thousand years.

This highly competent translation of one of the Ur-classics of China, the I Ching (or Yijing, the Book of Changes), not only accurately renders archaic words into accessible contemporary English, but also intervenes in the ancient text so that its present-day relevance is thrown into sharp relief. Offering patulous interpretations of the purport and import of the hexagrams, Geoffrey Redmond's capacious readings reach beyond the literal meanings to reveal the latent senses of this often befuddling canonic composition, thereby re-presenting the I Ching as a world classic with plural significances in our global world.

This new translation of the Zhouyi - the original divinatory portion of the Yijing - breaks new ground by incorporating recent scholarly advances in our understanding of its original historical context and making them accessible to users, as well as readers, of the book. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Geoffrey Redmond is an independent scholar. He is the author of The I Ching (Book of Changes): A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text (Bloomsbury, 2017). --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06XV6Z1QL

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic; 1st edition (July 13, 2017)

Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 13, 2017

Language ‏ : ‎ English

File size ‏ : ‎ 3118 KB

Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported

Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled

X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Print length ‏ : ‎ 464 pages

Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1472505247

Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #305,373 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

#26 in I Ching (Kindle Store)

#70 in I Ching (Books)

#143 in Greek & Roman Philosophy (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews: 4.8 out of 5 stars    9 ratings

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JOE NICHOLSON

4.0 out of 5 stars great service

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019

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Not useful too much background info.

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Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2017

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Wonderful book with great illustrations!

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Steven H Propp

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5.0 out of 5 stars A VERY USEFUL INTRODUCTION TO THE “BOOK OF CHANGES”

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2021

The Introduction by Ch’u Chai and Winberg Chai explains, “The most important literature of the five Confucian Classics is the ‘I Chin,’ usually called in translation the ‘Book of Changes.’ The original corpus or the I Ching is made up of the famous Pa Kua (Eight Trigrams), consisting of various combinations of straight lines … and arranged in a circle… Tradition asserts that the eight trigrams were invented by the mythological Emperor Fu His, and that the sixty-four hexagrams were formulated by wither Fu His or King Wen, one of the founders of the Chou dynasty (1150-249 B.C.).” (Pg. xxvii-xxviii)

They continue, “The I Ching was first of all a book of divination. To divine is to resolve doubts of the mind or mysteries of the universe. Would a particular day be auspicious for hunting or an expedition? Would rain come to relieve a long drought and the threat of death and famine? And, ever more important, would Heaven or Shang Ti (Supreme Being) be gracious enough to grant deliverance from the menacing calamities of the day such as the eclipse of the sun, the falling of meteors, and the incursion of barbaric tribes? Indeed, could its divine blessings be invoked and relied upon on the even of a great battle against an enemy attack? The proper course of action for such weighty matters was usually sought from the indications on the tortoise shell or the way in which the milfoil stalks grouped themselves.” (Pg. xxix)

They add, “The I Ching is also called the Chou I. ‘It was named Chou from the fact that it was composed by the people of the Chou dynasty, and ‘I’ because its method of divination was an easy one.’ The word ‘I’ means ‘easy’ as well as ‘change.’ … The book was originally a Chou manual on divination… but ‘we find nothing [in it] to justify’ its name as one of the Confucian Classics, until the commentaries and appendices known as the ‘Ten Wings’ were added to it.” (Pg. xxxi)

The authors state, “The I, as we have seen, was originally a book of divination. By manipulating the milfoil stalks, one finds a certain line of a certain hexagram, and then… consults the Tz’u attached to that line which is supposed to provide information as to what attitude should be adopted toward a given matter at a given time and in a given place.” (Pg. lxv)

They explain, “The authors of the I Appendices accepted the Confucianist tradition and emphasized a concern for human affairs. However, they were influenced by the Taoists and so were able to advance in their philosophical thinking and to attain the sublime… The Chinese mind oscillated between Taoism and Confucianism for a long time. Confucianism, since it is generally regarded as the philosophy of social organization, is therefore also the philosophy of daily life. It is concerned chiefly with performing the common task, rather than attaining the sublime. This is why Confucianism appears ‘this-worldly’… Taoism, on the other hand, is the philosophy that is essentially naturalistic and antisocial. This kind of philosophy is generally concerned with the transcendent sphere and sublime life, but it is incompatible with the manner of life in the world of affairs. Because of this, Taoism appears ‘other-worldly’ and reaches up to the sublime. These two streams of Chinese thought are somewhat like the traditions of classicism and romanticism in Western thought. They have been running counter to each other for centuries; and so they remain to this day.” (Pg. lxxxvi)

This edition (due to its excellent Introduction) is an excellent presentation of the I Ching.

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5.0 out of 5 stars I Ching as a living text about the complexity of everyday life

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2017

In clear prose, Redmond's translation makes the I Ching accessible and understandable to general readers. It provides a new framework to understand the sixty-four hexagrams and to see them as mirrors of everyday life. For those who want to read the I Ching as a living text, they must read Redmond's translation.

6 people found this helpful

=====

[[Riding the Waves of Change | An Introduction to the I Ching

Riding the Waves of Change | Meer

Riding the Waves of Change
An Introduction to the I Ching
11 AUGUST 2019,
SHANTENA AUGUSTO SABBADINI


I Ching


This is the first of a series of articles on the I Ching, or Yijing, the Book of Changes, an ancient oracle, a divinatory book that played a key role in Chinese culture and became for the Chinese a map of 'heaven and earth', of the totality of existence. Much of this material is contained in the Introduction to the Eranos Yijing1. To that book the reader is referred for a deeper discussion of the concepts here presented.

Having its origin in shamanic practices of the third millennium BCE, it took form as a book around the seventh or eighth century BCE, became a classic (a ching or jing) under the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) and was held in the highest regard throughout Chinese history for the next 2000 years. It became known in the West thanks to the German translation of Richard Wilhelm (published in Jena in 1923) and especially to the foreword Carl Gustav Jung wrote for Wilhelm's book. To this day most Western versions of the Yijing are translations of Wilhelm's translation.

As an oracle, the book is supposed to answer questions about the unknown, which makes it a precious ally when we are confronted with life's vagaries, uncertainties and dramas. But can it be so? Can an ancient Chinese book answer questions concerning our present life situation? Obviously relating to the Yijing in such a way implies a radically different notion of space and time. In Riding the Waves of Change we will muse over such questions while describing the oracle's origin and divinatory use.

The Book of Changes

What kind of changes are hinted at in the name of the Book of Changes? Yi refers primarily to all natural cycles, to the alternating of day and night, to the round of the seasons, to the organic process of growth and decay, and to the mirroring of these cycles in human life. In the philosophical thought of ancient China this alternance of complementary opposites is represented by the interplay of two basic principles, yin and yang, night and day, receptive and active, feminine and masculine, moon and sun, etc. (more about that later). Therefore the change the title of the book alludes to is primarily the eternal round of yin and yang transforming into each other. But it refers also to another type of change: unpredictable change, the irruption of the unexpected, disorder, chaos. This other type of change is thus described in the Shujing, the Book of Documents:


When in years, months and days the season has no yi, the hundred cereals ripen, the administration is enlightened, talented men of the people are distinguished, the house is peaceful and at ease. When in days, months and years the season has yi, the hundred cereals do not ripen, the administration is dark and unenlightened, talented men of the people are in petty positions, the house is not at peace2.

We have yi when things are off-track, when chaos irrupts into our life and the usual bearings no longer suffice for orientation. Such times can bring about great learning – and can be painful, disconcerting and full of anxiety. Modern chaos theory pays special attention to these transitions, to the lapse into disorder by which forms transmute into each other. Life itself arises at the boundary between order and chaos: it requires both, it is a daughter of both. On the side of complete order there is dead stability, complete symmetry, the inertia of a perfect crystal: everything is too predictable, it resembles death more than life. But the side of total disorder is not very interesting either: forms appear and disappear too fast, there is a total lack of symmetry, everything is too unpredictable. It is on the edge between order and chaos that the subtle dance of life takes place: here the real complexity arises, here forms bend and loop and transmute and evolve.

The Yijing is the ancient Chinese map of this dance of order and chaos. Its texts, as we will see, have their origin in shamanic pronouncements given in altered states of consciousness. They are wild, imaginal statements with minimal outer coherence. They come from the psychic dimension Henri Corbin called "mundus imaginalis." But in the book this wild dimension is harnessed into the orderly philosophy of the yin and yang principles. Thus the Yijing is a bridge: a bridge between the shamanic and the philosophical mind, a bridge between the subconscious and the conscious psyche, a bridge between chaos and order.

In the Yijing the interplay of yin and yang is encoded in sixty-four hexagrams, figures composed of six broken (corresponding to yin) or whole (corresponding to yang) lines. The sixty-four hexagrams represent all the fundamental combinations of the basic principles, all the fundamental archetypal energy configurations in "heaven and earth". And to each one of them, and to each of the constituent lines, is appended a judgement evoking the nature of that particular energy configuration.

But the book did not originate as a philosophical text, although it has been used that way, and as such it has attracted a huge amount of philosophical commentary. It was born in the first millennium BC as a divination manual, i.e. as a practical tool to help people ride the waves of change, a tool to deal with yi, with critical times. In many ancient cultures these times were seen as intrusions of the divine, of gods and spirits, into human life, and interrogating these higher powers, engaging them in a dialogue, was seen to be the appropriate way to handle the crisis. This dialogue, in many cultures all over the world, took the form of the practices we call divination. The Yijing was born and kept being used throughout its long history as one such method of divination, as an oracle.
Synchronicity

Like many other forms of divination, the oracular practice of the Yijing relies on what in modern scientific terms we call a random procedure. The traditional method of consultation consists in repeatedly randomly dividing a bunch of yarrow stalks (achillea millefolium), and counting the stalks in the resulting two bunches in a specific way. A more modern method (Southern Song dynasty, ca 1200 CE) consists in tossing three coins six times. Other divination practices may involve geomancy, tarot cards, reading tea leaves in the bottom of a cup, etc.

A large majority of scientists dismiss divination altogether as nonsense: in modern scientific jargon anything "random" is by definition meaningless. But of course "random" is a delicate concept: is there anything truly random?

In modern physics we know only two types of "true randomness"3: symmetry breaking in complex systems and quantum indeterminacy. Both of these are essentially unpredictable, they are "truly random," as far as we can tell. But does that mean that they have no meaning or that they do not participate in a cosmic symphony of meaning? Wolfgang Pauli spoke of quantum indeterminacy as "an act of creation." That is definitely a different way of looking upon randomness.

However that may be, for the ancient Chinese nothing was truly random, nothing was entirely devoid of meaning. Their divinatory practices and their whole cosmology were based on a qualitative notion of time, in which all things happening at a given moment in time share some common features, are part of an organic pattern. Nothing therefore is entirely meaningless, and the entry point to understanding the overall pattern can be any detail of the moment, provided we are able to read it. This has been very well described by C.G. Jung in his classic foreword to the Wilhelm's translation of the Yijing . He writes:


The Chinese mind, as I see it at work in the I Ching, seems to be exclusively preoccupied with the chance aspect of events. What we call coincidence seems to be the chief concern of this peculiar mind, and what we worship as causality passes almost unnoticed...
The matter of interest seems to be the configuration formed by chance events in the moment of observation, and not at all the hypothetical reasons that seemingly account for the coincidence. While the Western mind carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies, isolates, the Chinese picture of the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all the ingredients make up the observed moment.

Thus it happens that when one throws the three coins, or counts through the forty-nine yarrow stalks, these chance details enter into the picture of the moment of observation and form a part of it - a part that is insignificant to us, yet most meaningful to the Chinese mind...
In other words, whoever invented the I Ching was convinced that the hexagram worked out in a certain moment coincided with the latter in quality no less than in time. To him the hexagram was the exponent of the moment in which it was cast -even more so than the hours of the clock or the divisions of the calendar could be - inasmuch as the hexagram was understood to be an indicator of the essential situation prevailing in the moment of its origin.
This assumption involves a certain curious principle that I have termed synchronicity, a concept that formulates a point of view diametrically opposed to that of causality... Synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic) state of the observer or observers"4.

The way in which the oracular use of the Yijing relates to the configuration of events at any given moment is therefore more akin to the perception of a work of art than to a rational analysis of cause and effect. It is a rich tapestry of meaning, in which all details are subtly connected and somehow necessary – not because of deterministic laws, but because they are part of an organic whole. Of course the Chinese were aware of the existence of causal connections between events; but that aspect was relatively uninteresting to them. On the contrary they were fascinated by subtler, more complex and less exactly definable connections. The Western notion that comes closest to their approach is Jung's idea of archetypes"5, and it is no chance that Jung was deeply interested in the Yijing. He saw the ancient Chinese oracle as a formidable psychological system that endeavors to organize the play of archetypes, the "wondrous operations of nature" into a certain pattern, so that a "reading" becomes possible"6.

The Yijing can therefore be viewed as a catalog of sixty-four basic archetypal configurations, a road map to Jung's collective unconscious and to Corbin's mundus imaginalis"7.
==
1 Rudolf Ritsema and Shantena Augusto Sabbadini, The Original I Ching Oracle or the Book of Changes, Watkins, London, 2005, 2018.
2 Bernhard Karlgren, The Book of Documents, Stockholm, 1950, p. 33.
3 By "true randomness" I mean not the apparent randomness that is just lack of sufficient information. E.g., tossing a coin: how the coin will fall is for all practical purposes random. Yet I would be able to predict it exactly if I only knew in all detail the initial conditions of the toss, the friction with the air, the local value of the force of gravity, etc.
4 C. G. Jung, Foreword to The I Ching, or Book of Changes, Richard Wilhelm Translation, Bollingen Series XIX, Princeton University Press, 1950.
5 See, e.g., C.G. Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, CW 9, I, Bollingen Series XX, Princeton University Press, 1959, 1969.
6 C.G. Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW 14, 401, Bollingen Series XX, Princeton University Press, 1963, 1970.
7 Henry Corbin, "Mundus imaginalis, or the Imaginary and the Imaginal", in Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam, trans. Leonard Fox, Swedenborg Foundation, West Chester, PA, 1995.
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Shantena Augusto Sabbadini
Shantena Augusto Sabbadini worked as a theoretical physicist at the University of Milan and at the University of California. He was scientific consultant of the Eranos Foundation and he is presently director of the Pari Center, an interdisciplinary research center located in the medieval village of Pari, Tuscany.
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Foreword to the I Ching by Carl Gustav Jung – Carl Jung Depth Psychology

Foreword to the I Ching by Carl Gustav Jung – Carl Jung Depth Psychology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N-bwO6AKzU

The I Ching (Book of Changes) - A Critical Translation Scribd

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How to Understand and Consult the Ancient I Ching

How to Understand and Consult the Ancient I Ching

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Dr. Geoffrey Redmond is leading Western expert on the I Ching (Book of Changes). This talk is based on Dr. Redmond's recently published book, The I Ching (Book of Changes): A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text. The I Ching, a Chinese spiritual classic, has been in continuous use for 3,000 years, not only for fortune-telling, but for self-cultivation as well. It continues to be revered in China and has attracted widespread interest in the West beginning in the sixties.

Dr. Redmond’s lucid new translation dispels much of the obscurity of this often enigmatic text, making it understandable for any interested reader. He will show how recent archeological discoveries and advances in Chinese linguistics shed light on the ancient meanings. 

Those attending this interactive program will learn how the I Ching works, both as ancient literature and as a means of divination.

Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge a Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution : McKenna, Terence: Amazon.com.au: Books

Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge a Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution : McKenna, Terence: Amazon.com.au: Books









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Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge a Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution Paperback – 1 January 1980
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An exploration of humans' symbiotic relationships with plants and chemicals presents information on prehistoric partnership societies, the roles of spices and spirits in the rise of dominator societies; and the politics of tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and alcohol.

Why, as a species, are humans so fascinated by altered states of consciousness? Can altered states reveal something to us about our origins and our place in nature? In Food of the Gods, ethnobotanist Terence McKenna's research on man's ancient relationship with chemicals opens a doorway to the divine, and perhaps a solution for saving our troubled world. McKenna provides a revisionist look at the historical role of drugs in the East and the West, from ancient spice, sugar, and rum trades to marijuana, cocaine, synthetics, and even television--illustrating the human desire for the "food of the gods" and the powerful potential to replace abuse of illegal drugs with a shamanic understanding, insistence on community, reverence for nature, and increased self-awareness.

Praise for Food of the Gods

"Deserves to be the modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens."--The Washington Post

"Terence McKenna is the most important--and most entertaining--visionary scholar in America."--Tom Robbins

"The culture's foremost spokesperson for the psychedelic experience . . . Those who know and enjoy Joseph Campbell's work will almost certainly appreciate McKenna."--L.A. Weekly

"An eloquent proposal for recovering something vital--a sense of the sacred, the transcendent, the Absolute--before it's too late."--Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Meaning & Medicine, Recovering the Soul, and Space, Time & Machine










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"Deserves to be the modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens."--The Washington Post

"Terence McKenna is the most important--and most entertaining--visionary scholar in America."--Tom Robbins

"The culture's foremost spokesperson for the psychedelic experience . . . Those who know and enjoy Joseph Campbell's work will almost certainly appreciate McKenna."--L.A. Weekly

"An eloquent proposal for recovering something vital--a sense of the sacred, the transcendent, the Absolute--before it's too late."--Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Meaning & Medicine, Recovering the Soul, and Space, Time & Machine




About the Author
Terence McKenna, author and explorer, has traveled the world to work and live with shamans. He has added to their shared knowledge of rituals his own efforts to preserve the plants used in these ceremonies. Coauthor of The Invisible Landscape and Psilocybin: The Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide, Terence mesmerizes his many lecture audiences with tales of science and shamanism. He lives in Occidental, California, and is co-manager of a botanical garden in Hawaii for endangered tropical plants.

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam Books Inc; Reprint edition (1 January 1980)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 311 pages
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True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradis
Terence McKenna
4.8 out of 5 stars 620
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Terence McKenna


Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, lecturer, author, and was an advocate for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, environmentalism, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the '90s", "one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism", and the "intellectual voice of rave culture".

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Entropath (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons.


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Top reviews from Australia


Alex Bryant
4.0 out of 5 stars A well articulated critique of modern society's attitude to natural substance consumptionReviewed in Australia on 14 August 2016
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McKenna has a great way of articulating his ideas about the world. The book starts and ends well, but the technical nature of the middle sections on cultural history in relation to plant based substance consumption by different civilizations can be difficult to digest at times. In general the message of the book is strong and it does raise important questions about our history as a species and the incongruity of modern culture with our inherited biology.


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Matthew
5.0 out of 5 stars Great bookReviewed in Australia on 28 February 2021
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Author has a great mind


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saeed
5.0 out of 5 stars greatReviewed in Australia on 13 September 2020
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This is a great book from a great writer


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Billie
1.0 out of 5 stars DifferentReviewed in Australia on 13 June 2015
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I bought this book expecting something entirely different such as receipies. I also find the style of writing a tad above my intellect. No offence to the author because there will be a lot of highly educated persons who will enjoy this book

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Mylife
5.0 out of 5 stars ProudReviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 December 2020
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RIP - Legend that was Terence McKenna!

So much they have hidden from us and lied to us about.

Plan-demic.

Tier 3 and proud!

No house arrest, no theft of DNA, no vaccination, no chip - ever.

Resistance Always

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Liz Summers
5.0 out of 5 stars unmistakably McKennaReviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 April 2020
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If you like Terence McKenna, you'll love this narrative. His hair-raising adventures, his flirtation with madness, his examination of all things hallucinogenic that the Amazon Rainforest had to offer, are all detailed with the kind of language that is unmistakably McKenna. Lost to us now, his writing and recordings go on, informing and entertaining us. RIP Teremce and thanks for everything.

I bought the kindle edition, so cannot comment on presentation or packaging.

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Bretonista
3.0 out of 5 stars Because little pixies told him so...!Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 May 2022
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This is a hard book to review. On the one hand, it's an enjoyable romp through the history of psychedelics, putting forward some interesting arguments. On the other hand, so many of the key points in the book are actually unsupported assertions, making the book more of a breathless polemic than a serious study. This is most noticeable in regards to the very foundation of the book, where McKenna postulates the development of human consciousness as an off-shoot of psilocybin use - the famous "stoned ape" hypothesis. This is the starting point for the whole book, yet the author fails to put forward anything more than a few "what if" arguments to support it. Very disappointing. By the end of the book McKenna is telling us about the DMT elves who've told him things when he's been tripping, at which point I found myself chuckling indulgently rather than thinking "Wow! So it must all be true!".

In short, this isn't really a good introduction to the historical use of mind-altering substances - Paul Devereux's book 'The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia' is both more detailed and more level-headed. But this is a funny, and often passionate polemic, and was influential in some circles back in the late 90s and early noughties. So worth a look. And if you don't believe me, just go ask the elves!

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Doobavitch
1.0 out of 5 stars Appalling quality. Pages falling out.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 January 2021
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Firstly let me make it clear that this is not a reflection of the author or his works.
The quality of paper and print is appalling. My book arrived today with pages falling out and was obviously a very cheaply printed version for amazon. Also a different cover than the one shown.
This can be said of almost all the books I have bought from amazon recently.
I would rather pay more for a better quality version.

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Ermemis
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind blowing!Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 August 2019
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I can only say WOW! I'm only about a third of the way through this book but the ideas, the theories, the evidence and the research have truly opened my mind to a new view of evolution and spirituality! Thought it would be a bit heavy reading, but it is so fascinating that it keeps me absorbed. I can almost FEEL my mind expanding as I read!

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