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Reviews by Jon Hanna
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Net of Being
by Alex Grey
Publisher:
Inner Traditions 
Year:
2012 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
10/23/2013

Those first few pages set up the theme of Net of Being: while Alex’s first book, Sacred Mirrors, largely focused on our shared but unique spiritual journeys as individuals, this book celebrates such paths within communities.

Both of Alex’s previous art books included works dedicated to the topics of physical and spiritual love, depicting how such divine bonding can lead to the incarnation of new human forms. Net of Being continues these strong melodies, showcasing a bounty of recent paintings, [...] as well as older works, including portraits from the late 1980s of Alex and his soul mate Allyson. [ read more ]

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Mystic Chemist: The Life of Albert Hofmann and His Discovery of LSD
by Dieter Hagenbach and Lucius Werthmüller
Publisher:
Synergetic Press 
Year:
2013 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
6/13/2013

One would expect that there’d be a lot to say about any centenarian, and this is even more the case with an individual as exceptional and influential as Albert Hofmann. Since Albert Hofmann’s story began 107 years ago, Dieter and Lucius then take us back in time, setting the stage by describing the beginnings of the Modern Era, when the industrial revolution, capitalism, and technological innovations were booming. [ read more ]

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Nexus: Mankind Gets and Upgrade
by Ramez Naam
Publisher:
Angry Robot 
Year:
2012 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
2/20/2013

A mere twenty-seven years in the future, forbidden pharmaceuticals fused with novel nanotechnology may present the post-human possibility of telepathic transcendence. But at what price? [ read more ]

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Enter the Void
by Gaspar Noé (Director)
Publisher:
IFC Films 
Year:
2010 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
2/21/2012

If the folks from The Partnership at Drugfree.org need any fuel to feed the ideals of their non-profit organization’s media-driven attempt at persuading America’s youth to eschew drugs, they could sponsor showings of Enter the Void. Children might learn that creative inspiration produced via the confluence of psychedelics and Eastern spiritual philosophies leads to self-indulgent, tiresome filmmaking. THIS is what results from smoking DMT, kids!
read more ]

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Improved Paintings
by Mati Klarwein
Publisher:
Max Publishing 
Year:
2000 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
10/7/2010

Characterized simultaneously as a Fantastic Realist, a Surrealist, and a Psychedelic artist, Mati Klarwein’s art is difficult to pigeonhole. [ read more ]

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Madness & Art: The Life and Works of Adolf Wolfli
by Walter Morgenthaler
Publisher:
University of Nebraska Press 
Year:
1992 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
10/7/2010

Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930) produced his prose, poetry, musical compositions, and drawings while living as a patient at the Waldau Sanitarium, near Bern, Switzerland. Walter Morgenthaler, Wölfli’s physician, produced a unique look at Wölfli in Madness & Art; it is one of the first books to focus on the art of a mentally ill person, treating him as an artist of merit, rather than viewing his work solely as a symptom of disease. [ read more ]

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Codex Seraphinianus
by Luigi Serafini
Publisher:
Various 
Year:
 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
10/7/2010

So what’s all the fuss about? The Codex appears to have time-travelled from some future human world or parallel dimension. It is written in an impenetrable “language”, which may well be imaginary and untranslatable. Still, the more one looks at it, the more it seems to have a logical structure; the numbering system, for example, seems internally coherent. Read full text of review in original context…read more ]

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When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-ordinary Realities
by Stanislav Grof
Publisher:
Sounds True 
Year:
2006 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
3/6/2010

Whether or not the experiences themselves can be explained by the current scientific paradigm, it unquestionably is good science to describe and catalog the wide range of psychological mind states that When the Impossible Happens expounds upon. Stan is to be commended for presenting this documentation in a thoroughly enjoyable read. [ read more ]

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Weekends at Bellevue
by Julie Holland, MD
Publisher:
Bantam 
Year:
2009 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
12/1/2009

Weekends at Bellevue is the story of a cocky young doctor transformed into a thoughtful caregiver. Through understanding her own mental foibles, Holland becomes better equipped to deal with the issues of her psych patients. People fascinated by the ways in which the mind works, and how it can go off track, will greatly enjoy reading her tale. [ read more ]

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Inspired Madness: The Gifts of Burning Man
by Dale Pendell
Publisher:
Frog Ltd. / North Atlantic Books 
Year:
2006 
Reviewed by Jon Hanna
8/12/2009

A gem from my favorite poet-author, Inspired Madness: The Gifts of Burning Man by Dale Pendell offers an excellent introduction for the curious virgin, while providing enough insight to stir a longing desire for pilgrimage in the most jaded, dust-encrusted veteran burner. [...] it contains no photographs, but is sprinkled instead with whimsically potent line drawings—art that captures the heart of the event like no other art I have seen. [ read more ]