The Road to Eleusis is lined with…mushrooms?

Mushrooms get a bad rap in English language and culture. We have only three words for mushrooms – fungi, toadstools, and mushrooms – and none is positive. Case in point: calling a pale complexion ‘mushroomy’ is distinctly unflattering.

But in other cultures, these versatile organisms are regarded with affection, respect, and even reverence. We might scoff at the phrase ‘sacred mushroom,’ but indigenous Mexican peoples regard certain hallucinogenic fungi as exactly that. Religions around the world have been using consciousness-altering substances in their sacred rituals for millennia. Even frankincense, a common element of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ceremonies, has lately proven to be a mild psychoactive agent.

And then there are the Eleusinian mysteries. Considered so sacred that its participants were forbidden on pain of death to speak of them, these ancient Greek rituals have become a scholarly puzzle composed mostly of missing pieces. In The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries, ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson, chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann, and classicist Carl Ruck offer a solution:

Eleusis was the supreme experience in an initiate’s life. It was both physical and mystical: trembling, vertigo, cold sweat, and then a sight that made all previous seeing seem like blindness, a sense of awe and wonder at a brilliance that caused a profound silence since what had just been seen and felt could never be communicated: words are unequal to the task. Those symptoms are unmistakably the experience induced by a hallucinogen.

Examining the Eleusinian mysteries from anthropological, chemical, historical, and mythological perspectives, the authors present a strong case that this profoundly moving experience was in fact produced by a hallucinogenic fungi that grows on barley. Despite the skepticism that accompanied its first publication, this 30th anniversary edition emerges amidst increasing acceptance of its theory.

With photos, diagrams, and updated notes by the authors, The Road to Eleusis is an eye-opener, not only into the Eleusinian mysteries but also into experiential religion and the role of psychedelics, in Dr. Hofmann’s words, “in creating, by transforming consciousness in individual people, the conditions for a better world.”

CLICK HERE to learn more about The Road to Eleusis.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Eleusinian mysteries.

Mark Borax on Intuitive Soul Radio

Mark Borax, Soul Level Astrologer and author of 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future was recently interviewed on Intuitive Soul Radio. Borax offered an inspirational look at spirituality, astrology, and planetary consciousness.

All the greatest spiritual teachings in the world are only worth something if they help you become a better human being, here and now, in the physical plane…In the depths of that message the collective karma of the world can turn around.

CLICK HERE to listen to the complete Intuitive Soul interview with Mark Borax.

The purpose of Intuitive Soul is to expand and deepen clients’ consciousness through individual awakening and growth. Intuitive Soul Radio represents the voice of community and stands for Inner Transformation. It is a platform created for people who motivate and transform lives. Tune into Intuitive Soul Radio, live on Thursdays and Mondays at 7pm EST, or peruse the archives HERE.

CLICK HERE to learn more about 2012.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Mark Borax.

Found in Translation

According to one theory, translations encircle an original text, each providing a slightly different interpretation, emphasis, or perspective. Some academics go further to suggest that a translated text is its own work whose relationship with an ‘original’ is neither determinable nor relevant. What neither schematic mentions, however, is the fact that some translations are a whole lot easier to read than others. And with classics, the right translation could just mean the difference between flinging Homer into the nearest receptacle and making permanent room on the bookshelf for him.

We at North Atlantic Books are pleased to present one of the latter persuasion: poet and scholar Charles Stein’s translation of The Odyssey. Neither pompous nor overfamiliar, this translation captures all the psychological intricacy and energy of Homer’s epic and renders it into beautifully readable verse. Rather than modernizing the poem, Dr. Stein allows its heroes and gods to shine in all of their original glory. To prove our point, here’s a comparison of the famous invocation that begins the epic. The first translation is by Allen Mandelbaum:

Muse, tell me of the man of many wiles
the man who wandered many paths of exile
after he sacked Troy’s sacred citadel.
He saw the cities—mapped the minds—of many;
and on the sea, his spirit suffered every
adversity—to keep his life intact;
to bring his comrades back. In that last task,
his will was firm and fast, and yet he failed:
he could not save his comrades. Fools, they foiled
themselves: they ate the oxen of the Sun,
the herd of Helios Hyperion;
the lord of light requited their transgression—
he took away the day of their return.
Muse, tell us of these matters. Daughter of Zeus,
My starting point is any point you choose.

Mandelbaum has made a heroic attempt to translate Homer into more or less rhyming (foiled/failed?), more or less iambic couplets, but the resulting text comes across as a little stilted and awkward, and probably not something you’d want to read a few thousand more lines of.

Now here’s Stein’s translation of the same lines:

Speak through me, o muse,
of that man of many devices
who wandered much
once he’d sacked the sacred citadel of Troy.
He saw the cities of many men
and knew their minds,
suffering many sorrows
in order to win back his life-soul
and the return of his companions.
In the end he failed to do so,
for through their own heedlessness they perished.
Fools—who ate the cows of Helios-Hyperion,
and the day of their return was taken from them.
Of these matters, goddess, daughter of Zeus, speak through us
beginning wherever you will.

This is pleasantly uncluttered and simple, and “speak through me” is an especially nice touch, given the nature of an invocation. There’s no shortage of rhythm, but it doesn’t feel regimented; the emphasis on “fools” is both unforced and clever. In fact, it reads like poetry. Good poetry.

Check back soon for an interview with Charles Stein about the experience of translating the epic. Until then, you can:

CLICK HERE to learn more about Stein’s translation of The Odyssey.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the history ofThe Odyssey.

Chris Jarmey (1954-2008)

We regret to announce the passing of Chris Jarmey, renowned physiotherapist and author of such anatomy and bodywork guides as The Concise Book of Muscles, A Practical Guide to Acu-Points, and Shiatsu: The Complete Guide. The founder of the European Shiatsu School, Jarmey was proficient in a wide array of bodywork techniques and therapies, including yoga, qi gong, acupuncture, shiatsu, and osteopathy. His thorough knowledge of musculo-skeletal anatomy and body mechanics made his books indispensable for practitioners of bodywork therapy all over the world. He will be missed by his family, friends, and readers.

Left & Right-brained Robert Greer

We have some exciting news. The author of Blackbird Farewell, Robert Greer, is in town for two readings—one in Oakland at Marcus Books, and another the next day in San Mateo, at M is for Mystery bookstore. Here are the details from Robert Greer’s website:

Saturday Nov 15, 2008
6:30 p.m.
Reading & book signing
Marcus Books
3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Oakland, CA 94609
Contact: Blanche Richardson
(510) 652-2344

&

Sunday Nov 16, 2008
2 p.m.
Reading & Signing
M is for Mystery Bookstore
86 E. 3rd Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
Contact: Ed Kaufman
(650) 401-8077

Not only is Robert Greer touring; our beloved mystery writer has also been getting rapt attention from the media. For instance, his work has been reviewed recently in Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, and ForeWord Magazine. His book was selected as an IndieBound Indie Next List notable for November. Broadcast media isn’t far behind the rags and mags. In October he was interviewed on The Morning Beat with Ed Danielson on KUVO Public Radio Denver.

Robert Greer has had a meandering and highly successful career path. Some of the author’s trail blazing degrees are in dentistry, medicine, and pathology, as well as creative writing. For a taste of his multifarious talent, here’s an excerpt from a recent author interview in the Rocky Mountain News.

People tend to think of scientists as left-brained, writers as right-brained. Do you find those two disciplines, science and writing, to be opposites?

I think they’re much, much more similar than people think. Writing requires the rigid discipline that science requires, absolutely. I suspect a lot of people think that writers are Hemingwayesque, Gertrude Stein-like people who hang out in coffee shops, drink and talk politics and things like that – not that I do that very much, but I’m certain some writers do that. (But) to write a novel or a story requires a tremendous amount of discipline. It requires you having your seat in the chair, hours and hours of labor – very much like science requires. They also require some sense of vision. They absolutely both require imagination.

CLICK HERE: to read the rest of the Rocky Mountain News interview
CLICK HERE: to purchase Blackbird Farewell
CLICK HERE: to learn more about Robert Greer
CLICK HERE: to take a tour of Robert Greer related blog posts
CLICK HERE: to browse more titles by the author