Haunted Houses

In a Harris poll last year of 2,000 adults, 41 percent said that they believed in ghosts. Although the National Association of Realtors says that it is not the legal obligation of a real estate agent to tell a prospective buyer about alleged haunting, many agents, like Diane Ragan of Keller Williams Realty in New Orleans, feel that if they hear of something that may distress a buyer, they have the duty to pass it on.


- NY Times (link here)

Phantom signals on radar

An American fighter pilot flying from an English air base at the height of the Cold War was ordered to open fire on a massive UFO that lit up his radar, according to an account published by Britain's National Archives on Monday.

David Clarke, a UFO expert who has worked with the National Archives on the document release, said it was one of the most intriguing stories he had culled from the batch of files released Monday.

He said that the CIA once had a program intended to create phantom signals on radar — and that this may have been an exercise in electronic warfare. Whatever the case, Clarke argued that "there's no doubt something very unusual happened."

- AP/ajc (link here)

Rosicrucian Order

http://www.rosicrucian-order.com/

A case of misadventure

Teacher stabbed himself to death while high on magic mushrooms.

- telegraph.co.uk (link here)

The legacy of Terence McKenna.

Salvia divinorum

Until a decade ago, the use of salvia was largely limited to those seeking revelation under the tutelage of Mazatec shamans in its native Oaxaca, Mexico.

- NY Times (link here)

And now it is being ruined by juvenile delinquents seeking cheap thrills.

Plant Alkaloids

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0703.htm

Very wide-ranging and interesting article on plant alkaloids.

Shaman's Drum

http://shamansdrum.org/index.html

A Journal of Experiential Shamanism and Spiritual Healing

Huichols, Yaquis, and Castaneda

"Of course, Castaneda's book was not about Huichols (as it turned out, it was not about Yaquis, either, but that is another story)."

"Nearly two decades after psychologist Richard de Mille debunked Castaneda's books in two carefully researched and reasoned studies (1976, 1980/1990), as fiction, and not a new kind of ethnography...."

- page 508, Conclusion: Peyote Pilgrims and Don Juan Seekers: Huichol Indians in a Multicultural World by Peter T. Furst and Stacy B. Schaeffer in People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion, & Survival (1996) edited by Stacy B. Schaeffer and Peter T. Furst

A huge concession on the part of professional anthropologists that UCLA granted a Ph.D. in anthropology to Castaneda based on works of fiction and not anthropology.

Some modern anthropologists are embarrassed by the egregious breach of ethics by Castaneda and UCLA.

Breaking Open the Head

http://www.breakingopenthehead.com/

Daniel Pinchbeck's companion web site to his book on the cultural history of psychedelic use.

Excoriation of the yard

He describes another more unusual use for Yarrow: the juice was injected by syringe to cure a distressing ailment known as the "the excoriation of the yard {penis} caused by pollution or extreme flowing of seed, and any inflammation or swelling caused thereby, as has been proved by some single or unmarried persons, who have been very much oppressed on this account."

- Maida Silverman (1977) A City Herbal: Lore, Legend, & Uses of Weeds (link here)

Sounds painful.

Druidry

http://www.druidry.org/

Lots of information and resources.

Timeless Myths

http://www.timelessmyths.com/

Classical, Norse, Celtic, and Arthurian mythology.

Haters, professing to be Christians

A woman beheaded after she was accused of causing a girl to spit pins and convulse was exonerated Wednesday, more than 200 years after she became the last person executed as a witch in Europe.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Christians have murdered millions of innocents through the years.

Foundation for Shamanic Studies

http://www.shamanism.org/

Michael Harner's crass commercial operation.

Datura or Peyote?

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/carlos_datura.html

Interesting discussion of Datura vs. Peyote in the context of Carlos Castaneda's books.

A brief history of peyote

http://www.peyote.org/

Fascinating history of peyote.

The Basement Shaman

http://www.basementshaman.com/index.html

They offer some truly weird stuff.

Datura

http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/Datura.htm

Excellent discussion of the mythology and history of Datura.

The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda

Much has been written about the slippery boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, the publishing industry's responsibility for distinguishing between the two, and the potential damage to readers. There's been, however, hardly a mention of the 20th century's most successful literary trickster: Carlos Castaneda.

- http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/04/12/castaneda/index.html

Excellent coverage of the abusive cult of personality surrounding Carlos Castaneda.

Sustained Action

http://sustainedaction.org/intro.htm

Dedicated to information about the abusive cult of personality that surrounded Carlos Castaneda.

Enigma of a Sorcerer

http://www.castanedamovie.com/enigma/enigmald.html

Documents the abusive cult of personality surrounding Carlos Castaneda.

Luckily, I checked it out of the library for free instead of buying it.

Low production values.

The Secret Blog

This blog is a secret.

No one knows about it.