Is there a history of Neopaganism or Wicca-derived Neopaganism in North America? I know a lot of bits and pieces that I was told over the year which date certain things back into the 60s but I don’t know of a comprehensive book…
My copy of The Journey to Wild Divine arrived yesterday. Damn that was quick (compared to the copy of The Hidden God that still hasn’t arrived…).
It has a fairly solid piece of biofeedback hardware that plugs into your USB port: the “lightstone” and three “magic rings.” Basically, the magic rings are the sensors. They go over your middle three fingers on your non-use hand. They have small wings that press the back of your fingers so your pads quite comprehensively touch the sensors. They plug go into a cable that has a ps-2 port on the end. That plugs into the Lightstone. The lightstone is solid and plastic and obviously has technical bits inside. It has a fairly standard USB interface (one of the square ones) that you plug it’s cable into and the other end goes into your box.
The Artifact in Question
I only did the intro so I don’t have a lot to say about it. It seems like it has a lot of possibilities. The graphics are good but not super exceptional. I have a nice 3D card (Radeon 9600) for games so I have high standards. Fairly Myst-like in a way.
Ken Schroeder wrote a novel called “Permanence” which features a religious sect that is actually fairly agnostic but dedicated to spiritual ideals, practice and the maintenance of a longterm human culture (hence the name of the book). Among other things they do, they use devices to help them develop their meditation abilities and as part of their work. I think there are some possibilities there as long as they are used as a learning aid and not as a crutch to replace actual work. I see these things as teaching aids to help learn to recognize states and to aid them in learning practices.
According to a NY Post article, referenced in a CBC.ca article, William Shatner will soon release a new album — produced by Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five fame, and including guest artists such as former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins and country artist Brad Paisley.
The new album isn’t the first foray into recording for the Montreal-born actor best known for playing James T. Kirk, the captain of the starship Enterprise on the original Star Trek series. In 1968, Shatner released his first album The Transformed Man, which includes spoken-word cover versions of the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man. Although Shatner intended The Transformed Man to be taken seriously, it’s become something of a camp classic. The Hip Surgery Music Guide, an internet guide that celebrates offbeat musical genres, says the songs can be taken as examples of “either impassioned intensity or pompous overacting.”
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