"Heal the Earth" is a common call today.Devereaux points out that it is humans who have to be healed, because it is humans who are doing the damage to the Earth.He advocates that we get in touch with the power and energy of nature to balance ourselves and be in tume with our natural environment.Some methods he suggests are: visiting sacred sites and wilderness areas, exploring the local geography, lucid dreaming, tape recording a waterfall, studying clouds,rocks and bark for suggestive shapes and patterns, and many other activities.A strength of this book is the practical advice it gives on relating to various Earth mysteries and energies.

This book reveals an exciting new field in the investigation of ancient sites: acoustic archaeology. It brings to light a vanished aspect of the past with the aid of computer modelling and sophisticated equipment to calculate frequencies and resonances. These investigations have demonstrated that stone chambers, temples, dolmens, menhirs and even paleolithic caves were deliberately constructed or used in ways that would enhance the ritual sounds produced within them. In the process it reveals the very origins of music and a lost world where echoes were regarded as the voices of the spirits. It assists in our understanding of the biochemical and physiological reasons that lie behind the reasons why dance and rhythm and percussion are such powerful human experiences. Particularly interesting sections include the one on Infrasound (below the hearing ability of the human ear, but one can feel it), on brainwave states, the resonation of body parts, and music and mysticism. Locations tested and reported on, include Stonehenge and other spots on the British Isles, French and Spanish paleolithic caves, Grecian and Mayan temples. The text is enhanced by black & white illustrations, musical notations and beautiful color plates. There are also references & notes and an index. Being the first work ever in this exciting new discipline, this book is very valuable and I highly recommend it to readers who are interested in mankind's unknown past, and to musicologists, ethnologists and archaeologists.

Full of history and mythology, I especially liked the section on archaeoastronomy. For a more detailed look at this subject, take a look at the books by A.F. Aveni.

The authors do seem to be supporters of the pseudoscience astrology, although they never make a case for it in this book.
Astrology is supposedly based on the movements of the heavens, but I have never met an astrologer who even begun to understand Kepler's laws or Einstien's relativity equations, all which describe the movements of the heavens.

Two technical errors in the book: They say (p72) that Pluto is bigger than Mercury. No, Mercury is over twice the size of Pluto.
P. 43 says there were 3 kings in the Christmas story - a common misconception. Technically, it doesn't say how many, which is why some traditions hold many more.

A note on p 105: They mention the "unknown God" that Paul refers to in Acts. They are apparently unware of the historical records which suggest this monument to the unknown god was dedicated to the God of Christianity years before Paul arrived after this God performed miracles for people in the area. An interesting look into biblical authencity that the author's overlooked.

A fine generalist introduction to the metaphors of the sky. Generalist because it is concerned with more than western astrological symbols. At this stage in human history, with our emerging global viewpoint & understanding of the Earth itself as a living being, astrologers, too, must allow their knowledge to expand & deepen. We are slowly passing out of the Piscean Age & into Aquarius, & that means irresistable changes. Those with pagan or wiccan inclinations need a less Eurocentric comprehension of sky spirituality. The Secret Language of Stars and Planets, while rooted in the Western Zodiac, takes a multicultural path beyond those borders. So all of the Planets are provided with some identifications from Chinese, Egyptian, Incan, Indian & Pre-Columbian cultures, though not in especially great detail. Still, the artwork is lovely (if a bit less so than Dr. Fontana's "The Secret Language of Symbols") & the information is accurate.

The really outstanding part of this book is the section on Sacred Alignments. The astronomical designs and spiritual purposes of twenty seven ancient sites are explored. In addition to the obvious ones like The Great Pyramid, Stonehenge & Avebury, the book explains the layouts of such far flung power centers as Hashihaka in Japan, Vijayanagara in India, the Cahokia mound complex in Illinois, the Chaco Canyon "Ancient Ones" area in the Four Corners region, and several South American sites including Machu Picchu. Just enough to stimulate one's curiousity for more learning.

These wise, ancient peoples experienced the world in ways that are difficult for us to know. But we must try. To do so, we have to get past our limited geo-political views. Gaia deserves no less. The sky belongs to no one. The sky belongs to everyone.

Bob Rixon

I love this kit, not only because of its beautiful illustrations and helpful suggestions, but for the clary sage oil and visualization tape that comes with it. I'm not promising that you'll get lucid the first time, but with patience and practice, you soon may be going on all sorts of night time adventures. It took me about 5 months of repeated use to get comfortable with the induced lucidity, but it's worth it. If you have ever had a dream that you could control, you are halfway there... the second step is to do it whenever you want to, and this book can help. It also discusses some of the history of dreams and their symbolism.

This is a beautiful kit! It had spendid ideas for acheiving lucidity, but I find they didn't work for me. Who knows, maybe I'm just braindead. :-) They will most probably work for you!

The material in this kit guided me to my first truly lucid dream, it was a "Hey, I'm dreaming!" kind of dream. In the short time that the dream lasted I was able to float into the air and interact briefly with a dream character.

I've just started my adventures and I'm looking forward to more.

Devereux's book is quite scholarly and is informed by many of the most recent developments in the various relevant disciplines. He refers to some of the cases which genuinely suggest more complex patterns of early diffusion than have traditionally been accepted (eg, Kennewick Man).

However, the treatment of linguistic issues (on which I am best equipped to comment) is relatively poor. This is partly because, although Devereux begins with a brief survey of pre-scientific and 'deep fringe' claims about the settlement of the Americas, he has relatively little to say about recent 'shallow fringe' and near-fringe diffusionists - many of whom have made heavy use of epigraphic and philological material - or their opponents. The names of key diffusionists such as Fell, Kelley and McGlone do not appear in his index. Neither do those of their skeptical critics such as Feder. In Chapters 6 and 9 and in short passages elsewhere he does raise some of the relevant cases, but the reader does not obtain a very satisfactory view of how these cases have been played out. There are in fact too many inadequately referenced statements. And indeed a careful survey would certainly lead to the conclusion that all linguistically based claims about migrations in the more recent but pre-Viking past are on very dubious footings. Diffusionists should seek better evidence elsewhere (but see below).

This is not to say that Devereux's treatment is not useful. For instance, in Chapter 6, Devereux discusses alleged Ogham inscriptions and the Bat Creek Stone; while not mentioning Fell, Gordon, McGlone et al. or their prominent critics, he does refer to the open-minded skepticism of Reynolds and Ross on the former case and to Kirk's relatively little-known skeptical work on the other. But there are large gaps here, considering the heavy use made of linguistic arguments by many diffusionists.

In addition, Devereux accepts (as at least plausible; sometimes as established) some diffusionist positions on language matters which are supported only by tiny minorities of qualified linguists (if any) or by amateur enthusiasts with no knowledge of current linguistic thought. For instance, very few linguists have been persuaded by Xu's claims of links between the Olmec and the Shang Chinese scripts. Positive references to these claims are found mainly in the work of Afrocentrists (not even all of these), creationists, rank amateurs like Matlock, etc. Xu does not appear to be very familiar with epigraphic or historical linguistic methodology, and Devereux is too easily impressed. Three key points here are: a) The meanings of Olmec symbols are not known, as Olmec has not been persuasively deciphered; thus one cannot be sure that any pairs of Olmec and non-Olmec symbols have the same meanings. b) Many of the symbols used by Xu are pictographic and as such liable to be independently invented. c) The odds in favour of short words and simple symbols - even non-pictographic ones - being independently invented are demonstrably MUCH better than Xu and Devereux seem to believe. Actually, most non-linguists who write about such matters make this last crucial error. (Many anthropologists would argue that similar errors vitiate many diffusionist arguments based on non-linguistic data such as legends or artefacts - some of which Devereux also rehearses.)

Of course, some of the diffusionist proposals discussed are not (or no longer) to be seen as dramatic. It was mainstream scientists, not fringe diffusionists, who identified Kennewick Man as probably non-Amerindian and thus anomalous. And on a broader front it is now quite usual to find the view that humans were in the Americas some time before 12,000 BP expressed by mainstream scholars. Crawford's use of linguistic data (at a rather general level) to support the genetic and other non-linguistic data that point in this direction will not be seen as threatening. On the other hand, more specific claims about more recent links between specific Asian and American language families (as rehearsed by Wells in his recent book) are typical of the fringe and of mavericks such as Ruhlen (see also above).

I realise that Devereux has a specific interest in shamanism, and his discussion of this topic is very interesting (although some of his views are highly controversial). But I am not sure that the facts of such cases point in a strongly diffusionist direction.

"Rediscover a continent's lost pre-history here. The United States is today a global icon for all that is new and forward looking - and this is regrettable, as Devereux points out, that so many of its modern inhabitants and some of its scholars are ignorant of the awesome sweep of its ancient past, or deny it. I can heartily recommend Mysterious Ancient America as a perfect remedy for that omission. The FT verdict: 9 out of 10". So said Bob Rickard, Editor 'Fortean Times' in March 2003 edition

"To understand archaic Aztec cosmology, a European thinker has to cross what is probably the widest intellectual gap conceivable between one human mind and another. Holy smoking mirrors! Paul Devereux, only you can help us now. We need to listen to the tribal world voice and this [Mysterious Ancient America] is a book which will tell us how." From Jeremy Harte in 'Third Stone' No. 45, 2003

Once upon a time encyclopaedias were large tomes filled with dry facts served in bite sized pieces. Well, times have changed and this was a real pleasure to review.

The illustrations are stunning, the text well researched, well written and with some subtle tongue in cheek observations as the author debunks some myths and adds depth to others. It is one of those books one wants to dip into again and again and each time some new knowledge emerges.

It is made to be really used too. The book is so robustly put together it will probably end up as a family heirloom.

Some may enjoy this very loose trip to the past but it was dull for me. Lots of conjecture about the distant past. I prefer something more concrete.

Okay, Okay so this isn't up to the Kirkus Reviews' idea of good anthropology...But, for those of us who love a fun, speculative look at the human behavior it's great!! There does seem to be some inborn need to experiment with our thought processes and this book makes a strong case for an historical presidence.

Devereux's Trip is an essential work for those interested in human origins and development; the development, evolution and exploration of the human consciousness; and the application and influence of natural psychotropic substances in these realms. The Trip may be a somewhat cumbersome read for those unacquainted with academically rigorous anthropological discourse-- the text is often meticulously detailed, providing an account of what seems to be every conceivable snippet of evidence for the exploratory use of psychotropics throughout the long span of human prehistory. However, such detailed examination is used to establish and re-enforce the author's important and extremely valuable insights. What others have only conjectured in this understudied field, Devereux substantiates and strengthens. As those aware of the power of psychotropics and their marked influence upon many of our world's dominant religions, philosophies and arts have long assumed, psychotropics HAVE and continue to play an incredible role in our continuing collective experience. Here in Devereux's Long Trip is the who, what, when, where, why, and how much (!) -- a mesmerizing tour through our ancestor's peculiar past with particular emphasis on this undervalued facet of that past, a photo album replete with fascinating glimpses into the universal drive and thirst for discovery, knowledge and truth. Highly recommended to those already interested in psychotropic use, as this text, above many others, provides an accurate introductory sweep of the true depth of such experimentation and exploration; but even more highly recommended to those skeptical of the influence, value, importance and benefits such substances, curiously available in our own Grand Backyard, have the potential capacity to provide.

There is a variety of views in which the past can be seen and Stonehenge has been a subject and inspiration over many centuries and especially in the period of the 80s.
"Who owns Stonehenge", is the result of a discussion about the site, at the world Archaeological congress, in Southampton, in 1986, within the larger framework of the question, who owns the past?
Due to the different backgrounds of the authors, this work approaches Stonehenge from five directions, a fact that makes the book more interesting and at the same time less subjective.
The first chapter, written by Christopher Chipindale, an Archaeologist, who also works on the history of ideas about the past, discuss issues of physical Stonehenge, as well as the intellectual history of the place and claims that have been made to it.
The next four chapters contain four individual views: P. Devereux has researched into lays and associated geomantic subjects. He attempts to show the connection of the site to the general picture of sacred ones. Peter Fawler is a professor of Archaeology and talks about aspects of archaeological constrains to the site. Rhys Jones has a particular interest in the sacred sites of the aborigines in Australia and he relates cases from there to Stonehenge. Lastly, Tim Sebastian, the Secular Arch-Druid(!)
These four chapters offer to the reader an interesting chance of thinking about the complex index of Stonehenge, as it is not just an archaeological site, but has a lot more meanings to a variety of many people.
The sixth chapter gives the whole story of the events that occurred there during the 80s and the last chapter looks to Stonehenge of tomorrow and makes some suggestions that concern a multi-purpose view of the site.
Beside the references and the index of names, there is also an additional reading compartment, for those who might want to explore further the themes of this book.
The work is well illustrated, with lot of b&w photographs, drawings, paintings, maps & posters.
"Who owns Stonehenge" is a different way of looking into ancient sites, a way, in which many more sites around the world should be approached, as it is a quite holistic approach, covering, as far it is possible, all aspects of this particular case, from its archaeological importance until administrating problems and social conflicts related to it. The writing of the book allows even to non experts to get the general idea of Stonehenge as an ancient religious and sacred site.
However, it can also be seen as a just good presentation of what Stonehenge really stands for, while a case like that requires further discussion.

Let's get two things straight:

1) There is no such word as "ufology" nor could there ever be. Only someone with the most execrable taste and no understanding
of language or logic whatsoever could proffer such a monstrosity.

2) "U.F.O" stands for "Unidentified Flying Object". Do U.F.O.'s exist? Until the flying objects in question are identified, of course. There is no mystery here. (A large percentage turn out not to have flying at all, so it might have been better to call them "unidentified apparently flying objects" or "unidentified sky phenomena", but at this point we're pretty much stuck with "unidentified flying objects". Oh, well.)