Portals: Opening Doorways to Other Realities Through the Senses [Hardcover]

As Alice in Wonderland discovered, cave entrances, tunnels, spirals and mirrors can transport people to strange worlds where anything is possible. Portals investigates how we move beyond the conscious and physical world using our senses, into other realities of the spiritual and the divine. Portals looks at the techniques used to alter consciousness practised by shamans, monks and other religious specialists. These include the use of drugs, as well as drumming, chanting and meditation. The book provides a new, anthropologically-grounded perspective on the wide-ranging questions about the realities of human consciousness and mystical, spiritual and religious experience.* Chapter 1: Entrances and Exits* Chapter 2: Mandalas and Visual Symbols* Chapter 3: Portals of Sound* Chapter 4: Dance and Movement* Chapter 5: Tactile Portals* Chapter 6: Olfactory and Gustatory Portals* Chapter 7: Entheogens as Portals* Chapter 8: An Anatomy of RealityAs Alice in Wonderland discovered, cave entrances, tunnels, spirals and mirrors can transport people to strange worlds where anything is possible.Lynne Hume is Associate Professor, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.Far-ranging and at times inspirational, Lynne Hume's Portals is a book that deserves to be widely read. The breadth of material explored by the author is considerable and the concept of portals', itself, extremely useful. - The Alternative Spirituality and Religion ReviewUS? Lynne Hume 2007