Ultraculture

Many of you have likely seen this: It’s author Graham Hancock’s 2013 TEDx Whitechapel talk on “The War on Consciousness,” in which he lambasts our civilization for keeping psychedelics illegal when, in his view, they may be one of the most potent tools we have for getting us out of the current wo... [Read more...]

The alchemical map below, depicting the path to discovering the Philosopher’s Stone (and thereby achieving enlightenment) is taken from Heinrich Khunrath’s Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, from circa 1595 AD. The text surrounding it is in Latin. Khunrath, a practicing alchemist who himself ques... [Read more...]

What is shadow work, and why is it crucial to becoming a full person? [Read more...]

This excellent video (via “The School of Life”) takes an analytical look at the wild claims of higher consciousness made by mystics throughout human history, and how they match up with neuroscience. [Read more...]

Something like a cross between Saint Augustine and the mythical balladeer Orpheus, John Coltrane enchanted and educated the hearts and minds of people across the world with his music. Although many of his compositions became jazz standards in their own right, one in particular exemplified his spi... [Read more...]

What makes a magician? A wand? A library of grimoires? Early Modern “magocrats” set the bar pretty high. In his book Green Wizardry, historian John Michael Greer (who Ultraculture recently interviewed) called the wizard of the Middle Ages a “freelance intellectual,” one whose “whose main stock in... [Read more...]

Eastern mystics like Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius and many others are among the most famous, influential and world-changing individuals in history. But the Eastern schools of mysticism (Vedanta, Tantra, Buddhism, Confucianism, Sufism, Taoism and many, many others) are incredibly deep and complex, w... [Read more...]