Ayahuasca is a powerful tool for transformation, that more and more Westerners are flocking to drink in a quest for greater self-knowledge, healing and reconnection with the natural world. This formerly esoteric, little-known brew is now a growth industry. But why?Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew that has a long history of ritual use among indigenous groups of the Upper Amazon. Made from the ayahuasca vine and the leaves of a shrub, it is associated with healing in collective ceremonies and in more intimate contexts, generally under the direction of specialist – an ayahuasquero. These are experienced practitioners who guide the ceremony and the drinkers’ experience. Ayahuasca has gained significant popularity these days in cities around the world. Why? What effect might ayahuasca be having on our culture? Does the brew, which seems to inspire environmental action, simplified lifestyles and more communitarian behaviour, act as an antidote to frenzied consumerist culture? In When Plants Dream, Pinchbeck and Rokhlin explore the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact that ayahuasca is having on society. Part 1 covers the background; what ayahuasca is, where it is found, and its cultural origins. Part 2 explores the role and practices of the ayahuasquero in both Amazonian and Western cultures. Part 3 examines the medicinal plants of the Amazon, looking particularly at the ingredients in ayahuasca and their therapeutic qualities, covering the most up-to-date biomedical research, psychedelic science and psychopharmacology. It also covers all the legal aspects of ayahuasca use. Lastly in Part 4 Pinchbeck and Rokhlin question the future of ayahuasca. When Plants Dream is the first book of its kind to look at the science and expanding culture of ayahuasca, from its historical use to its appropriation by the West and the impact it is having on cultures beyond the Amazon.

Every human is born with multifarious potential. Why, then, do parents, schools and employers insist that we restrict our many talents and interests; that we 'specialise' in just one? We've been sold a myth, that to 'specialise' is the only way to pursue truth, identity, or even a livelihood. Yet specialisation is nothing but an outdated system that fosters ignorance, exploitation and disillusionment and thwarts creativity, opportunity and progress. Following a series of exchanges with the world’s greatest historians, futurists, philosophers and scientists, Waqas Ahmed has weaved together a narrative of history and a vision for the future that seeks to disrupt this prevailing system of unwarranted ‘hyper-specialisation.’ In The Polymath, Waqas shows us that there is another way of thinking and being. Through an approach that is both philosophical and practical, he sets out a cognitive journey towards reclaiming your innate polymathic state. Going further, he proposes nothing less than a cultural revolution in our education and professional structures, whereby everyone is encouraged to express themselves in multiple ways and fulfil their many-sided potential. Not only does this enhance individual fulfilment, but in doing so, facilitates a conscious and creative society that is both highly motivated and well equipped to address the complexity of 21st century challenges.

Reveals how the only hard evidence that dates the Great Pyramid--the quarry marks discovered by Colonel Vyse in 1837--was forged • Includes evidence from the time of the discovery of the marks: Vyse’s private field notes, surveys, facsimile drawings, and eye-witness testimony • Explains why Vyse was driven to perpetrate a fraud inside the Great Pyramid • Examines recent chemical analysis of the marks and high-definition photos to reveal errors and other anomalies within the forged Khufu cartouche Despite millennia of fame, the origins of the Great Pyramid of Giza are shrouded in mystery. Believed to be the tomb of an Egyptian king, even though no remains have ever been found, its construction date of roughly 2550 BCE is tied to only one piece of evidence: the crudely painted marks within the pyramid’s hidden chambers that refer to the 4th Dynasty king Khufu, discovered in 1837 by Colonel Howard Vyse and his team. Using evidence from the time of the discovery of these “quarry marks”--including surveys, facsimile drawings and Vyse’s private field notes--along with high definition photos of the actual marks, Scott Creighton reveals how and why the marks were faked. He investigates the anomalous and contradictory orthography of the quarry marks through more than 75 photos and illustrations, showing how they radically depart from the established canon of quarry marks from this period. He explains how the orientation of the Khufu cartouche contradicts ancient Egyptian writing convention and how one of the signs is from a later period. Analyzing Vyse’s private diary, he reveals Vyse’s forgery instructions to his two assistants, Raven and Hill, and what the anachronistic sign should have been. He examines recent chemical analysis of the marks along with the eye-witness testimony of Humphries Brewer, who worked with Vyse at Giza in 1837 and saw forgery take place. Exploring Vyse’s background, including his electoral fraud to become a member of the British Parliament, he explains why he was driven to perpetrate a fraud inside the Great Pyramid. Proving Zecharia Sitchin’s claim that the quarry marks are forgeries and removing the only physical evidence that dates the Great Pyramid’s construction to the reign of Khufu, Creighton’s study strikes down one of the most fundamental assertions of orthodox Egyptologists and reopens long-standing questions about the Great Pyramid’s true age, who really built it, and why.