Portals: Opening Doorways to Other Realities Through the Senses

Description

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.

Lynne Hume is Associate Professor, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

'Magic, mystery, madness and meaning are all tackled in Lynne Hume's brilliant, wide ranging discussion that opens doorways to richer understanding of the ways in which people access other realities.' Graham Harvey, Lecturer in Religious Studies, The Open University 'A brilliant corrective to the view that religion is mainly about belief; it shows that lurking behind this troublesome word are many technologies of transcendence and many ways to transform and elevate earthly life.' THES 'This remarkable book summarizes the literature regarding the use of sight, hearing, movement, tactile ability, olfactory and gustatory capacities, and brain to perceive "alternate realities". Hume's analysis of evidence from the field of "sensorial anthropology" reveals universal elements within the methods used by shamans, monks, religious specialists, and lay people all over the world to gain insights regarding spiritual worlds. The literature is extensive, and Hume's basic arguments are convincing.' Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 21, No. 4 'Broad-ranging and fascinating, Portals makes a contribution to contemporary debates about how the relationship betwen science and relgion is - or could be - conceptualised and the role that anthropology plays in such relationships'. Jay Johnston, University of Sydney