Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

I liked the book for learning to understand the various shaman traditions,I liked it for understanding the authors drug induced journies, but it dragged a little and not his best work. An okay read, but I would not give it the same literary applause I gave to The Fingerprint of the Gods....a much better read.

That there are other ways of knowing and realities beyond that of our physical plane of existence has been said by many. Hancock seeks to offer a paradigm that brings it all together - fairies, extra-terrestrials, angels - all having insights to share with the shamanic element throughout human history (history which goes way back farther than just 6,000 years). Yes, I do believe what Hancock has to say, for the most part, but not because he said so. In this particular book, the trance states needed to interact with these other-worldly sources of wisdom were plant-derived psychotropic chemicals. I do appreciate that Hancock challenges the current scientific perspective on these otherworldly issues. However, I sense that if he is to really convince a reading audience of the veracity of his findings, speaking from those who have a drug-induced perspective may not be the best way.

In Supernatural, Graham Hancock explores the possibility that the evolution of human culture has been facilitated by the use of hallucinogenic substances. Namely, Hancock draws upon David Lewis-William's 'Neuropsychological Theory' of rock and cave art. The Neuropsychological theory contends that the birth of art began around 35,000 years ago with homo sapiens entering into altered states of consciousness either through imbibing hallucinogens or though other rituals that may create trance-like alter consciousness states. The evidence for this theory is said to be supported by the cave art depictions of geometric patterns (entoptic images), odd half-human, half-animal hybrids (otherwise known as therianthropes) and other bizarre images that Hancock believes share analogies with modern day experiences of people under the influence of hallucinogenic substances. Aliens, elves, flying sauces, bizarre other worldly acts of procreation are sited as some of the unusual experiences people may encounter under the influence of hallucinogens and Hancock suggests that our primitive ancestors may have had similar encounters with such bizarre entities and events. Central to Hancock's argument in this book is that the unusual events and entities experienced during altered states of consciousness are not hallucinations or phantasms created by the brain but real entities that lie in another dimension that our brain does not normally access or tune in to. Hence, drug induced encounters with oval headed aliens, therianthropes such as insect or lizard men or dancing elves may in fact be in some sense encounters with real entities from another dimension. Hancock can be a little repetitive in his arguments and quite a bit of the book is dedicated to countering the arguments against David Lewis-Williams' theory of cave art, yet I generally found this book to be a fun read. One thing that I do wonder however, is whether Hancock entertains the possibility that the weird entities depicted in primitive art may have been created purely out of imagination for weird and wonderful without the assistance of hallucinogenic drugs? As a child I used to love reading comic books. Comic book creators like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko would depict fantastical stories with amazingly weird characters and weird worlds. Many of these comic book worlds seem astoundingly like the worlds encountered under hallucinogenic drugs and yet Kirby and Ditko claimed to have never touched drugs. Instead they accessed the realm of their own imaginations. Perhaps we could say that they were accessing their brains own natural production of the DMT or 'spirit' molecule? Whether one believes in the ontological reality of other dimensional entities or whether one simply believes such entities are fictional inventions of the brain, it is still in a sense magical to me that the mind is able to ponder such fantastic things. We are truly like the Queen in Carroll's 'Alice In Wonderland' in that our minds have a great propensity to "believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Graham Hancock, the author of Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind could never be accused of pussyfooting around the revelations of his research, and he certainly postulates the heck out of the place of consciousness altering agents in the shamanic origins of religion and consciousness itself. It's a brilliant, breakthrough book which comes close to being the unified field theory of, if not all of the supernatural, at least of all encounters between humans and supernatural beings.

Hancock begins with a description of his own visionary experiences with the hallucinogen Ibogaine, which he took, with a logical vigor that escapes most academics, in order to truly gauge its effect, and therefore the validity of his theories. He follows this with a (perhaps too) meticulous examination of the cave paintings that represent the beginnings of human art, concentrating on their bizarre and seemingly inexplicable nature, at once representative and fantastic, a contradiction that the bonehead academics have (naturally) been totally unable to puzzle out in over a hundred years of trying.

But just when I thought the book was going to be one of those tedious Fortean catalogues of weird stuff, Hancock brought forth his first thesis, based on David Lewis-Williams's The Mind in the Cave. Lewis-Williams's idea is simple - that the enigmatic cave paintings were produced by shamans in a trance state and are representations of the shamanic experience. It's an audacious, elegant solution - the psychotropic distortions and patterns match that of drug users and there's no doubt that many shamanistic cultures, such as the prototypical Siberian and the still extant South American, exhibit a heavy use of mushrooms and other hallucinogens to achieve shamanic journeys and transformations. Hancock also examines the rock art of a tribe in South Africa whose paintings were similar to cave art and whose imagery was explicated by the last survivors of that tribe.

This theory seems almost self-evident, so naturally it remains controversial in the academic world. Perhaps as a reaction to the sixties, the academic establishment now rejects all the fruits of dream, drug and trance as hallucination, and tries to efface the very clear fingerprints of sense altering agents in our culture and civilization. It should come as now surprise, then, that several stalwart defenders of the empty status quo have stepped forward to advance their careers by attacking Lewis-Williams theories with various sophistries. Hancock handily refutes them, exposing them as deeply misguided if not purposefully dishonest. It's a deft explanation for the general reader of a difficult theory in the manner of Colin Wilson, but the start of the book is just a stepping stone for Hancock, who moves on to his own conceptual breakthroughs.

The genesis of Hancock's insight, like many of the crucial insights of modernity, came while he was under the influence. During his Ibogaine trip he saw a large headed, bug eyes "alien" figure, and recognized several similar creatures in cave paintings. One of the major techniques of modernity is juxtaposition, and Hancock placed the shamanic model next to contemporary accounts of alien abduction and concluded "Shamanic experiences of spirits and modern experiences of aliens are essentially a single phenomenon." There are startling similarities - transformations, journeys into the sky, ritualistic, invasive body manipulations and encounters with powerful, mystifying, alien entities. But what in heaven's name do these creatures want with us? As I said in Snakes in Caves, the purpose of the whole Alien project may be some kind of vast breeding experiment, and shamans were certainly familiar with intercourse with various interstellar entities and even the production of human/alien hybrids.

Hancock then further links the shamans of the stone age to the abductees of today by brining in theories advanced by Jacques Vallee in his book Passport to Mangonia. Vallee compared the fairy lore of medieval times with UFO data and found similarities there as well, with more abductions to unearthly realms, time distortions, encounters with superhuman "others," and, of course, "reproductive contact." Hancock then draws a single breathtaking, unbroken line of human/supernatural contact from the dawn of humanity to the present, the nature of the contact basically the same, but understood in accordance with the prevailing conceptual world view.

Where do these "others" come from? Parallel universes will be, I believe the overriding theory of the twenty-first century, and it's certainly easy to see, as many have postulated, the often inexplicable aliens emanating from other vibrations rather than other planets, but Hancock introduces an even more audacious theory. Like a lot of archaic/psychedelic thought it originated with the late, great Terence McKenna who, confronted with the prevalence of helix imagery during his trips, postulated that his drug of choice, DMT (an ingredient in many shamanistic substances), makes "information stored in the neural-genetic material available to consciousness." In other words all that "junk" information contained in DNA, which resembles a language and has inexplicably been preserved for millennia, is in fact a message that the superior beings who created it imbedded in advance of the time we would be able to understand it (kind of like the monoliths in 2001). Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of DNA (who was, by the way, under the influence of LSD when he first visualized the double helix shape of DNA - something they sure didn't tell us in high school when we reverently studied The Double Helix) even came to believe that DNA itself was the result of an alien seeding project.

Hancock presents these ideas as more speculative than the rest of the book, as indeed they are, and in his final chapter gives a quick overview of the shamanic origin of all religions and the essentially psychedelic nature of shamanism, tracing the use of hallucinogens in such landmarks of ancient spirituality as the mysteries of Eleuis and the Soma of the Vedas.

All in all, it's an impressive, enthralling book which gains force as it continues, firmly grounded in scholarship, yet able to utilize the fruits of personal experience and experimentation. Hancock presents a unified theory for almost every encounter between humans and supernatural beings (although, in the "spirit" of the season I must say that, despite the fact that departed ancestors play a role, Hancock does not grapple with the localized phenomena of ghosts). Supernatural is a brilliant work, the capstone of Hancock's career, one that has (of course) been ignored by mainstream media and science, despite being much more interesting and valuable than timid but more ballyhooed works like William J. Broad's The Oracle.

Hancock is no freewheelin' hippy, but a rather rigorous enquiring mind of the old English school, but he's not afraid to go where Wisdom beckons, and the book's final scene shows him recumbent in the midst of nature, about to gobble a handful of magic mushrooms, the results of the journey to be recorded, I can only hope, in his next volume.

Graham Hancock has published 30 books, the best known so far perhaps being Fingerprints of the Gods. As Wikipedia states, "Hancock sees himself as a journalist who asks questions based upon observation and as someone who provides counterbalance to what he perceives as the 'unquestioned' acceptance and support given to orthodoxies." His work has been labeled "pseudoarchaeology." He has been placed within a particular tradition of "pseudo-intellectural," neither term meant lovingly. His books, nonetheless, have sold over five million copies worldwide and have been translated into 27 languages.
His First Class Honors degree from Durham University in the UK was in sociology. He has studied and traveled extensively, exploring and collecting factual information regarding ancient historical civilizations and astronomical/astrological data from the past, focusing on possible connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena.
In Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, Hancock investigates what scientists describe as "the greatest riddle in human history." As the book-back blub presents: "Less than 50,000 years ago, mankind had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no innovative thinking. Then, in a dramatic and electrifying change . . . all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves appeared already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers." Hancock's quest into the truth about the influences that shaped the modern human mind started with the extraordinary hidden art of the deep, dark caves of Upper Paleolithic Europe. His primary research focus was on the "spirit world" that our ancestors depicted for the first time in prehistoric rock art, "that continued as the great obsession of the high religions of antiquity, and that is still actively experienced to this day in surviving shamanic cultures as far afield as central and southern Africa, Australia, and the the store rain forest." Once he started digging, he found clues that lead him in all directions and to multiple interconnections linking areas of inquiry he had previously thought to be entirely separate: the fairies, elves, imps, goblins, nymphs, and sprites of medieval through Victorian Europe; and eventually, into the modern phenomenon of UFOs and aliens.
What he found was that not only did essentially the same system of sybolism occur around the world but that the same pattern of bizarre nonreal experiences had been consistently reported over and over by people from all parts of the earth and all periods of history. He began to understand that this problem of human experiences of the supernatural--judged to be nonreal but nonetheles universal and apparently very ancient--lay at the heart of the matter he was investigating: Were precisely what he found documented in the upper paleolithic caves that started him on his quest. This, however, was not an explanation but merely a description of the problem. What we really want to know --the question scientists keep dodging--is why so many individuals who have never been in contact with one another, who come from different cultures and backgrounds around the world see the same "nonreal" things when in altered states of consciousness.
The "implausible, mind-boggling, universal" experiences Hancock describes in this book do not often attract serious academic attention. They are dismissed by many mainstream academics as "coincidence." Hancock calls this a "knee-jerk" response, driven by deeply embedded western materialist prejudices about the nature of reality rather than by any solid research or evidence ." Up to now, just about the only approach scholars have made to this material is a "patronizing sociological or psychological study of mass delusions." "Those few scientists who have studied them in depth, however, have concluded that there is something deeply mysterious about their universality, and that it in fact raises profound questions about what is real and what is not. "
In an attempt to provide possible answers, Hancock has undertaken a "deliberately open-minded appraisal, ruling out nothing in advance." He hoped that if he "treated the evidence with respect, and allowed it to speak for itself, that it might have something useful to teach him about the supposed supernatural realms and beings to which it refers--which he was willing to accept might not be real, or might, on the other hand, be real in some way that scientists did not presently undersatnd." He has made the case that "what we are dealing with here are not multiple, different, very strange phenomena, but single very strange phenomenon" "that from the earliest times until today might represent veridical encounter with alternative realities."
I for one find his case well made, fascinating, scarifying, and persuasive. Like Graham Hancock, I intend to keep my mind open. There is so much about this life, this world, and the lives and worlds quite possibly beyond us that I, we, don't know. Hancock writes very well, is easy to read, conveys a likable personality, is adventurous, risk-taking, clearly intelligent, and dedicated in his pursuit of alternative explantions of our past history, which has become our present, and perhaps future, history.

This is a book that casts an extremely broad intellectual net, but Hancock quite ably holds it all together and offers some compelling and though-provoking insights into the nature of spirituality, cognitive evolution of mankind, and, yes, the supernatural.

Most of Hancock's work is in a field I'd call archeological investigative journalism-- perhaps an arcane field, but he is the best there is at it. In Sign and the Seal he went looking for the Ark of the Covenant (not unlike Indiana Jones); in Fingerprints of the Gods he went looking for Atlantis.

Here, he begins by investigating cave paintings, the earliest known artwork left to us by early man. Beings very much like modern day humans had lived for tens of thousands of years, but suddenly, about 25,000 years ago, they began making cave paintings. Hancock asks the two obvious questions: WHY did they suddenly start painting, and WHAT were they depicting?

In brief, Hancock makes a compelling case that the trigger of the act of cave painting was the experiencing of shamanic visions-- essentially the first, core, religious experience-- resulting from the ingestion of hallucinogenic herbs and plants. And too, he makes a compelling case that the content of these early paintings is quite simply the "visions" one sees in such an altered state. He demonstrates that the same plants and psychoactive substances have generated a remarkably consistent set of imagistic responses in humans across time and culture and setting, and shows how the icons and symbols of cave paintings are indeed replications and renderings of these visions (for instance, the part-man, part-animal creatures that dominate cave paintings and indeed Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Native American mythology.)

From there, Hancock traces the accounts through the ages of people who have claimed encounters with supposedly mythical creatures such as little green fairies, up through aliens and UFOs, and again notes the remarkable similarity across time and setting in the accounts. Indeed he shows how this sort of collective human experience with the "other world" has slowly evolved over time, and that the construct (e.g., aliens after World War II) that humans apply to the other-worldly visitors is culturally driven, but that the broader experience itself transcends culture. He also loops in the empirical work modern scientists have done, giving human subjects a high dosage of a psychoactive drug in lab settings and documenting their descriptions of experiences.

Hancock goes on to note that, while these drugs reliably trigger a core set of hallucinations in human subjects, some small percentage of people-- tagged by one study as 2%-- have these experiences without the benefit of the drugs. These are the people who, in recent times, have stories of being abducted by UFOs, and who in medieval times were abducted by fairies.

Of course, Hancock does not point to this as proof that aliens have been abducting humans. Rather, he demonstrates that the ability and tendency to experience of these visions, waking dreams, hallucinations, is a part of our DNA, part of what makes us human. If this is true, it suggests that humans are different from other species in part because we have a genetic predisposition to commune with what can only be described as the "supernatural."

Note that you do not have to believe in the existence of some parallel nether realm in order to buy into the premise of this book. All you have to believe is the idea that it is possible to empirically observe and describe and categorize the nature of hallucinations people have been having through the ages, and in laboratory settings.

What most interested me about this book-- besides the way Hancock hits so many topics of interest to me and ties them together into new knowledge-- is that if you read without prejudice, you will see how science and the supernatural re-mingle in Hancock's world view. He looks at the same set of phenomena in three ways-- subjectively (as one who has experimented with psychoactive substances like Ayuhuasca); spiritually (the construct of the religious observer); and scientifically (the construct of the empiricist.) Each construct uses different languages, but each describes, accommodates, accepts, "knows" the same set of phenomena. The implication is that science and religion are not so much diametrically opposed, as they are akin to the 5 blind men describing the elephant. Each knows there's an elephant in the room. It is only in the description, not the actual perception, that differences emerge.

I love Graham Hancock's work. Glad this came out as an audio book, it was one of the books I never finished and now I can when not fixed in one place.

I would recommend all of Graham Hancock's books. including his 3 historical fiction books (that are extremely well thought out and contain much real world history). Hancock latest book, "Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilization" is one of the best books on the history of our world written without the blinders main stream science keeps trying to say are logical.

Graham Hancock's books should be required reading. I believe that he is among a handful of authors in the last century who can rightly be viewed as the most influential during that timeframe.

Supernatural answered so many questions I had about the history of humankind, and the true meaning of the longstanding alien phenomenon. It also caused me to revisit certain episodes in my own life that once seemed nonsensical, but are now crystal clear.

Hancock has consistently been in the vanguard of the movement to challenge the orthodox version of human history. His Fingerprints of the Gods was a true masterpiece - a paradigm-shifting work that legitimized the genre and encouraged many other authors to join the fray.

Supernatural is not as wide-ranging in scope as Fingerprints, but I believe that the subject matter is more important because it provides definitive evidence for the genesis of concepts, such as religion, that govern our lives today. The thorough examination of the alien phenomenon is extremely elucidating, as are his descriptions of his own experiences under the influence of consciousness-boosting substances.

If any criticism can be leveled, it's that Hancock is so bent on proving his points that he sometimes beats them into the ground, long after he has done more than enough to establish them.

A highly-recommended book that should be required scholastic reading, but probably never will.

This fascinating book by alternative historian Graham Hancock investigates the origins of consciousness with reference to the work of David Lewis-Williams and his theory of the neuropsychological origins of cave art. It also goes further in proposing that those worlds and entities encountered in shamanic visions are not mere hallucinations but very real and that altered states are the means to gain entry to them.

Part One: The Visions, includes the author's experiences with the African hallucinogenic plant Iboga, looks at the cave of Pech Merle and then examines the theory of David Lewis-Williams. It also includes a section on Hancock's use of the South American plant ayahuasca.

Part Two explores the cave art of Upper Paleolithic Europe, with a closer look at the half-human half-animal representations that are so widespread. These "therianthropic" designs also occur in the rock art of Southern Africa and elsewhere. Hancock examines recurring themes in this ancient art, like that of the Wounded Man. He also discusses other aspects of this art, like the dots, starbursts, nets, ladders and windowpane-like geometrical figures. He closely examines the similarities and the differences between the art of ancient Europe and that of Africa. For example, the European art is found in dark subterranean caves while in Africa it is most often found in open rock shelters.

Chapter Six looks at the history of the academic study of rock art and concludes that it led nowhere until the theory of Lewis-Williams came along. Hancock demolishes the criticisms leveled at the work of Lewis-Williams and exposes the smear campaign waged against the South African academic. Among other interesting topics, he considers the 19th century notebooks of Bleek and Lloyd on the mythology of the San. These valuable documents provide clues to the religion of the San and the trance or altered state experience.

Part Three: The Beings, starts with discussions of the experiences and work of William James, Aldous Huxley, Albert Hoffman and Rick Strassman. It also looks at the UFO abduction experience and compares it with the shamanic exploration of other-worlds, with supernatural myths and folkloric traditions like that of fairies and elves. There really are fascinating correspondences between fairy lore, the UFO abduction experience and certain hallucinatory states.

Part Four: The Codes, looks at the structural similarities and connections and the common themes like therianthropic transformations, small robot-like humanoids, the breeding of hybrid infants, the idea of the Wounded Healer, etc. Hancock is convinced that the mind is a receiver and not simply a generator of consciousness. In this section he relates his impressions after smoking DMT, and then goes into a deeper exploration of the work of Dr Rick Strassman who is famous for his work with this substance. The passages on DNA are particularly gripping, especially the idea that our DNA might contain specific information on our origins and future. Hancock also discusses the work of other researchers like Jeremy Narby, Terrence McKenna, Benny Shanon and Francis Crick, the discoverer of DNA.

Part Five: The Religions, examines the belief in supernatural entities in all the world's major religions. He points out how "Father Christmas" and St Sebastian are ancient shamanic figures, the first for his red and white clothes which resemble the colours of the Amanita Muscaria mushroom and the second for being a therianthrope with a dog's head. Dreams and visions are then investigated, including those of Joan of Arc and Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes. Also the vision of Ezekiel, the mysteries of Eleusis and the role of Soma in Vedic religion. Hancock concludes this section with similar themes in the religion and mythology of ancient Egypt and the Maya.

Part Six: The Mysteries, returns to the work of Lewis-Williams and the fact that the ancient cave art is the oldest surviving evidence of the belief in spirit worlds and supernatural beings that exist at the heart of all religions. He disagrees strongly with Lewis-Williams about the reality of these realms and beings. He observes that people have consistently reported the same pattern of experiences from every part of the globe and from all cultures. Hancock believes that these alternative realms are very real and that we may gain access to them via the trance state, whether it is brought about by ingestion of substances, trance dances, fasting or other practices that cause a change in consciousness.

There are many black and white illustrations and paintings throughout the book and a set of colour plates that includes, amongst others, the paintings of Peruvian shaman Pablo Amaringo plus photographs of San rock art from Southern Africa. The three appendices are: Critics and Criticisms of David Lewis-Williams' Neuropsychological Theory of Rock and Cave Art; Psilocybe Semilanceata: a Hallucinogenic Mushroom Native To Europe by Professor Roy Watling; and an illuminating interview with Dr Rick Strassman. The book concludes with bibliographic references arranged by chapter, and an index.

Supernatural deals with so many thought-provoking matters that the interested reader might want more information and/or other perspectives on various aspects of the study. The following books may be helpful: DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman, Stone Age Soundtracks by Paul Devereux, Huston Smith's Cleansing The Doors Of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals, William James' Varieties Of Religious Experience, Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness by Abraham, McKenna and Sheldrake, White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader by John Miller, Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers by Schultes, Hofmann and Ratsch, Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy by Clark Heinrich, The Cave of Altamira by Pedro Ramos and The Mind In The Cave by David Lewis-Williams.

The realm of the skeptic is a strange one. Certainly, it is always immersed within fear, denial, arrogance, and, quite frankly, laziness. I had completed graduate level work in human evolution and development many years ago, and I didn't exactly have an easy time accepting the tremendous possibility that 95% of what I had read and regurgitated many times over was simply false, given the compelling frame work of the vast (often hidden) evidence. But, I have always been interested in the truth, no matter how bizarre, so I moved on and contemplated other theories and ideas that were not solely politically based, but rather were rational and simply "workable" in their presentation. I understand academia all too well and I realize that "science" has been bought and paid for for too long, which is why it is somewhat sad for me to encounter the skeptics. They don't understand that the "facts" that they are clinging to have precious little hard science supporting them. Science has become like a group of little tyrants all trying to maintain control and grab a buck while being patted on the head by their financiers. Where has the courage, the curiosity, the thirst for knowledge, the adventurous spirit of science gone? Surely it goes well beyond ego, conservatism, or even money. This is why alternative theories within science always must somehow come to terms with the obvious conspiracy of it all, whether naming it the Illuminati, or Sons of Belial, or space Aliens, or mind control, or Satanism, or whatever, because there is most certainly an agenda operating that is keeping incredible information from us. My humble advice: just let it go, open your mind, and move on. A good start is reading books like this. We may all find that we are far more special, more powerful, more truly bizarre than any "alternative" book has speculated thus far. And what would be so bad about that?

Hancock's basic thesis has been well described by other reviewers below. H. champions the popular Lewis-Williams hypothesis that cave art reflects shamanic rituals performed under trance conditions (often induced by hallucinogenics). This hypothesis he connects to his own experiences of having met "alien intelligences" in hallucinogenic journeys induced by ibogain, ayahuasca and Psilocybe. With the little help from his plant friends Hancock encounters Egyptian gods, ancestors, transcendental snakes and weirdly sinister alien types with slit eyes and subsequently combines these pieces of information into the suggestion that human evolution has been guided since time immemorial (actually, since about 30 000 BC) by discarnate intelligences living in "other dimensions".

To prove this idea, GH goes fishing for corroboration: he finds it in tales of UFO abductees, who claim to have been taken onto alien spacecraft, hoisted with "implants" and forced to nurse alien-hybrid babies (i am not making this up). Then he is struck by the similarity of the fairy lore to UFO abduction tales... again, the idea is that these "alien" creatures have been with humankind from dawn of our consciousness and that they are responsible for its awakening -through trance states induced through dancing, sensory/physical deprivation or hallucinogenics. They may even have messed with our DNA where Hancock approvingly cites Narby's ideas about DNA as a "cosmic serpent".

Like most of Hancock's books, Supernatural is well-written, representing yet another display of a natural storyteller's talent for delaying hapless readers' gratification - all the while leading us along winding roads decorated with sightseeing trinkets represented by UFO abductees, DMT trippers, prehistoric caves, Francis Crick, therianthropes, spirits and San Bushmen from Southern Africa. The book is superbly illustrated with representations of cave art from Europe and Africa and has a great intro into the murky politics of prehistoric art scholarship. However, while pretending at practicing the art of investigative reporting and objective analysis, GH is anything but. This book is all about selective citation, where *only* case studies, theories and ideas that conform to GHs grand hypothesis are cited whereas opposing views literally don't exist, with the exception of those that are easily debunked (i.e., Lewis-Williams' detractors). In other words, this book is an entertaining read, nothing less... and nothing more.

Yet - if you do chance upon it, read it. You'll have a good time.

A most interesting work that posits the theory that religious knowledge originates from shamans who have gained insight and knowledge from drug induced trances which open the mind to real spiritual phenomena that really exist, as opposed to random and unreal imaginings triggered by the drugs - thus we are not seeing things that are not there, but indeed our minds are opened up by these drugs to the spiritual and religious world..
These drugs such as ibogaine and ahayuasca connect the mind with various spiritual entities such as Chinese dragons and a variety of strange reptiles, aliens, fairies, therianthropes (combinations of humans and animals), and angels.
Hancock explores cave art from France and Spain to as far afield as Southern Africa, and comes to the conclusion that the similarities could not be coincidental but rather point to a common spiritual source transmitted from trance like states. Hence ancient art comes from taping into the inner mental universe as well as the spiritual world.
He also puts forward the view that 2% of humans are born with prophetic ability allowing them to receive visions and spiritual revelations through trances without needing these to be induced by drugs.
The author deals with UFO's and alien sightings, human animal transformation showed on rock art from more than 35 000 years ago, the sighting s of 'sprites and fairies' and his theories of the shamanic origins of the great religions including the visions of Ezekiel, and his opinion that Jesus Christ was one of the greatest shamans of all time.
He gives evidence of his theory about the visions of Joan of Arc, and the sightings by children in Portugal in the early 20th century of the Lady Fatima, which he sees as connections with the ancient fairy world,
He gives hundreds of case stories of evidence and delves into depth into what he saw in trance like states induced by a variety of drugs including ibogaine, ahayuasca, hallucinogenic mushrooms and some substances with similar properties to LSD.
He laments how the 'war on drugs' launched in the 1970s put an effective stop to research into supernatural and spiritual information from drug induced trances.
His theories though highly controversial substantiate the reality of independent existence of spirits and other metaphysical phenomena, which point us in the way of the path to knowledge about creation and spiritual truth.

I really enjoyed this book (and am still reading parts of it). This book is, I think, one of the most important books one can read. It is very eye-opening and illuminating, to anyone interested in the basis of religion. It presents almost a scientific explanation to religion, without trying to "debunk" religion, which is an extremely novel approach.

One criticism I have with this book, is that the author seems to doubt too much in humanity, and put too much faith in the "spiritual beings" from "other realms". It seems he thinks nearly everything we have achieved is because of these entities, and not because of our own prowess and imagination. One particular example is with DNA, and that "aliens" might have encoded all knowledge inside "junk DNA", and that only 1% of our DNA is actually useful. I think this may be more akin to the myth that we only use 10% of our brain (we use all of our brain, but it may be said we usually are only using 10% of it at a given time).

So it's more likely we just don't understand the entire DNA code, and that there isn't any "junk DNA", it all plays a role, even if minor. We should give ourselves more credit here, and not try to write off all of our accomplishments to "aliens". Just to make things clear, I think psychedelics have played a vital role in our evolution. It's just a little offputting to write off our progress to other sentient beings.

Furthermore, it seems contradictory to propose that:
A) Hallucinogenic experiences are encounters with real entities.
and
B) Hallucinogenic experiences are recordings from our DNA.

You can't have it both ways. Either its A or its B, but not both. Talking to a recording, is not talking to a being, no matter how you slice it. Finally, to think that beings genetically engineered our DNA, then let it loose over a billion years, only to culminate in sentient beings who would then use DMT to read the message in the DNA... do you see how absurd this is? It's like the ULTIMATE GOTCHA CONSPIRACY, one so ludicrously complex, like an impossible plot from a bad movie. If, by some fluke, researchers prove me wrong, and find a secret movie code in our DNA, then I'll stand corrected. It justs seems beyond the realms of even believable fiction.

In spite of this, I highly, highly recommend this book.

Graham Hancock asks the questions that few other writers or historians dare ask. His previous books have all been bestsellers, setting the standard for research and paradigm-shift thinking about human history. And with Supernatural, he tackles the heady subjects of human evolution, Paleolithic cave art, and shamanic rituals.

Sometime around 196,000 years ago, the human species evolved to full anatomical modernity. But it was only about 40,000 years ago that we suddenly developed everything that essentially makes us human. What was the mechanism that pushed us down the path to civilization? Hancock concludes that ancient cave paintings were not just basic hunter/hunting magic ceremonial images but the direct result of our ancestors performing shamanic rituals with powerful, hallucinogenic plants.

He bases his summation on paleoanthroplogist Dr. David Lewis-Williams' theorems and on his own, vivid experiences with a variety of hallucinogens, such as ayahuasca, eboga, and psilocybin mushrooms, all commonly used in shamanic rituals. Hancock's central premise, first introduced by philosopher Henri Bergson and writer Aldous Huxley, is that the human brain is a receiver rather than a creator of consciousness. And it was this ability that gave humanity the spark of culture and creativity. Through this paradigm-shifting process, religion was also born.

Hancock also delves into the fascinating work of Dr. Rick Strassman on the spirit molecule. He explores the possibility that in trance states we are actually seeing into a parallel existence. He investigates medieval fairy lore and the UFO abduction phenomenon, including the possibility of hybrid babies being born in alternative realms.

Supernatural is a real mindbender and a must read for anyone with even an interest in religion, origins of humanity, ancient art, and anthropology. In fact, is should be required reading everywhere.
Mysteries Magazine

Graham Hancock has taken on his most controversial topic in Supernatural, exploring the origins of religion. He takes us back 36,000 years to the magnificent drawings our ancestors made in the caves of Europe, explaining that entoptic shapes (universal shapes thought to originate in the brain) and therianthropic figures (part human, part animal) are heavily featured in these drawings. Why should the drawings be so similar in rock art spanning a huge stretch of time and in numerous locations around the world? The answer lies in the trance state which shamans in all times and places have used to communicate with "other realities."

Hancock does not merely interview shamans and those who study them; he tries their hallucinogenic drugs himself and encounters some of those other realities. With the drug ayahuasca in Peru, he meets a human with a crocodile head. He researches different peoples, current and ancient, who have a tradition of shamanism and finds the their visions share many features. Drug-induced hallucinations are part of many spiritual traditions; even the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries involved participants drinking a hallucinogenic brew before entering the Temple for an inititation ceremony. In the mid-1990s, Dr. Rick Strassman ran a government-approved study with the drug DMT, giving it to volunteers. The reports of participants were eerily similar to tales from shamans the world over.

Not all shamans use drugs. The same trance state can be induced by other methods: rhythmic dancing with drum-beating or hypnotic music, self-mutilation, or sensory deprivation. But use of a psychedelic drug is the most common method. Hancock postulates that it was these very meetings with supernatural beings while in trance that first gave our ancestors the idea of a spiritual realm and that this is the origin of religion.

But aren't these hallucinations just images manufactured in the brain? Not necessarily. Those who have visitied these realms are generally convinced of their reality. If you can accept that consciousness is separate from the brain, that the brain may simply be a receiver, then you can consider the possibility that human consciousness is actually traveling to other realities through the intervention of DMT or other psychedelic drugs. Shamans report that they bring back knowledge from their travel to these other worlds. Many say they have learned all they know about healing and other useful arts from the beings they meet in the other realm. It is common that they meet the same beings repeatedly. Shamans do not doubt the actual reality of the places they visit in trance.

When did we lose the connection to these supernatural visits? Modern religious leaders have no supernatural power to offer us, only dogmas. Direct experience of the supernatural is discouraged and hallucinogenic drugs are illegal in the United States and Great Britain. We are effectively blocked from having these experiences, which, throughout the history of mankind, have been so revered for the insights and wisdom they can potentially bestow.

Hancock searches for other instances throughout history where people report similar kinds of experiences. He finds fairies and aliens. He finds parallels with the alien abduction experiences widely reported.

Hancock gets a bit shaky when he suggests that UFO sightings are a result of spontaneous altered states of consciousness. He speculates that about two percent of all people can enter an altered state spontaneously. If drugs bring on experiences like seeing a UFO, why do people who are not taking drugs also see them? Many UFO sightings have involved large numbers of people who could not all have been in an altered state. The theory that you only see these beings in a trance state may be wrong. Perhaps the beings sometimes enter our reality and, when they do, they become physical like us and can be seen by everyone.

The parallels between reports of ayahuasca users and alien abduction reports are many. The widely-reported instances of aliens apparently seeking to breed with humans and create hybrids are echoed in experiences of hallucinegenic drug users. Is it possibile that the entities are trying to gain a foothold in our reality by creating hybrids?

Hancock intorduces another intriguing idea, that our very DNA contains a history (in the so-called "junk DNA") of our race, as well as useful knowledge. Particularly with the drug DMT, users report being in a kind of school where they are rapidly presented with large amounts of information from beings who seem robotic. Does the drug let us access information coded into our DNA?

The DNA of all living things (plant and animal) is almost entirely the same. Is this why mystics report that enlightenment brings the knowledge that "we are all one?" Do the therianthropes of the cave art represent the insight that man and animals are essentially the same?

Hancock ends his book with his last drug experience, and he too alludes to having achieved something personally valuable from his drug experiences, but he lets the words trail off without telling us what happened in that last visit to the other realm. He leaves us with the impression that there is so much more he could have told us.

An interesting if speculative and decidedly non-mainstream theory of the origins of religion. Hancock connects his own experiences with natural psychedelic susbstances and the sudden evidence of the first use of symbols by humans 40,000 years ago. As the book progresses, Hancock brings in alien abduction theories, the religions of ancient Egypt, the Mayans, Crick's discovery of the shape of the DNA helix under the influence of LSD, and other wide-ranging evidence. His hypothesis? That all DNA may be seeded from a source outside Earth; that it carries a linguistic code in the non-determinant part of the DNA; that psychedelics provide an alternate level of consciousness that can communicate with DNA's alien authors; and that they continue to visit earth both to increase our sum of knowledge and to strengthen their own genetic stock through interbreeding. Although Hancock's theory is totally wacky - I was prepared to be completely skeptical - he is careful when to identify speculation and when to provide solid evidence. You may not believe, but at least go along for the ride.

A well researched and thought provoking concept. This was one of the books I used to research my novel series 'Seven Point Eight'. Hancock uses a blend of his own experiments with psychedelic compounds and the history of shamanism. It also covers UFO folklore and faery mythology, which is put into context along with aspects of neuroscience.

He draws much of his key research from the work of Rick Strassman and his experiments with DMT, so readers who enjoyed Hancock's book should check out 'DMT: The Spirit Molecule' too. However, Hancock develops this further by personally experimenting with a range of hallucinogenic compounds. His experiences make fascinating reading and push us to question the concept of 'reality'.

The only negative is that at times, it was repetitive so it could have benefited from downsizing a little. But otherwise, an enthralling read.

It is hard to imagine Hancock surpassing this one - what is there left for him to explore? I couldn't put this book down (after racing through his facinating FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS), finding it the most stimulating book I've read in decades! It helped make sense of ancient and pop cultures, and helped ground my life and experiences within this vast, vivid and ongoing continuum.

This revised edition shortens his discussion of the cave painting/drug/shamanic theory (pretty convincing), and moves on through wonderfully lucid discussions of the Spirit world that meets us in the storeian shamanic trances, European Fairy folk, American alien abductions, DMT realms and DNA's latent mysteries.

This is a wake up call for our modern culture and materialistic mindsets to rejoin our evolutionary development and embrace the spiritual.

Highly recommended, cogent, informed, and inquisitive investigative journalism.

In January, I read Graham Hancock's Supernatural in which he runs the gamut from early human cave paintings to gods, and angels, fairies, psychedelics, shamans, and aliens and links them all together as basically the same phenomenon. In my mind, (being subjects I've already spent a fair amount of time studying) he does a very good job of forming a solid theory with many examples to back up this theory. Basically he is saying that our encounters with the supernatural, are the same, only the outer appearance changes along with our technology and world view, that what we once thought were angels became fairies in later times, and then became aliens in the present. He makes sure to state that this all presupposes that these experiences are real. And if we suppose that they are, then how do we begin to study a supernatural reality. As I said, the book is great and very entertaining.

I've followed Graham Hancock's work through the years with great interest and appreciation, even when he has been on a few side trails. History is less easily tested than the "hard" sciences, but Hancock has made a career of gathering together many small bits and pieces of things to reveal the underlying patterns that were not as noticeable before, but now appear strongly and certainly to be true.

Always in pursuit of the presumed lost civilization that gave birth to our own, Hancock has been all over the world and even under the seas in his recent book, Underworld, searching for empirical evidence in ruins of human structures dateable to a time before the commonly accepted genesis dates of civilization. It was quite a twist for me, then, when I learned that he was writing a new book on a totally different angle. In Supernatural, Hancock takes us on an epic journey from the famous pre-historic cave art of Europe and rock art from Africa with its strange menageries of part human-part animal beings, through modern expressions of shamanistic beliefs and techniques, and the use of and research into psychoactive substances that seem to open a doorway into another reality. These things, he maintains, are all connected and should be given the consideration of representing something real rather than being casually dismissed as primitive superstition or "brain fiction" caused by chemical reactions in the molecules of the brain.

This is a philosophy I've been personally exploring for some time, and it is quite a treat to have a researcher with the time, resources, and courage of Hancock, to forge so strongly ahead in a direction I was going. He has locked on to the same literary resources that propelled my own interest - Narby's "Cosmic Serpent", Shanon's epic "Antipodes of the Mind", Strassman's "DMT The Spirit Molecule", etc. Plus, he has now personally experienced the effects of those natural psychoactive plants that have opened a portal for humans for millenia, from magic mushrooms to iboga to ayahuasca. Far from being "pleasure trips", most of these substances are difficult and extremely unpleasant to use. The ritual and sacremental use of them is endured in order to experience the non- ordinary realities that they can reveal. Realities that seem to include non-human entities. Hancock takes us through the centuries with stories of angels, demons, fairies, goblins, and all the "other beings" called by various names through the centuries. Not the least of these are the modern concepts of extra-terrestrial aliens. He shows how these are all expressions of the same phenomenon, from the part-human/animal cave art depictions to the grey aliens of UFO's, and how their interactions with humans over time has seemingly evolved towards some purpose.

The first part of the book dealing with the cave art gets somewhat long and repetitive, but I realize that Hancock is being rather more careful these days to back up what he is saying with the most thorough research job he can achieve in order to deflect as much of the certain academic backlash as possible.

Supernatural is a very important book for those seeking a quantum jump forward into unknown but extremely compelling territory. Its subject matter will certainly cause it to be profoundly ignored or at most crassly denigrated by the orthodox scientific/academic community, but that is the nature of human nature. It takes someone with courage who has no turf to protect to simply go in pursuit of these things with the golden purpose of finding out what is real. That is certainly my goal, having recently returned from a similar journey to Peru to work directly with Ayahuasca. It is a valued resource, as well as a pleasure and a comfort, to have Graham Hancock on that road with me.

I've followed Graham Hancock's work through the years with great interest and appreciation, even when he has been on a few side trails. History is less easily tested than the "hard" sciences, but Hancock has made a career of gathering together many small bits and pieces of things to reveal the underlying patterns that were not as noticeable before, but now appear strongly and certainly to be true.

Always in pursuit of the presumed lost civilization that gave birth to our own, Hancock has been all over the world and even under the seas in his recent book, Underworld, searching for empirical evidence in ruins of human structures dateable to a time before the commonly accepted genesis dates of civilization. It was quite a twist for me, then, when I learned that he was writing a new book on a totally different angle. In Supernatural, Hancock takes us on an epic journey from the famous pre-historic cave art of Europe and rock art from Africa with its strange menageries of part human-part animal beings, through modern expressions of shamanistic beliefs and techniques, and the use of and research into psychoactive substances that seem to open a doorway into another reality. These things, he maintains, are all connected and should be given the consideration of representing something real rather than being casually dismissed as primitive superstition or "brain fiction" caused by chemical reactions in the molecules of the brain.

This is a philosophy I've been personally exploring for some time, and it is quite a treat to have a researcher with the time, resources, and courage of Hancock, to forge so strongly ahead in a direction I was going. He has locked on to the same literary resources that propelled my own interest - Narby's "Cosmic Serpent", Shanon's epic "Antipodes of the Mind", Strassman's "DMT The Spirit Molecule", etc. Plus, he has now personally experienced the effects of those natural psychoactive plants that have opened a portal for humans for millenia, from magic mushrooms to iboga to ayahuasca. Far from being "pleasure trips", most of these substances are difficult and extremely unpleasant to use. The ritual and sacremental use of them is endured in order to experience the non- ordinary realities that they can reveal. Realities that seem to include non-human entities. Hancock takes us through the centuries with stories of angels, demons, fairies, goblins, and all the "other beings" called by various names through the centuries. Not the least of these are the modern concepts of extra-terrestrial aliens. He shows how these are all expressions of the same phenomenon, from the part-human/animal cave art depictions to the grey aliens of UFO's, and how their interactions with humans over time has seemingly evolved towards some purpose.

The first part of the book dealing with the cave art gets somewhat long and repetitive, but I realize that Hancock is being rather more careful these days to back up what he is saying with the most thorough research job he can achieve in order to deflect as much of the certain academic backlash as possible.

Supernatural is a very important book for those seeking a quantum jump forward into unknown but extremely compelling territory. Its subject matter will certainly cause it to be profoundly ignored or at most crassly denigrated by the orthodox scientific/academic community, but that is the nature of human nature. It takes someone with courage who has no turf to protect to simply go in pursuit of these things with the golden purpose of finding out what is real. That is certainly my goal, having recently returned from a similar journey to Peru to work directly with Ayahuasca. It is a valued resource, as well as a pleasure and a comfort, to have Graham Hancock on that road with me.

Supernatural takes you on a classical Graham Hancock journey this time through the jungles and into the culture of the shamans. Hancock in this book combines historical research with experimentation of psychotropic hallucinogens such as ayahuasca and DMT. The book focuses on phenomenological issues of consciousness and the evolution of constructive thought. The thesis of this book is essentially that the evolution of the human mind and thought from the ancient non-sophisticated cultures to our current super technologically advanced societies today, was facilitated by conscious experimentation and experience with psychoactive plants which somehow unlocked knowledge through secret wave lengths or channels existing in seperate dimensions which can be connected to our being...

One of the issues Hancock focuses on is the historical account given by Francis Crick that it was under the influence of LSD that he "saw" the double helix structure of DNA. Crick of course with Watson are the ones credited with elucidating the structure of DNA. Hancock also goes on to talk about his discovery that many cultures which use psychotropic plants prepared by shamans have a history of discovering very improbable and greatly hidden secrets. How he supports this assertion I do not exactly know considering that the cultures today that continue to promote shamanic rituals are usually the most technologically backwards. Nonetheless, aside from the technological benefits that Hancock attributes to DMT and plants of the like, he maintains spiritual benefits do come from their use. He talks about how all of his life he suffered from migraines but after taking ayahuasca several times his migraines are now gone. Here he seems to be crafting an interesting parallel to the hallucinogenic plants with modern interests in homeopathy and the like. Certainly the concept of nature plays a huge role in this book and it's message. One of the messages of the book is that human nature has become corrupted by the modern vices and pressures of a materialistically obsessed society we live in- that because of this spiritual and natural corruption society has become ill. Hancock sees the shamanic culture and its rituals as part of the remedy for this ailment.

Hancock presents two theories for how shamanic rituals work on the consciousness. One is that when in "altered states of consciousness" one is actually connecting with another dimension of the universe or of being. In this dimension you can access secrets and valuable insights from actual living entitles or beings on the other side. While a bit creepy and ghost story like it is somewhat fascinating, though I find this explanation less plausible. I have known a few junkies (LSD users and such) in my time and none have claim to have "encounters with the ancient teacher of man kind," and certainly none have come up with can technological breakthroughs... The other theory he proposes however which I do find plausible, is that within our DNA, if it is designed by an intelligence, there could be already within our hardware, messages, knowledge or information that has somehow been imprinted into it, waiting to be unlocked. Thus, he speculates, within altered states of consciousness we can at times, some how "tap into" that valuable information source and reach different points of enlightenment. I cant say that this is actually the case or even a real possibility but I do find the idea worthy of being called "a theory" to some extent and it is to me interesting. I would like to point out that when reading these kinds of books I take them as partially fictional and partially non-fiction. I don't consider this a scientific book of any merit but an exposé of a theory in the works and an account of a personal story. A little bit of paranormal pseudo-science mixed with some real science and a little novelty is what Hancock books tend to be.

I gave this book 4 stars because its far better than the usually drivel out there and I am a pretty liberal grader when it comes to books that interested me.

Hancock repeats himself over and over ad nauseum to drive his point home, but the book can be condensed down to this: Alien abductions = fairy abductions = shamanic spirit journeys. Increased levels (either naturally or artificially induced) of DMT in the brain bring on vivid hallucinations, and for some reason the basic content of these "dreams" is consistent across times and cultures. Could it be that there's an objectively "real" spirit world which we can perceive in altered states of consciousness? Or is it that these visions are somehow hard-wired into the human brain to play out whenever chemically triggered? A "rational" scientific thinker would favor the second option, but that raises the question of WHY - why is this information installed in our brains? Where did it come from? What purpose does it serve? What evolutionary advantage did it bestow on our ancestors?

The book starts by discussing paleolithic cave art and explaining it in terms of hallucinations and entoptic phenomena. It's a compelling hypothesis which actually fits the known facts far better than the previous theory accepted among academics that the paintings were a form of sympathetic magic to insure a successful hunt. In Hancock's version, cavemen accidentally ate some psychoactive fungus and were greatly impressed by the resulting hallucinations. They got the inspiration to make a ritual out of it, go down in a cave and paint what they saw in the visions. This was the dawn of art and religion, and the birth of modern Man ... if the theory is correct, we owe all of civilization to a bunch of people tripping on 'shrooms.

Not content just to theorize, Hancock determines to test his theory firsthand by actually taking some psychedelics so he can see what happens. The reasons for doing this make sense I suppose, but once you've taken that step, your subsequent judgement can be called into question.

This is probably a very important book; it made me think about things I had never even considered before. But it leads to a very personal, subjective experience that - while immensely valuable on a personal level - is outside the realm of science. Like most "occult" subjects it is fascinating, potentially rewarding, but essentially unprovable.

I would have never thought that a correlation between alien abductions and fairy lore existed, but when faced with the evidence and stories from other people, it's clear that there is a common thread. I honestly believe in multiple dimensions, believing in string theory and being a Gnostic, I was fascinated by the proposition that aliens (and fairies) could actually be from another dimension, instead of from another planet or just figments of our imagination. It makes sense to me that there are ways to see into these other dimension, such as with the use of DMT, and that our brains may very well be wired to access these realms under certain conditions.
I was also astounded with his research into DNA, its discovery and the supposed junk DNA that may very well be stored information, due to the fact that literary algorithms showed that the information is composed very much like a book would be, unlike the coded DNA used to specify genetic attributes.

This book is extremely engaging and very well written. I'm a casual fan of Graham Hancock's work, and I think that this is his best so far. In some of his previous work, I felt like he didn't go far enough to speculate cohesive conclusions from all of the (strong) evidence that he gathered. In this one, he gathers compelling evidence both first-hand and from credible sources and synthesizes it into compelling conclusions about man, consciousness, and the nature of reality. A truly excellent book.

I saw Graham speak at a gathering in Brisbane last year and bought this book from the venue, as well.
I have to say that this is one of the best books I have read on the subjects discussed in the book and Graham is really doing some cutting edge work in the field by being his own guinea pig with his fascinating experiments into consciousness.
This book is destined to be a classic in it's field, if it isn't already.

As a life-long scholar of consciousness evolution studies, in general, and shamanism, in particular, all I need to say is, if you can find a better book on this topic ... buy it!

In brief, however, under the influence of "plant teachers" this author confirms by examining firsthand prehistoric painted caves of Europe and South Africa, as well as the trance-created paintings of South American shamans, that the same "super-natural beings" are depicted over and over again. That the same "stick" symbols convey the same meanings, in other words. How can that be if consciousness itself is not a flowing stream, a "field," of imagery common to mankind everywhere and everywhen at once? Of course, it cannot; no matter how the skeptics slice and dice it this truth will not die now! Anyone worth their salt as a "quantum" neuro-scientist, of whatever ilk (e.g., biology, psychology, physics, even theology) knows that paranormal phenomena are screaming this singular fact at us today: "We are one global human being!"

That is, we share a unified field of mind that is only partitioned out into six billion bodies presently. We even have a name for this type of biological distribution throughout nature; we call it "fractal geometry." Thus, I can't help but meditate on the wisdom of "as above, so below, as within, so without" and wonder where did that gem come from anyway -- a third-eye-open shaman? Hancock is right-on-target in that regards, too: "Gifted and experienced shamans the world over really do know more -- much more -- than they [scientists] do." (p. 285)

To the point: Do states of trance and "vision" plants let us see behind the curtain of creation? Could we be peering into the soul of invisible albeit "real" realms -- the archetypal, ideal, home of gods? Is our brain a tuning-device not the creator of mind? Is mind what matter is made of? That is the conclusion of orthodox physicists today; the cosmos is made of mind-stuff and operates more as thoughts, than a machine, within the Mind of God. Indeed as this rhetorical question is asked in this book: "Could it be that human evolution is not just the 'meaningless' process that Darwin identified, but something more purposive and intelligent that we have barely begun to understand?" Ya' think? Go figure!

How about when we all learn the secret truths of the shamans' rituals and begin to focus our minds as a single laser of cutting-edge consciousness to solve our planet's problems of pollution? How about when we form larger spiritual communities to heal one another using the "solar" power, the photosynthesis, contained within organic, natural, plants? That is to say, don't we grasp that we are a cancer-creating, dis-eased society today because we live, and move, and have our being in a low-energy, highly-toxic, radioactive, asphalt jungle? Oh, now there's the deeper meaning to this astute explorer's "supernatural" revelations. We are tasked with restoring the Garden of Eden now! As Hancock himself proclaims, as I do profusely, "This is hardly surprising since Christ was so obviously and so profoundly a shaman." (p. 499). Power to the plants that created the people on our beautiful blue-marble planet! A-men.

Dr. John Jay Harper is author of Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21st Century.

Riveting throughout, yet (not suprisingly) replete with unanswered questions: what exactly are the healing powers and methods discovered by shamans during their otherworldly journeys? Are there specific instances of shamans curing disease? Why is the supposed wisdom gained by those who tune into the other realms bereft of the practical, such as being of use to the residents of the the store in keeping their homeland from destruction or, earlier, the San people from extermination? What part do the trances alledgedly gone into by spiritualist mediums play in these doings? Why did thousands of years of psychoactive plant ingestion leave our ancestors exactly where they started, with no apparent progression in their culture? Nevertheless, this--like almost all of Mr Hancock's books--is eminently worthwhile, start to finish.

The premise: Paleolithic man painted some scenes that had no basis in everyday experience. Therefore the models for the paintings came either from his imagination or from hallucinations percieved during trace states. The images depicted are archtypal altered state of consciousness visions that can be reproduced in minds of modern humans. Conclusion: Altered states of consciousness are a gateway to an alternative reality.The notion of "conciousness as receiver" is a fascinating way of interpreting hallucinations. Unfortunately, if one carries that concept to its obvious conclusion, it opens some new interpretations of disturbed brain biochemistry, including schizophrenia. It's no wonder Hancock expresses an element of fear when he experiments with hallucinogens. Losing ones grip on "reality" is scarey for a reason. I wouldn't mind snapping a photo of the Loch Ness Monster, but keep it out of my swimming pool, please. Is Cryptozoology folklore, or an alternative Safariland? Are all hallucinations "real", or just those that introduce us to aliens and faries?

The UFO abduction phenomenon is deliberately treated as analgous to shamanistic experiences, but he fails to mention that the research that he cites was conducted exclusively on hypnotized subjects. Without an exploration of the accuracy of recall under hypnosis Hancock omits a very big piece of the puzzle. The Betty and Barney Hill abduction story stands as a landmark scam case in the abduction literature, but he chooses to use it anyway.

This is Graham Hancock's best book to date. The sheer numbers of occult phenomena that he takes on under a common theory are worthy of a serious look. The attack on Darwin however, illustrates an ignorance of modern evoluationary theory. Darwin never advocated an orthogenetic version of human evoluation (that is, directionality along channels of internal contraint). However Darwinism refers to adaptation and genetic modification specifically regarding speciation, not cultural or "memetic" changes over relatively brief periods of geologic time. Darwin would have no problem with Hancock's theories, although Hancock himself rightly asks the question "What adaptive advantage could supernatural experience possibly confer on early humans?" To assume redundant DNA is wasteful and therefore another example of contrary Darwinism is another error. Exaptations (copies of the genone that have yet to find utility) are another modern evolutionary concept. What we're talking about is phenotypic expression, when it comes to the experiences of an organism, human or otherwise. The presence of "junk DNA" is in no sense anti-Darwin. I wouldn't expect Hancock to be familiar with all modern evolutionary concepts, but he should stop making references to "human evolution" because it's out of his field of expertise.

If there's a sequel to Supernatural. it would be a speculative book on the reasons why these "ancient secrets" have been so successfully kept from mankind for so long. William Bramley has already written that book (see The Gods of Eden), but I would love to see an updated version.

I've read widely in the field of religion, philosophy, folklore, UFOs, shamanism, etc., and have written on these subjects as a journalist. Hancock does the best job I've come cross of synthesizing the evidence to provide a remarkably coherent, insightful, and profound theory as to the role of entities in human evolution. I strongly recommend that you read it.

Graham Hancock's synthesis of an intriguing phenomena is ground-breaking. Meticulous research, breathtaking summaries, and paradigm-shifting conclusions abound in this study of culture, anthropology, physiology, and art. If there were a Nobel Prize for Cultural Studies or Cultural Preservation, Graham Hancock would win.

- Omar W. Rosales
Author of "Elemental Shaman"
[...]

Graham Hancock has always been open to unconventional ideas regarding alternative history (pseudo-archeology, if you like). In this latest tome, he dove into his own psyche through the use of psychedelics to find answers about the origins of human consciousness. He posits our ancestors discovered these psychedelics millennia ago and that this is a major driving factor in the development of our current state of mind or perspective regarding reality. This is a fascinating read regardless of what you think of this field of study. The expansion of Hancock's perspective is interesting and makes one think that more people should expand their perspective in this way.

I enjoyed entertaining the hypothesis proposed in this book. The author does a very good job reporting research done by others that helps support his hypothesis, although the author tends to provide more "case examples" than is necessary in each sub-argument, making the book longer than necessary. However, the authors of the other work he quotes admit more testing/research is needed to help prove the "realness" of what is seen in their own and research subjects' ethnogenic experiences, and the author's own experiments with ethnogenic substances as reported in the book contain only some similarities to what he is arguing should be dominant staples in everyone's experiences with these substances, as his theory goes. Relatedly, I felt he did not perform enough attempts with each substance, or at least didn't report enough of them, for me to see that the few flashes of similarity he did experience support his main hypothesis. Similarly, I disliked how the book ended on an open-ended note where he had just consumed more substances as another "test," but that's it - book ends - no information about how that experience went.

Ultimately, more testing/research is needed; I hope there is, as there seems to be a strong case for this hypothesis...

Graham Hancock is not a scientist but I believe that this is a positive rather than a negative. David Hancock has this gifted skill to be able to keep the scientists honest by asking the pertinent questions. He also gets into the drama of the paddock where the action is unlike many who offer opinions without leaving their desks.
This book is a serious attempt to inform man that his fate does not hinge on the dogma's of man created religions but on his own free will and his spirit that is linked to his DNA.

An important read for people that, like Graham Hancock, ask the questions .... GJ Crabb

Graham Hancock writes from the Western Perspective. He makes comparative analysis trying to highlight the pattern of events and not just simple word categories. There is more commonality than most of us have ever considered. Perhaps this is because the quasi-spiritual nature of the material is off the standard paradigm hence in effect somewhat taboo. But only by making heuristic "comparative juxtapositions" can commonalities come forth.

He finds strong similarities between the ET's, abductions, fairy peoples, Paleolithic Cave Art, hypnagogic imagery, historic referents and our human DNA. Just to mention a few of the topics. I think it is a ground breaking work and implies (to me) that we may be living in an interactive universe (not just the objective universe of our 19th Century mentation).

However, the projective nature of our human mentation is only now coming to light. We still see many things "out there" which may largely be "between our ears". It is as if our reality is often a psychic (maybe mental) simulation. Robert Stevens

Graham is right on with his theories. He has put his toe into the water that was the pool of Terence McKenna. No one since Terence, including Pinchbeck, has been able to communicate in this area with authority and integrity.

If you have not read/listened to much Terence or don't know who Pablo Aramango is, never heard of Paul Stamets, ayuascha, etc. then you will get much from this book. If however, you have studied McKenna and Eliede then there is not much new here for you.

Overall a very good book.

Science bashing is easy, particularly if you're a bully. Research over the past century has revealed an immensity of new information. The cosmos has expanded and retracted. Our planet's "skin" proved to be a dynamic surface with continents wandering about dodging and clashing. Humanity, once considered the "peak" of Nature's many living things, has proven to be another member of the animal kingdom. While all those areas of study have resolved many questions, they've raised many more. Journalists like Hancock need only select one of those remaining questions, formulate their own answer, then castigate "mainstream science" for not answering it to his satisfaction. It's a bullying tactic that he's used before. The sniping is boring and the dismissal of good researchers is insulting.

One of the last, and latest, areas being investigated is the human mind. What happens in that gob of porridge-like material in your skull. Is it truly a gateway to another universe? Hancock thinks so, but he follows a tortuous path in arriving at his conclusion. He opens with a physical trip into the the store region, and a mental journey prompted by a South American drug. Ayahuasca is a "shaman's drug" which evokes visions while purging the gastrointestinal system. People returning from the trip describe all manner of shapes, colours and creatures they encountered in their heads - or somewhere. Modern shamans apply the visions to many aspects of life, but "healing" and "rites of passage" are the major features [there's probably a fee schedule worked out]. Hancock tripped on ayahuasca with predictable results - including the purging. This isn't a pioneering venture - people like Wade Davis [among others] have made the trip on local ground. Hancock's derivation, however, is rather novel.

While we don't know when hallucinagenic drugs were first used to improve bedside manners, we have some indication of what hallucinations can evoke. The evidence is painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain, rockshelters in Africa and temples in the Western Hemisphere. Hancock introduces us to David Lewis-Williams, a South African palaeoanthropologist who devised the term "neuropsychological" to explain the condition cave artists experienced to produce those beautiful, fantastic images at Lascaux, Chauvet and elsewhere. Hancock accepts Lewis-Williams' thesis the cave art was inspired by images perceived by those in an "altered state of consciousness". Fair enough, says Hancock, who wants the scientist to go further. "Trip out with me!", he says in effect, "Otherwise your conclusions aren't valid". That's like saying if cancer researchers aren't infested with tumours we should scorn their results!

The reason Hancock wants scholars to ingest all those fancy chemicals is that he thinks they're missing something. What they're missing, he argues, is the gateway to another realm. About 2% of us, he contends, can do this without either chemical or physical stimulation. It's those people we should trust to guide us into the "spiritual world" since they don't need stimulation to visit this "outside". Those people, Hancock suggests, have a surplus of a chemical called "dimethyltriptamine" [DMT] in their brains. This tricky molecule turns out to be the gateway to the supernatural. To prove that, one of Hancock's more amenable researchers injected volunteers with DMT. They came back with tales of "the other side". Hancock weaves these studies with alien abduction tales and modern shaman's accounts to declare that the commonality of reactions across humanity says there's something there. Someplace, actually, and for Hancock it's the spirit realm. We can all get there if we try!

Hancock builds his case with style, enthusiasm and scope - sprinkled with a heavy dose of self-esteem. He cites numerous interviews, defends Lewis-Williams against his detractors, and shows us how easy it all is with accounts of his own jaunts into the supernatural. The interviewees seem pretty sympathetic with Hancock's thesis - or at least they don't object to it. Lewis-Williams is quite capable of defending himself. And Hancock's chemistry experiments only show that drugs play havoc with human neuronal nets. He might have learned this prior to his fearsome mental journeys if he'd spoken with some real neurobiologists. They could have explained about "sensory deprivation" and how the brain reacts to it. The information might have opened a few new doors for Hancock, while shutting down a few of his more bizarre speculations. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

The ideas and experiences noted in this book are very intriguing. If I was not familiar with the author, I would not have read beyond the first chapter, but because I have studied his other works, I studied it in it's entirety. I never thought that I could ever view conscious altering substances in quite the way that I now do. Read with an open mind or after reading his other work so that you will go into this material with respect for the author.