What do you think?
Rate this book
2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
Read Daniel Pinchbeck's posts on the Penguin Blog
Cross James Merrill, H. P. Lovecraft, and Carlos Castaneda -each imbued with a twenty-first-century aptitude for quantum theory and existential psychology-and you get the voice of Daniel Pinchbeck. And yet, nothing quite prepares us for the lucidity, rationale, and informed audacity of this seeker, skeptic, and cartographer of hidden realms.
Throughout the 1990s, Pinchbeck had been a member of New York's literary select. He wrote for publications such as The New York Times Magazine , Esquire , and Harper's Bazaar . His first book, Breaking Open the Head , was heralded as the most significant on psychedelic experimentation since the work of Terence McKenna.
But slowly something Rather than writing from a journalistic remove, Pinchbeck-his literary powers at their peak-began to participate in the shamanic and metaphysical belief systems he was encountering. As his psyche and body opened to new experience, disparate threads and occurrences made sense like never Humanity, every sign pointed, is precariously balanced between greater self-potential and environmental disaster. The Mayan calendar's "end date" of 2012 seems to define our present It heralds the end of one way of existence and the return of another, in which the serpent god Quetzalcoatl reigns anew, bringing with him an unimaginably ancient-yet, to us, wholly new-way of living.
A result not just of study but also of participation, 2012 tells the tale of a single man in whose trials we ultimately recognize our own hopes and anxieties about modern life.
Cross James Merrill, H. P. Lovecraft, and Carlos Castaneda -each imbued with a twenty-first-century aptitude for quantum theory and existential psychology-and you get the voice of Daniel Pinchbeck. And yet, nothing quite prepares us for the lucidity, rationale, and informed audacity of this seeker, skeptic, and cartographer of hidden realms.
Throughout the 1990s, Pinchbeck had been a member of New York's literary select. He wrote for publications such as The New York Times Magazine , Esquire , and Harper's Bazaar . His first book, Breaking Open the Head , was heralded as the most significant on psychedelic experimentation since the work of Terence McKenna.
But slowly something Rather than writing from a journalistic remove, Pinchbeck-his literary powers at their peak-began to participate in the shamanic and metaphysical belief systems he was encountering. As his psyche and body opened to new experience, disparate threads and occurrences made sense like never Humanity, every sign pointed, is precariously balanced between greater self-potential and environmental disaster. The Mayan calendar's "end date" of 2012 seems to define our present It heralds the end of one way of existence and the return of another, in which the serpent god Quetzalcoatl reigns anew, bringing with him an unimaginably ancient-yet, to us, wholly new-way of living.
A result not just of study but also of participation, 2012 tells the tale of a single man in whose trials we ultimately recognize our own hopes and anxieties about modern life.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published May 4, 2006
162 people are currently reading
887 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Pinchbeck
73 books236 followersDaniel Pinchbeck is an American author. His books include Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, and Notes from the Edge Times. He is a co-founder of the web magazine Reality Sandwich and of the website Evolver.net, and edited the North Atlantic Books publishing imprint Evolver Editions. He was featured in the 2010 documentary 2012: Time for Change, directed by Joao Amorim and produced by Mangusta Films. He is the founder of the think tank Center for Planetary Culture, which produced the Regenerative Society Wiki.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 285 reviews
September 24, 2008
Yeah, I know, but I had to. So. Much. Crack.
Actually, at first, I was kind of impressed with Daniel Pinkchbeck. He knows a lot of big words, for one thing. And how to sling them around. Son of an NYC artist and a NYC writer... he was bound to wind up a little pretentious around the edges. But he makes up for it by doubting himself at every turn. Because he's also neurotic. Just the right kind of person to injest copious amounts of hallucinogens. Oh, and then combine extensive reading in the subject of shamanism, the use of hallucinogens, mystic visionary writings, etc. Throw in a giant cauldron. Set the cauldron down in the middle of the Burning Man Festival. Set it on fire. Run far far away.
Pinchbeck manages to draw together threads from every New Age, LSD inspired, culturally appropriated, loonie hippie pipe dream he stumbles across. Crop circles (check). Meso-American Mythology (check), Rudolph Steiner (check), Carlos Castaneda (check), Aleister Crowley (check), African iboga boogie men (check), Free Love (check), the "noosphere" (THE WHAT? IS THAT A COW RELIGION???) check check checkity check check.
Dudes, seriously, this guy is a few screws loose of having a running tractor.
I mean, he does try and make up for it by adding in disclaimers that he may be entirely wrong about every single theory he entertains. But he does entertain them. He sits all these wacked out theories down around a tiny, painted table and serves them tea and crumpets. Then he pushes everything off the table and dances naked in his underwear.
It's not a pretty sight, I promise you.
But what the hell. The portions of the book that I managed to plow through without having to set it down and laugh until my abdomen hurt were pretty entertaining. I think some of his research has validity... in that I do believe in shamanism, and the energies that it works with. But the edge he, and others like him, take it to are of the ridiculous IMHO.
So... Joe Bob sez check it out if you are looking for some crack. Or to know what it's like to drop so much acid that your brain turns to gluons without actually damaging your cerebral cortex.
Actually, at first, I was kind of impressed with Daniel Pinkchbeck. He knows a lot of big words, for one thing. And how to sling them around. Son of an NYC artist and a NYC writer... he was bound to wind up a little pretentious around the edges. But he makes up for it by doubting himself at every turn. Because he's also neurotic. Just the right kind of person to injest copious amounts of hallucinogens. Oh, and then combine extensive reading in the subject of shamanism, the use of hallucinogens, mystic visionary writings, etc. Throw in a giant cauldron. Set the cauldron down in the middle of the Burning Man Festival. Set it on fire. Run far far away.
Pinchbeck manages to draw together threads from every New Age, LSD inspired, culturally appropriated, loonie hippie pipe dream he stumbles across. Crop circles (check). Meso-American Mythology (check), Rudolph Steiner (check), Carlos Castaneda (check), Aleister Crowley (check), African iboga boogie men (check), Free Love (check), the "noosphere" (THE WHAT? IS THAT A COW RELIGION???) check check checkity check check.
Dudes, seriously, this guy is a few screws loose of having a running tractor.
I mean, he does try and make up for it by adding in disclaimers that he may be entirely wrong about every single theory he entertains. But he does entertain them. He sits all these wacked out theories down around a tiny, painted table and serves them tea and crumpets. Then he pushes everything off the table and dances naked in his underwear.
It's not a pretty sight, I promise you.
But what the hell. The portions of the book that I managed to plow through without having to set it down and laugh until my abdomen hurt were pretty entertaining. I think some of his research has validity... in that I do believe in shamanism, and the energies that it works with. But the edge he, and others like him, take it to are of the ridiculous IMHO.
So... Joe Bob sez check it out if you are looking for some crack. Or to know what it's like to drop so much acid that your brain turns to gluons without actually damaging your cerebral cortex.
July 14, 2008
This is a book about metaphysics, which I found eerily fascinating. Pinchbeck's key premise, which he arrived at through his own experiences beginning with his experimentation with psychedelics, is that consciousness is not just a product of matter, an epiphenomenon of brain functions. Instead, he asserts that mind and matter are inseparable and are in fact interactive. With the ideological landscape swept clean by Nietzsche's general refutation of the modern Western worldview Pinchbeck finds support for his unorthodox metaphysics in Jung's concepts of the collective unconscious and the universal mythical archetypes, from the uncertainty principle of quantum theory, which renders objective knowledge completely illusory, and from fellow psychedelic explorer and writer Terence McKenna, among many others.
Depending on the philosophical orientation of the reader and the conclusions the he or she chooses to draw, this book can be read alternately as a nonsensical drug-induced paranoid delusion or as a metaphysical critique of modern industrial society and its dogmatic rationalist materialism (or both, I suppose). The gatekeepers of academic orthodoxy predictably will raise flags of "pseudoscience" and other charges of blasphemy for his sparing and often dismissive allusions to mainstream scholarly research as he pursues more fertile sources of the unthinkable. Personally, I find the book difficult to criticize because Pinchbeck could not be any more forthcoming or humble about his objective, which he calls "an extravagant thought experiment."
This is not a book about the Maya, and it cannot and should not be judged as such. Pinchbeck is considering that the Mayan epistemology (as interpreted and popularized by new age writers) and modern epistemology are only different archetypal reflections of the same collective unconscious (as are the knowledge systems of every culture ever to exist). The world of superficial appearances is no less real than the worlds of the mind like dreams and hallucinations, and the latter can in fact convey a better overall sense of reality than the former, a fact that he believes the ancient Mayans understood. In contrast to contemporary society's general distaste for hallucinogenic substances, for example, Maya leaders like Pacal the Great ritually used them to guide their decisions.
Pinchbeck writes of the origin of the modern Western mind: "The drastic shift--mutation or leap of quantum creativity--into the mental-rational structure was foretold by a myth: the birth of the goddess Athena, who emerged from the painfully throbbing head of Zeus, split open by an ax. The blow was 'accompanied by a terrible tumult throughout nature, as well as by the astonishment of the entire pantheon,' writes [Jean] Gebser, paraphrasing Pindar. Once sprung, Athena, goddess of knowledge and clear thought, bestowed her protective grace over Athens, cradle of the modern Western mind. In the movement from the mythic to the mental-rational mind-set, human thought was directed outward, discovering the external world, for the first time, as an object of inquiry in itself." (210-1)
Pinchbeck is advocating another such shift in global consciousness toward a non-dualist myth-embracing culture that he believes is the only hope for human societies to transcend the imminent crises of peak oil, imperialist war, mass extinction, nuclear war, and ecological collapse--essentially the disastrous culmination of this "mental-rational" civilization finally becoming apparent.
He identifies this shift with the transformation of the world that is supposed to occur at the completion of the 13th bak'tun of the Mayan Long Count, or on Gregorian 12-21-2012. As this and other apocalyptic predictions and prophecies accumulate in the collective psyche, Pinchbeck sees potential for a physical manifestation of them: "If the Apocalypse, as an archetype, is currently constellating in our world, we have the option of bringing the 'dynamic agency' and primordial pattern, fully into our awareness. By giving it our conscious attention, we can mediate the process, potentially avoiding its most catastrophic effects." (110)
To me, this thesis cannot be answered by any point-by-point criticism of its assertions. Instead, it stands as an intersubjective challenge to the skeptical reader to explore non-ordinary states of awareness for herself and find whatever value she will there.
Depending on the philosophical orientation of the reader and the conclusions the he or she chooses to draw, this book can be read alternately as a nonsensical drug-induced paranoid delusion or as a metaphysical critique of modern industrial society and its dogmatic rationalist materialism (or both, I suppose). The gatekeepers of academic orthodoxy predictably will raise flags of "pseudoscience" and other charges of blasphemy for his sparing and often dismissive allusions to mainstream scholarly research as he pursues more fertile sources of the unthinkable. Personally, I find the book difficult to criticize because Pinchbeck could not be any more forthcoming or humble about his objective, which he calls "an extravagant thought experiment."
This is not a book about the Maya, and it cannot and should not be judged as such. Pinchbeck is considering that the Mayan epistemology (as interpreted and popularized by new age writers) and modern epistemology are only different archetypal reflections of the same collective unconscious (as are the knowledge systems of every culture ever to exist). The world of superficial appearances is no less real than the worlds of the mind like dreams and hallucinations, and the latter can in fact convey a better overall sense of reality than the former, a fact that he believes the ancient Mayans understood. In contrast to contemporary society's general distaste for hallucinogenic substances, for example, Maya leaders like Pacal the Great ritually used them to guide their decisions.
Pinchbeck writes of the origin of the modern Western mind: "The drastic shift--mutation or leap of quantum creativity--into the mental-rational structure was foretold by a myth: the birth of the goddess Athena, who emerged from the painfully throbbing head of Zeus, split open by an ax. The blow was 'accompanied by a terrible tumult throughout nature, as well as by the astonishment of the entire pantheon,' writes [Jean] Gebser, paraphrasing Pindar. Once sprung, Athena, goddess of knowledge and clear thought, bestowed her protective grace over Athens, cradle of the modern Western mind. In the movement from the mythic to the mental-rational mind-set, human thought was directed outward, discovering the external world, for the first time, as an object of inquiry in itself." (210-1)
Pinchbeck is advocating another such shift in global consciousness toward a non-dualist myth-embracing culture that he believes is the only hope for human societies to transcend the imminent crises of peak oil, imperialist war, mass extinction, nuclear war, and ecological collapse--essentially the disastrous culmination of this "mental-rational" civilization finally becoming apparent.
He identifies this shift with the transformation of the world that is supposed to occur at the completion of the 13th bak'tun of the Mayan Long Count, or on Gregorian 12-21-2012. As this and other apocalyptic predictions and prophecies accumulate in the collective psyche, Pinchbeck sees potential for a physical manifestation of them: "If the Apocalypse, as an archetype, is currently constellating in our world, we have the option of bringing the 'dynamic agency' and primordial pattern, fully into our awareness. By giving it our conscious attention, we can mediate the process, potentially avoiding its most catastrophic effects." (110)
To me, this thesis cannot be answered by any point-by-point criticism of its assertions. Instead, it stands as an intersubjective challenge to the skeptical reader to explore non-ordinary states of awareness for herself and find whatever value she will there.
May 13, 2010
this guy is a fucking idiot. i'm forcing myself to finish this because i need to see where he ends up. after a promising start, the book cruised straight downhill into a pile of endless shit.
um, buddy, guy, dude, you've based your stupid book on widely (and I mean WIDELY) discredited pseudoscience and touchy feely new age drivel. i'd be laughing while reading this if it wasn't so infuriatingly tragic that people believe this garbage. uh, you do understand that science is based on that which is experimentally verifiable and not just some wild thoughts and premises that people of questionable psychological stability dreamed up ages ago. rudolf steiner? carl jung? seriously? c'mon! you've even botched the parts where you criticize Jared Diamond's conclusions (which are based on actual evidence and testable theories) in his books. did you even read his books, because it doesn't sound like you did.... you use whitley strieber's "Communion" as examples of abductions when even he has claimed his book shouldn't be used as an example of an alien abduction, since there's no way to prove it wasn't something that was dreamed.
oh, and i'll end here, but i've done hallucinogens. a fair amount of them. they're fun recreationally. they are, however, not a spiritual doorway to new "consciousness". all they do is reinforce some belief that you already hold about them. jesus, the '60s sucked for a reason, don't try to bring them back you vapid, baby-boomer fuckhead.
okay, deep breaths, deep breaths...i'm done.
um, buddy, guy, dude, you've based your stupid book on widely (and I mean WIDELY) discredited pseudoscience and touchy feely new age drivel. i'd be laughing while reading this if it wasn't so infuriatingly tragic that people believe this garbage. uh, you do understand that science is based on that which is experimentally verifiable and not just some wild thoughts and premises that people of questionable psychological stability dreamed up ages ago. rudolf steiner? carl jung? seriously? c'mon! you've even botched the parts where you criticize Jared Diamond's conclusions (which are based on actual evidence and testable theories) in his books. did you even read his books, because it doesn't sound like you did.... you use whitley strieber's "Communion" as examples of abductions when even he has claimed his book shouldn't be used as an example of an alien abduction, since there's no way to prove it wasn't something that was dreamed.
oh, and i'll end here, but i've done hallucinogens. a fair amount of them. they're fun recreationally. they are, however, not a spiritual doorway to new "consciousness". all they do is reinforce some belief that you already hold about them. jesus, the '60s sucked for a reason, don't try to bring them back you vapid, baby-boomer fuckhead.
okay, deep breaths, deep breaths...i'm done.
March 4, 2008
loved, loved most of this book. although, the last bit is frustrating, and by the end, although i really enjoyed 90% of it, the guy struck out with:
1. whining about his "partner"
2. whining about a "priestess."
3. pointless information about burning man (he has an epiphany that some of the people there are not actually spiritual seekers, but are superficial people on drugs.)
minus that strike-out snafu, he ends it with the current plight of the hopi indians which is gut wrenching. it's too bad he didn't leave out the creepy whining about women. we have woody allen for that.
1. whining about his "partner"
2. whining about a "priestess."
3. pointless information about burning man (he has an epiphany that some of the people there are not actually spiritual seekers, but are superficial people on drugs.)
minus that strike-out snafu, he ends it with the current plight of the hopi indians which is gut wrenching. it's too bad he didn't leave out the creepy whining about women. we have woody allen for that.
November 15, 2009
If I had wanted to read a memoir by an anti-monogamy commitment phobic, I would have picked up a book with the title "Why I Hate Women," because this is the ultimate subject of this anti-feminist screed masquerading as current events non-fiction.
While the author mentions a few relevant facts about the Mayan calendar in the beginning, most of the book is dedicated to his world travels in search of psychedelic intoxication which he believes gives him "special insight" in the coming apocalypse. The only apocalypse the reader can anticipate is the life of the author's daughter, whom he abandons when he leaves her mother for a series of women, all of whom reject him.
The book starts out like you expect, leading the reader through the history of the 2012 prophesy, and we are treated to a world tour of crops circles and the usual unsatisfying alien discussions, hoping further on the author will bring new information. By page 300, however, the author finally drops all pretension and succumbs to vicious generalization, such as the opinion that monogamy is "cultural" but certainly not "natural," bolstering his view with such pithy observations as, "Women tend to feel they are in competition for men and their 'value' (in quotes, to make sure we know they actually have no value) rests in their powers of physical attraction, making them possessive, jealous and insecure." Despite having no background in anthropology (or college training whatsoever, the reader later learns) the next sentence reads, "It is possible.... that their innate propensity for gathering has reasserted itself as a cultural obsession with shopping." (p. 323-4). Several pages later, when the author's sexual advances are yet again spurned by a woman not his partner, he talks about his "hurt and disappointment." At this point, the reader is feeling some empathy, at least in the hurt and disappointment categories.
What any of this has to do with 2012 and Maya is for the reader to guess. "Nothing" is my guess.
While the author mentions a few relevant facts about the Mayan calendar in the beginning, most of the book is dedicated to his world travels in search of psychedelic intoxication which he believes gives him "special insight" in the coming apocalypse. The only apocalypse the reader can anticipate is the life of the author's daughter, whom he abandons when he leaves her mother for a series of women, all of whom reject him.
The book starts out like you expect, leading the reader through the history of the 2012 prophesy, and we are treated to a world tour of crops circles and the usual unsatisfying alien discussions, hoping further on the author will bring new information. By page 300, however, the author finally drops all pretension and succumbs to vicious generalization, such as the opinion that monogamy is "cultural" but certainly not "natural," bolstering his view with such pithy observations as, "Women tend to feel they are in competition for men and their 'value' (in quotes, to make sure we know they actually have no value) rests in their powers of physical attraction, making them possessive, jealous and insecure." Despite having no background in anthropology (or college training whatsoever, the reader later learns) the next sentence reads, "It is possible.... that their innate propensity for gathering has reasserted itself as a cultural obsession with shopping." (p. 323-4). Several pages later, when the author's sexual advances are yet again spurned by a woman not his partner, he talks about his "hurt and disappointment." At this point, the reader is feeling some empathy, at least in the hurt and disappointment categories.
What any of this has to do with 2012 and Maya is for the reader to guess. "Nothing" is my guess.
September 27, 2008
Pinchbeck's 2012 is his journey to understand the human psyche through the use of psychedelics, explorations of crop circle's, and even analyzing alien abductions. Yes, it is just that bizarre, but many moments of synchronistic events took him there. The main theme of the book is that the end of the Mayan calendar and even the biblical apocalypse of the Book of Revelations is not the end of days but the end of an era marked by a shift in humanity’s consciousness. A shift that he believes can be reached through psychedelics as used by shamanic traditions all around the world but that is attainable by anyone who is open and willing. While he does tend to wallow in his own emotional misery due to his inability to be honest with partner and ultimately himself, he does provide a well written and interesting perspective on human awareness drawing from many different areas. Just take a look at the somewhat eclectic bibliography from anthropology and psychology to poetry and alternative science. Pinchbeck doesn’t spend a lot of time with “trip” stories, just a few snippets here and there with the exception of his final message from Quetzalcoatl. In the end, he is not the self-proclaimed messiah some accuse him of; he is just the messenger of the possible time to come and our unlimited potential to prosper in it.
October 18, 2007
Pinchbeck is one of those scholars who, without losing sight of his end-goal, manages to take himself and his reader on a macro-tour of alternate universes simply by virtue of mind that rejects no thing. Though I'll admit I found his character less than appealing, I admire his ability to cohesively cross disciplines and present already-stigmatized information in such a manner that it becomes new, more urgent, and that it may manifest an amount of hope for a future that differs in some way, any way, all ways from the interminable stagnancy I sometimes think we face.
P.S. I need to reread my underlinings before this review can be legitimized. Do not undertake 2012 without pen in hand. If you can, I suggest reading it somewhere high, with a view of rolling grassland and dense pine forest. Oh, and have beside you a partner who has already read it, whom you can remind of details and whom you can fight with as though he himself were Daniel Pinchbeck (for those special sub-misogynistic parts of the story.)
P.S. I need to reread my underlinings before this review can be legitimized. Do not undertake 2012 without pen in hand. If you can, I suggest reading it somewhere high, with a view of rolling grassland and dense pine forest. Oh, and have beside you a partner who has already read it, whom you can remind of details and whom you can fight with as though he himself were Daniel Pinchbeck (for those special sub-misogynistic parts of the story.)
July 24, 2009
wow. never has a book i was enjoying and interested in lost me so quickly. talk about unreliable narrators. pinchbeck is a piece of work- he loses all principles of journalism and objectivity in spectularly ridiculous fashion; he himself stresses the importance of journalistic objectivity and healthy scepticism early on in '2012,' when writing about subject matter which is considered dubious or occult by society's standards. He does this by basically declaring himself a prophetic vessel for Quetzalcoatl towards the end of the book, where the transcription of the Mayan God's speech appears in italics, of course. All the while his own narrative of his own actions -most of which involve him trying to get laid by playing mind games with new agey women- -and his relationships undermines the seriousness of his 'quest,' and he comes across as a weak and weaselly dude, rather than as a spiritual seeker.
i bought this book in an international airport in spain; i wanted something from left-field. The unfortunate thing is, there are a lot of really important ideas in 2012. If any of this stuff is even remotely of interest, it is worthwhile to rip out or copy the book's bibliography. a more disciplined writer really could have done a thorough, studious and strong study of how neglected occult phenomena like crop circles, rudolph steiner's ideas of the spirit world, the mayan calendar and transcendental experience through psychotropic drugs are interrelated, as disparate parts of some kind of evolution of consciousness. this much is clear. But it's not Pinchbeck. Apparently I am not the only person who couldn't even bring myself to finishing his book.
i bought this book in an international airport in spain; i wanted something from left-field. The unfortunate thing is, there are a lot of really important ideas in 2012. If any of this stuff is even remotely of interest, it is worthwhile to rip out or copy the book's bibliography. a more disciplined writer really could have done a thorough, studious and strong study of how neglected occult phenomena like crop circles, rudolph steiner's ideas of the spirit world, the mayan calendar and transcendental experience through psychotropic drugs are interrelated, as disparate parts of some kind of evolution of consciousness. this much is clear. But it's not Pinchbeck. Apparently I am not the only person who couldn't even bring myself to finishing his book.
March 15, 2009
Before reading this book, I assumed it would be an embarrassing read, aimed at forwarding some sort of New Age agenda, or perhaps a dry treatise on a manifestation of apocalypse ideology in popular culture.
I found that, while I couldn't really stand the author's self-centered ranting on the demands of monogamous relationships, I really enjoyed reading this. It opened up my mind to certain aspects of mysticism and I understood, because of the way the book is presented, that you can be a casual to extremely interested observer of 'dumb hippy stuff' without having to degrade the ideas presented as ridiculous or untrue. Instead, fundamentalist acceptance of this somewhat pervasive discourse is no different than the uncritical acceptance of the tenets of organized religion or belief that scientific discovery is the key to human salvation. Both are widely practiced, but probably not preferable. Likewise, one doesn't have to fully buy into the radical aspects of the mythology surrounding the year 2012 to get a good education of the who, what, where, when and why.
Pinchbeck is a journalist, which is apparent in this book. He also states that he a 'generalist' and makes no claims to be an expert on any of the topics he attempts to interpret for the audience. But he goes on many personal interludes, to add his own ideas and reactions while keeping somewhat objective in his presentation of ideas. He provides biographical information about his family and other close relationships. I wouldn't say that he presents himself as a particularly likable guy, and his writing isn't particularly likable either. (It's very good at times, though.) But, because I had this biographical information, I was able to read this book knowing the author was in a process of discovery both of himself and of his subject matter, a process which probably couldn't cumulate into anything convincing enough to come off as prosthelytizing.
While it's clear that Pinchbeck fully believes that something will change with human consciousness near the date December 21, 2012, he never fully commits to exactly what it is. It centers around the concept that Carl Jung's 'collective consciousness' will manifest itself concretely into a human mind soup called the noosphere, but doesn't give an indication about how metaphorical or intense or sudden this will be, just that it will happen.
Without having the book on me, and having read it a few years ago, I can only give a partial summary. Pinchbeck discusses the Mayans, their calendar and how their warriors fought with their minds, so were unprepared when the Spanish decided that it was more effective to eliminate enemies with weapons. I giggled a little bit at that image. He also discusses that their calendar predicted the end of their civilization, and 2012 is the next cycle after that 'civilization end point'. He does a lot of experimenting with psychedelics. I wasn't totally excited about these passages, but he did an okay job of writing about something that doesn't seem easy to put into words. He also interviews several important figures from almost every aspect of the 2012 mythology, including the author of several books based loosely on Mayan mythology and calendar, José Argüelles, who is probably the only person Pinchbeck comes pretty close to calling bullshit on. What else... he loves to talk (babble) about German philosopher Martin Heidegger, also Carl Jung. I liked his writing on Terrence McKenna. I am sort of intrigued by McKenna, but not enough to try to figure out what he's talking about. DP can do it for me. Burning Man he finds isn't quite the forward thinking festival he thought it would be, but he ends up getting something out of his experience.
One last thing. It bothered me that the edition I read was full of typos. For example, Pinchbeck uses the word 'antinomy', a philosophical term, several times, and it is misspelled as the chemical element antimony at least once. Some of the passages contain repeated ideas, two sentences next to each other saying exactly the same thing, but worded differently.
I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a thoroughly researched yet skeptical review of just what is the big deal? surrounding the year 2012, and doesn't care if it's far from perfect.
I found that, while I couldn't really stand the author's self-centered ranting on the demands of monogamous relationships, I really enjoyed reading this. It opened up my mind to certain aspects of mysticism and I understood, because of the way the book is presented, that you can be a casual to extremely interested observer of 'dumb hippy stuff' without having to degrade the ideas presented as ridiculous or untrue. Instead, fundamentalist acceptance of this somewhat pervasive discourse is no different than the uncritical acceptance of the tenets of organized religion or belief that scientific discovery is the key to human salvation. Both are widely practiced, but probably not preferable. Likewise, one doesn't have to fully buy into the radical aspects of the mythology surrounding the year 2012 to get a good education of the who, what, where, when and why.
Pinchbeck is a journalist, which is apparent in this book. He also states that he a 'generalist' and makes no claims to be an expert on any of the topics he attempts to interpret for the audience. But he goes on many personal interludes, to add his own ideas and reactions while keeping somewhat objective in his presentation of ideas. He provides biographical information about his family and other close relationships. I wouldn't say that he presents himself as a particularly likable guy, and his writing isn't particularly likable either. (It's very good at times, though.) But, because I had this biographical information, I was able to read this book knowing the author was in a process of discovery both of himself and of his subject matter, a process which probably couldn't cumulate into anything convincing enough to come off as prosthelytizing.
While it's clear that Pinchbeck fully believes that something will change with human consciousness near the date December 21, 2012, he never fully commits to exactly what it is. It centers around the concept that Carl Jung's 'collective consciousness' will manifest itself concretely into a human mind soup called the noosphere, but doesn't give an indication about how metaphorical or intense or sudden this will be, just that it will happen.
Without having the book on me, and having read it a few years ago, I can only give a partial summary. Pinchbeck discusses the Mayans, their calendar and how their warriors fought with their minds, so were unprepared when the Spanish decided that it was more effective to eliminate enemies with weapons. I giggled a little bit at that image. He also discusses that their calendar predicted the end of their civilization, and 2012 is the next cycle after that 'civilization end point'. He does a lot of experimenting with psychedelics. I wasn't totally excited about these passages, but he did an okay job of writing about something that doesn't seem easy to put into words. He also interviews several important figures from almost every aspect of the 2012 mythology, including the author of several books based loosely on Mayan mythology and calendar, José Argüelles, who is probably the only person Pinchbeck comes pretty close to calling bullshit on. What else... he loves to talk (babble) about German philosopher Martin Heidegger, also Carl Jung. I liked his writing on Terrence McKenna. I am sort of intrigued by McKenna, but not enough to try to figure out what he's talking about. DP can do it for me. Burning Man he finds isn't quite the forward thinking festival he thought it would be, but he ends up getting something out of his experience.
One last thing. It bothered me that the edition I read was full of typos. For example, Pinchbeck uses the word 'antinomy', a philosophical term, several times, and it is misspelled as the chemical element antimony at least once. Some of the passages contain repeated ideas, two sentences next to each other saying exactly the same thing, but worded differently.
I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a thoroughly researched yet skeptical review of just what is the big deal? surrounding the year 2012, and doesn't care if it's far from perfect.
June 14, 2007
Time to fuck with your mind a bit. I'm all for it. Mind's were meant to be fucked with. I have been a little obsessed with 2012 for a while now and when I accidently knocked this green gem off the shelf at Barnes and Noble while looking for Chuck P's latest I gave into synchronicity and bought it.
Daniel Pinchbeck is alright. He's a competent writer and pretty intelligent, though he's no Terrence Mckenna. The book is a gathering of facts that range from Shamanism and psychedelics to crop circles and alien abductions...the usual Coast to Coast AM fare. Unfortunately this might be the books downfall. He's got me sold on a lot of things and I love his research on Jung and Neitzsche and he's got some genuine insight into the occult and alternative thinking but he lost me in more than a few areas where his pettiness and sex drive became grossly transparent while defending his actions. I also saw a video of him speaking at Burning Man in some gawdawful tye dye get-up and it just reminded me of the myriad hippies I grew up with in Santa Cruz. Fashion sense aside he is well learned and does have some useful insight on subjects that would interest you if you were to be interested in this book in the first place. He's also managed to get me to pursue further many of the personalities and concepts he approaches in the book in further detail.
The bottom line is...if your interested in 2012 and the apocolypse (which you should be) then read this. There arent a lot of books on the subject and this tome is chalk-full of interesting shit related to our future and we all need to wake the fuck up STAT. So...good job Daniel, get the word out.
Daniel Pinchbeck is alright. He's a competent writer and pretty intelligent, though he's no Terrence Mckenna. The book is a gathering of facts that range from Shamanism and psychedelics to crop circles and alien abductions...the usual Coast to Coast AM fare. Unfortunately this might be the books downfall. He's got me sold on a lot of things and I love his research on Jung and Neitzsche and he's got some genuine insight into the occult and alternative thinking but he lost me in more than a few areas where his pettiness and sex drive became grossly transparent while defending his actions. I also saw a video of him speaking at Burning Man in some gawdawful tye dye get-up and it just reminded me of the myriad hippies I grew up with in Santa Cruz. Fashion sense aside he is well learned and does have some useful insight on subjects that would interest you if you were to be interested in this book in the first place. He's also managed to get me to pursue further many of the personalities and concepts he approaches in the book in further detail.
The bottom line is...if your interested in 2012 and the apocolypse (which you should be) then read this. There arent a lot of books on the subject and this tome is chalk-full of interesting shit related to our future and we all need to wake the fuck up STAT. So...good job Daniel, get the word out.
January 15, 2012
When you have a fuzzy understanding of everything, you get a book like this. Pinchbeck takes everything at face value (from Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle to quantum mechanics to the space-time continuum to the entire Hindu religion), which comes off as the definition of "spreading yourself too thin", and though I don't doubt for a second that our author is a very smart man (or at least, earnest in his research) everything--and I mean everything--reeks of "DUDE CHECK OUT WHAT I JUST READ ON WIKIPEDIA!"
But the fact that this book doesn't offer anything profound on the 2012 phenomena isn't our author's fault. He didn't set out to shed new light on culture, history, physics, mad trips and the Burning Man festival. No, he wrote a memoir. And probably a pretty good one. Problem is, I didn't buy this book to learn about Daniel Pinchbeck, who seems to be pretty burdened by his bourgeois upbringing (call it white guilt on new cosmic levels). I bought the book it to save myself from the return of the angry Mayan serpent God on Dec. 21, 2012!
Is that too much to ask?
But the fact that this book doesn't offer anything profound on the 2012 phenomena isn't our author's fault. He didn't set out to shed new light on culture, history, physics, mad trips and the Burning Man festival. No, he wrote a memoir. And probably a pretty good one. Problem is, I didn't buy this book to learn about Daniel Pinchbeck, who seems to be pretty burdened by his bourgeois upbringing (call it white guilt on new cosmic levels). I bought the book it to save myself from the return of the angry Mayan serpent God on Dec. 21, 2012!
Is that too much to ask?
January 10, 2009
I realize I'm being very scathing, but the title needs to be reworked to differentiate a scientific/historical (in reverse) study from this book. Short of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, this is the most painful book I've ever tried to read. The book is about one of the author's many many many drug fueled excursions, and consists of him unabashedly talking about his accomplishments. I thoroughly read the first 25-30pages, then read every 5 pages, then every 20, then started skimming.
Conclusion: If you have a serious interest in a potential Singularity, than look elsewhere; Even if you're the type that's interested in reading about journeying through hallucinogens.
Conclusion: If you have a serious interest in a potential Singularity, than look elsewhere; Even if you're the type that's interested in reading about journeying through hallucinogens.
October 12, 2014
After the hype of the book's cover, this was a disappointment. I was hoping for some explanation and defense of Mayan cosmology--though not really expecting it--or of McKenna's "time-line zero" theory, which I'd always thought was crazy despite my sffection for McKenna. Instead I got a lot of mumbo jumbo which basically amounted to "2012" as a metaphor for the current, on-going crisis which remains unlikely to be resolved.
February 2, 2009
I wanted to like this book a lot, I really did. I enjoyed Pinchbeck's first book, Breaking Open The Head, aside from the couple of tedious Burning Man chapters. It seemed to be an honest exploration of psychedelic states of being by a confused, if well-meaning, Manhattan literary party-boy.
I was excited when I first heard that "2012" was being published. I thought it would be a fresh perspective on the whole "end-of-the-Mayan-calendar"/"herald-of-a-new-age" scenario that was first brought to my attention by Terence McKenna and his TimeWave Zero theory. It seemed as if Pinchbeck were stepping up to the plate and was going to pick up where McKenna left off, after McKenna's passing in 2000.
I skimmed some reviews of "2012 - The Return Of Quetzlcoatl" (as the first edition was called)...and many were middling. Undaunted, I thought it was just the cynical contingent of the mainstream press. I checked some reviews over at GoodReads and it seemed to be the same. Hmmm.... Now, I realise that anything with "prophecy" in the title (as stated in the edition I have) has the fundamentalist materialists and dogmatic rationalists reaching for their revolvers, but I thought there would be a lot more praise for the book. I decided to finally give it a go.
In "2012", Pinchbeck has devoted his energies to studying the prophecy that a new age will emerge in December 2012, which the Mayan calendar shows as the end of the world, or just the end of the current age, depending on your view. He jets off to Oregon to hang out with Jose Arguelles, who's created a new calendar based on the original Mayan dates. He visits England several times, specifically the Glastonbury area, to study the crop circle phenomenon. Mexico becomes a destination, so Dan can view the Mayan architecture. He goes to Burning Man again (urgh!), but this time the festival isn't so groovy, man--and finally he journeys to the Amazon rain forest, to learn about Santo Daime, a local religion which grafts the disparate strains of old tribal customs and Romish Catholicism into a peculiar ritual. The participants swallow cupfuls of ayahuasca, then sing and do a two-step dance for up to 6 hours.
All the while, he's having relationship problems with his 'partner'. She's never given a name, she's just his partner--though she is described as 'beautiful and svelte' (Pinchbeck wants you to know he's no chubby-chaser). The couple have a child together, which seems ill-advised, as he relates that their union was a bit unstable from the outset. These bits were really where Pinchbeck lost me. In an afterword to the paperback edition, he states how he included all this personal detail to 'invoke a deep enough response in readers that if might incite a shift in perspective'. Erm..that didn't happen for me, mate. It just seemed a bit voyeuristic to me, his tendency to let his audience in on his somewhat private soap-opera, involving his 'partner', another woman he meets at a psychedelic retreat in Hawaii, whom he insists on referring to as "first priestess" (she doesn't have a name either, apparently) and his little girl (again, no name). One chapter is devoted to the partner's father, for no other apparent reason than to compare him to Pinchbeck's own father. He also can't seem to stop exploiting his connection to the Beats (his mother dated Jack Kerouac at the height of his fame), as if that somehow lends him some extra credibility.
In spite of the more frustrating aspects of Pinchbeck's narrative, I did enjoy parts of the book. I really liked the crop circle bits, though I've never really given much thought to the phenomenon, putting down most (if not all) of the designs down to hoaxers. I found myself looking up the various formations Pinchbeck discusses to get a better idea of what he is describing. He didn't convince me with his various theories, but I did think that maybe hoaxers weren't responsible for all of the circles. Some of the Arguelles chapters had interesting segments - but then Pinchbeck inserts some caustic New Yawk intellectual screed, completely dismissing Aleister Crowley, but he buys most of Arguelles' Mayan reincarnation schtick. His visit to the Hopi reservation seems a bit of an anti-climax, but the words of the tribal chief almost redeem the plodding structure of the chapter. The book ends with an eco-warrior message about humanity's destruction of the environment and a possible redemption in the next 6 years (well, it's down to 3 now). Pinchbeck doesn't seem concerned that all of his jetting about might've added to all that pollution....'cos it was like, for the book, man.
So, for all that, you get a somewhat middling book (I have to agree with a lot of the reviewers) about 2012 and what may happen. For me, it seems a bit of a wasted opportunity--too much about the author, not enough about the actual phenomenon. When he's not talking about his own foibles, he's borrowing ideas from McKenna, Arguelles, Robert Anton Wilson, crop circle devotees and a host of others. It seems that maybe Pinchbeck started believing his own press and yeah, that Rolling Stone article didn't really help things. It appears that he wants to join the psychedelic pantheon and have his name amongst the greats (Wilson, Leary, Huxley, McKenna, Kesey, etc.)--but I just don't know if he makes the cut. Going by "2012", I think he's got a ways to go.
I was excited when I first heard that "2012" was being published. I thought it would be a fresh perspective on the whole "end-of-the-Mayan-calendar"/"herald-of-a-new-age" scenario that was first brought to my attention by Terence McKenna and his TimeWave Zero theory. It seemed as if Pinchbeck were stepping up to the plate and was going to pick up where McKenna left off, after McKenna's passing in 2000.
I skimmed some reviews of "2012 - The Return Of Quetzlcoatl" (as the first edition was called)...and many were middling. Undaunted, I thought it was just the cynical contingent of the mainstream press. I checked some reviews over at GoodReads and it seemed to be the same. Hmmm.... Now, I realise that anything with "prophecy" in the title (as stated in the edition I have) has the fundamentalist materialists and dogmatic rationalists reaching for their revolvers, but I thought there would be a lot more praise for the book. I decided to finally give it a go.
In "2012", Pinchbeck has devoted his energies to studying the prophecy that a new age will emerge in December 2012, which the Mayan calendar shows as the end of the world, or just the end of the current age, depending on your view. He jets off to Oregon to hang out with Jose Arguelles, who's created a new calendar based on the original Mayan dates. He visits England several times, specifically the Glastonbury area, to study the crop circle phenomenon. Mexico becomes a destination, so Dan can view the Mayan architecture. He goes to Burning Man again (urgh!), but this time the festival isn't so groovy, man--and finally he journeys to the Amazon rain forest, to learn about Santo Daime, a local religion which grafts the disparate strains of old tribal customs and Romish Catholicism into a peculiar ritual. The participants swallow cupfuls of ayahuasca, then sing and do a two-step dance for up to 6 hours.
All the while, he's having relationship problems with his 'partner'. She's never given a name, she's just his partner--though she is described as 'beautiful and svelte' (Pinchbeck wants you to know he's no chubby-chaser). The couple have a child together, which seems ill-advised, as he relates that their union was a bit unstable from the outset. These bits were really where Pinchbeck lost me. In an afterword to the paperback edition, he states how he included all this personal detail to 'invoke a deep enough response in readers that if might incite a shift in perspective'. Erm..that didn't happen for me, mate. It just seemed a bit voyeuristic to me, his tendency to let his audience in on his somewhat private soap-opera, involving his 'partner', another woman he meets at a psychedelic retreat in Hawaii, whom he insists on referring to as "first priestess" (she doesn't have a name either, apparently) and his little girl (again, no name). One chapter is devoted to the partner's father, for no other apparent reason than to compare him to Pinchbeck's own father. He also can't seem to stop exploiting his connection to the Beats (his mother dated Jack Kerouac at the height of his fame), as if that somehow lends him some extra credibility.
In spite of the more frustrating aspects of Pinchbeck's narrative, I did enjoy parts of the book. I really liked the crop circle bits, though I've never really given much thought to the phenomenon, putting down most (if not all) of the designs down to hoaxers. I found myself looking up the various formations Pinchbeck discusses to get a better idea of what he is describing. He didn't convince me with his various theories, but I did think that maybe hoaxers weren't responsible for all of the circles. Some of the Arguelles chapters had interesting segments - but then Pinchbeck inserts some caustic New Yawk intellectual screed, completely dismissing Aleister Crowley, but he buys most of Arguelles' Mayan reincarnation schtick. His visit to the Hopi reservation seems a bit of an anti-climax, but the words of the tribal chief almost redeem the plodding structure of the chapter. The book ends with an eco-warrior message about humanity's destruction of the environment and a possible redemption in the next 6 years (well, it's down to 3 now). Pinchbeck doesn't seem concerned that all of his jetting about might've added to all that pollution....'cos it was like, for the book, man.
So, for all that, you get a somewhat middling book (I have to agree with a lot of the reviewers) about 2012 and what may happen. For me, it seems a bit of a wasted opportunity--too much about the author, not enough about the actual phenomenon. When he's not talking about his own foibles, he's borrowing ideas from McKenna, Arguelles, Robert Anton Wilson, crop circle devotees and a host of others. It seems that maybe Pinchbeck started believing his own press and yeah, that Rolling Stone article didn't really help things. It appears that he wants to join the psychedelic pantheon and have his name amongst the greats (Wilson, Leary, Huxley, McKenna, Kesey, etc.)--but I just don't know if he makes the cut. Going by "2012", I think he's got a ways to go.
October 6, 2010
So first off, this book is NOT about the end of the world...maybe the end of the world as we currently understand it, but not just fire and brimstone death and dismemberment, so that was encouraging.
In fact, Pinchbeck traces his personal journey to understand various apocalyptic prophecies in the context of the Mayan return of the Snake God "Q" (I'll just misspell it a bunch so we'll use "Q" instead).
Well researched, the book explores many congruent belief systems which all have similar harbingers of a change or great turn in the near future (2012), a movement into another phase or evolution of human existence. The speculated suggestions for this "turn" are derived principally from the various ancient peoples, psychedelic transcendence, and some alien crop circles thrown in for good measure.
The rational part of me says it's reasonably presented with a few speed bumps which personally put me off, principally Pinchbeck managing to be a cipher for the intentions of "Q". But, the heart/feeling part of me, somehow knows the premise is more right and reasonable than the simple nihilist, "we all gone die soon" apocalypse rhetoric we get from fundamentalists, pragmatists and doomsayers.
Maybe it's just because I like the idea that all this technological distraction is the last gasp of rationality's quest to quantify everything, and that an evolution could integrate transcendent tribal synchrony with the natural movements of the planets/earth/weather AND the useful technological means without the need for one to dominate the other.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the "turn" would include a fair amount of collapse, it's not speculated to be all Hair the Musical, age of aquarius, the Earth and it's inhabitants will likely suffer this transition like a generational birth pain...Man made wrath will be wrought, we must first suffer the travails of our technological excess to grasp the valuable lesson on the other side.
So, I guess I should consider myself "lucky" to be alive for this momentous opportunity to engage a new reality...hope to see you all on the other side.
In fact, Pinchbeck traces his personal journey to understand various apocalyptic prophecies in the context of the Mayan return of the Snake God "Q" (I'll just misspell it a bunch so we'll use "Q" instead).
Well researched, the book explores many congruent belief systems which all have similar harbingers of a change or great turn in the near future (2012), a movement into another phase or evolution of human existence. The speculated suggestions for this "turn" are derived principally from the various ancient peoples, psychedelic transcendence, and some alien crop circles thrown in for good measure.
The rational part of me says it's reasonably presented with a few speed bumps which personally put me off, principally Pinchbeck managing to be a cipher for the intentions of "Q". But, the heart/feeling part of me, somehow knows the premise is more right and reasonable than the simple nihilist, "we all gone die soon" apocalypse rhetoric we get from fundamentalists, pragmatists and doomsayers.
Maybe it's just because I like the idea that all this technological distraction is the last gasp of rationality's quest to quantify everything, and that an evolution could integrate transcendent tribal synchrony with the natural movements of the planets/earth/weather AND the useful technological means without the need for one to dominate the other.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the "turn" would include a fair amount of collapse, it's not speculated to be all Hair the Musical, age of aquarius, the Earth and it's inhabitants will likely suffer this transition like a generational birth pain...Man made wrath will be wrought, we must first suffer the travails of our technological excess to grasp the valuable lesson on the other side.
So, I guess I should consider myself "lucky" to be alive for this momentous opportunity to engage a new reality...hope to see you all on the other side.
July 16, 2009
An esoteric, highly speculative and auto-biographicalucinogenic tour of possible meanings behind the Mayan-predicted apocalypse in 2012. In short, the author explores the possibility that this apocalypse is a transition from one era to another. From an era marked by materialism and physical/spiritual duality to one marked by the unification of the physical and spiritual and of global consciousness. At times the book focuses too obsessively on the author´s belief in the benefits of sexual promiscuity and its tenuous relation to the 2012 prediction.
At other times the book is quite engaging and thought-provoking, especially when the author´s speculation is coupled with the opinions of heavy weights such as Carl Jung and quantum physicists, who, in their own work, conjecture on global consciousness and the unity/inseparableness of the physical and spiritual/sentient, respectively.
The book brought back a relevant memory... One night, I had a quirky dream of a monkey skateboarding and hanging posters on telephone polls--like he was advertising a band performance. I awoke startled when the monkey fell off his skateboard. Amber awoke from my startle, and upon explaining the dream to her, we were both surprised to learn she had just had the same dream...
This indicates some type of extra "thought/feeling/psychic sensitivity" of which we do not normally experience. Who knows the possibilities. Perhaps this "sensitivity" can be developed like one´s cardiovascular capacity. And if many people develop such sensitivity...
On the whole, this is a good read that explores some of such possibilities. I just wish it would have explored them more so.
At other times the book is quite engaging and thought-provoking, especially when the author´s speculation is coupled with the opinions of heavy weights such as Carl Jung and quantum physicists, who, in their own work, conjecture on global consciousness and the unity/inseparableness of the physical and spiritual/sentient, respectively.
The book brought back a relevant memory... One night, I had a quirky dream of a monkey skateboarding and hanging posters on telephone polls--like he was advertising a band performance. I awoke startled when the monkey fell off his skateboard. Amber awoke from my startle, and upon explaining the dream to her, we were both surprised to learn she had just had the same dream...
This indicates some type of extra "thought/feeling/psychic sensitivity" of which we do not normally experience. Who knows the possibilities. Perhaps this "sensitivity" can be developed like one´s cardiovascular capacity. And if many people develop such sensitivity...
On the whole, this is a good read that explores some of such possibilities. I just wish it would have explored them more so.
July 27, 2010
I mean, what's there to say? This is the craziest, strangest, and perhaps most astonishing book I've read. Though many reviews were harsh, choosing to focus on the narrator's narcissism or delusion, I chose to look at it another way. Is he crazy? perhaps. Does he do enough drugs to kill a horse? yep. Does he jump in hyperspeed from alien abduction to fairie kingdoms below the earth to the Mayan calendar to ecological conservation? indeed. Was it endlessly fascinating and thought provoking? YES.
I think a lot of the negative reviews reflect a need for linear narration, something that those of us who read a lot of esoteric/ occult works do not necessarily expect. I liken it to the vegetarian that writes a scathing review of a steakhouse b/c they don't have any solid vegetarian dishes. My reaction? Don't go to a steakhouse.
Similarly, if you want hard-hitting scientific journals steeped in proof and rational thought, don't read esoteric works about the coming of a new world paradigm as predicted by the Maya- you're just going to walk away disappointed. Me, on the other hand? I'll enjoy my big, juicy steak;)
I think a lot of the negative reviews reflect a need for linear narration, something that those of us who read a lot of esoteric/ occult works do not necessarily expect. I liken it to the vegetarian that writes a scathing review of a steakhouse b/c they don't have any solid vegetarian dishes. My reaction? Don't go to a steakhouse.
Similarly, if you want hard-hitting scientific journals steeped in proof and rational thought, don't read esoteric works about the coming of a new world paradigm as predicted by the Maya- you're just going to walk away disappointed. Me, on the other hand? I'll enjoy my big, juicy steak;)
March 6, 2016
Clearly this guy has touched a nerve with some of the folks that have reviewed his book. In all fairness I considered it an open minded and unique perspective on the connections between spirituality and materialism in our culture -along with a mess of other things. Sure some of the stuff he writes sounds crazy, and sure he jumps around....a lot. (& I also don't particularly care for how he addressed his relationship with his partner in the book, but people make mistakes...they are allowed to...) I think it's important to remember that however many times you've gone to Vassar (cuz why is that a thing?) you don't know everything...I don't either...nobody does...I just think it worth acknowledging that this guy put himself out there looking for more to life and is attempting to be open minded and honest. (Something that not everyone is ready or willing to do.)
For that, along with his interesting and thought provoking (if at times convoluted and confusing) insights I give the book 4 stars.
For that, along with his interesting and thought provoking (if at times convoluted and confusing) insights I give the book 4 stars.
July 1, 2008
Will blow your mind, but in a good sort of way. Weaves together such seemingly divergent topics as crop circles, Carl Jung, Burning Man, Rudolf Steiner, and more post millennial strangeness, into a seamless memoir that retains its readability while still remaining among the more thought provoking journeys one can undertake through words. A worthy successor to Breaking Open The Head, and anyone who enjoyed that fantastic treatise on psychedelics and neoshamanism will enjoy this book as well.
What I learned from this book: The world will probably not come to an end on December 21, 2012, but something strange is definitely in the air, and it would seem we are rushing towards some sort of...event, which hopefully will be more satisfying then THE HAPPENING. Now maybe the world will end on that day. We'll just have to wait and see.
Either way, I'm not going to quit smoking until December 22, 2012.
What I learned from this book: The world will probably not come to an end on December 21, 2012, but something strange is definitely in the air, and it would seem we are rushing towards some sort of...event, which hopefully will be more satisfying then THE HAPPENING. Now maybe the world will end on that day. We'll just have to wait and see.
Either way, I'm not going to quit smoking until December 22, 2012.
January 26, 2009
total, pointless junk. talk to a real ajkin (mayan date diviner) and he or she will call this white control. important to note that mayan time evolved outwards, ie: ka'tuns were the first period developed (20 years) and they noted when clan leadership was to be transferred without conflict. as date-keeping elongated (the records moved into 100's of years), the longer spans were added. longer spans included shifts beyond political control, things like adding a planned city departure so that a famine that might kill the entire city could be avoided. essentially plotting conscious moves in very variable conditions. what pinchbeck does is to erase these actual meanings and spin a western mechanical spirituality, of course, a godhead.
November 1, 2007
Such a wealth of information. If you can deal with Pinchbeck leaping around (sometimes erratically) between topics, it has a lot to offer. One of my favorite theories involves the greys, the aliens and flying saucer abductions in pop culture being a collective unconscious reaction to our divine repression. The evidence that crop circles are real is awesome. And mental institutions have, historically, had periods of mania every 13 years due to the effect of solar flares acting up on schedule. The information in this book is so worth it. I gave this book to my mom.
June 19, 2014
Daniel Pinchbeck uses a wild excess of difficult words, there really is no need for it since he clearly is addressing the mainstream population of readers and not scholars
What begins as a somewhat interesting exercise in thinking outside of the box soon derails into layer upon layer of 'I'm not trying to convince you but here's the evidence'
Like the people he has studied he himself has had a very familiar relationship with all kinds of psycadelics
I put it down on page 290, not the least bit interested in what might be left of it
What begins as a somewhat interesting exercise in thinking outside of the box soon derails into layer upon layer of 'I'm not trying to convince you but here's the evidence'
Like the people he has studied he himself has had a very familiar relationship with all kinds of psycadelics
I put it down on page 290, not the least bit interested in what might be left of it
August 28, 2008
several years ago, a friend tried to find me a book about all the different 2012 theories because i was telling her about my fascination with the Mayans and Toltecs and various other views. the reason she couldn't quite find one was because this book here had not yet been written. it's exactly what i was looking for, and helped me decipher the good book she did get me about the maya cosmogenesis.
July 25, 2007
A personal journey in search of transforming consciousness with a little help from Mayan Deity Quetzalcoatl, just in time for the fireworks of 2012!
Pinchbeck applies his extensive literary craftsmanship to weave a lusciously layered multi-topic tome built on intertwining Fibonacci spiraling column chapters of poetically ruminating prose...
Pinchbeck applies his extensive literary craftsmanship to weave a lusciously layered multi-topic tome built on intertwining Fibonacci spiraling column chapters of poetically ruminating prose...
September 27, 2015
If you believe in the 12th planet and Dänikenesque Chariot of the Godsy pseudoscience that claims visitations from space aliens that built the pyramids and crop circles and other mumbo jumbo this book may be for you. Why did I fall for it?! >Hey the cover is really nice.
September 15, 2015
I'd give zero stars if it was an option. This was actually recommended by Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. Love their music but Chris's reading tastes are for shit. This book was more atrocious than I can even convey. Terrible!!! Myopic!!! Stupid!!!
September 7, 2023
I originally read the first half of this book right after it came out and was fascinated. It was very cerebral and went over my head so I took a break and just never picked it back up again. finally, I was ready to revisit the book from, so here I am. After having the first half distilled through a second read, I really learned a lot more than from my first time through. The book has a great premise, solid investigative real world research, and a massive data dump of many fascinating ideas and mysteries related to consciousness, the soul, reincarnation, plant medicines, and different ancient civilizations beliefs on these matters. Going through the second half of the book was not as easy going for me. It dived deep into the author's personal hallucinogenic experiences and the Mayan belief system, both of which I did not find much interest in, nor did I care for. The whole bit on crop circles was new news to me. I always thought all that was a hoax and I only learned here that there actually is a real open-ended unknown phenomenon associated with that going back to pre-modern times. I thoroughly enjoyed the bit on the swami that argues that consciousness is fundamental, rather than matter. This exposition predates Donald Hoffman's recent public relations campaign arguing this same point, which has deeply resonated with me over the last year or so. for me, that was the greatest takeaway of this book and I'm very grateful that I got to read it and discovered in it that these ideas are long-standing and have an investigated by both the spiritual and intellectual classes of both Eastern and western society.
August 9, 2017
I gave this 2 stars because I actually finished an even worse book on the same day - the worse one made this one seem better. If you wonder what it is like to get lost in the mind of an acid-dropping, monogamy frustrated, id-driven middle class white dude without direction in life - this book is for you. I read it based on the dust jacket mini-reviews; my fault. Pinchbeck flits from country to country, esoteric ceremony to acid dropping opportunity with surprising frequency (while complaining of being broke). His curiosity about other cultures is commendable and if he could have focused more on the anthropological experiences with these cultures, it would have been a much better read. He was trying to show us his personal journey, unfortunately, it makes you want to grab him by the collar and drag him to the nearest military recruitment center. He feels he has struggled into manhood without guidance, he suggests Americans are without such ceremonious transitions; but he doesn't look far for them, because they are available - he was just too busy drinking unregulated and dangerous liquids to realize what he wanted was right in front of him. In Pinchbeck's defense, he packs a wide variety of information into this book and he has made me want to learn more about certain cultures and experiences. Too bad we had to wade through his self-absorption to get to it.
August 25, 2021
A long journal of whining and complaining interspersed with hallucinogenic trips and a few factoids. Near the end he claims to be reincarnation of Ashoka, Quetzacoatl and is the beast of the Bible... well I guess we are all one being. From what I read it is borderline possible he was ashoka in terms of karmic connections. But it seems rather that he channeled quetzacoatl for a brief time. And the beast thing is just like his birthday. Anyways pretty disappointing in how sceptical and unaccepting he is of self and others. Got a lot of spiritual work ahead of him. To open his heart and be kind to self and others. Preferably during some sober durations as clearly the hallucinogens aren't helping him much.
October 9, 2025
Others have done a good job of describing the book's minor flaws. There are cringey parts, absolutely. But, his obsessive drive to go to the ends of the earth for his craft is endearing. So is his relentless self-doubt. His injudicious use of psychedelic substances shows; it's like the stuff ripped through the membrane of his sanity.
But, he didn't ever (at least meaningfully) dip into the "end of all worlds" mindset which could have made this an embarrassing work in 2025. Instead he frames the 2012 phenomenon as a milestone in human consciousness, which honestly, could still hold water.
It's dense, but the somewhat mortifying and self-deprecating personal narrative broke that up well. It's an impressive integration of schools of 2012 thought.
But, he didn't ever (at least meaningfully) dip into the "end of all worlds" mindset which could have made this an embarrassing work in 2025. Instead he frames the 2012 phenomenon as a milestone in human consciousness, which honestly, could still hold water.
It's dense, but the somewhat mortifying and self-deprecating personal narrative broke that up well. It's an impressive integration of schools of 2012 thought.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 285 reviews