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The Cracking Tower

A Strategy for Transcending 2012

By: Jim DeKorne

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Paperback | 15 July 2011 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
232 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7

Paperback

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End-of-the-world paranoia has been with us since time immemorial. Now, with the end of the legendary Mayan “long count” calendar looming on December 21, 2012 and recent threats of a worldwide economic collapse triggering widespread apprehension and a search for answers, The Cracking Tower offers an arsenal of strategies to turn these fears into an opportunity for spiritual and personal growth.

Beginning with a lively memoir of the author’s experiences in the ’60s, the book goes on to explore apocalyptic thinking through perennial philosophy, shamanism, gnostic mysticism, the body as a vessel of consciousness (and death as “an extended out-of-body experience”), and psychedelics. Shaping the discussion is the fascinating metaphor of the cracking tower, an apparatus for distilling gasoline, as a vehicle for distilling our awareness. Rather than speculating on what might occur in 2012, DeKorne proposes vigilance of a more introspective sort. “The important thing,” he says, “is to ignore the finger and strive to comprehend the moon,” to see what our apocalyptic tendencies reveal about ourselves.

Industry Reviews

"Jim DeKorne expertly weaves together diverse threads...into a coherent vision of the challenges and potential that inhabit our modern psyche."
--Erowid

"The collection of sources, woven together by DeKorne's keen intellect, becomes, not so much eclectic, as a multifaceted view of a numinous path unfolding in a common language of the Perennial Philosophy. This is a good book, intellectually stimulating, with diverse and always relevant quotations."
--Circles of Light

"This is an interesting philosophical exploration of two opposing views of the world- materialist vs. perennial. One holds that what you see is what you get, the other that there is more to life than meets the eye and that we are all a part of the divine being... If you are interested in philosophy and spirituality, you will find it a fascinating read." --My Spirit Radio

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Preface: The Cracking Tower	p. ix
Prologue: A 1960s Memoir	p. xv
Defining Our Terms: Psychedelic Shamanism Reconsidered	p. 1
The Structure of Reality Is the Structure of Mind	p. 13
Unity and Multiplicity: The Solipsistic Pomegranate	p. 21
Bodies Are Vessels of Consciousness	p. 37
Lost in the Cube of Space	p. 51
Solve et Coagula	p. 61
Inner Guidance	p. 75
Shaman as Bard, Shaman as Scientist	p. 85
Archons Are Archetypes, Are Us	p. 103
The Shaman as Prophet	p. 117
The Cracking Tower	p. 139
Afterword	p. 155
Appendix from The Gnostic Book of Changes: The Management of the Work	p. 159
Endnotes	p. 175
Bibliography	p. 189
Index	p. 197
About the Author	p. 205
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

The Cracking Tower

A Strategy for Transcending 2012

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

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