Out of this world : other-worldly journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein

Foreword by Lawrence E. Sullivan.

1 A historian's kit for the fourth dimension. 2 Free spirit seeks free spirit: an outline of shamanism. 3 Dark treasures: otherworldly journeys in Mesopotamian religion. 4 Puppets, playhouses, and gods: journeys through other worlds in ancient Egypt. 5 Crane riding, soul raising, and ghost brides in Taoist China. 6 Journeys through the mind: Buddhism and otherworldly journeys. 7 From furor to spiritual vision: ancient Iranian ecstatics. 8 Greek medicine men. 9 The seven palaces and the chariot of God: Jewish mysticism from Merkabah to Kabbalah. 10 Interplanetary tours: the Platonic space shuttle, from Plotinus to Marsilio Ficino. 11 The apogee of otherworldly journeys: from Muhammad to Dante

'...takes the reader on a fantastic journey through a wide range of cultures and traditions to examine the phenomenon of ecstatic visionary experiences--from Sumerian Gilgamesh and the Taoist Immortals to the imaginative fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. The author pr ovides a comprehensive tour of otherworldly journeys common from immemorial times among shamans, magicians, and witches, and illustrates their connection with such modern phenomena as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences.'

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