Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by Steven Johnson (Author)
Creative Symbols of Tantric Buddhism was written by the founder of the Western Buddhist Order, Sangharakshita, who explains that many of the concepts associated with Tantra are too esoteric to be described in anything other than a purely symbolic manner.
His book examines the many symbols of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and gives a clear overview of the Wheel of Life, the mandala of the Five Buddha Families, the symbolism of colour, mantras, dakinis, and many other aspects of Tantric practise.
Umberto Eco's 
is great design inspiration with 250 album covers from the jazz age.
Eric Kohler, a graphic designer and album artist himself, has chosen some beautiful examples and wonders why graphic artists aren't more often considered great "artists" in their own right.
Interesting commentary about the artists accompanies the imagery.
Sexuality is certainly a part of it as Tantra attempts to provide awareness of all aspects of life and focusses on the interdependence of experience. This means that both the male and female principles, in all their manifestations, are central to our cycle of existence and so both creation and destruction are explored in equal measure.
Says the Dalai Lama:
"Samsara, our conditioned existence in the perpetual cycle of habitual tendencies and nirvana - genuine freedom from such an existence - are nothing but different manifestations of a basic continuum. So this continuity of consciousness is always present. This is the meaning of tantra."
The Tantric Way by Ajit Mookerjee and Madhu Khanna is an academic view of the theory, history, art and ritual of Tantra, primarily the Hindu form.
Recommended.
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters was highly recommended when I was reading Joseph Cambell's Hero with a Thousand Faces . Using Campbell's Monomyth narrative structure, Christopher Vogler offers concrete advice for writers of stories and screenplays using examples from film blockbusters from American Graffitti to the Wizard of Oz. The second edition has been updated with references to such recent films as Titanic and The Full Monty.
The book offers excellent advice and easy techniques for adding structure and emotional depth to stories. Very highly recommended!
From Redstone Press. Includes classics like The Exquisite Corpse plus a variety of quite interesting parlour word games.
Another travel book written in the early part of the century by the Russian artist and spiritualist Nicholas Roerich, it doesn't, unfortunately, compare with Alexandra's David Neel's accounts of the area, but has some interesting moments. Roerich traveled Chinese Turkestan, Altai, Mongolia and Tibet, investigating the local customs and religions.
What aren't included, but are perhaps the key to his journey, are the beautiful paintings he created on the journey.
James L. Kegel - Religious Research
This research companion to the Hebrew Old Testament examines the various translations of that ancient text over the millennia to provide a fascinating look at what the biblical authors really could have been on about. Krugel is professor of Hebrew Literature at Harvard and at Bar Ilan in Israel so any conclusions drawn must take this context into account, however, it is nevertheless an extremely objective examination of how we got the Bible we have today. Highly recommended
Joseph Campbell - Religion, Mythology
An important work whose influence on the Star Wars saga is somewhat legendary. It's actually quite hard-going as Campbell attempts to tie disparate religious beliefs into a cohesive whole, but often only manages a joycian stream of consciousness which is hard to follow. That said, it's a fascinating look at the hero myth throughout history and definitely worth reading. I understand that a derivitive work, The Writer's Journey, is a better reference for writers. Recommended
Maurice Cotterell - Alternative History
I freely admit that I read a lot of rubbish and sometimes I even find it convincing, but this is one of the biggest pieces of crap I've ever read. To give it credit, I could barely manage to get past the first chapter, so it could be the greatest archaeological masterpiece of its time, but somehow I doubt it.
This guy shows how Mayan designs can be photocopied onto acetate and laid over one another to produce "coded messages". Talk about lateral thinking - did the Mayans actually have acetate, do you think? Or did was the prophecy that humans of the future would have acetate so they kindly coded our salvation into stone, knowing that we'd understand what to do with it.
And what does this have to do with the prophecy that "shook the Freemasons", you might ask? Who knows - it was enough of a struggle to get past the Mayans and their secret overhead projectors. Don't bother
Hey, don't laugh! Not being a native, I don't have the familiarity with this guy that the British do. I've already suffered the taunts of admitting that I'm reading this - but I think maybe the guy is under-rated. No, seriously - listen. Don't back away from me!
I actually enjoyed reading this. Icke has an informal, almost wry style and it's easy to fall worryingly close to agreeing with some of his conclusions. He does a fantastic job of weaving together mythologies from around the world, and if you completely ignore his sources (who are equally, erm... eccentric), it all comes across faintly plausible.
And then he starts with the lizard people...
Here's the deal. There were these aliens, right? On Mars. But they came from Sirius and Orion. Anyway, there were 2 types, Nordics and Lizards. The aliens in the X-Files are actually Lizard people in space suits and the Nordics were the giants of old. The Nordics and the lizard people bred to create a race of superhumans that control humankind. They're the Illuminati and the Catholic Church and the banks. And George Bush. And the Queen. And your boss. But not Princess Diana. She was ritually murdered by the lizard people.
I think...
Ian Wilson - History
The subtitle for this book is "dramatic new evidence that the Biblical flood was a real-life event" which is, frankly, a little over-dramatic. In actuality, this is a well-researched look at a variety of evidence for large scale flooding of the Black Sea regions when the Mediterranean broke through the Bosporus Strait 7500 years ago. Wilson also examines Catal Huyuk and other Turkish archaeological sites for evidence that this region is the actual location of the Garden of Eden.
Neal Stephenson - Speculative fiction
This is the first novel by Neal Stephenson that I've read and whilst I enjoyed its wit and fast pace, I'm not sure I'd read another of his books. Stephenson worked hard to make the lead character a loveable rogue but in the end he came across faintly annoying. Still, the story was interesting, the science believable and the Boston setting familiar - I could easily visualise the locations, which I found enjoyable. Somewhat recommended.
Rosa E. King - Non-fiction
A charming and evocative account of life in Cuernavaca during the beginnings of the Mexican Revolution. Written by Rosa King, an English hotelier who settled in the small town near Mexico City in 1907, the book has a cosy, old-fashioned feel, as though narrated by a favourite grandmother. She rarely mentions her husband, who, I can only assume, died prior to their arrival, leaving her and her two children alone. Speaking barely a word of Spanish, she took advantage of the high esteem in which Europeans were held and built a successful business out of nearly nothing. What's fascinating is that this well-bred Englishwoman identified so easily with both the poor Zapatista rebels and the Federale soldiers who stayed in the hotel as alternatively guests, protectors and occupiers.
I bought this little treasure this from a tiny bookshop in Caxton that specialises in out-of-print and rare books about Latin America and the Caribbean and found it via the Heffer's Online Bookstore. I had a lovely chat with the man at Kew Books and he sent the book out to me next day. The internet's grand, isn't it?
Frank McLynn - History, Biography
A fascinating double biography of the two architects of the Mexican Revolution (OK, maybe not the architects, but the general contractors). Villa and Zapata make an interesting comparison, as they couldn't have been more different. Pancho Villa, the former bandit, idolised Francisco Madero, the mystic and social reformer, but often had his own agenda. Zapata was an idealist and former sharecropper who supported agrarian reform and land redistribution. A complex period of time and two complex characters, presented with clarity. Recommended.
An investigation into the many myths surrounding Angels, Watchers, Niphilim and other "advanced beings". Interesting and well-written, as with all of these things, it's best to draw your own conclusions as to what these mythological entities really represent. Draws heavily from Judaic, Persian and Zoroastrian sources. Recommended
