Planetary Dreams

The Quest To Discover Life Beyond Earth. "The 'dreams' that I write of are not the usual ones, the images that come up in our minds involuntarily during certain stages of sleep, but rather the hopes and expectations that we have lavished upon other worlds around us."-from the Preface. The surprisingly long history of debate over extraterrestrial life is full of marvelous visions of what life "out there" might be like, as well as remarkable stories of alleged sightings and heated disputes about the probability that life might actually have arisen more than once. In Planetary Dreams, acclaimed author Robert Shapiro explores this rich history of dreams and debates in search of the best current answers to the most elusive and compelling of all questions: Are we alone? In his pursuit, he presents three contrasting views regarding how life might have started: through Divine Creation, by a highly unlikely stroke of luck, or by the inevitable process of a natural law that he terms the Life Principle. We are treated to a lively fictional dinner debate among the leading proponents of these schools of thought-with the last named group arguing that life has almost surely formed in many places throughout the universe, and the others that life may well be entirely unique to our own blue planet. To set the stage for a deep exploration of the question, the author then leads us on a fantastic journey through the museum of the cosmos, an imagined building that holds models of the universe at different degrees of magnification. We then journey deep into inner space to view the astonishingly intricate life of a single cell, and learn why the origin of such a complex object from simple chemical mixtures poses one of the most profound enigmas known to science. Writing in a wonderfully entertaining style, Shapiro then reviews the competing theories about the start of life on Earth, and suggests the debate may best be settled by finding signs of life on the other worlds of our solar system. He takes us on a guided tour of the most likely sites, from the underground hot springs of Mars to the ice-covered oceans of Jupiter's airless moons. Along the way, he shares a wealth of fascinating stories about the ways in which our views of the heavens have changed, from the theories of ancient philosphers, who argued that the Moon was inhabited, to the current Origins and Astrobiology initiatives of NASA. He describes the probes that will be sent out in the near future in pursuit of the first compelling physical evidence of life beyond Earth, and concludes with a radical suggestion about how this quest might be supported through the next millennium. As we launch into an exciting new era of space exploration, Planetary Dreams offers a thoughtful and entertaining exploration of both the history of our hopes and expectations and a vision of a possible future in which the discovery of life elsewhere will provide a new view of our place in the universe.

Like never before in history, humans are becoming increasingly interconnected with one another and with the other inhabitants and habitats of Earth. There are numerous signs of planetary interrelations, from social media and international trade to genetic engineering and global climate change. The scientific study of interrelations between organisms and environments, Ecology, is uniquely capable of addressing the complex challenges that characterize our era of planetary coexistence. Whole Earth Thinking and Planetary Coexistence focuses on newly emerging approaches to ecology that cross the disciplinary boundaries of sciences and humanities with the aim of responding to the challenges facing the current era of planetary interconnectedness. It introduces concepts that draw out a creative contrast between religious and secular approaches to the integration of sciences and humanities, with religious approaches represented by the "geologian" Thomas Berry and the whole Earth thinking of Stephanie Kaza and Gary Snyder, and the more secular approaches represented by the "geophilosophy" of poststructuralist theorists Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. This book will introduce concepts engaging with the ecological challenges of planetary coexistence to students and professionals in fields of environmental studies, philosophy and religious studies.

Planetary magick lies at the root of all astrological, alchemical, and Qabalistic lore. Although the planetary powers of the cosmos are far beyond our intervention, their correspondences in the depths of the psyche are within our reach through certain special meditative and ritual methods.

The book reads Pynchon's major novels as a global trilogy about history, modernity and the rise of the Anthropocene.

An opening into the dream of the day and the dream of the night. ,

Deep insights into human consciousness revealed by accounts of travel to other planets, moons, and stars • Includes interviews with 7 people who have had extra-planetary experiences, including astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Norma Milanovich, and Ingo Swann • Reveals the positive effects of these events on the interviewees’ lives, from cosmic consciousness and loss of fear of death to enhanced spiritual insights • Contextualizes these accounts with 19th- and 20th-century reports as well as alien-human encounters in ancient Sumerian, Vedic, Egyptian, Tibetan, and biblical records Since prehistoric times all cultures report encounters with strange beings and crafts from the sky as well as stories of extra-planetary experiences--that is, travel to other planets, moons, and stars. In the case of modern accounts, these benevolent alien-human interactions bear striking resemblance to one another, even among people with no knowledge of other alien-human claims. And all experiences marked a spiritual turning point in the person’s life, providing a loss of the fear of death, enhanced spiritual insights, a connection to cosmic consciousness, or increased motivation to be of service to humanity. Exploring fresh dimensions of ET contact and extra-planetary experience (XPE) using Harvard professor and researcher John Mack’s witnessing approach to paranormal incidents, Thomas Streicher interviews 7 renowned people who have experienced XPE--including astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Norma Milanovich, and Stanford-tested remote viewer Ingo Swann--and shares the positive spiritual effects of XPE on their lives. Placing their experiences in the context of historical accounts of alien-human encounters from ancient Sumerian, Vedic, Egyptian, Tibetan, Hopi, Dogon, and biblical records as well as 19th- and 20th-century testimonies from Orfeo Angelucci, Billy Meier, Elizabeth Klarer, and others, the author reveals the similarities of these experiences with those of his interviewees. Streicher shows these experiences are not contrived hallucinations but genuine transformative spiritual awakenings akin to near-death and out-of-body experiences.

A comprehensive survey of contemporary approaches to understanding dreams. If you can have only one book on dreams, this is the one to have.