The Joyful Guide To Lachrymology

Lachrymology is a religion that tells the path a person must take to an enlightened life; it is the experience of sorrow, and of their tears healing in nature. Let it be said that the pains of living, be they physical or mental, are the means to a broadened understanding and appreciation of the sensical and metaphysical realms. This text explains the process by which Lachrymology considers cheerless feelings and thoughts and changes them to joy in a person who, as they cry, grow nearer to enlightened consciousness and righteousness, and are brought to their highest state of being.

How Alex Grey’s visionary art is evolving the cultural body through icons of interconnectedness • Includes over 200 reproductions of Grey’s artwork • Contains spectacular photos of Grey’s collaboration with the cult band TOOL plus his worldwide live-painting performances • Offers Grey’s reflections on how art evolves consciousness with a new symbology of the Networked Self • Winner of the 2013 Nautilus Silver Book Award in Photography and Art Revealing the interwoven energies of body and soul, love and spirit that illuminate the core of each being, Alex Grey’s mystic paintings articulate the realms of consciousness encountered during visits to entheogenic heaven worlds. His painting Net of Being--inspired by a blazing vision of an infinite grid of Godheads during an ayahuasca journey--has reached millions as the cover and interior of the band TOOL’s Grammy award–winning triple-platinum album, 10,000 Days. Net of Being is one of many images Grey has created that have resulted in a chain reaction of uses--from apparel and jewelry to tattoos and music videos--embedding these iconic works into our culture’s living Net of Being. The book explores how the mystical experience expressed in Alex Grey’s work opens a new understanding of our shared consciousness and unveils the deep influence art can have on cultural evolution. The narrative progresses through a successive expansion of identity--from the self, to self and beloved, to self and community, world spirit, and cosmic consciousness, where bodies are transparent to galactic energies. Presenting over 200 images, including many never-before-reproduced paintings as well as masterworks such as St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolution and Godself, the book also documents performance art, live-painting on stage throughout the world, and the “social sculpture” called CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, that Grey cofounded with his wife and creative collaborator, artist Allyson Grey.

Ministry: The Lost Gospels is both ugly and captivating, revealing a character who has lived a hard life his way, without compromise. Jourgensen, one of the most innovative and prolific artists ever to pick up a guitar, mandolin, harmonica, or banjo, wanted to be a musician, yet became a rock star. And fame and fortune almost killed him. An IV drug abuser from the age of fifteen, Jourgensen delved deeper into heroin, cocaine, methadone, and alcohol for twenty-two years before cleaning up, straightening out, and finding new reasons to live. Filled with humor, heart, decadence, and tragedy, Ministry depicts the epic life of a renegade iconoclast.

Supplemental coursework serving as a companion to The Joyful Guide to Lachrymology.

Swingers and swappers, strippers and streetwalkers, sadists, masochists, and sexual mavericks of every persuasion; all are documented in The Velvet Underground, a legendary exposé of the diseased underbelly of ’60s American society. The book that lent its name to the seminal New York rock’n’roll group, whose songs were to mirror its themes of depravity and social malaise. Welcome to the sexual twilight zone...

A Perfect Union of Contrary Things is the authorized biography of musician and vintner Maynard James Keenan. Co-author Sarah Jensen's 30-year friendship with Keenan gives her unique insight into his history and career trajectory. The book traces Keenan's journey from his Midwest childhood to his years in the Army to his time in art school, from his stint at a Boston pet shop to his place in the international spotlight and his influence on contemporary music and regional winemaking. A comprehensive portrayal of a versatile and dedicated artist, A Perfect Union of Contrary Things pays homage to the people and places that shaped the man and his art. Until now, Maynard's fans have had access to only an abridged version of his story. A Perfect Union of Contrary Things presents the outtakes, the scenes of disappointment and triumph, and the events that led him to take one step after the next, to change direction, to explore sometimes surprising opportunities. Included are sidebars in his own words, often humorous anecdotes that illuminate the narrative, as well as commentary by his family members, friends, instructors, and industry colleagues. The book also features a foreword by Alex Grey, an American visionary artist and longtime friend of Keenan. Accompanying the text are photos of Keenan from childhood to the present. Maynard's story is a metaphor for the reader's own evolution and an encouragement to follow one's dreams, hold fast to individual integrity, and work ceaselessly to fulfill our creative potential.

The very first book about the Anglo-American metal band Tool explores not only their uncompromising music but also their unsettling, self-made image based on mythological symbols and arcane theories. The quartet of master musicians – Maynard James Keenan, Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor and Adam Jones – emerged from the club scene in Los Angeles in 1990 alongside their friends Rage Against the Machine, grabbing the concept of heavy music and then completely redefining it. With a sixties-style commitment to art and agit-prop, they have now attained a level of artistic complexity and depth which makes their enduring success a miracle in today’s culture of bland, corporate entertainment. Their rise to glory has been one of the stranger rock tales of our time. Joel McIver leaves no detail omitted as he delves into the mystery behind Tool’s music