Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings Paperback –by Rob BrezsnyBrezsny persuasively advises readers to go along with the universe’s good intentions, but his rejection of cynicism and a bleak view of human nature isn’t rooted in denial. On the contrary, he makes a case for a cagey optimism that requires a vigorous engagement with the dark forces. He asks us to rethink life as a sublime game created for our amusement and illumination. The book is a chameleon of a tome. You can read it straight through, slowly and surely, or else pick it up and open it at random for tasty hits of inspiration as the spirit moves you. You can even start at the end and weave your way backward. Brezsny has substantially updated this edition—he added nearly one hundred pages—by expanding various sections, adding more than a dozen new pieces and a new chapter, and providing readers with a number of playtime activities and exercises that let them participate through their own writing and drawing. “Brezsny’s horoscopes are like little valentines, buoyant and spilling over with mischievousness. They’re a soul prognosis.” —The New York Times
THE DRUIDS. 2007, Dr. Ronald Hutton.This is the best book on the ancient Druids yet written! It cuts through all the bullshit, and reveals what scientists and scholars actually know about the Druids.Ronald Hutton’s latest book is the first comprehensive study of what people have thought about the ancient Druids and why. Written in a racy and accessible style it is essential reading for everyone interested in exploring our mysterious past.Most books written on the Druids hitherto have been by archaeologists specializing in the Iron Age, who have occupied a great deal of space trying to find things to say about the ‘original’ ancient priesthood. Most have then devoted a final section of their books to people who have called themselves Druids since 1700 – until recently with contemptuous dismissal. Hutton’s contention is that the sources for the ancient Druids are so few and unreliable that almost nothing certain can be said about them. Instead he reverses the traditional balance of interest to look at the many ways in which Druids have been imagined in Britain since 1500, and what this tells us about modern and early modern society. In the process he achieves many new insights into the development of British national identities, established and ‘alternative’ religions, literary culture, fraternal organisation and protest movements. He also suggests new ways in which the discipline of archaeology can be perceived – which will delight some practitioners and enrage others.A must read for anyone on the Druidic path. ISBN:1847252109