schinko94's reviews
107 reviews

A nice quick read with interesting themes and homosexual undertones. Lovely.

This is a really good overview of Las 21 Divisiones, which is Haitian Vodou's sister tradition in the Dominican Republic. Papa Hector is a friend of our Haitian Vodou house, and he is knowledgeable about both traditions on a very deep level. Before reading this book, I knew that our two traditions were similar, but Papa Hector's writing revealed to me that there are also some pretty significant differences between the traditions. For example, in Haitian Vodou we don't have much of an emphasis on Taino spirits, and we serve the Petwo lwa on a regular basis (whereas many 21 Divisiones houses will not). Overall a great overview of a religion that has had significant influence on Dominican culture and daily life.

I've never read an overview of an ATR that is quite as thorough and well thought out as this one. The way that Mattos Frisvold writes about this tradition clearly shows that he loves it dearly, and he lays out his theological views in a way that is both readable and passionate. A must-read.

This was an extremely extensive literature review and a great rethinking of how cannabis indica was spread throughout the world. Duvall takes an Afroasiatic approach to cannabis history, which is entirely appropriate for the subject matter, seeing as cannabis pipes were originally invented in Africa. From ground pipes to bongs, we wouldn't smoke cannabis in the way that we now do if it weren't for the influence of Sub-Saharan African peoples.

This is an important but rather boring read. Michael Pollan has clearly done extensive research on psychedelics for this book, and it's fantastic to have someone finally taking plant medicine seriously, but the author himself is clearly a little bit of a square. He spends a lot of the book describing how anxious he is about trying drugs, which I don't feel is entirely necessary. The fears are valid, but he's a little verbose in describing the various forms of anxiety that plagued him before his first mushroom and LSD experiences. Overall still a good read.

From now on, whenever someone asks me which book they should read about yoga, this is the book I'm going to suggest first hands down. Not only does Kavitha Chinnaiyan expound the philosophy of Mahavidya Sadhana with extreme clarity, she also gives us extremely practical advice concerning how to incorporate the Devi into our daily lives. I've been a tantra yoga practitioner for a couple of years now, and I fully intend to use this book to bring myself to new heights. Extremely well done.

I consider this tantra to be a guide to life and happiness, and this translation is wonderful. Jaideva Singh is a direct disciple of Swami Lakshmanjoo, and his commentary is invaluable. An excellent source of information for intermediate and advanced meditation practitioners.

This text is important but it's also incredibly dense. I'm not gonna lie, as much as I love yogic philosophy, Kshemaraja's commentary is as dry as it is detail-oriented. This book is not for beginners, and if you are a beginner in yoga, you probably aren't going to have any idea what this book is talking about. I would recommend having a really firm meditation practice before attempting this manuscript.

It's fine. This book definitely contains some vital information about Kali and how she relates to Abhinavagupta's philosophy, but I would maybe like some more confirmation on the validity of Odier's translation of the Nirrutara Tantra. Also, the author mentions that parts of this book were (supposedly) revealed by Lālitā Devi herself, but then he doesn't label those parts in the actual text. This means that I have no way of knowing which parts are tradition and which parts were from the author's own experiences.

This author is a white supremacist, and this book was written before he went off the wall, so to speak. I found it informative as a beginner, but I now know that many of the practices in this book are bunk. Go find a physical Vodou community to be a part of and don't read this book.