Not-yet-published pieces, stories, essays, rants, and random strangenesses

My job has me writing a lot each week: weekly newsletters, press releases, editorials, forwards and introductions to books—that sort of...

Two nights running I had a strong dream of me carrying a hawk in my arms. I’m not sure what kind of hawk it is; when I look down, it’s...

People dance after drinking ayahuasca in Amazonas, Brazil By John Otis, Time Magazine Although his parents urged him to study medicine,...

I have always been fascinated by maps. Not handsome, historical maps, but ones I might actually use. These days I spend an absurd amount...

My nephew makes a mean Bloody Mary. Everyone loved this year’s Craignog (which, after years of perfecting, I tweaked once again), but...

Yesterday was Day One in several significant ways. The Great Funeral Trip is done, and Mom is resting with Dad in Maryland. Now I have an...

Today was the most horrific day I have ever lived through. Mom was more alert, but also more solidly in the throes of cyanosis, the...

by Jeffrey Weiss, DallasNews.com The psilocybin mushroom was a tripper’s choice back in the 1960s. Actually, it was the herbal head-trip...

By Wickham Boyle | The Villager Urban Shaman is not an easy job title, or even a moniker that can be absorbed facilely at cocktail...

Writers of art history have long kept different cultures on separate shelves, but the modern world has shown how they relate to one...

By Manuel Roig-Franzia Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, September 26, 2007; Page A14 SANTIAGO ATITLAN, Guatemala The shaman...

by Abe Novick, special to the (Baltimore) Jewish Times It was cable TV that came out of the gate early this summer. While the networks...

Shaman wisdom, psychology treat post-traumatic stress disorder by ALEX deMARBAN Anchorage Daily News | September 17, 2007 After a...

by Marie Ryan McMillan JuneauEmpire.com On one of my last days in Shishmaref, I heard the story of the last shaman. In it, the village’s...

The chattering classes are heading to the Amazon in search of esoteric highs. Are shamans the new shrinks? by Clover Stroud The Sunday...

These parents believe horses and shamans can unlock their son’s autistic mind. This is their journey of discovery by Tim Rayment The...

A tiny Amazonian village mixes traditional healing and modern medicine by Andy Isaacson Utne Reader, September / October 2007 Issue At an...

By DULUE MBACHU © 2007 The Associated Press Tuesday, September 4, 2007 ACHINA, Nigeria — Born to a family of traditional priests, Ibe...

From the Russia Today website (Russia Today is an English-language TV news channel broadcasting globally via satellite and cable that...