Ayahuasca is a South American psychoactive brew, traditionally used by Indigenous cultures and folk healers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins for spiritual ceremonies, divination, and healing a variety of psychosomatic complaints. Originally restricted to areas of Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, in the middle of the 20th century it became widespread in Brazil in the context of the appearance of syncretic religions that use ayahuasca as a sacrament, like Santo Daime, União do Vegetal and Barquinha, which blend elements of Amazonian Shamanism, Christianity, Kardecist Spiritism, and African-Brazilian religions such as Umbanda, Candomblé and Tambor de Mina, later expanding to several countries across all continents, notably the United States and Western Europe, and, more incipiently, in Eastern Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.
Richard Buckminster Fuller was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more than 30 books and coining or popularizing such terms as "Spaceship Earth", "Dymaxion", "ephemeralization", "synergetics", and "tensegrity".
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in a variety of styles that ranged from angular guitar riffs to elaborately arranged pop. Partly because the group did not fit into contemporary trends, they achieved only sporadic commercial success in the UK and US, but attracted a considerable cult following. They have since been recognised for their influence on post-punk, Britpop and later power pop acts.
Vajrayāna, also known as Mantrayāna, Mantranāya, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Buddhist tradition of tantric practice that developed in the Indian subcontinent and spread to Tibet, Nepal, other Himalayan states, East Asia, and Mongolia.
Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key while he was in the new wave band Images in Vogue, Skinny Puppy evolved into a full-time project with the addition of vocalist Nivek Ogre. Over the course of 13 studio albums and many live tours, Key and Ogre were the only constant members. Other members have included Dwayne Goettel, Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, Bill Leeb, Mark Walk (2003–2023), and a number of guests, including Al Jourgensen (1989), Danny Carey (2004), and many others.
Entheogens are psychoactive substances, including psychedelic drugs, used in sacred contexts for inducing spiritual development among other reasons.
The Gāyatrī Mantra, also known as the Sāvitrī Mantra, is a sacred mantra from the Ṛg Veda, dedicated to the Vedic deity Savitṛ. It is known as "Mother of the Vedas".
Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.
Neoshamanism refers to new forms of shamanism. It usually means shamanism practiced by Western people as a type of New Age spirituality, without a connection to traditional shamanic societies. It is sometimes also used for modern shamanic rituals and practices which, although they have some connection to the traditional societies in which they originated, have been adapted somehow to modern circumstances. This can include "shamanic" rituals performed as an exhibition, either on stage or for shamanic tourism, as well as modern derivations of traditional systems that incorporate new technology and worldviews.
Black Lab is an alternative rock band founded by Paul Durham in Berkeley, California, and currently based in Los Angeles and Montana.
Kenneth A. Symington of Cañal was a British-Cuban civic leader, the last National Executive Commissioner of the Asociación de Scouts de Cuba.
Lab Report was an improvisational, dark ambient, band created by Matthew Schultz, Eric Pounder and Chris Blazen in 1989. The experimental project gained notoriety as one of the earliest dark ambient musical projects stemming from the Industrial music genre.
Magda Cordell McHale was a Hungarian artist, futurist, and educator. She was a founding member of the Independent Group which was a British movement that originated Pop Art which grew out of a fascination with American mass culture and post-WWII technologies. Later, she was a faculty member in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture & Planning.
Robert Edward Williams is an American designer, mathematician, and architect. He is noted for books on the geometry of natural structure, the discovery of a new space-filling polyhedron, the development of theoretical principles of Catenatic Geometry, and the invention of the Ars-Vivant Wild-life Protector System for repopulating the Western Mojave Desert in California, USA with desert tortoises.
Guillermo Arévalo Valera is a Shipibo vegetalista and businessperson from the Maynas Province of Peru. His Shipibo name is Kestenbetsa.
Brain Damage Films is a US-based international independent film production company and distribution company. It was founded in 2001 by Darrin Ramage. A division located in the UK was launched in September 2009. The company's films are noted for their horror aspects and Z movie budgets. They are also known for a variety of shock/exploitation films, most notably the Traces of Death series, which was produced in response to the popularity of the Faces of Death series.
The Anti Tank Guitar or A.T.G. is a large multi-stringed instrument that can express tones including and beyond the chromatic scale.
To Each... is the second album and debut LP by English band A Certain Ratio, released in 1981 by record label Factory. It is sometimes considered the band's official first album. It was recorded in New Jersey and produced by Factory mainstay Martin Hannett.
Vandorn Hinnant is a visual artist, poet and educator based in Durham, North Carolina.
Shamanism is a religious practice present in various cultures and religions around the world. Shamanism takes on many different forms, which vary greatly by region and culture and are shaped by the distinct histories of its practitioners.
