An investigation into the history, archaeology and mythology of ancient Mesoamerica, in order to understand the motivations that lay behind the building of pyramidal cities and bizarre rituals. The author dismisses New Age ideas about the origin and nature of these societies.

This Tree Grows Out of Hell: Mesoamerica and the Search for the Magical Body

History

Tompkins, Ptolemy

Ancient Civilizations

Harpercollins

Este Arbol Brota Del Infierno: Mesoamerica En LA Busqueda Del Cuerpo Magico (Spanish and English Edition)

A journey through 20,000 years of history and myth in search of the answer to a single question: Do animals have souls? Anyone who has ever mourned the loss of a cherished pet has wondered about the animal soul. Do animals survive the death of the body, or are they doomed to disappear completely when they leave this world behind? Both scientists and religious authorities have long scoffed at the idea of animals in heaven. Yet the question endures. In this wise, immensely readable book, Ptolemy Tompkins embarks on a quest for the answer—taking us on a top-speed tour of the history of the animal soul. Equally at home with mainstream and alternative spiritual philosophies, Tompkins takes us from the savannas of Africa to the earth’s first cities to the early days of the great faith traditions of both East and West. Along the way, he shows that, despite what many of us have been taught, the world’s various spiritual traditions all have profoundly meaningful things to say about the animal soul, if we simply know where to look. Rescuing these ancient insights and blending them with vivid stories about animals today—from a dwarf rabbit named Angus to a manatee named Moose to a black bear named Little Bit—The Divine Life of Animals paints a gloriously inclusive picture of the cosmos as a place made up of both matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. Though it is startlingly original, The Divine Life of Animals also feels strangely and instantly familiar, for it reveals truths that many of us have held in our hearts already, waiting only for someone to give fresh voice to one of the oldest and most trustworthy intuitions we possess. The Divine Life of Animals offers a compelling and timeless vision of the relationship between humans and animals that will have you looking at the animals in your life with new eyes.

The Divine Life of Animals: One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Pets & Animal Care

Crown

Self-Help

Death & Grief

The author recounts his hilarious experiences growing up as the son of a leader of the New Age movement of the 1970s, casting a sober eye on the hilarious beliefs and antics of his father and his hangers on. Reprint.

Paradise Fever: Growing Up in the Shadow of the New Age

Biographies & Memoirs

Bard

In an America obsessed with quickie enlightenment and wisdom-acquisition, Ptolemy Tompkins is a seeker who has been there and done that. From Black Elk to the Dalai Lama -- from Hun Tun and mescaline to motorcycle Zen and mind at large -- the acclaimed author of Paradise Fever has followed many roads in pursuit of a universal truth. And he has survived to tell the tale.The Beaten PathPtolemy Tompkins came of age in the '70s -- before Americans began spending uplifting Tuesdays with Morrie or perusing Little Instruction Books. In the wake of a quintessentially New Age childhood as the son of the radical freethinker Peter Tompkins, author of the bestselling The Secret Life of Plants, Ptolemy began a personal quest for enlightenment decades before it became trendy to do so. He gained much valuable insight as he careened from Buddha to the Bhagavad-Gita, from Krishna to Carlos Castaneda. But how much actual "wisdom" he accrued is a matter the author himself admits is up for debate.The Beaten Path is a work of great intelligence that is profound, moving, and hilariously entertaining. In his funny and touching account of a spiritual journey that went wildly off course, the author bares his soul even as he knocks down the gaudy signposts that guide eager pilgrims through today's pop-wisdom landscape. Yet he never loses sight of what is valuable and true in the literature of the spirit.Part gripping personal memoir, part merciless-yet-affectionate critique, and part genuine prescription for the good life, The Beaten Path is a provocative gift from a man who left no page unturned, no odyssey uncompleted, in his determination to find direction and meaning in the cosmos. In exploring what it is that makes so many of his contemporaries actively seek the light of peace and transformation in its most convenient and palatable form, he offers readers a unique, idiosyncratic insight into our modern world. And he has great fun while doing so.

The Beaten Path: Field Notes on Getting Wise in a Wisdom-Crazy World

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Quill

The author relates how his life changed at age twelve when his home became a way station to such types as orgiasts, Yeti-hunters, space ship communicants, and free-form visionaries

Avon/Books

In an America obsessed with quickie enlightenment and wisdom-acquisition, Ptolemy Tompkins is a seeker who has been there and done that. From Black Elk to the Dalai Lama -- from Hun Tun and mescaline to motorcycle Zen and mind at large -- the acclaimed author of Paradise Fever has followed many roads in pursuit of a universal truth. And he has survived to tell the tale.
The Beaten Path
Ptolemy Tompkins came of age in the '70s -- before Americans began spending uplifting Tuesdays with Morrie or perusing Little Instruction Books. In the wake of a quintessentially New Age childhood as the son of the radical freethinker Peter Tompkins, author of the bestselling The Secret Life of Plants, Ptolemy began a personal quest for enlightenment decades before it became trendy to do so. He gained much valuable insight as he careened from Buddha to the Bhagavad-Gita, from Krishna to Carlos Castaneda. But how much actual "wisdom" he accrued is a matter the author himself admits is up for debate.
The Beaten Path is a work of great intelligence that is profound, moving, and hilariously entertaining. In his funny and touching account of a spiritual journey that went wildly off course, the author bares his soul even as he knocks down the gaudy signposts that guide eager pilgrims through today's pop-wisdom landscape. Yet he never loses sight of what is valuable and true in the literature of the spirit.
Part gripping personal memoir, part merciless-yet-affectionate critique, and part genuine prescription for the good life, The Beaten Path is a provocative gift from a man who left no page unturned, no odyssey uncompleted, in his determination to find direction and meaning in the cosmos. In exploring what it is that makes so many of his contemporaries actively seek the light of peace and transformation in its most convenient and palatable form, he offers readers a unique, idiosyncratic insight into our modern world. And he has great fun while doing so.

Personal Transformation

William Morrow

This delightful and engaging book travels around the world and throughout history, from ancient Egypt to eighteenth century France and beyond, to tell the story of the monkey's role in art. By turns amusing and serious, the text and pictures provide a fascinating glimpse into the unlikely ways in which human beings have chosen to view their simian relatives over the centuries.

The Monkey in Art

Arts & Photography

Themes

Sothebys Pubns

In the tower of Poggio Petroio, a Renaissance castle in the hills of ltaly's Chianti region, is to be found the Vanessa dei Barabba Florine, the world's only museum devoted to objects created for, about, and in celebration of dogs. In a rich collection of colour photographs, A Dog Lover's Museum captures the charm, humour, and whimsy of this unique private museum while at the same time providing an affectionate and often surprising demonstration of the central place that dogs have occupied in the hearts of so many different people over history. Ranging from kitsch twentieth century salt and pepper shakers to exquisite jewel-encrusted collars from the Renaissance, the museum's' s strength and the consistency with which the dog has commanded our fascination over time, and the warmth and quirkiness with which this fascination has so often been expressed, make this a compelling book for the general reader as well as the dog lover. Like the museum, whose character and atmosphere it captures so well, A Dog Lover's Museum is a one-of-a-kind testament to the variety and colour of the human love for dogs. As such it stands out in the crowded field of dog books, and is the ideal gift for any dog lover.

A Dog Lover's Collection (French Edition)

Sapieha, Nicolas

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Scala Books

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Books by Tompkins, Ptolemy