Bøger af Dan Russell

"Rebirth" is the first collection of poetry from Dan Russell broken into three parts being In Darkness, In Search, and In Freedom. The poems explore themes of self-actualization, freedom, solitude, love, loss, redemption, and time.

"Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda" is a popularly written college-level introduction to ancient history and the Greek classics. The text is fully annotated and illuminated by 200 genuine pharmaco-shamanic images from the ancient world. Since it is popularly written, and very heavily illustrated with the remarkable, overtly pharmaco-shamanic art of the ancient world, it reads like a movie. But a movie with profound psychological and political relevance for the contemporary world, since it uses the words and pictures of our ancestors to address contemporary issues. In this sense, it compares to "The Chalice and the Blade" and "Food of the Gods," two recent bestsellers of similar intent. As such, the book is a unique tool for exciting undergraduates about the contemporary relevance of ancient history and the Greek classics. This was the intent of Jane Ellen Harrison in her "Prolegomena" and "Epilegomena to the Study of Greek Religion." Harrison was the most influential classicist of the twentieth century, and, not coincidentally, the most influential feminist historian of the century as well. A major feature of "Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda," in 4 of its 17 chapters, is its summary of Harrison's seminal thesis, in her own words. Harrison was concerned with the historical and psychological transition from the originary matriarchal conscious of tribal culture to the warrior-oriented patriarchal consciousness of industrial culture. She understood this transition to be central to the process of industrial enslavement. That enslavement necessarily demonized the power-rites, the rites de passage, as she called them, of tribal cultures. That is, Harrison pointed to the tribal, the matriarchal pre-industrial roots of Classical, patriarchal-industrial, Greek culture. She was, therefore, concerned with originary, tribal, Greek sacramentalism. Herbal magic, real pharmaco-shamanism, is at the core of all matriarchal cultures. The Goddess does not separate from her herbal magic, from her invention of medicine. The central sacrament of all Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures known is an inebriative herb, a plant totem, which became metaphoric of the communal epiphany. These herbs, herbal concoctions and herbal metaphors are at the heart of all mythologies. They include such familiar images as the Burning Bush, the Tree of Life, the Cross, the Golden Bough, the Forbidden Fruit, the Blood of Christ, the Blood of Dionysos, the Holy Grail (or rather its contents), the Chalice (Kalyx: 'flower cup'), the Golden Flower (Chrysanthemon), Ambrosia (Ambrotos: 'immortal'), Nectar (Nektar: 'overcomes death'), the Sacred Lotus, the Golden Apples, the Mystic Mandrake, the Mystic Rose, the Divine Mushroom (teonanacatl), the Divine Water Lily, Soma, Ayahuasca ('Vine of the Soul'), Kava, Iboga, Mama Coca and Peyote Woman. They are the archetypal - the emotionally, the instantaneously understood - symbols at the center of the drug propaganda. A sexually attractive man or woman is an archetypal image, the basis of most advertising. A loaf of bread is an archetypal image. The emotional impact of the sacramental herbal images, or, rather, the historical confusion of their natural function, is central to the successful manipulation of mass emotion and individual self-image. That is, contemporary politics has an unconscious, an evolutionary element, that involves the industrial manipulation of instinct. That manipulation can only be understood by contemplating what elements of our evolutionary inheritance contemporary inquisitors want forgotten.

The Drug Propaganda, Volumes 1 & 2 "This dazzling book is a magnificent addition to literature about the madness of our centuries-old war on drugs. Bizarre characters and amazing stories are richly illustrated in both words and pictures. Prepare yourself for a deep dive into wonderland." Stephen Kinzer, author of The Brothers, Overthrow, All the Shah's Men, Poisoner in Chief, etc. "Dan....I spent a good part of the weekend with your book......it is very thorough and very useful.....I will certainly cite it in my own works and lectures." Melvin Goodman, author of Whistleblower at the CIA, Insult to Intelligence, National Insecurity, etc. '"The best book I ever read on the Drug War." -- Celerino Castillo III, lead DEA agent in Guatemala and El Salvador, 1985-90, who developed much of the Contra cocaine evidence; author of Powderburns "An important, strenuously argued contribution to the case against our nation's scandalous narcotics policies and laws. Particularly valuable are the the encyclopaedic historical and anthropological perspectives which the author brings to bear on our cultural crisis. His scathing review of today's unjust confiscation and sentencing statutes is balanced by encouraging and badly-needed statistics about the successes of alternatives, such as the Dutch decriminalization program." Peter Dale Scott, English Department, University of California, Berkeley, author of Cocaine Politics, Deep Politics, Crime & Cover-Up, Coming To Jakarta, etc. "Dan Russell's book is on par with Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States. This historical account needs to be in every educational institution, beginning with high school, to tell the other side of the story of our loss of earth-based ecstasy. This book brilliantly shows how our healing relationship with plant allies came to be replaced with the prevailing political agenda of drug propaganda. I recommend this great book, which I personally couldn't put down as it engages like a historical / political novel, for all schools of free thinkers. It is the central text in our homeschool for my teenagers this year!" Jeannine Parvati Baker, author of Hygieia: A Woman's Herbal; Conscious Conception: Elemental Journey Through the Labyrinth of Sexuality; Prenatal Yoga & Natural Birth "Wow! I have learned so much and enjoyed this read tremendously. Your book was a watershed event for me. It helped me 'see the world whole' and understand the drug business and the war on drugs in an important new way. We are all pressed for time, but reading your book was the ultimate time saver for me. There is nothing more powerful than understanding the chaos when you are in it....Your book is a monumental achievement....for goodness sakes this needs to get out asap. Excellent is excellent!" Catherine Austin Fitts, Federal Housing Commissioner, 1989-90; President, Solari, Inc.; www.solari.com "Dan Russell goes to the heart of the so-called 'drug-problem', really a 'prohibition-problem': extra-curricular drug- and gun-running by numerous governments, with that of the United States at the head of the list, its cynical and duplicitous 'war on drugs' notwithstanding - nought but a racist war on the poor and disenfranchised, both nationally and internationally, and withal a 'war on the drug competition'; nor ought we to forget who invented modern money laundering shell-games, nor who profits the most from them. I urge you to read Dan Russell's shocking exposé - may it serve as a much-needed wake-up call!" Jonathan Ott, author/co-author of Pharmacophilia Or The Natural Paradises, Pharmacotheon, Persephone's Quest, The Road To Eleusis, Hallucinogenic Plants of North America, The Age of Entheogens, etc.

In this provocative and passionate book, Dan Russell argues that Aboriginal self-government is an attainable objective best achieved through a constitutional amendment, not through treaties, as has been the preoccupation of provincial and federal governments since 1982. He claims that reliance on treaties as an instrument of self-government is misguided and doomed to failure.