Illustrations

Title Page

The Reader (2011), digital artwork by Rob Beschizza for BoingBoing and
Jeffrey J. Kripal, “Psi-Fi: Popular Culture and the Paranormal.”

Part I

Listen to the Amniotic Cosmos—Once Upon a Time again (1991), by Lynn Randolph.
Diptych, left panel, 36″ × 28″.

Chapter 1

El mano poderoso (1990), by Lynn Randolph, 58″ × 46″.

Figure 1.1

Giant stone statue portraying the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II (c. thirteenth
century BCE) as Osiris (the god of the afterlife). Abu Simbel temple, Egypt.
Photographed by Andrew Holt. © Andrew Holt/Getty Images.

Figure 1.2

A Difficult Passage of the Talmud, by Isaac Snowman. © Bettmann/Corbis.

Figure 1.3

Adoration of the Magi (1423), by Gentile da Vabriano. Galleria dei Uffizi, Florence,
Italy. © Corbis.

Figure 1.4

The Masjid al-Haram or “Sacred Mosque” surrounding the Kaba in Mecca,
Saudi Arabia. © Nabeel Turner/Getty Images.

Figure 1.5

Hindu pantheon (c. 1985–1997). Sri Murugan Temple near Hampi, India.
© Bennett Dean/Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis.

Figure 1.6

Guru Nanak, by Amarjit Singh. © INTERFOTO/Amarjit Singh/Mary Evans.

Chapter 2

Eagle Pneuma (2003), by Lynn Randolph, 36″ × 48″.

Figure 2.1

Portrait of Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola (seventeenth century), anonymous.
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy. Photographed by Stefano Bianchetti.
© Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis.

Figure 2.2

Luther and the Heroes of the Reformation (1874), hand-colored lithograph
by H. Schile. © Corbis.

Figure 2.3

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), French painting. © The Gallery Collection/Corbis.

Figure 2.4

Emerson’s experience of himself as an egoless “transparent eyeball” (1837–1839),
humorous drawing by Christopher Pearse Cranch.

Figure 2.5

The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover (1967).
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy.

Chapter 3

The Shepherdess (1989), by Lynn Randolph, 46″ × 58″.

Figure 3.1

Plato’s Cave (2007), by Ken Stout. Oil on panel, 12″ × 16″.

Figure 3.2

Zal Consults the Magi (sixteenth century), attributed to Sultan Muhammad.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Arthur A. Houghton Jr., 1970, Acc.n.1970.301.8.
Image © 2013 The Metropolitan Museum of Art/
Art Resource/Scala, Florence.

Figure 3.3

Mobiüs strip. Computer artwork, Laguna Design/Science Photo Library/Corbis.

Part II

Leaving (2001), by Lynn Randolph, 16″ × 20″.

Chapter 4

Time’s Journey (1987), by Lynn Randolph, 58″ × 46″.

Figure 4.1

The Prophet Muhammad’s Ascent to Heaven (1584), unknown artist. Folio from
a manuscript of the Khamsa (Iskandarnama) by Nizami. Ink opaque watercolor
and gold on paper, 39.5 × 26.2 cm (15 9/16″ × 10 5/16″). Harvard Art Museums/
Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art. 2001.50.33.
Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Figure 4.2

A re-enactment of the Dogon people’s creation story, Mali. © Amar Grover/Getty Images.

Figure 4.3

Staff used by Yoruba peoples (Oyo subgroup), Nigeria, for the worship of Esu/Elegba,
Ogo Elegba, before 1930s (?). Wood, leather, cowrie shells, brass, bone, iron; H 19 1/4″
(50.7 cm); Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection; Indiana University Art Museum,
87.42.2. Photographed by Michael Cavanaugh and Kevin Montague.

Figure 4.4

Fireworks on the Birds Nest National Stadium, opening ceremony, 2008 Olympic
Games, Beijing, China. © Christian Kober/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis.

Figure 4.5

Ancient Rome: The Oracle of the Sacred Chickens, colored engraving by Heinrich
Leutemann (1824–1905). © Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis.

Figure 4.6

A fifty-five-foot tall icon of the Jain kevalin, Gomateshwara Bahubali,
Shravanabelagola, Karnataka, India. Every twelve years, Jains consecrate the image
with various libations in a ritual called the Mahamasthak Abhisheka. Here devotees
pour turmeric water over the image. Photographed by Andrea R. Jain (2006).

Figure 4.7

Buddha, thirteenth century. Bangkok, Thailand. Jim Thompson House. Image
© Luca Tettoni/Corbis.

Chapter 5

Big Bend Lightning (1985), by Lynn Randolph, 36″ × 36″.

Figure 5.1

The ancient Hebrew conception of the universe (2010), by Michael Paukner.

Figure 5.2

The ancient Greek cosmology, engraving by Andreas Cellarius from Atlas Coelestis
(1661). Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia).
Photo © Mary Evans/M. C. Esteban/Iberfoto.

Figure 5.3

Chariot of Elijah, from the Verdun Altar by Nicolas of Verdun (c. twelfth century).
© Alfredo Dagli Orti/The Art Archive/Corbis.

Figure 5.4

A field of galaxies through the Hubble Space Telescope. One of the most distant regions
of the universe ever imaged, near the limit of the visible universe. © Corbis.

Figure 5.5

Young shaman dancing during initiation. Inchon City, South Korea (2008).
Photographed by Stefano De Luigi/VII/Corbis.

Figure 5.6

Poster for Dennis McKenna’s lecture at Rice University (2013), by Dean Mackey,
Rice University Public Affairs.

Figure 5.7

St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolution (2006), by Alex Grey. Oil on wood panel,
24″ × 36″.

Chapter 6

Sacred Wedding in the Night (2002), by Lynn Randolph, 36″ × 28″.

Figure 6.1

Adam and Eve Banished from Paradise (1610), from Hadiqat al-Suada (Garden
of the Blessed), Baghdad (vellum), Islamic school (seventeenth century).
Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey/The Bridgeman Art Library.

Figure 6.2

Rainbow body (c. 2007), Tibetan ritual painting or thangka. Private collection
of Timothy Morton. Photographed by Jenna L. Kripal (2013).

Figure 6.3

The Resurrection of Christ (c. 1512–1516), from the Isenheim Altarpiece, right wing
(c. 1512–16), oil on panel by Matthias Grünewald (Mathis Nithart Gothart)
(c. 1480–1528). Musée d’Unterlinden, Colmar, France/The Bridgeman Art Library.

Figure 6.4

Vajrasattva (c. 2007), Tibetan ritual painting or thangka. Private collection
of Timothy Morton. Photographed by Jenna L. Kripal (2013).

Figure 6.5

Sages with Yin Yang symbol, Kang Hsi period (1661–1722). Painted ceramic,
Chinese School. Private collection, Ancient Art and Architecture Collection Ltd.,
The Bridgeman Art Library.

Figure 6.6

Reading DNA strands with ultraviolet light. © Karen Kasmauski/Corbis.

Chapter 7

Ecstatic Man (1988), by Lynn Randolph, 58″ × 46″.

Figure 7.1

Shakti-Pat...