“Though [Marco] Polo himself states frankly that he has never visited Japan -- and thus that what he has to say about it is second-hand and perhaps inaccurate -- the notion of the mysterious island kingdom of Cipango that he planted in European consciousness at the end of the thirteenth century was later one of several powerful influences that spurred Christopher Columbus forward in his crossings of the Atlantic at the end of the fifteenth century. This was so because Columbus -- underestimating the circumference of the earth and knowing nothing of the existence of the Americas or of the Pacific Ocean -- believed that he could reach Cipango, and thence the Chinese mainland beyond, by sailing directly westwards across the Atlantic from Europe. Columbus is also likely to have calculated that Cipango would be reached after only a relatively short journey towards the west -- for he had read Marco Polo, who describes Cipango, erroneously, as lying 'far out to sea' fully 1500 miles to the east of the Chinese mainland (the true distance is nowhere much more than 500 miles).” ConsciousnessMysteryExplorationCartographyInfluencesInaccuracy Book:Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization Source: Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization
“There can be no more intimate and elemental part of the individual than his or her own consciousness. At the deepest level, our consciousness is what we are - to the extent that if we are not sovereign over our own consciousness then we cannot in any meaningful sense be sovereign over anything else either.” IfsIndividualLevelsConsciousnessMeaningfulIntimateSovereignElementals Book:The Divine Spark: Psychedelics, Consciousness and the Birth of Civilization Source: The Divine Spark: Psychedelics, Consciousness and the Birth of Civilization
“I don't believe that consciousness is generated by the brain. I believe that the brain is more of a reciever of consciousness.” BelieveI BelieveBrainConsciousnessDon't Believe Author:Graham Hancock
“Any kind of consciousness that is not related to the production or consumption of material goods is stigmatized in our society today.” KindTodayConsciousnessMaterialsProductionsRelatedOur SocietyGoodsConsumptionSociety Today Author:Graham Hancock
“Do we as adults have the right to make decisions about what we put in our own bodies and what we experience with our own consciousness without reference to the powers of the state, or must we seek permission from the state in order to explore our own consciousness?” StatesBodyOrderDecisionConsciousnessAdultsPermission Author:Graham Hancock
“Our society values alert, problem-solving consciousness, and it devalues all other states of consciousness. Any kind of consciousness that is not related to the production or consumption of material goods is stigmatized in our society today. Of course we accept drunkenness. We allow people some brief respite from the material grind. A society that subscribes to that model is a society that is going to condemn the states of consciousness that have nothing to do with the alert problem-solving mentality.” PeopleKindStatesProblemTodayValuesCoursesConsciousnessAcceptingMaterialsModelsProductionsRelatedOur SocietyGoodsMentalityConsumptionProblem SolvingGrindDrunkennessStates Of ConsciousnessRespiteDevalueSociety Today Author:Graham Hancock
“We live in a society that will send us to prison if we make use of time-honored sacred plants to explore our own consciousness. Yet surely the exploration and expansion of the miracle of our consciousness is the essence of what it is to be human? By demonstrating and persecuting whole areas of consciousness, we may be denying ourselves the next vital step in our own evolution.” IfsHumansMayWholeUseNextConsciousnessStepsEvolutionAreasEssenceMiracleSacredPrisonPlantExplorationExpansionHonoredDemonstratingUse Of Time Author:Graham Hancock
