Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy or Your Pregnancy Quick Guide to Tests and Procedures

Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy

Author: Clark Heinrich

An illustrated foray into the hidden truth about the use of psychoactive mushrooms to connect with the divine.

• Draws parallels between Vedic beliefs and Judeo-Christian sects, showing the existence of a mushroom cult that crossed cultural boundaries.

• Contends that the famed philosophers' stone of the alchemist was a metaphor for the mushroom.

• Confirms and extends Robert Gordon Wasson's hypothesis of the role of the fly agaric mushroom in generating religious visions.

Rejecting arguments that the elusive philosophers' stone of alchemy and the Hindu elixir of life were mere legend, Clark Heinrich provides a strong case that Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric mushroom, played this role in world religious history. Working under the assumption that this "magic mushroom" was the mysterious food and drink of the gods, Heinrich traces its use in Vedic and Puranic religion, illustrating how ancient cultures used the powerful psychedelic in esoteric rituals meant to bring them into direct contact with the divine. He then shows how the same mushroom symbols found in Hindu scriptures correspond perfectly to the symbols of ancient Judaism, Christianity, the Grail myths, and alchemy, arguing that miraculous stories as disparate as the burning bush of Moses and the raising of Lazarus from the dead can be easily explained by the use of this strange and powerful mushroom. While acknowledging the speculative nature of his work, Heinrich concludes that in many religious cultures and traditions the fly agaric mushroom--and in some cases ergot or psilocybin mushrooms--had a fundamental influence in teaching humans about the nature of God. His insightfulbook truly brings new light to the religious history of humanity. 

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Your Pregnancy Quick Guide to Tests and Procedures: Everything You Need to Know about Both Routine and Special Tests and Procedures During Your Pregnancy

Author: Glade B Curtis

* Guidance on what to expect at routine appointments and what each test means* When and why your doctor might order a special procedure* What you need to know about tests in each trimester: ultrasound, amniocentesis, CVS testing, blood work, stress tests, glucose tolerance, and more

Table of Contents:

Part I	Medical Tests during Pregnancy	1
	Tests before Pregnancy	2
	Tests for Pregnancy-Related Problems and Situations	3
	Tests during the 1st Trimester	5
	The Pregnancy Test	5
	Routine Tests Done at Every Visit	6
	Tests at Your 1st or 2nd Prenatal Visit	9
	Physical and Pelvic Exams	11
	Pap Smear	11
	Specific Tests during the 1st Trimester	14
	HIV and/or AIDS Test	14
	Antibody Rh-Negative Test	16
	Cystic Fibrosis Screening	17
	Alfa-Fetoprotein Test (AFP)	19
	Triple-Screen Test	22
	Quad-Screen Test	23
	Hypothyroidism	24
	Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)	25
	Genetic Tests	26
	The Quantitative HCG Test	27
	Tests to Avoid during Your Pregnancy	28
	Imaging Tests	28
	2nd Trimester Tests You May Have	31
	Measuring the Growth of Your Uterus	31
	Glucose-Tolerance Test	34
	Ultra-Fast MRI	34
	Ultrasound	35
	Where Ultrasound Is Done	37
	How Ultrasound Is Done	38
	Some Special Uses of Ultrasound	41
	Transvaginal Sonography	41
	3-Dimensional Ultrasound	42
	The Cost of Ultrasound	43
	Nuchal Translucency Screening	44
	Amniocentesis	44
	How Amniocentesis Is Done	45
	The Risks of Amniocentesis	47
	Blood Tests You May Have for Specific Problems	47
	Other Tests You May Have	48
	Fetoscopy	48
	Percutaneous Umbilical Blood Sampling (PUBS) or Cordocentesis	49
	Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) Test	50
	Tests for the Woman Expecting More than One Baby	51
	3rd Trimester Tests You May Have	54
	Group-B Streptococcus Infection Test	54
	Ultrasound in the 3rd Trimester	58
	Home Uterine Monitoring	59
	Kick Count	59
	Bishop Score	61
	Nonstress Test (NST)	63
	Contraction-Stress Test (CST)	65
	The Biophysical Profile	69
	Tests You May Have during Labor	72
	Labor Check	72
	Fetal Blood Sampling during Labor	73
	Fetal Monitoring (Electronic Fetal Monitoring)	74
	Evaluating Fetal Lung Maturity	77
	Test to Determine Baby's Oxygen Levels	78
	Inducing Labor	78
	Tests for Your Newborn	79
	Apgar Score	80
	Blood Tests	81
	Coombs Test	81
	Reflex Assessment	82
	Neonatal Maturity Assessment	82
	Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale	82
	Other Newborn Tests	83
	Your After-Pregnancy Checkup	84
	Hematocrit	87
Part II	Medical Procedures during Pregnancy	89
	Maternal Procedures during Pregnancy	89
	McDonald's Cerclage for an Incompetent Cervix	89
	Rh-Sensitivity and RhoGAM	91
	Fetal Procedures and Surgeries	95
	Open Surgery	96
	Closed-Uterus Surgery	97
	Inducing Labor	97
	Ripening the Cervix for Induction	99
	Rupturing Membranes	100
	Stripping Membranes	101
	Anesthesia	101
	Epidural Block	102
	Spinal Block	102
	General Anesthesia	103
	Local Block	103
	Episiotomy	103
	Repair of an Episiotomy	105
	Forceps Delivery and Vacuum Extraction	106
	Removal of the Placenta	106
	Manual Removal	106
	D&C for a Retained Placenta	107
	Tubal Ligation after Delivery?	107
	Glossary	111
	Index	127