William A. Richards

The first authoritative study of the important role of music in psychedelic use and the ways in which psychedelics provide unprecedented access to the deeper mysteries of music. Finalist for the 2025 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Performing Arts & Music category Tuning In is the first authoritative study of a subject that is of wide and growing importance within the current psychedelic renaissance: the role and experience of music in personal growth and healing via psychedelics. The book brings together the best insights and creative musings on the subject from respected figures within the psychedelic community. Going back several decades (and beyond), this book includes first-hand testimony from numerous "trip reports," along with relevant insights from psychologists, scientists, philosophers, scholars of religion, musicologists, musicians, and mystics. Tuning In takes an experiential approach to understanding the unique synergy between psychedelic states and music: how music profoundly supports and enhances psychedelic sessions while psychedelic states provide a unique doorway into the inner mysteries of music. Author Steven J. Gelberg includes helpful guidance in assessing and choosing music appropriate for psychedelic sessions, along with links to curated music playlists.

With the second renaissance and re-emergence of psychedelics in Western society, the public and therapists alike are confronting new areas of exploration with few comprehensive models available to aid in the profound process of integrating such powerful and mystical-like experiences into one’s life. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy offers one useful model for this work, but access to even traditional therapy is limited due to expense and inadequate specialized training. With questions surrounding legal access, criminalization, and medical indications and contraindications, the immediate future of psychedelic-assisted therapy remains shrouded in uncertainty, even in the face of expanding interest and promise. Beyond the Narrow Life seeks to ‘thread a needle’ by addressing profound themes elicited by psychospiritual and therapeutic use of psychedelics while avoiding merely ‘preaching to the choir.’ This book explores common topics that emerge during psychedelic journeys by integrating several frameworks, spanning evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy, Jungian depth psychology, existential philosophy, compassion and mindfulness practices, comparative mythology, pop culture, film, and scientific understandings of the cosmos. Instead of a dry overview of big ideas, Dr. Ortigo gently guides readers through an awe-inspiring journey that confronts the deeper questions and concerns we all face as humans in this modern time.

Three texts near the end of the Pauline corpus, while sharing many of the letter-writing conventions characteristic of Paul, are not generally regarded as authentic: the three -Pastoral Epistles- to his colleagues, Timothy and Titus. Similarities of language and tone across the Pastorals have encouraged the assumption that one author is responsible for all three texts. The Pastorals, however, also show important differences from one another, relating to the type of letter each is trying to be and how well it functions under that type. A careful comparison with other letters of the time suggests that among the Pastorals there are three authors at work, not one, reflecting the concerns of three different decades in the life of post-Pauline Christianity."