“This is a book on the biggest sort of thinking -- from personal to societal -- written by an author with an eye for what matters, an ear for story and a mind for the sublime." — David Eagleman, Neuroscientist at Stanford, New York Times bestselling author of Livewired and Incognito, and host of PBS The Brain
“The death of belief has led to a collapse of meaning, and many of us are looking to neuroscience and psychology for inspiration and understanding. Wheal knows that peak states bring about deep healing, and he is here to deliver. This enrapturing book not only details various drivers of our cultural evolution, it becomes one itself.” — Julie Holland, MD, Author of Good Chemistry: The Science of Connection From Soul to Psychedelics and Weekends at Bellevue
"A highly personal, richly informed and culturally wide-ranging mediation on the loss of meaning in our times and on pathways to rediscovering it, from breath through psychedelics--a search fueled by Jamie Wheal’s boundless curiosity and commitment to transformation." — Gabor Maté M.D., Author: In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction
“Can humanity survive today’s exponential world change? Doomsayers say NO--we’re flying blind in the spiraling collapse of civilization. But Wheal offers us a savvy, intriguing and novel roadmap to self-renewal. And it’s packed with literary, cultural, historical and biological references as well. You won’t forget this gem--it’s a fascinating read.” — Dr. Helen Fisher, Senior Research Fellow, The Kinsey Institute, Chief Scientist, Match.com, author Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love
"Recapture the Rapture offers an invaluable roadmap for transformational consciousness and culture, filled with practical tools to harness our healing, reclaim our inspiration and connect to each other for the road ahead." — Rick Doblin, Founder and Executive Director, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
"This apocalypse is far more complicated than end-times usually are, but Jamie navigates the complexities with rigor and merciless wit. He’s one of those writers who frustrates my desire to make disparaging generalisations about non-Indigenous thought!" — Tyson Yunkaporta Author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Apalech Clan
"Recapture the Rapture is both a hymnal and an operations manual for the party at the end of the world-as-we-know-it. The cure for spiritual bypassing and conspirituality is not more mindfulness, it seems, but a redemptive and mutant religiosity that dives into the deep end of our contemporary catastrophe." — Erik Davis, author, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the 70s
"I have a feeling that like most readers, I'm closer to those who have lost the rapture than those who live in it. Luckily for us, Jamie Wheal has laid out a fun and accessible path to reclaiming the ecstasy that makes life not merely worth living, but possible in the first place and sustainable in the long run."
— Douglas Rushkoff, Author of Team Human, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus
"In his rhythmic prose, Wheal crafts A mystical balm. A fool-proof formula for transcendence. And the kind of sacraments here, at the end of history, that could spawn the much-needed recognition of our shared humanity.." — Brian Muraresku, Author NYT Bestseller The Immortality Key
"The way forward, argues Wheal...is to rediscover and reinvent our humanity in radical ways that places community, respect for ourselves, the planet and the human species at the center of our strategy for survival; and it’s a strategy that can work for everyone."
— Dennis McKenna PhD Ethnopharmacology, Author Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss and The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching