Daniel Pinchbeck

This article is about the writer. For the game designer Dan Pinchbeck, see Dear Esther.

Born	June 15, 1966 (1966-06-15) (age 45)
Occupation	Author, Journalist
Nationality	American
Subjects	Entheogens, Mayanism, New Age philosophy
Notable work(s)	Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
Relative(s)	Joyce Johnson (mother) Peter Pinchbeck (father)
Influences Rudolf Steiner, Dean Radin, Graham Hancock, Terence McKenna
realitysandwich.com

Daniel Pinchbeck (born June 15, 1966) is an author living in New York’s East Village, where he is editorial director of Reality Sandwich, a blog website centered around New Age philosophy and activism.^[1] He is the author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. He is the son of painter Peter Pinchbeck and writer Joyce Johnson.

Ideas

Pinchbeck has deep personal roots in the New York counterculture of the 1950s and 1960s. His father was an abstract painter, and his mother, Joyce Johnson, was a member of the Beat Generation and dated Jack Kerouac as On the Road hit the bestseller lists in 1957 (chronicled in Johnson’s bestselling book, Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir).^[2] Pinchbeck was a founder of the 1990s literary magazine Open City with fellow writers Thomas Beller and Robert Bingham. He has written for many publications, including Esquire, The New York Times Magazine,^[3] The Village Voice,^[4] and Rolling Stone. In 1994, prior to his interest in psychedelics, he was chosen by The New York Times Magazine as one of “Thirty Under Thirty” destined to change our culture through his work with Open City, a literary journal.^[5]

In Breaking Open the Head, Pinchbeck explored shamanism via ceremonies with tribal groups such as the Bwiti of Gabon, who eat iboga, and the Secoya people in the Ecuadorean Amazon, who take ayahuasca in their ceremonies.^[6] He also attended the Burning Man festival in Nevada,^[7] and looked at use of psychedelic substances in a de-sacralized modern context. Philosophically influenced by the work of anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner,^[8] through his direct experience and research Pinchbeck became convinced that shamanic and mystical views of reality have validity, and that the modern world had forfeited an understanding of intuitive aspects of being in its pursuit of rational materialism.

Drawing heavily, and somewhat controversially, from material shared on the Breaking Open the Head forums, Pinchbeck's second volume 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, chronicles Mayan and Hopi prophecies,^[9] and follows Pinchbeck's travels and travails as he responds to leads, both physical and intellectual, he receives via this forum. Examining the nature of prophecy Pinchbeck investigates the New Age hypothesis of Terence McKenna that humanity is experiencing an accelerated process of global consciousness transformation, leading to a new understanding of time and space during this period. The book details the psi or extra-sensory perception research of Dean Radin, the theories of Graham Hancock, the phenomena of crop circles, and a visit to calendar reform advocate José Argüelles. Pinchbeck concludes with an alleged direct reception of prophetic material by the Aztec snake god Quetzalcoatl,^[9] a claim which was enough to get the book dropped by its planned publisher, delaying its release for the greater part of a year. Pinchbeck alleges the voice of the Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl began speaking to him during a 2004 trip to the Amazon in Brazil, though he has since become reticent over any further communications he may have received. At the time, he was traveling by boat on the Amazon between participation in ceremonies of the Santo Daime, a Brazilian religion that uses the psychedelic brew ayahuasca as its sacrament. Through its references to 2012 and the Maya calendar in the context of New Age beliefs, Pinchbeck's book has contributed to Mayanism.

In March 2007, Pinchbeck launched a new Internet-based magazine, Reality Sandwich, claiming to offer "a new paradigm for a planetary culture." He is the executive producer of PostModernTimes, a series of web videos presented on the iClips Network, and co-founder of Evolver, an online social network.^{[10] [11]}

Appearances and Interviews

On December 14, 2006, Pinchbeck appeared on the television program The Colbert Report to discuss his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl.^[12]

Pinchbeck was featured in the 2006 film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.^[13]

Pinchbeck was also featured in the film 2012: Science or Superstition, a documentary describing how much of what we are hearing is science and how much is superstition.^[14]

Furthermore he interviewed Alejandro Jodorowsky for the German/French art television Arte in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations like in a park and in a hotel.^[15]

Pinchbeck appears in the Reality Sandwich sponsored feature-length documentary film 2012: Time for Change directed by Joao Amorim, which was released in October, 2010.^[16]

Pinchbeck appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience on Sept 9th, 2011. ^[17]

Books and Publications

• 2002 - Daniel Pinchbeck, Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, Broadway Books, trade paperback, 322 pages, ISBN 0-7679-0742-6
• 2006 - Daniel Pinchbeck, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, Tarcher, hardcover, ISBN 1-58542-483-8
• 2009 - Daniel Pinchbeck and Ken Jordan, editors, Toward 2012: Perspectives on the Next Age, Tarcher, paperback, ISBN 978-1-58542-700-0

References

1. ^ "Daniel Pinchbeck". RealitySandwich.com. http://www.realitysandwich.com/user/daniel_pinchbeck. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
2. ^ Pinchbeck, Daniel. "My mother and Jack Kerouac". salon.com. Salon. http://dir.salon.com/books/feature/2000/06/08/kerouac/print.html. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
3. ^ PINCHBECK, DANIEL (November 10, 2002). "'Breaking Open the Head'". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/books/chapters/1110-1st-pinch.html. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
4. ^ Pinchbeck, Daniel (Tuesday, Jan 5 1999). "Breath Trip". The Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-01-05/news/breath-trip/. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
5. ^ Pinchbeck, Daniel (February 22, 1998). "BOOKEND; Cast Your Magazine Upon the Waters". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/22/books/bookend-cast-your-magazine-upon-the-waters.html?scp=4&sq=%22Daniel%20Pinchbeck%22%20%22Open%20City%22&st=cse. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
6. ^ Kamiya, Gary (November 10, 2002). "Far Out". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/books/far-out.html?scp=3&sq=. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
7. ^ "2009 THEME CAMPS & VILLAGES". burningman.com. http://www.burningman.com/themecamps/09_camp_vill_s.html#top. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
8. ^ PINCHBECK, DANIEL. "WIRED MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2002 ISSUE". mightycompanions.org. Wired. http://www.mightycompanions.org/cropcircles/wired/wheatgraffiti.html. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Mathis-Lilley, Ben (May 1, 2006). "Lit Scenester Predicts Apocalypse". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/16869/. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
10. ^ Sterling, Bruce. "It’s been a good day for weird, unsolicited email: part one". wired.com. Wired. http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2009/06/its-been-a-good-day-for-weird-unsolicited-email-part-one/. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
11. ^ Pinchbeck, Daniel. "Reasons to Join the Evolver Social Movement". evolver.net. http://www.evolver.net/user/daniel_pinchbeck/blog/reasons_join_evolver_social_movement. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
12. ^ "Daniel Pinchbeck - The Colbert Report" (in English). The Colbert Report. Comedy Central, New York, NY. December 14 2006. Retrieved on August 23, 2011.
13. ^ "Entheogen - Interviewee Profiles:". entheogen.tv. http://www.entheogen.tv/bios.php. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
14. ^ "Science or Superstition - Expert Bios". 2012dvd.com. http://www.2012dvd.com/expert.html. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
15. ^ "Durch die Nacht mit... Alejandro Jodorowsky & Daniel Pinchbeck". dasmanifest.com. http://www.dasmanifest.com/04/ddnjodorowskypinchbeck/portraetpinchbeck.php. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
16. ^ "2012: Time for Change". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1506940/. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
17. ^ The Joe Rogan Experience - Podcast #136, air date: Sept 9th 2011 Retrieved 11 September 2011

External links

• Reality Sandwich - A website Pinchbeck jointly owns, moderates and writes for.
• Daniel Pinchbeck at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Pinchbeck, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description	American author and journalist
Date of birth	June 15, 1966
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death