Visionary: The Mysterious Origins of Human Consciousness (the Definitive Edition of Supernatural)

With the original unabridged text of Supernatural, I offer the reader an investigation that explores the human experience with psychedelics from the Stone Age to the Space Age and the role of these extraordinary plant medicines as tools to investigate the nature of reality itself.--Graham Hancock

Discover the pathway to the gods.

Less than 50,000 years ago mankind had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no innovative thinking. Then, in a dramatic and electrifying change, described by scientists as the greatest riddle in human history, all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves appeared already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers.

In Visionary, Graham Hancock sets out to investigate this mysterious before-and-after moment and to discover the truth about the influences that gave birth to modern human mind. His quest takes him on a journey of adventure and detection from the stunningly beautiful painted caves of prehistoric France, Spain, and Italy to remote rock shelters in the mountains of South Africa, where he finds a treasure trove of extraordinary Stone Age art.

Hancock uncovers clues that lead him to travel to the depths of the Amazon rainforest to drink the powerful plant hallucinogen ayahuasca with Indian shamans, whose paintings contain images of supernatural beings identical to the animal-human hybrids depicted in prehistoric caves and rock shelters. Hallucinogens such as mescaline also produce visionary encounters with exactly the same beings. Scientists at the cutting edge of consciousness research have begun to consider the possibility that such hallucinations may be real perceptions of other dimensions.

Could the supernaturals first depicted in the painted caves and rock shelters be the ancient teachers of mankind? Could it be that human evolution is not just the blind, meaningless process that Darwin identified, but something more purposive and intelligent, something that we have barely even begun to understand?

Previously published as Supernatural, this definitive edition includes a new Introduction by Graham Hancock as well as restored chapters that were omitted from the original paperback release.

Graham Hancock is the author of major international nonfiction bestsellers including The Sign and the Seal, Magicians of the Gods, Fingerprints of the Gods and his most recent New York Times bestseller America Before. His books have sold more than seven million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty languages. He has appeared in the TV series, Quest for the Lost Civilization and Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age. Hancock's public lectures, radio and TV appearances, and his strong online presence have put his ideas before an audience of millions. He resides in the UK.
Follow him on Facebook at @Author.GrahamHancock.