Monographs "Altrimenti"

The Breath of the Drakensberg

Man and animal have been inextricably linked since the dawn of humanity. Indeed, it is not uncommon for a mysterious, hybrid figure to resurface in rock paintings, fascinating and unsettling us: the therianthrope, whose meaning has been partly explained thanks to studies conducted within the Bushman caves of the Drakensberg, in South Africa. In deliberately censoring or erasing his own animal nature, modern man seems ready to merge with the very technology through which he believes he can free himself from his most atavistic instincts. However, the history of apartheid, as well as the human imagination underlying it, offers an interpretation capable of showing us how humanity is far from having embarked on a new path of spiritual—let alone evolutionary—progress.

Lights on Qumran

The Israeli desert speaks once more. Nearly seventy years after the discovery of the controversial Dead Sea Scrolls, new evidence reopens the debate over the Bible's claim to truth. On one hand, the interpretation of sacred texts is called into question, even suggesting alien scenarios; on the other, under the deconstructive pressure of new technologies, the very concepts of canon and auctoritas are fading. Has the Book perhaps reached its end? But are we still capable of reading in the era of images and digitalization? To find an answer, we must become nomads once more and cross the desert of the Exodus. We must brave the arid canyons of the Negev and Judea, where ancient Gnostic wisdom seems to call out to us again for the ultimate and most shocking revelation.

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Highest Mesopotamia

The archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe, in southeastern Turkey, is not simply the oldest monumental complex in the world. Its impressive T-shaped pillars, along with the incredibly rich bestiary carved into them and the mysterious symbols emerging from its ruins, allude to a social organization previously deemed impossible in the 10th and 11th millennia BCE.

International scholars are still searching for answers regarding its origins, but what is looming on the horizon leaves everyone astounded: man appears to be much older than currently thought, and the remote area spanning Turkey, Syria, and Iraq has much—perhaps too much—in common with the legendary Earthly Eden.

The dark side of Africa

End of addictions. Thanks to the centuries-old virtues of Gabon's national plant, it is now possible to break free from the slavery of drugs, smoking, or alcohol without long and expensive treatments.

Beyond the flesh, iboga can heal—above all—the spirit: through a complex initiation ritual of Pygmy origin, the alkaloids contained in its roots open a channel of communication between the world of the living and the world of the dead, returning from which one's life will never be the same again.

A double-edged treasure that is seducing more and more Western devotees, but one that can also turn into a fatal experience without a proper understanding of ancient indigenous traditions.

Tequila and glory!

The international launch of pulque, an ancient psychotropic beverage of Aztec origin, represents a moment of epochal disruption for the market of major monopolies. Indeed, what is taking hold is not just a new taste or a new trend, but a system of production and social organization that gives voice back to Central American indigenous traditions, revealing their deep links to the class struggle.

US-style intensive agriculture is being revolutionized by sustainable micro-enterprises right in the heart of Mexico's so-called 'Silicon Valley': the state of Jalisco. Within today's competition among Mexico's three national drinks—tequila, mezcal, and pulque—what actually emerges is a worldview that restores to drinking its sacred and cognitive vocation.

Arctic fever

Nearly five hundred years after the first tragic explorations, the naval passage connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean is now entirely navigable. The Russian Arctic is starting to look enticing to many, and the risk of its militarization grows higher by the day.

Yet, the history of the explorers who challenged its ice—not least our own Giacomo Bove—forcefully brings man face to face with the challenge of limits: how far is it permissible to go? Is there a point of no return? The nomadic populations of the Arctic display a wisdom that the global market continues to ignore and, through their adaptations, stand today as a living warning against the voracity of consumerism.

In the footsteps of Buddha

Often confused with and equated to historical religions, the Buddha's original teaching represents one of the highest forms of Eastern philosophy, capable of deeply influencing modern ways of thinking as well as ancient ones.

Yet, it is above all its vocation to question every truth, every principle, that resonates today with an ever-growing number of followers of the Enlightened One. The return to the historical Buddha has translated into the rediscovery of the pilgrimage circuit through his birthplace and the places he lived, spanning the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. These are lands that still conceal a burning truth about the end of the great sage. Human, all too human.