Burying cow’s horns in the ground. Scattering the ashes of field mice across a field. Studying the phases of the moon and the planets.

While this may sound like a lesson plan from Harry Potter’s alchemy class at Hogwarts, it might surprise you to know that the glass of wine you drank last night at dinner could have been created with these methods, which are part of the rapidly growing biodynamic movement.

In today’s online edition of The Independent, Gary Lachman expertly deflates The Occult Tradition, a new book released in the UK by Tel Aviv University historian David S Katz. As Lachman combs through his contentions, he invokes a small but wonderful list of prominent occultists from the last 150 years (including Rudolf Steiner, Aleister Crowley, GI Gurdjieff, C G Jung, Henri Bergson, William James, Isaac Newton, Daniel Dunglas Home, Eliphas Levi, and Madame Blavatsky). In doing so, he paves the way for a smart, level-headed critical engagement with the material. From the review at The Independent—

There’s a great little article in last week’s New York Times, Down For The Count which overviews recent scientific research on sleep.

“Sleep has attracted a tremendous amount of attention in science, but we really don’t know what sleep is.”