An interesting, philosophical read. Well worth the time.

Intriguing, amazing scientific information!
In this book the author takes up his binary theory of daemon and eidolon from his earlier works, continues with Aldous Huxley's work on altered states of consciousness, and further builds on Huxley's concept of the brain as a "reducing valve" which filters and discards sensory information, censors the perception of a more expanded reality, in order to be more efficient in the immediate survival.
Anthony Peake then part of the premise that a malfunctioning brain could weaken this filter and open the doors of perception, this is where certain conditions can be taken to explain the scale of perceptions of the true reality, which he has named “the Huxleyian Spectrum”. From these premises the book contains a selection and compilation of scientific research, such as the discoveries of the presence of INMT (the enzyme that biosynthes the DMT) can be present in the human brain, the induction of altered states through sound and stroboscopic light. And he continues with neurological and neurochemical documents on conditions such as migraine, epileptic episodes, bipolar disorder, autism, and schizophrenia, ... and he discusses possible connections with his model about the opening the doors of perception.
Being self-conscious is still a mystery to science. It has been discussed for millennia by various philosophies and ancient cultures, and current indigenous cultures have a way of explaining it within their cosmogonies. The issue of consciousness is something that can only be experienced, but it has not yet been possible to define its borders, where it resides or how we process reality as self-aware beings. Peake's binary theory somehow reminds me of the shamanic concepts of the dual nature of consciousness in Mexico and South America, named the Nahual and the Tonal. And the altered states of consciousness studied by Huxley that are induced by the use of sacred plants of American Indian cultures, and which are achieved in conjunction with the temazcal and beat of the drum, which in my opinion also have connection with the discoveries of sound for the induction of these states.
The book is not conclusive, it only addresses a scientific perspective (model of the mind-matter interface) in the search for explanations to understand the transcendent consciousness, there are still pieces of the puzzle to discover, and each one can draw their own conclusions.
My gratitude to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book