Jeffrey J. Kripal is the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. His most recent publications include Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal (2011); Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred (2010); Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion (2007); and The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion (2007).