Pagan Culture - Earth Wisdom
North American Dandelion Preservation Society
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North American Dandelion Preservation Society
Assorted items by Anne Jordan and Helen Marvill,
Osterville MA 2005
I have to admit when I read the label, my first thought was, “… huh?” After all, dandelions are ubiquitous. No amount of pavement, foot traffic, spraying, mowing, or blowtorching seem successful in eradicating them. They’re about as far as it’s possible to get from “endangered.” So I wondered, what could this society be about?
Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine
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Medical Herbalism:
The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine
by David Hoffmann
Healing Arts Press, 2004
David Hoffmann, highly respected author of seventeen books on herbalism, has outdone himself with his latest offering. In writing it, the author intends to bring together “the modern scientific movement with traditional herbal practice.” Every health care practitioner of Western medicine in the United States should read this book.
Read more: Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine
Epicurean Simplicity
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Epicurean Simplicity
by Stephanie Mills
Island Press, Washington D.C., 2002
I loved Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, one of the first books to warn us about environmental degradation. We were still near the top of that particular slippery slope back then. Leopold died in 1948, characteristically, while helping fight a grass fire on a neighbor’s farm. Fifty-four terrible years later, Stephanie Mills, environmental activist and writer, tells us that Leopold is one of her personal heroes. In her new book, Epicurean Simplicity, and in her life, she does him proud.
Earth Bound: Daily Meditations for All Seasons
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Earth Bound:
Daily Meditations for All Seasons
by Brian Nelson
Skinner House Books, Boston, 2004
Brian Nelson’s Earth Bound would make a good gift for both the Pagan and the Pagan-friendly. It is a collection of 366 essays, one assigned to each day of the year. As you might expect from the title, the author focuses on nature and the Earth. From this base, he forays into a variety of fields including science, history, music, and art, as well as numerous cultures and religions. Each daily entry is about half a page, just long enough to present an interesting fact or two along with an idea for further exploration.
Gaia Eros: Reconnecting to the Magic and Spirit of Nature
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Gaia Eros:
Reconnecting to the Magic and Spirit of Nature
by Jesse Wolf Hardin
New Page Books, 2004
The day I received my review copy of Gaia Eros, my husband and I went to bed and took turns reading Jesse Wolf Hardin’s luminous essays aloud long into the night. At one point the sound of wolves howling came in through our cabin’s open windows. Their voices wove in and out of my husband’s voice as he read about sacred self-indulgence and the power of longing, heightening the meaning of Hardin’s words.
Read more: Gaia Eros: Reconnecting to the Magic and Spirit of Nature
Go Outside!
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- Category: Working with Land Spirits
Go Outside!
by Phil Brucato
Where are you, right this minute? If you’re like most of us, you’re probably sitting inside an air-conditioned house, maybe with a TV or computer humming away in the background, electric light on overhead and the smell of fast food wafting through your living space.
Aren’t we Pagans? Don’t we revere Nature? Didn’t we renounce the gods of books in favor of a gospel spoken every moment by the Earth? Yes? Then why are so many of us sitting inside with feet propped up on coffee tables, remote in one hand and cheeseburger in the other? As summer arrives, is there any good answer for that question?
Really. Go outside.
Normally, this column focuses on Paganism and popular culture. Not all culture, though, comes from books, games, music, or the Internet. As I pondered my next article, my roommate Cory and I got on a rant about Pagans who spend their lives wrapped up in air-conditioned cocoons. That’s when I knew what I had to write about this issue: not about passive media culture, but about the active culture just outside the culture of the living world.
