The Earth Path

Book excerpt: The bestselling author uses Wiccan sacred texts to show how we can have a more intimate connection with our surroundings. From time immemorial, artists and poets, prophets, and shamans have drawn strength and inspiration from walking the earth. In The Earth Path, bestselling author Starhawk takes the reader on a journey into the heart of the natural world, showing how we can have a more intimate connection with the world that surrounds us. Institutionalized religions have sacred texts—messages written in holy books that are the inspiration for their beliefs and rituals. But the sacred texts for Wicca, like other ancient native or indigenous traditions, are written in nature—in the magic circle of the elements: air, fire, water, and earth. With The Earth Path, Starhawk, an activist, ecofeminist, and leader in the women’s spirituality movement, places you in the center of that magical circle. As you become attuned to the rhythms of the earth, your thinking will shift from focusing on isolated objects to marveling at the multitude of interconnecting patterns and relationships in nature. These patterns and connections can hold the key to your own spiritual renewal and restore your sense of responsibility for preserving this world that nurtures and sustains us. Filled with awareness exercises, inspiring meditations, and magical rituals, The Earth Path not only teaches the reader to respect the ecology of our natural world, but shows how to spiritually connect with and channel the powers inherent in nature. Praise for The Earth Path “Starhawk presents an array of exercises and practices for sharpening observation and listening skills. She engages readers’ spirits and minds through her illustrative storytelling, offering ways to communicate more fully with the world and suggesting ways to act.” —Publishers Weekly “Lucid, appealing . . . a broad philosophy of harmony with nature, of human concord, sexual liberation, creativity, and healthy pleasure, as expressed and celebrated in a freewheeling worship of the universe.” —Kirkus Reviews