This book includes quotations on the beauty and meaning of nature from men and women of nearly fifty North American tribes. The illustrations include historical photographs of American Indians, as well as a wide selection of contemporary photographs showing the diversity of North American landscapes. These quotations and photographs beautifully present something of nature's timeless message. This message can be summed up in the well-known Sioux phrase often used in prayer: "We are all related."
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This book includes quotations on the beauty and meaning of nature from men and women of nearly fifty North American tribes. The illustrations include historical photographs of American Indians, as well as a wide selection of contemporary photographs showing the diversity of North American landscapes. These quotations and photographs beautifully present something of nature's timeless message. This message can be summed up in the well-known Sioux phrase often used in prayer: "We are all related."
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 136 p. Contains: Unspecified, Halftones, black & white, Halftones, color. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 136 p. Contains: Unspecified, Halftones, black & white, Halftones, color. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
I read this book, "Spirit of the Earth: Indian Voices on Nature" on a day which is both Easter and Passover. I didn't plan it that way, but the publisher, World Wisdom, was kind enough to send me a review copy which arrived timely to allow me to spend the day with it. The book helped me reflect on both the Christian and Jewish holidays and on other forms of spirituality as well. The book is part of a series of World Wisdom titled "The Library of Perennial Philosophy" which, according to the publisher, is "dedicated to the exposition of the timeless Truth underlying the diverse religions." The book is also part of the "Sacred Worlds Series" which "blends images of visual beauty with focused selections from the writings of the great religions of the world" as well as part of a long series of World Wisdom books devoted to American Indian spirituality. Over the years, I have read and reviewed many beautiful children's books with spiritual themes from all over the world published by Wisdom Tales, World Wisdom's children's imprint, but this was my first book from World Wisdom itself.
"Spirit of the Earth" includes over 120 quotations on Indian spirituality from members of almost 50 Indian tribes. Most of the quotations are drawn from the 19th century with the youngest speaker born in 1915. The quotations are accompanied by over 65 illustrations, both in color and in sepia, showing the beauty and diversity of American landscapes at all seasons of the year and including, in the words of the Preface to the collection, "plains, forests, mountains, canyons, hills, deserts, swamps, and shores." The quotations and the photographs are beautiful and thought-provoking in themselves and they are matched together insightfully on the pages of the book.
Michael and Oren Fitzgerald, the authors of many books about Indian spirituality, edited this volume, wrote the annotations, and selected the contents. Joseph Bruchac, a renowned Indian author and storyteller, wrote a brief Foreword. The theme of the volume is stated in the Sioux language as "Mitakuye Oyasin" or "We are all related". The photographs and quotations stress the interconnections between humans, animals and plants, and the physical landscape. Generalizations are treacherous given brief quotations from multiple, diverse sources. But many of the quotations speak both to nature and to the Spirit or Spirits within and beyond nature. In other words, the spirituality expressed in the book includes both immanent (within nature) and transcendent (beyond nature) elements.
The pictures in the volume are well-reproduced and need to be seen to be appreciated. I want to mention some of the quotations. They are derived from many different people, some obscure and some unidentified and some well-known such as Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Chief Joseph. A quotation I found insightful comes from a woman named Mourning Dove. She said:
"Everything on earth has a purpose, every disease a herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence."
I enjoyed the several quotations from two sources with which I was familiar. The first source is Black Elk, a Sioux medicine man (and convert to Christianity) immortalized in John Neihardt's book "Black Elk Speaks". Here is one of the several quotations from Black Elk that I found valuable.
"We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals, and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples."
The second source I want to mention is Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) who was raised as an Indian on the plains and later became a distinguished physician, writer, and co-founder of the Boy Scouts. Here is one of several quotations in the book from Ohiyesa:
"The Great Mystery is Everywhere. He is in the earth and the water, heat and cold, rocks and trees, sun and sky, and he is also in us. There are wonders all about us, and within, but if we are quiet and obedient to the voice of the spirit, sometimes we may understand these mysteries!"
The book includes lists of speakers, where known, tribes, and photographs together with a good bibliography for those wishing to read further. I was moved to read this book on Easter and Passover and to reflect upon both the individuality and the possible underlying commonality of the world's varied spiritual traditions.
