Can Picnics Help Save the World?

By White Feather

White Feather has been going on picnics throughout his life. The nature of those picnics have changed considerably with time. The picnics of his youth were fun but very different from the picnics he went on as a father. Later, his picnics became solitary and took on near spiritual dimensions. Through three very touching stories, White Feather shares what he has experienced and learned about picnics and their importance in our lives. Every day millions of picnic tables across America go unused as going on picnics has become less popular. Western culture has undergone a severe disconnect with nature and White Feather suggests that if we all start going on more picnics it would not only better our own lives but it just might help save the world.....

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Drinking the Four Winds: A Shamanic Love Story

Drinking the Four Winds: A Shamanic Love Story, by Ross Heaven

When Ross Heaven, a psychologist and ex-pharmaceutical industry consultant, embarks on a shamanic apprenticeship in the rainforests and mountains of South America his intention is to unlock the secrets of San Pedro, the mescaline cactus that has been used as a sacrament and teacher plant in Peru for millennia, and to learn about love and healing. What he finds is more remarkable, painful, enriching, liberating and extraordinary than he could have imagined.

Ross Heaven was described by Guardian newspaper journalist James Shreeve as "the Joseph Campbell of our times". The director of The Four Gates Foundation for spiritual and shamanic wisdom, Ross is a psychologist, presenter, and the author of more than 10 books on shamanism, plant medicines, and the healing traditions, including The Hummingbird's Journey to God (the first book to be written about shamanic healing with the plant teacher San Pedro), Plant Spirit Shamanism (about ayahuasca and San Pedro healing and the therapeutic uses of other plants), Plant Spirit Wisdom (about healing traditions and practices with native European plants), and The Sin Eater's Last Confessions (about the folk-healing practices of Wales).

As well as his work with native shamanism, Ross has visited Peru since the 1990's to work with the ayahuasceros and curanderos of the Amazon and Andes, and with ayahuasca and San Pedro, the two legendary sacraments and teacher plants used by the shamans of these regions to heal the mind, body, and soul, and to unlock new levels of expanded consciousness.

He now offers the same opportunity for others, with retreat programmes and journeys to Peru where participants can work with indigenous healers and explore and expand their awareness through shamanic encounters with visionary plants. He has also worked with the shamans and plant healing traditions of Haiti and his experiences in this area are recorded in his book Vodou Shaman, of which Publisher's Weekly said "This stands out as one of the most articulate and well-intentioned guidebooks available".

In his workshops, Ross draws from his cross-cultural knowledge of shamanism and its healing possibilities for creating new ways to understand ourselves, our connections to the Earth, and the journeys we are on. Order from Amazon

One With the Herd

One With the Herd, by Liz Mitten Ryan. Spiritual truths revealed in lessons rich in emotional depth and intellectual penetration. Author Liz Mitten Ryan connects with the higher consciousness of horse and nature s wisdom in this book of insights on how our planet and we ourselves can achieve peace, freedom and joy. Releasing ego and connecting to higher consciousness is this inter-species message. Dozens of professional paintings and photos by the author. An elegant coffee-table gift book. Liz Mitten Ryan is not only an accomplished writer and horse breeder/trainer, she is also a nationally acclaimed wildlife painter. Much of her recent work appears in the book. A dedicated conservationist, she was British Columbia Wildlife Artist of the Year in 1993 and 1995, Ducks Unlimited Canadian national artist for 95, 96, 97, 98, and Habitat Canada conservation stamp winner in 1998. Recently, Liz has devoted herself to equine communication, spiritual growth, authoring books, and painting horses.

Spirit of Animals

Spirit of Animals, by Sylvia Browne and Chris Dufresne. The New York Times–#1 bestselling author and psychic Sylvia Browne and her son take readers on an insightful journey into the natural, spiritual, and mysterious world of animals and animal spirits. Questions such as Do animals have souls? Are animals psychic? and Do animals have a sixth sense? are discussed with examples drawn from real life experiences. Both pets and animals in the wild are covered. Information is also provided about animal spirit guides, spiritual connection with pets, and explanations for why some animals have the ability to sense things before they happen.

The Emotional Lives of Animals

The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy - and Why They Matter, by Marc Bekoff with a foreward by Jane Goodall. Based on Marc Bekoff's years of experience studying the social communication patterns of a wide range of animals, this important book shows that animals have rich emotional lives. Not only can animal emotions teach us about love, empathy, and compassion, argues Bekoff — they require us to radically rethink our current relationship of domination and abuse of animals. Award-winning scientist Bekoff skillfully blends extraordinary stories and anecdotes of animal grief, joy, embarrassment, anger, and love with the latest scientific research confirming the existence of emotions that commonsense experience has long implied. The author also explores the evolutionary purposes of emotions in a wide range of different species, showing how science is discovering brain structures that produce emotions, how we can track an evolutionary continuum based on shared brain structures among species, and how new information is being revealed by noninvasive neurological research techniques. Filled with Bekoff's light humor and touching stories, The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view animals and how we treat them.

Last Child in the Woods

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv. In this influential work about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Last Child in the Woods is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. More than just raising an alarm, Louv offers practical solutions and simple ways to heal the broken bond—and they are right in our own backyard.

Richard Louv, a columnist for the San Diego Union- Tribune, has written for national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, and NPR’s Fresh Air and Talk of the Nation. He is the author of six books about family, nature, and community.

Four Seasons of Mojo

Four Seasons of Mojo, by Stephanie Rose Bird. The changing of the seasons can feel magical-greens changing to browns and golds, snow melting to show fresh buds. We all recognize these tell-tale signs, but few are aware of the powerful impact each season has on our spiritual lives. Four Seasons of Mojo infuses ancient techniques, rituals, and methods from around the world to use each season's inherent energies to supplement body, mind, and soul. Designed to further spiritual practices by learning from neighboring cultures, this book provides readers with useful ideas unrestricted by geographic borders, ethnicity, religion, or magical path. Included are recipes and concepts from the Caribbean, African American soul food, Buddhist Meditation practices, sacred Hindu rites, Old European traditions, Australian Aboriginal dreaming lessons, and Native American wisdom.

Stephanie Rose Bird is a hereditary intuitive, contemporary rootworker, solitary green witch and visionary. She has been involved with mysticism, symbology, spiritualism and the occult for thirty years. Bird is inspired by her ancestors, in particular her grandmothers, one of which was a psychic and the other a spiritualist minister and herbal healer. Her uncle, a Santeria priest, Babalawo of Shango, taught her the Ifa traditions of the Yoruba people. Bird studies healing, magical and divination traditions of indigenous people around the world with a focus on Africa. Her passions include keeping the ancient traditions alive and updating them so that they evolve with us, suiting our current environment and lifestyles. She is a member of the American Folklore Soceity, the Herb Research Foundation and the Handcrafted Soap Maker's Guild. Bird holds a BFA cum laude from Temple University and an MFA from UC San Diego, and has received multiple academic awards. Bird was an assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1986-2002. Bird is active advising masters' and doctoral candidates, giving lectures, conducting goddess rituals, and writing for numerous publications.

Sacred Balance

Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature, by David Suzuki. This wide-ranging study regards people as creatures of the Earth who depend on its air, water, soil, and sun energy to live rich, fulfilling lives. Drawing on his own experiences and those of others who have put their beliefs into action, Suzuki shows how people are genetically programmed for the company of other species, and examines other deep spiritual needs rooted in nature. He includes concrete suggestions for creating an ecologically sustainable, satisfying, and fair future by rediscovering and addressing humanity's basic needs.