Kirjahaku

"Dissatisfaction with nature flows throughout Western civilization, as deep as its blood, as abiding as its bones. Convinced to the marrow that something is deeply wrong with nature, ...the Western world tries to remake it into something better." For Priscilla Stuckey, this is a fundamental and heartbreaking misconception: that nature can be fixed, exploited, or simply ignored. Modern societies try to bend nature to human will instead of engaging in give-and-take with a living, breathing land community. Using her personal experiences as the cornerstone, Stuckey explores the depth of relationship possible with the birch tree in our backyard, the nearby urban creek, the dog who settles on our bed each night. Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as ancient philosophers and contemporary biologists, Stuckey challenges readers to enact a different story of nature, one in which people and place are not separate, where other creatures respond to human need, and where humans and all others together create the world. With the eloquence of the great nature writers before her, Stuckey encourages us to open ourselves to the unlimited possibilities of a truly connected life.

In an age of materialism, language of spirit or spirits seems at best suspect and at worst alien or naive. When Priscilla Stuckey begins hearing Bear's voice, she is a writer and religious studies professor in her fifties. Though she enjoys communing with trees and birds and the land, she intellectually knows better than to try talking directly with spirit. Yet searching for the truth of her own identity leads her directly toward what she is most skeptical of. As Priscilla opens to her spirit animal helper and his affectionate, jovial wisdom, she begins to realize the slow dawning of faith. Tamed by a Bear shows one person responding to the call of her heart, which is also the call of Earth to all human beings today: to listen to a more-than-human wisdom so people can address the social and environmental crises facing the world.At this moment when the future of life on Earth as we know it hangs in the balance threatened by climate change, species extinctions, and extreme economic inequality the key to survival is found in answering one question: How can humans live more peaceably and sustainably with the rest of nature? The heart-opening conversations between Bear and Priscilla suggest a reinvigorating of nature-spirituality in everyday life. Their dialogues show an educated, thoughtful person grappling with her skepticism about Earth spirits and gradually saying yes to a call from beyond her intellectual understanding. Over the course of a year, she wrestles with her own resistance, she develops her ability to listen accurately, and she learns to trust her own perception more deeply.In simple, down-to-earth language that eschews the jargon often permeating and indeed insulating New Age writing, Priscilla shows how a spiritual path of relationship with Earth can unfold for those who are willing to listen. Readers who might identify as  spiritual, not religious," who wish to connect more deeply with nature, or who may be discontent with the mechanistic view of nature but have not yet found an intellectually trustworthy way to pursue nature spirituality may find a deep resonance within Tamed by a Bear.