{"id":18287,"date":"2019-06-01T01:10:24","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T06:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=21444"},"modified":"2019-05-29T13:11:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T18:11:25","slug":"book-review-primal-awareness-by-rob-wildwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2019\/06\/01\/book-review-primal-awareness-by-rob-wildwood\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review \u2013 Primal Awareness: Reconnecting with the Spirits of Nature By Rob Wildwood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Book Review<\/strong>
Primal Awareness<\/strong>
Reconnecting with the Spirits of Nature <\/strong><\/em>
By Rob Wildwood<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rob\nWildwood gives us a perspective on the evolution of First World\ncultures in this thought-provoking book. The \u201cprimal awareness\u201d\nof the title is humankind\u2019s awareness of the immanence of spirit,\nconsciousness and generative life force alive in every aspect of\ncreation on Earth. Wildwood gives us an overview of how humanity in\nFirst World cultures has lost its sense of connection to the natural\nworld and as a result, is now destroying it. The book takes us\nthrough the impact of cultural development from the evolution of\nlanguage into cultural belief and identity, then maturation of\nreligious structures which separate individuals from their own\nconnection to divinity. Wildwood delineates shifts in civilizations\nas people moved into permanent settlements and homes, began to value\npossessions over social connection and started wars over territories\nand resources with colonization of all that was \u201cprimitive\u201d as\nthe end result. He describes the effects of mechanistic thinking \u2013\nonly humans have souls \u2013 with the rest of the universe broken into\ncomponent parts for analysis, categorization and ultimately,\ndomination for economic profit. Each incremental step took humans\nfarther away from an understanding that they are part of the natural\nworld. Now we think of \u201cNature\u201d as something we go somewhere to\n\u201cbe in;\u201d it is something separate from who we are. Wildwood\nwould like us to understand how this happened and help us find our\nway to a different perception of humanity\u2019s role on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nfound the Wildwood\u2019s selection of the milestones of cultural\nevolution interesting and thoughtful. Each milestone is a chapter\nheading; the ensuing discussions are brief but enlightening and\ncertainly timely. The very recent Global Assessment from The\nIntergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services,\nprepared by scientists from 130 countries, confirmed Wildwood\u2019s\nassertions that humankind\u2019s activities, especially large scale\n\u201cindustrial\u201d farming and fishing will result in the extinction of\nover one million plant and animal species unless radical changes in\nhumanity\u2019s approach to use of natural resources are made now<\/strong>.\n \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nthread of redemption that runs through the book is the narrative\nvoice of the \u201cshaman.\u201d Wildwood asks the shaman to provide a\nremedy to help reverse the loss of connection to the natural world\nthat individuals experience as a result of each of the culture\nchanges described. The practices provided are simple and effective;\nthey can be used anywhere to return us to mindful awareness that we\nare a part of the web of life. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI\nagree with Wildwood that we humans have to find a post-growth\neconomics that is loyal to life instead of to profits. However, I\ntake issue with his premise that all cultural development is\nnecessarily problematic. Primal Awareness idealizes humanity\nin its \u201cnatural\u201d state, and tends to demonize all social\ninstitutions and development. Certainly, we must find a way to stop\nbeing the human \u201ccancer\u201d on the natural world that Wildwood\ndescribes, and we must do it by finding our place in the order of the\ncosmos, rather than dominating it at the expense of all other life\nforms. But humanity has a genius and beauty of its own and a part in\nthat cosmic order that Wildwood does not acknowledge. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nrecommended Primal Awareness: Reconnecting with the Spirits of\nNature for the overview of the steps of First World cultural\nevolution; although quite general, it is, again, a thought-provoking\nanalysis. And the shaman\u2019s remedies are excellent prescriptions\nfor returning us to awareness and appreciation of the beauty and life\nforce in all of the beings with whom we share Earth. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primal Awareness: Reconnecting With The Spirits Of Nature on Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nthe Author:<\/strong>\n \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Susan\nRossi<\/strong>\nis a Practitioner and Teacher of Shamanism. She is a long-time\nexplorer of The Mysteries \u2013 the connections between mind, body,\nspirit and how to live in right relationship to all of the energies\nstreaming through the cosmos. She works with clients as an\nastrologer, coach, ceremonialist and guide to the wisdom that each of\nus has the capacity to access. Her focus is on guiding clients\nto unblock and rediscover their inner wisdom. , exploration of the\nbirth chart, ceremony, legacy writing, hypnotherapy, energetic\nhealing practice and creation of sacred tools are integral pieces of\nher practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan\ntrained in Soul Level Astrology with master astrologer Mark Borax.\nShe delights in exploring with individuals the planetary pattern\nunder which their soul choose to incarnate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flying\nto the Heart www.flyingtotheheart.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open\nChannel Astrology: openchannelastrology.com<\/a>\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Review Primal Awareness Reconnecting with the Spirits of Nature By Rob Wildwood Rob Wildwood gives us a perspective on the evolution of First World cultures in this thought-provoking book. The \u201cprimal awareness\u201d of the title is humankind\u2019s awareness of the immanence of spirit, consciousness and generative life force alive in every aspect of creation on Earth. Wildwood gives us an overview of how humanity in First World cultures has lost its sense of connection to the natural world and as a result, is now destroying it. The book takes us through the impact of cultural development from the evolution of language into cultural belief and identity, then maturation of religious structures which separate individuals from their own connection to divinity. Wildwood delineates shifts in civilizations as people moved into permanent settlements and homes, began to value possessions over social connection and started wars over territories and resources with colonization of all that was \u201cprimitive\u201d as the end result. He describes the effects of mechanistic thinking \u2013 only humans have souls \u2013 with the rest of the universe broken into component parts for analysis, categorization and ultimately, domination for economic profit. Each incremental step took humans farther away from an understanding that they are part of the natural world. Now we think of \u201cNature\u201d as something we go somewhere to \u201cbe in;\u201d it is something separate from who we are. Wildwood would like us to understand how this happened and help us find our way to a different perception of humanity\u2019s role on Earth. I found the Wildwood\u2019s selection of the milestones of cultural evolution interesting and thoughtful. Each milestone is a chapter heading; the ensuing discussions are brief but enlightening and certainly timely. The very recent Global Assessment from The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, prepared by scientists from 130 countries, confirmed Wildwood\u2019s assertions that humankind\u2019s activities, especially large scale \u201cindustrial\u201d farming and fishing will result in the extinction of over one million plant and animal species unless radical changes in humanity\u2019s approach to use of natural resources are made now. The thread of redemption that runs through the book is the narrative voice of the \u201cshaman.\u201d Wildwood asks the shaman to provide a remedy to help reverse the loss of connection to the natural world that individuals experience as a result of each of the culture changes described. The practices provided are simple and effective; they can be used anywhere to return us to mindful awareness that we are a part of the web of life. I agree with Wildwood that we humans have to find a post-growth economics that is loyal to life instead of to profits. However, I take issue with his premise that all cultural development is necessarily problematic. Primal Awareness idealizes humanity in its \u201cnatural\u201d state, and tends to demonize all social institutions and development. Certainly, we must find a way to stop being the human \u201ccancer\u201d on the natural world that Wildwood describes, and we must do it by finding our place in the order of the cosmos, rather than dominating it at the expense of all other life forms. But humanity has a genius and beauty of its own and a part in that cosmic order that Wildwood does not acknowledge. I recommended Primal Awareness: Reconnecting with the Spirits of Nature for the overview of the steps of First World cultural evolution; although quite general, it is, again, a thought-provoking analysis. And the shaman\u2019s remedies are excellent prescriptions for returning us to awareness and appreciation of the beauty and life force in all of the beings with whom we share Earth. Primal Awareness: Reconnecting With The Spirits Of Nature on Amazon *** About the Author: Susan Rossi is a Practitioner and Teacher of Shamanism. She is a long-time explorer of The Mysteries \u2013 the connections between mind, body, spirit and how to live in right relationship to all of the energies streaming through the cosmos. She works with clients as an astrologer, coach, ceremonialist and guide to the wisdom that each of us has the capacity to access. Her focus is on guiding clients to unblock and rediscover their inner wisdom. , exploration of the birth chart, ceremony, legacy writing, hypnotherapy, energetic healing practice and creation of sacred tools are integral pieces of her practice. Susan trained in Soul Level Astrology with master astrologer Mark Borax. She delights in exploring with individuals the planetary pattern under which their soul choose to incarnate. Flying to the Heart www.flyingtotheheart.com Open Channel Astrology: openchannelastrology.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":235,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}