Earth Dreams: Finding Light in the Shadow [Paperback]

Elizabeth A. Brensinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

From the wilds of Utah through the wilderness of self, Earth Dreams chronicles the true story of a vision quest -- three days and nights spent alone in a remote Utah canyon -- and of the author's subsequent year of struggles and shadow work, dreams and synchronicities, insights and revelations.

Written with beauty and humor, Earth Dreams is both travel-adventure journal and spiritual odyssey. It offers a highly readable and very personal look at the power and process of various transformational techniques -- among them, dreamwork, shadow work, vision questing and the recognition of meaning and metaphor in everyday life and in the natural world.

True to its name, Earth Dreams compellingly illustrates the unique and irreplaceable role that the Earth -- especially wilderness -- plays in nurturing the human spirit. To ensure that Earth Dreams "walks its talk", the book is printed on 100%-post-consumer recycled paper.

Most of all, however, Earth Dreams is a voice of hope in shadowy times . . . an inspiring call to each of us to explore the deepest, darkest, lightest recesses of ourselves -- what Carl Jung referred to as the shadow -- and in so doing to find self-love, wholeness, passion and purpose.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A heroic story of one woman's journey through shadow and into light -- Robert A. Johnson

Earth Dreams taught me about myself, about how I deal with memory, and about the relationship between memory and enlightenment. -- Steven Foster

Highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in metaphysics, spirituality, Jungian psychology, and the phenomena of the 'vision quest' -- The Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Elizabeth Brensinger is a writer, workshop facilitator, vision quest guide, environmental activist and consultant. She holds a Master of Public Health degree and is a former award-winning journalist. In 1993, she co-founded Red Road Enterprises, which offers personal- and spiritual-growth adventures from a home base in eastern Pennsylvania, as well as consulting services to non-profit organizations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Red Road Pr (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971337209
• ISBN-13: 978-0971337206
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,495,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Author's experiences with a vision quest, shadow work, November 4, 2002

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Earth Dreams: Finding Light in the Shadow (Paperback)

"Earth Dreams" is a chronicle of the experiences of Elizabeth Brensinger as she engages in her "vision quest" and how it affects her life afterwards. The author and several others travel to a remote area of Utah where they receive instructions for engaging in a vision quest. From there each goes their own way into the canyons and seeks out their special spot to begin their spiritual journey. Each then spends three days and nights alone in the canyon.

A well-written account, the author bares her fears and triumphs as she deals with the quest and her journey into her own spiritual canyons, shadows and dreams. Through it all she comes to renew her passion and purpose in life.

A recommended read for people who are interested in the concepts of a vision quest, shadow and dream work, or similar therapeutic devices.

4.0 out of 5 stars Finding the Gift of Shadow, February 17, 2003

By 

Autumn Van Ord (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth Dreams: Finding Light in the Shadow (Paperback)

Liz Bresinger's spiritual memoir, presents a humorous, educational and uplifting description of her experience on a Canyonlands vision quest and the more difficult aspect of questing, the reincorporation. This book could be of interest to anyone who has quested or contemplating a quest, as well as anyone interested in the integration of the shadow. The 'Shadow" of the subtitle refers to shadow in the Jungian sense - what Marie Louise von Franz defines as 'the dark, unlit, and repressed side of the ego complex' or, more generally, a name for all that is within that cannot be known directly.

In the first half of the book Brensinger describes the eleven day Canyonlands vision quest. In the second half of the book, we become privy to the author's process of first recognizing the essence of her particular quest experience and then her process of integrating this essence into her life. As the author walks out of the canyons, anger and disappointment and extreme fatigue beset her - an experience different from the joy and light for which she had hoped. Through this she comes to understand that the gift of her quest is the gift of shadow. Shadow, already her unacknowledged companion, will now become her teacher - the vehicle through which she will come to accept her limitations, her human imperfectability, her gifts to the world, her passions, her essential goodness. With the passage of time she sees this with greater clarity and focus. She demonstrates through ceremony, dreams, synchronicities and journaling how she brings light and connection to the qualities of her shadow self. This process of her own self acceptance becomes a gift, in the form of this book, back to the larger community.

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerfully spiritual book, May 18, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth Dreams: Finding Light in the Shadow (Paperback)

Earth Dreams: Finding Light In The Shadow by environmental preservationist Elizabeth Brensinger is the true and personal story of a woman's vision quest, undertaken in solitude for three days and three nights in a remote Utah canyon. A captivating reminder of the miraculous and meaningful joy of life given to us by the nurturing Mother Earth, Earth Dreams is a powerfully spiritual book with echoes of majestic wild beauty and highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in metaphysics, spirituality, Jungian psychology, and the phenomena of the "vision quest".