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50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Speaking to our condition, April 11, 2009
This review is from: Sacred Demise: Walking the Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization's Collapse (Paperback)
Sacred Demise is a powerful, fascinating, and very important book that provides a deep, holistic analysis of the present situation. Carolyn Baker surveys the ecological and economic disasters in the making, and concludes that, without any doubt, modern civilization is coming down. There is no longer anything we can do to prevent this; our choice at this point is either to deny the inevitable and try (futilely) to prop up the existing system, or to fully accept the enormity of this historical shift with all the uncertainty, stress, and even horror that it will entail. Baker's central point is that the death of our cultural identity can be a spiritual opening for us, an opportunity to cast off our egocentric way of living (we are a "culture of two-year-olds," she says) and reclaim the ecocentric awareness of our indigenous heritage--a life in harmony with the pulsating vitality of the earth. This is the only way of living that has intrinsic meaning and purpose, that is spiritually and existentially nourishing, and the time has come to reconnect with it. As with all major transitions in life, this "quantum shift" in consciousness will be psychologically difficult; the loss of "much of what we have held dear in civilization" will engender disorientation, distress, and deep grief. Sacred Demise is essentially an invitation to surrender to this emotional upheaval, to learn from it and allow it to deepen and mature us. Baker describes personal and communal practices we can use to turn cultural disintegration into a collective rite of passage, through which the limitations and mistakes of our immature worldview may be purged and transformed. Sacred Demise draws on the wisdom of deep thinkers from various traditions; Carl Jung's insights inform much of her discussion, as do the indigenous African teachings of Malidoma Somé, the research of Jared Diamond and the spirituality of Thomas Moore and Eckhart Tolle, among others. Baker brings in many relevant and moving poems, and suggests a series of exercises for self-reflection. Weaving these elements with her own insights, Baker has given us a beautiful vision of humanity reconnecting with our ancient roots and with the Earth, finding spiritual resources to endure the coming apocalypse. For Baker, collapse opens possibilities for transformation. I brought many urgent questions and anxieties to my reading of Sacred Demise, and Baker addresses them with uncanny directness. She writes with an extraordinary empathy for her readers, acknowledging that these are frightening times and modeling the courage and clarity of vision we will need to get through them. While the book is fortified with relevant quotes, references, and serious intellectual discussion, it remains throughout a personal conversation between a wise, deeply engaged elder and those of us who are seeking to grasp the enormity of the impending cultural transformation. Even though Baker unflinchingly discusses the most difficult and disturbing topics--massive social upheaval and the possible extinction of humanity--the book reads comfortably, like gentle advice from a caring friend.
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48 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Most-Needed Work, May 24, 2009
This review is from: Sacred Demise: Walking the Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization's Collapse (Paperback)
In the rare instances where I come across a book that is a feast for the mind and soul I wrestle with it as with a lover. Pages get dog-eared, the pen comes out and notes appear all over. Great passages are underlined. There are coffee and wine stains. This marks my affair with a great book. "Sacred Demise" is the first such book I have read in many years. In spite of the profoundly disturbing topic: the collapse of industrial civilization and possible extinction of the human race; it is a book which has left me feeling joyful, hopeful, humorous and deeply comforted. It has made me love more completely and - in that process - has allowed me to be more alive in this present moment. This isn't a mass-consumption book nor should it be. My life and experience have taught me that few humans have evolved or are aware enough to even grasp its significance. The book is like a great sacred text from antiquity that makes us love our forbears and take comfort in our connectedness to them. If intelligent life is able to find "Sacred Demise" in two or three millennia I can see it being revered as a great testament to what our potential as a species might have been... or might yet become. "Sacred Demise" is an incredible how-to, first-aid, healing map and manual of how one can navigate an aware psyche through the emotional and spiritual challenges of collapse - to find and to give love, comfort and even great joy in the midst of pain, despair and death. It teaches and reminds us that death is not a bad word but a "parenthesis in eternity" as Joel Goldsmith wrote. I know of no one who has had the courage to address these crying needs in detail and Baker is uniquely qualified to do it. Every ounce of her heart, mind and soul were committed to this book's writing and that is clearly evident throughout. This book is an act of love. I am no different than any human in that I respond instantly and involuntarily when I see that someone has the courage to place a naked heart in front of my eyes. It reminds me that we are never stronger than when we are most vulnerable. The book's genesis comes from Baker's clear statement that, "while many individuals will be able to physically navigate collapse, some will not be able to do so emotionally". I consider the book to be profoundly spiritual, although others may approach it as a psychological or cultural text that finally and beautifully addresses what I have seen as a crying need to deal with the emotions that collapse surfaces. Emotions ignored always return to bite us on the behind. They sap rather than enhance our strength. "Sacred Demise" is an emotional and spiritual guide for the treatment of those of us who understand what collapse means and by which we can give comfort, aid, assistance and great strength to ourselves and to those we love. As Baker points out consistently - while fearlessly acknowledging that civilization and the species may become extinct soon - here is a pathway to choose not only which physical parts or our lives may endure, but what core values survive the transition and die-off. She reminds us that to be truly effective, "we must come to grips with our own mortality." I have known Baker for many years. We have worked closely together and shared many painful "initiations". I am not at all surprised that she cites many spiritual books that I have long treasured and also delves deeply into Native-American spirituality for its close connection to a planet that "civilization" has cut us off from. Nor am I surprised that we have both arrived at exactly the same conclusions. What I am surprised at is Baker's Herculean research, her incredible depth and her broad, multi-discipline and multi-cultural approach. She does not confuse the reader, she refreshingly reminds us that truth and knowledge based upon harmony and balance with all life are universal truths once liberated from artificial labels and knee-jerk induced intellectual door slamming. The book's greatest use will be in guiding and comforting those of us who are "hospice" workers for industrial civilization. Having written on the subject of collapse for almost a decade I have longed for something that would comfort me and the great many who have labored to awaken mass consciousness to the gravity of the current crisis. As on a battlefield one inevitably asks, who or what will care for the caregivers? This is that book. Michael C. Ruppert [Author: "Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil" and "A Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty-five points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money"]
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the most honest assessment yet in print, May 12, 2009
This review is from: Sacred Demise: Walking the Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization's Collapse (Paperback)
This book is probably the most honest assessment yet in print of our collective situation and the psychological and spiritual issues involved in facing up to and dealing with the multiple challenges of energy descent, climate disruption and economic meltdown. Carolyn Baker shows us how to face up to these tough realities while still enjoying life to the full. Especially helpful is her advice to parents on how to raise healthy kids in a collapsing world.
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