This eye-opening journey through the terrain of Native American spirituality contrasts contemporary society's rejection of the sacred--and its arrogant belief in its own power to control the cosmos--with native traditions of reverence for the earth. The author reconstructs the archetypal and symbolic significance of indigenous rituals and sacred sites, placing Native American spirituality in the context of the world's great religions. The comparison illustrates the richness and universality of the native approach to the earth as a cherished being and reveals the poverty of our present-day attitudes toward the natural environment and its living creatures. This book is an urgent call to rediscover and become firmly grounded on the sacred earth again.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Versluis, editor of Avaloka: A Journal of Traditional Religion and Culture , offers a much-needed understanding of Native American religion. Through discussion of how the religions of Native Americans compare with traditional religions, he finds ground for a common spirituality. While contemporary society emphasizes ecology, Versluis points out that Native Americans always had a love and respect for the environment and a recognition of the spiritual qualities of nature. This book may prove a bit difficult for lay readers, yet it is necessary reading for those seeking a greater understanding of Native American spirituality. For Native American and religion collections.
- James F. Wood Sr., Hillsborough Community Coll. Lib., Tampa, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- James F. Wood Sr., Hillsborough Community Coll. Lib., Tampa, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Versluis, editor of Avaloka: A Journal of Traditional Religion and Culture, offers a much-needed understanding of Native American religion. Through discussion of how the religions of Native Americans compare with traditional religions, he finds ground for a common spirituality. While contemporary society emphasizes ecology, Versluis points out that Native Americans always had a love and respect for the environment and a recognition of the spiritual qualities of nature. This book may prove a bit difficult for lay readers, yet it is necessary reading for those seeking a greater understanding of Native American spirituality. For Native American and religion collections.
(Library Journal (Tuesday , September 01, 1992) James F. Wood Sr., Hillsborough Community Coll. Lib., Tampa, Fla. )
(Library Journal (Tuesday , September 01, 1992) James F. Wood Sr., Hillsborough Community Coll. Lib., Tampa, Fla. )
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"New Traditionalism" Views of Native American Spirituality,
By milfount@netonecom.net (Reed City, Michigan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sacred Earth: The Spiritual Landscape of Native America (Paperback)
Following in the footsteps of Rene Guenon, Frithjof Schuon, Ananda K. Coomwaraswamy, Martin Lings, Titus Burkhardt (the modern one) and Seyyid Hossein Nasr, Mr. Versluis brings the analytical methods of these, the "new traditionalists," to the issues of Native American spirituality. Except for some relatively minor analytical flaws common to the methodology he adopts, his perspective on this subject is a generous and welcome one, and his writing opens out the fundamental qualities of this spiritual tradition for neophytes, as well as for well-informed students of other traditions. It is clearly intended for intelligent and well educated readers, but not for academics or intellectuals. This is an inspiring book, which reinforces my already great respect and reverence for the spirituality of this place, Turtle Island.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful,
This review is from: Sacred Earth: The Spiritual Landscape of Native America (Paperback)
Very beautiful. I feel this book woke me up or helped me realize some spiritual truth found constant throughout the universe
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great for College course material,
By
This review is from: Sacred Earth: The Spiritual Landscape of Native America (Paperback)
I bought this book, hoping to gain more insight about Native American spiritual traditions. Though it is filled with a lot of information, it was too much "work" to read and understand the author's points. As my title suggests, it is better used for a philosophy or anthropology course.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Standing on a bluff, around us the horizon's circle, above heaven's great dome, and in every direction rolling hills fading into the haze of distance: here, in the center of a continent, where springs flow, where the earth rises up beneath us and holds us up against the sky, we feel what it is to be a human being standing on the earth. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
directional symbolism, spiritual archetypes, horned serpent, virgin nature, spiritual landscape, geometric gardens, primal substance, petroglyph sites, original peoples, spiritual origin, spiritual symbolism Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Native American, Black Elk, Great Lodge, Great Horned Serpent, Horned Snake, Lakota Sioux, Great Spirit, Massaum Lodge, Shunganunga Bluff, Thunder Beings, Celestial Agriculture, Children of the Sun, Little Arkansas River, New York State, North America, Shakyamuni Buddha, The Council Fire, The Fox Trail New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Standing on a bluff, around us the horizon's circle, above heaven's great dome, and in every direction rolling hills fading into the haze of distance: here, in the center of a continent, where springs flow, where the earth rises up beneath us and holds us up against the sky, we feel what it is to be a human being standing on the earth. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
directional symbolism, spiritual archetypes, horned serpent, virgin nature, spiritual landscape, geometric gardens, primal substance, petroglyph sites, original peoples, spiritual origin, spiritual symbolism Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Native American, Black Elk, Great Lodge, Great Horned Serpent, Horned Snake, Lakota Sioux, Great Spirit, Massaum Lodge, Shunganunga Bluff, Thunder Beings, Celestial Agriculture, Children of the Sun, Little Arkansas River, New York State, North America, Shakyamuni Buddha, The Council Fire, The Fox Trail New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 58
books:
See all 58 books this book cites
4
books
cite this book:
- The Soul Of The Indian by Charles Eastman in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Feathered Sun by Frithjof Schuon in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Soul of the Indian (Native American) by Charles Alexander (Ohiyesa) Eastman in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The North American Indian: The Complete Portfolios by Edward Sheriff Curtis in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux by Nicholas Black Elk in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 58 books this book cites
- Welcome to Infinity: Exploring Ancient & Modern Techniques For Collaborating with Otherworldly Beings - A Personal Journey by Kathlyn Hinesley in Back Matter
- Killing the White Man's Indian: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century by Fergus M. Bordewich in Back Matter
- Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred (Perennial Philosophy) by Barry McDonald in Back Matter
- Nature Writing (Genres in Context) by Don Scheese in Back Matter
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