Bücher von Ian Prattis

Ian Prattis' new publication, Sacred Ceremony and Desert Legacy. is another riveting medley of poetry and prose, autobiographical essays and a memoir of his mystical journey as a shaman and a Zen teacher. His gentle but powerful activism to save the Earth is the sacred glue fusing together all of the genres featured in this book. Prattis uses the power of the word to remind us to open our hearts and our senses to the natural world, to hear the symphony in the whale song, and marvel at the flight of geese, or to "see spring blossoms cast a rainbow in summer rain." Prattis' reflections on impermanence remind us that "our only possessions are the consequences of our actions", and that we should awaken from our apathy and slumber and show a renewed reverence toward nature becoming both leaders and followers of radical change. His social commentary on wars and the destruction of our home Earth is couched in stirringly beautiful poetic language, which acts as a guiding light to beckon us toward a shift of consciousness.- Jana Begovic, author, Poisonous Whispers and Dragonfly Slayer

Symbolic process, myth, science, postmodernism and the environment are skillfully woven together in 13 essays that reflect the timbre of the times in terms of current issues in anthropology, philosophy and religion. The spectre of consciousness transformation provides a common underlying theme and Prattis provides a novel perspective on "who we are, where did we come from, where are we going". The current furor over the nature of science, postmodernism and symbolic processes in society is the driving force behind this collection of essays.Contents: PART I: Beyond Structuralism; Man and Metaphor; "Parsifal" and Semiotic Structuralism; PART II: The Poetic Turn and Postmodern Reflexivity; Dialectics and Experience in Fieldwork; "Reflections" as Myth; Reflexive Anthropology; (with D. Blair) Opening Ourselves up to the Voyage of Anthropological Practice; PART III: Process and Form; Celtic Festivals and Bilingualism Policy: The Barra Feis; Sacred Dance and Cultural Bridges; Death Breaths and Drivers: The Phenomenology of Shamanic Experiences; Metaphor, Vibration and Form; PART IV: Paradigms; Science and Sages¿a Small Matter of Paradigms; PART V: Gaia and the Environment¿Two Essays; Issues of Inner Ecology; Myth, Meditation and Transformation of Consciousness; About the Author; Author Index.