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Circle Of Life: Traditional Teachings Of Native American Elders
CIRCLE OF LIFE presents, in written form, traditional oral Native American sacred teachings involving spirituality, ceremonies, visions, healings, everyday life, and the warrior's way from the Iroquois, Lakota and other traditions. The author, James David Audlin (Distant Eagle), has been receiving these teachings orally from elders since he was a youth. The wisdom includes Native American views on cosmology, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, sociology, psychology, healing, dream interpretation and vision quests.
Paperback
First published November 1, 2004
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About the author
James David Audlin
33 books6 followersJames David Audlin is an American author living in Panama, after previously living in France.
A retired pastor, college professor, and newspaper opinion page editor, he is best known as the author of THE CIRCLE OF LIFE and translator of THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
He has written about a dozen novels, several full-length plays, several books of stories, a book of essays, a book of poetry, and a book about his adventures in Panama.
Fluent in several languages, he has translated his novel RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR into French (PALINDROME) and Spanish (PALÍNDROMO).
He also is a professional musician who composes, sings, and plays several instruments, though not usually at the same time.
He is married to a Panamanian lady who doesn't read English and so is blissfully ignorant about his weirdly strange books. However his adult daughter and son, who live in Vermont, USA, are aware, and are wary, when a new book comes out.
FOR A FUN, IRREVERENT INTERVIEW with Audlin conducted by fellow author Holly Jahangiri -- http://jahangiri.us/2013/author-inter...
FOR THE SCHOLARS -- https://independent.academia.edu/Jame...
A retired pastor, college professor, and newspaper opinion page editor, he is best known as the author of THE CIRCLE OF LIFE and translator of THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
He has written about a dozen novels, several full-length plays, several books of stories, a book of essays, a book of poetry, and a book about his adventures in Panama.
Fluent in several languages, he has translated his novel RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR into French (PALINDROME) and Spanish (PALÍNDROMO).
He also is a professional musician who composes, sings, and plays several instruments, though not usually at the same time.
He is married to a Panamanian lady who doesn't read English and so is blissfully ignorant about his weirdly strange books. However his adult daughter and son, who live in Vermont, USA, are aware, and are wary, when a new book comes out.
FOR A FUN, IRREVERENT INTERVIEW with Audlin conducted by fellow author Holly Jahangiri -- http://jahangiri.us/2013/author-inter...
FOR THE SCHOLARS -- https://independent.academia.edu/Jame...
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May 31, 2014
This book changed me. I tried to read it about two years ago but couldn't let the words in. It's not important why. "Circle of Life" is a gentle teaching without being preachy at all. It made me look inside my self at every turn of the pages. I read a few old, hackneyed Native American stories that appeared in this book as fresh, fruitful, helpful, and in the right context. The structure of the book and the consistency of the ideas presented is wonderful. More on that later.
As I progressed in the book, I found it easier to sleep at night. It brought powerful peace in it, though there were some parts that were horrible to think about. Anyone like me, who loves and is fascinated by Native Americans, and/or original "traditional" people, would be irate about how those people have been pushed into near extinction by brute force, lies, theft, and ignorance. That's one of the reasons this book is important. Of the books I've read and films I've seen on Native Americans, this one outshines them all.
The book brought magic and the miraculous back to my soul which has been steeped in jaded skepticism, and overloaded with religious dogma. The ideas that come to mind at the moment are the ones taught about in this book, (which appear throughout the book): washte, wakan, and washichu. Another theme--the sacred--is another. There are more.
Sacred-ness is, in the teaching of Native American elders, found in women and in old people; even people who, in the "dominant culture", would be labeled as insane. It's wonderful to think of a world like this, since it's practically upside-down during these present times.
As I progressed in the book, I found it easier to sleep at night. It brought powerful peace in it, though there were some parts that were horrible to think about. Anyone like me, who loves and is fascinated by Native Americans, and/or original "traditional" people, would be irate about how those people have been pushed into near extinction by brute force, lies, theft, and ignorance. That's one of the reasons this book is important. Of the books I've read and films I've seen on Native Americans, this one outshines them all.
The book brought magic and the miraculous back to my soul which has been steeped in jaded skepticism, and overloaded with religious dogma. The ideas that come to mind at the moment are the ones taught about in this book, (which appear throughout the book): washte, wakan, and washichu. Another theme--the sacred--is another. There are more.
Sacred-ness is, in the teaching of Native American elders, found in women and in old people; even people who, in the "dominant culture", would be labeled as insane. It's wonderful to think of a world like this, since it's practically upside-down during these present times.
Displaying 1 of 1 review