Gracious Wild: A Shamanic Journey with Hawks

by Stacey L.L. Couch

Gracious Wild is the story of Stacey Couch's incredible journey out of the mundane world of science and reason into the vast shamanic realms of creativity and inspiration. Readers will travel on this intimate exploration of what happens when one woman allows the messengers of nature to guide her. These winged guides wrap her mind up in the mysteries they present, leading her to a richer, more fulfilling life. Stacey's tale begins on an isolated island where, as a scientist, her main responsibility is to care for a couple dozen foxes in captivity. As a result of a series of ecological tragedies, the fox population is on the verge of extinction and a novel hawk species begins nesting on the island for the first time in recorded history. It is during her time watching the nesting hawks alone in nature that her real quest begins-a series of hawks become her guides; rousing life's biggest questions like "why am I here?" Gracious Wild weaves Stacey's relationship with the hawks alongside her study of shamanism with a good deal of information included for those seeking more details about this spiritual path. Stacey's belief is, "that wild animals are trying to speak and interact with us every day. To listen to them is to listen to that which is divine within each of us. Their calls mirror our own inner calling to a greater purpose." Gracious Wild offers a vivid and candid tale of a woman who loses then rewrites the meaning of her life at the same time showing readers their own humanity; how being open to spirit messages from animals can provide important and beneficial (life-changing) guidance.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Animals

268 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Stacey L. L. Couch is as a shamanic cowgirl who works as a publicist and journalist for Mother Nature. A pioneer at heart, she empowers people with the ability to explore life's big questions. She aims to show how to form a real connection with our own souls through the natural world. Stacey started her career working for Mother Nature with a bachelor's degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Washington. She has lived in coastal, desert, marshland, rainforest, and grassland ecosystems studying everything from seabirds to raptors to foxes to songbirds. She is a published scientific author and has been the director of both a birds-of-prey education program and a community supported agriculture program. In 2003, she joined the shamanic field serving as a student, tutor, mentor, and administrator, and she graduated as a Certified Shamanic Practitioner (CSP) in 2007. She is a continuing student of the natural world and of spirituality as well as the sole proprietor of Wild Gratitude shamanic healing services.

Stacey lives on a 38-acre small mountain farm in southwest Colorado with her husband, two cats, dog, chickens, two mustang mares, and a host of wild ones.

Reviews

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book about how the author found her path in life with shamanic journeying and her relationships with several real-world hawks. She begins by describing her time as a wildlife biologist on a remote island, where she became fascinated by northern harriers. Later she volunteered at a wildlife center and worked with a female harrier and a red-tailed hawk. Meanwhile, she was struggling with insecurities about her place in the world and the challenge of finding meaningful employment, which she resolved through her shamanic studies and her interactions with the hawks.

That description honestly doesn't do justice to this story. Couch is a wonderful nature writer and the way she describes the birds shows her deep appreciation and understanding of them. I had no idea how difficult it was for injured raptors to adapt to captivity, and how many don't live very long even if they heal from their original wounds.

Like the author, I have struggled with the difficulty of finding my own path in a society that emphasizes only material success, and have asked questions similar to one she poses early in the book: "Why can I see the magic of the natural world but not become it?" Some books on this topic can be frustrating because the shamanic aspect seems so fantastic and otherworldly that it's hard to imagine how someone could ever apply their journeys to their lives in the ordinary world. In this book, I really appreciated how the author connected her shamanic journeys to her real-world conundrums. Although everyone has their own unique path, this story gives hope that we can all connect to our own "gracious wild" if we want to.

[Ginger]

My soul was deeply touched by Gracious Wild. Through her detailed descriptions, Stacey was able to take me deep within my own psyche and desire to use my connection with animals to guide me and help me connect with my true-self, which is the Oneness of all.
Our lives move so quickly these days that we don't even notice, for instance, the raven flying in the opposite direction of our travel over and over. We don't notice the deer that stops in the middle of the road to look us directly in the eye, or a mouse that scurries across our path. We place no meaning on these simple encounters with animals. This book vicariously takes us to our own place of knowing that animals are directly connected with the spirit world and they provide a direct connection for us humans if we will only slow down enough to look and listen. This is a Heroines Journey touching on our common spiritual dilemmas of fear, shame, guilt and wondering how to live a life full of purpose. This story reminds us that following our heart often seems uncertain but if we can entrust our path to the hands of spirit and set aside the "make it happen" attitude of the American culture, we WILL live a life of purpose. Thank you Stacey for sharing your journey and inspiring me to listen to my own heart and watch for the messages that are all around me in the natural world.
Ginger