Way of the Earth

by Teri C. McLuhan

McLuhan, an author and filmmaker, draws on ancient and contemporary sources to examine the significance of the Earth from the perspective of six diverse cultures from Aboriginal Australia, Japan, ancient Greece, Africa, South America, and Native North America.

Way of the Earth explores the parallels among different cultures in terms of how they perceive nature, and argues that there is unity between people as they celebrate nature.

Genres: Nonfiction

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

McLuhan explores many sources for a rising religious commitment to honoring nature. For example, the book describes how Christian images of wilderness as an abode of the Devil were slowly transformed. Nature was increasingly presented as a blessing from the Lord, starting in the Middle Ages, as seen in St. Francis of Assisi’s worshipful love of nature, or yet earlier in the words of Hildegarde of Bingen (1098–1179):

"The Earth is … mother of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is the mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all. The Earth … contains all moistness, all verdancy, all germinating power. It is in so many ways fruitful. All creation comes from it."

[Raoul W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of insights from all over the world about how to walk the good path, treat each other with tenderness, strive to understand what we cannot see, and to walk the "soft Earth as relatives to all that live." If you are lost in your life or a looking for something beyond yourself, the teachings collected in this book may offer a thread along which you can find your way forward.

[Brandt · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is it that binds us (ligat) together as Beings? Further, what binds us together with the Earth around us, about us, and within us? This book attempts to celebrate, and explore, the common threads that connect us, as Beings, throughout known history. Through patterns discoverable in various cultures of the Earth, a common experience of being rooted in the natural world reveals itself. T.C. McLuhan invites us on this journey that constitutes a cross-cultural mapping of the human psyche. Using quotes, from antiquity through modernity, the deep currents of energy existent among the varied cultures are explored and revealed.

This book offers an intriguing way to consider modern day philosophical – and dare I say – political issues such as, race relations, property ownership/stewardship of the land, etc. On numerous occasions, you are confronted with ideas of modernity that are incoherent with the integrity necessary to maintain and inhabit the Earth. Through an exposition of traditional perspectives, three paradigms of interaction become clear. First, the nature of the Earth. Second, the nature of Nature. Third, the nature of Human nature. Each of these three aspects of consideration is scrutinized, and their interactions examined. These three paradigms force the reader to consider the “state of affairs” within modernity; a wake-up call to the importance of an environmental ethic. Not just in name, but also in obligation. This idea seems to be the implied thesis that supports the book in totality.

The reader will be taken on a journey into the realm of the human spirit. This exploration covers the timeless cultures of Aboriginal Australia, Japan, Greece, Africa, South America, and Native North America. The illuminating search for essential truths of the nature of the Earth, and the accompanying wise words of that cultures artists, poets, philosophers, and sages, speak to the ever present importance of our (Beings) interaction with nature. Some of the voices build upon previous ideas; and some will not be understood until later cultures are examined in the book. Each culture presents their interpretation of preliminary questions: What binds us together? What binds us to the Earth, nature, and the universe? This is the project of the quest.

Ultimately, this book forces the understanding reader to face questions about “the Way.” From this perspective, “the Way” is about the way of Nature; hence, The Way of the Earth: Encounters With Nature in Ancient & Contemporary Thought. This could be the essence of our being as Beings; the Way of reciprocal symphony throughout nature in totality.

McLuhan examines this, and many other connected ideas, with thoughtfulness and sincerity. There is equal thoughtfulness in exploring ideas such as, the primacy of the Earth, land and self, the umbilical connection, mountains and the human spirit, the correlative nature of things, and many others. Overall, you must be aware of what it is you are reading and why. Try and connect the ideas from this book into other ideas about nature and see how they fit. Enjoy the reading, and enjoy the journey.

[Keena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it was ok. It helps if you think of it more as an anthology or book of quotes- there's not much of the author's own writing to tie everything together. I also think the subjects are a bit strange. There's all the natives of Australia, Japan, Greece, all the natives of Africa, one tribe in South America (which recieves only about 20 pages, while every other section is around 100ish) and all the natives North America. I just thought it was a strange choice to lump so many different tribes together in most of the book, and then to only talk about the one tribe in South America because 'it exemplified the point'.