Sacred Places: How the Living Earth Seeks Our Friendship

by James A. Swan

Supporting Lovelock's thesis that the Earth is a living being, Swan suggests natural sites such as Serpent Mound, Machu Pichu, and Kilauea Center have the power to move us in ways modern science cannot explain.

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

Reviews

[Annelise · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating of this book is based almost entirely on its writing quality, because I still dont know what I think about its content. I strongly agreed with some sections, but strongly questioned others. That said, the ideas presented in this book are interesting and worth considering. If I needed to have an opinion about the content, I think that the book tried to do too much and, if it had expanded just one of the chapters to the entire book, would have been much more compelling.
The writing was competent, but some sections were hard to get through. In several chapters, there were simply lists of experiences that acted as evidence, but were difficult for me to get through without individual interpretation and context.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read and well researched and referenced (every chapter has a reference list) - I originally purchased this new so it has been on the bookcase a good number of years. I began to read it back then, found it deeply upsetting and put it down for another time. The time felt right recently (only 20+ years!) and though some of the content may now be out of date, the main theme is very current. Modern society increasingly turns its back on the natural world and our connections to it. In more recent years, some reparation has been made to various indigenous peoples for past wrongs and land grabs, which is a start. Still though many people brush off rituals and beliefs and deny their own spirituality or even to be open to the possibility of being connected to the world around them in a more spiritual sense. I find it illogical that many speak of caring for wildlife/ nature etc and yet would baulk at the notion of being able to connect more directly. For improving our overall mental health we need to respect and consider the knowledge of those who live closer to the natural world.
Anyway - excellent book; I do not agree with the content of every chapter but it has opened my mind to explore further.