Meditations with Animals: A Native American Bestiary

by Gerald Hausman

Published in 1986, Meditations with Animals was the first bestiary ever compiled from Native Americans showing the guiding roles animals have played in their spiritual history. These stories and poems contain the rites and rituals of a variety of tribes, depicting a world unified by the belief that the animal spirit dwells within each of us. With the power given him by the animals, man can transcend his earthly world and enter into a unique oneness with things seen and not seen by the senses. “In this collection of verse and story", says Thomas Berry in his introduction, "we are brought into the primordial community of the universe, the Earth, and all living things.”

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1986

About the author

Gerald Andrews Hausman is a storyteller and award-winning author of books about Native America, animals, mythology, and West Indian culture. Hausman comes from a long line of storytellers and educators, and has published over seventy books for both children and adults.

Reviews

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and simplistic view of Southern and Southwestern views of natives and their relationship to the earth and animals. The meditations were rather useful to me. Hausman, being of German heritage, also shares some native blood. His chants explained in this book simplified some of the myths that can be very complex for others to understand if not also bourne of native heritage. I enjoyed the page and a half draft of the perspective shared at the end of this book and drafted by Dr. Michael W. Fox regarding the cultural and societal impacts of losing touch with the earth and animals. This book is a personal antidote but appreciated nonetheless as but one way to view relationships with the natural world.