Reclaiming the Wild Soul - 2nd Edition by Mary Reynolds Thompson (Paperback)

About the Book

Reclaiming the Wild Soul takes us on a journey into Earth's five great landscapes where our "soulscapes" awaken to reveal the magnificence of our own true nature-and a path of personal transformation aligned with the healing of the wild Earth.

Book Synopsis

"In the pages of Reclaiming the Wild Soul, the forests and mountains, the deserts and the oceans, the rivers and the grasslands find their voice. Once heard, we can never forget what they have to say. Nor do we want to. May we all follow the summons and embark on such a journey. Thompson's field guide illuminates the way." -Clare Dakin, Founder, TreeSisters

"Woven with enchanting stories and wise counsel, Reclaiming the Wild Soul lavishly supports us, at this time of global crisis/opportunity, to return, emboldened, to Earth and to our own human wildness." -Bill Plotkin, author of Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche and Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche

Beyond the chaos and stresses of our modern age, there lies a forgotten yet primal terrain rich in wisdom, healing, and wholeness. In Reclaiming the Wild Soul, Mary Reynolds Thompson takes us on a journey into Earth's five great landscapes as aspects of our deeper, wilder selves. There, where the inner and outer worlds meet, we discover within our souls:

• the silence and simplicity of deserts
• the mystery of forests
• the flow of oceans and rivers
• the inspiration of mountains
• the regenerative spirit of grasslands

Once awakened, these "soulscapes" reveal the beauty and magnificence of our own true nature-and a path of personal transformation aligned with the healing of the wild Earth. Reclaiming the Wild Soul is simultaneously self-help and a courageous call to action for our times.

Review Quotes

"Reclaiming the Wild Soul touches on so much that makes us more deeply human. But even more, we are invited into a new way of being human. Mary Reynolds Thompson identifies the most powerful qualities of our Earth's great landscapes. She then magically guides us back into a nearly lost realm where we truly feel that our imagination, our inner lives, and our physical selves are an integral expression of the planet herself. To go to the Earth for guidance, we simultaneously go inward to our deeper self and outward to the Great Self of oceans, rivers, deserts, grasslands, mountains, and forests. It is here, as the author writes, 'we learn to live the questions, rather than rush the answers.' Reclaiming the Wild Soul reminds us that beyond the flurry and chaos of our cyber-age, there is a primary yet forgotten terrain where we may seek guidance, healing, and wisdom. In doing so, we retrieve our wilder, deeper selves. I read this book with a sense of gratitude. It is a beautiful, passionate, and trustworthy handbook for deeper transformation." -Lauren de Boer, Executive Editor, EarthLight, a magazine of ecology, cosmology, and spirituality.

"Mary Reynolds Thompson's book works simple magic to bind our broken souls back into full-round rapport with the more-than-human terrain. And as the land restores our sanity, we're empowered to work with new clarity to replenish the many-voiced vitality of the animate earth." -David Abram, author of The Spell of the Sensuous

"Reclaiming the Wild Soul leads us on a journey of exploration, through imagery, poetry, story and creative imagination, to connect back to the five archetypal landscapes in Nature, and reconnect to our own inherent Nature." -Angeles Arrien, author of The Four Fold Way

"Mary Reynolds Thompson has written a lyrical and potent field guide to reclaiming the wild soul. Her intimacy with Nature and her longing for the reader to experience such intimacy is the golden thread that weaves through every page. Imagine a world in which all women claimed the forests, mountains, oceans, and deserts within our own psyches. It would surely lead us all True North in our quest for personal and planetary wholeness. In Reclaiming the Wild Soul, the forests and mountains, the deserts and the oceans, the rivers and the grasslands find their voice. Once heard, we can never forget what they have to say. May we all follow the summons and embark on such a journey. Mary's field guide lights the way."--Clare Dakin, Founder, TreeSisters

"With ingenuity and subtlety, Mary Reynolds Thompson guides us in ways both old and new to enter Earth's archetypal wildscapes and allow them to infuse us and make us whole again, fully human. Woven with enchanting stories and wise counsel, Reclaiming the Wild Soul lavishly supports us, at this time of global crisis/opportunity, to return, emboldened, to Earth and to our own human wildness." -Bill Plotkin, author of Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche