cover image Letters from a Wild State: Bell Tower Rediscovering Our True Relationship to Nature

Letters from a Wild State: Bell Tower Rediscovering Our True Relationship to Nature

James Cowan. Harmony, $18 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-517-58770-6

Living among the aboriginal people of Australia, Cowan ( Mysteries of the Dreaming ) discovered a world that celebrates nature rather than destroys it. In a series of poetically written--if, on occasion, somewhat ponderous--essays presented in letter form (``Dear Friend''), readers are directed to discover their totem (spirit animal), explore the spiritual side of caves and waterfalls, and go on a Dream Journey (``walkabout''). We're shown that a funeral can celebrate the cyclicality of nature as well as mourn death. Cowan applies the knowledge he learned from the aborigines to everyday urban life, making a case for a simpler, more natural existence. True peace of mind, he suggests, cannot be found until we care for and heal our planet and accept ourselves as one with nature instead of its master. ( Apr . )