The Way of the Earth: Encounters with Nature in Ancient and Contemporary Thought

McLuhan's bold, stimulating survey of how the world's cultures have struggled to make sense of their place in the universe should be as popular as her books on Native Americans ( Touch the Earth, etc.). She identifies underlying common themes in six disparate traditions: Greece, where Gaia, the Earth Mother, dominated pre-Hellenic myths; Japan, whose ancient ethos emphasized an emotional conjunction with nature and ecological awareness; aboriginal Australia, where ``The Dreaming''--an otherworld peopled with mythic spirit-beings--gives meaning to life; Africa, where many inhabitants recognize a spiritual force-field linking humans, nature, gods, ancestors; the Kogi tribe of Colombia, who believe they are guardians of life on Earth; and Native North Americans, who ``enter sacredness'' via rituals and holy sites. This exuberantly multicultural synthesis detects spiritual consonances among Greek novelist Nikos Kazantzakis, West African global theorist Amadou Hampate Ba of Mali, Aboriginal writer Loraine Mafi Williams and Kiowan novelist-painter N. Scott Momaday. Illustrations. (July)