These books changed my world-view.
Finding Your Way in the Woods: The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci, Barry Patterson
Straightforward notes on outdoor religious practice.
These days there seems to be quite a fashion for books on the subject of how 'primitive' or 'native' culture is superior to 'western' or 'civilised' culture due to its deeper connection with the natural world. 'Abram', 'Mander' and 'Zerzan' are names that come to mind, and doubtless many more will follow. Inevitably they look for some root cause for the cultural fall from grace, such as language, agriculture, or even the sexual division of labour, and worse still, this original sin is considered an almost immutable property of anyone raised in such a culture. In the case of John Zerzan there's the added hypocrisy of writing about the evils of language (in abstract, theoretical terms no less) instead of shutting up and teaching some Wordless Way by example.
Let me tell you one short simple truth:
Anything is possible.
It's possible for anyone to be capable of all kinds of modes of being, if they're willing to make an effort. Martin Buber pointed out a basic division in kinds of relationship, which he calls 'I-You' and 'I-It' -- a division so deep it cuts to the heart of what it is to be human. It is possible, and even not particularly difficult, to have an 'I-You' relationship with the natural world. Finding Your Way in the Woods will give you some pointers if you don't know where to start.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake
A statement of Blake's philosophy, taking a stand against the religious orthodoxies of his day. Works very well as a kind of manifesto for the 'Left Hand' cause, as well as a source for all manner of pithy quotes.
The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Hakim Bey
A rather intoxicating book. He seems to have gone downhill since.
I and Thou, Martin Buber
When I first started reading this I was struck by the brilliance of his basic idea, of the division between two modes of being, which he calls 'I-You' and 'I-It' (which most brilliantly, express themselves as two kinds of relationship). But there are problems. Buber seems to fear and misunderstand altered states of consciousness, apparently believing that only the 'ordinary' state of consciousness is sufficiently uncluttered to allow the perception of the world as it is. Accordingly, he castigates romanticism and even erotic ecstasy as being essentially escapist. Nothing could be further from the truth.
For it is a fact that the 'You' of the natural world can take the mind to some very strange places indeed. For instance:
"What I encounter is neither the soul of a tree nor a dryad, but the tree itself."
Of course, a dryad is a tree: the world of the tree has broken through the conception of 'tree' formed in the 'I-It' world and appears as something truly encounterable, which the somewhat bewildered mind casts anthropomorphically.
And is it not the 'You' of the lover that takes one to the ecstasy of all one's heart? For there are no clear boundaries between 'somatic' ecstasy, 'erotic' ecstasy and 'spiritual' ecstasy: the body reacts to the mind, the mind reacts to the body.
A while ago I came up with a list of titles that I thought ought to have books written for. Since then, I've discovered published books that come close.
"The Care and Feeding of Deities"
"Principles of Mystical Immanentism"
This web-site? Maybe one day...
"Compendium of Western Pagan Holiday Traditions, Complete and Unabridged" 6 vols, includes 2 CDs, more credible (please) than The Golden Bough
For Britain, at least, there's The Stations of the Sun, by Ron Hutton.
"UFOs: The Faery Faith in the Modern Age"
Passport to Magonia, by Jaques Vallee
"Irresistible Music: The Principles of Ritual Mass Trance Induction"
Music and Trance, by Gilbert Rouget
"When God was Everything: Preagricultural Notions of Deity"
"The Phenomenology of Mystical Visions"
The Phenomenology of Revelation, by Paul Laffoley
"Psychedelic Ecstasy"
If you know of any more, please e-mail me.
Ashley
ashley@immanence.org
Immanence -> Books