Earth Spirit Dreaming: Shamanic Ecotherapy Practices - Elizabeth E. Meacham 2020
How to Use This Book: Growing the Gifts of Ecological Consciousness
Introduction
Earth Spirit Dreaming is both a manual and a memoir; it is a guide through the many practices that opened me to ecological consciousness and a personal story of discovering pathways to re-indigenizing my own mind. The journey for Western people to find our way back to the Earth is not done once, but over and over again, beginning fresh each day. As we grow communities and cultural rituals that support ecological consciousness, and as I live into these practices and groups of people for longer periods of time, maintaining an ecologically embedded experience of life gets easier and lasts longer. As it is, daily commitment and practice is required to foster the emergence of Earth sensitivities and consciousness.
My hope for anyone reading this book is that you will find steps to re-indigenize your own mind, and to cultivate community with others to do the same. Because feeling separate, when we really are not, is a central fallacy of Western ideology, coming back to the Earth is always more easily and powerfully done together. Whatever inner calling led you to this book — personal growth, a longing for Earth-based spiritual practice alone or with others, developing shamanic sensitivities, teaching, facilitating, leadership and/or just wanting ways to love Earth more intimately — my intention is that, through the variety of exercises and diversity of combinations, most people who discover this book will find some way to integrate Earth Spirit Dreaming into their life and work.
There are many practices in the book for each step of the Earth Spirit Dreaming method. The goal of the book is to guide readers to piece the practices together to reach states that support communion with nature, immersions with vibrational reality and direct contact with helping spirits and the planetary light guides. The practices in this book can be utilized by anyone interested in developing an experiential, spiritual approach to an Earth-connected life. The book is designed to be accessible and relevant for individuals developing or enhancing a personal spiritual practice, as well as for groups, facilitators, clergy, religious educators, healing practitioners, teachers and professors. The practices and method are adaptable to a variety of settings, and can be used in many different situations, modes and locations. The book can also be used as a manual to lead practitioners and facilitated groups, chapter by chapter, through progressive learning experiences and spiritual growth.
The book is set up to offer a dynamic course of study that moves through the development of increased ecological consciousness from chapter to chapter. The exercises in the book can be used intermittently, integrated into already established spiritual praxis, or be used in order as a stand-alone path for integrated spiritual development. While the practices can be enjoyed separately, eventually, to reach Earth Spirit Dreaming states, they need to be done regularly and consistently, and in a particular order. For example, consistent spiritual experience requires consistent and increasing commitment to contemplative practices over time. Also, while we choose the next step, we are always evolving in relation to the world and the cosmos, so we must make our commitment to practicing with care and commitment while releasing the results to the Divine. We can bring ourselves to the doorway of experience, but it is through shared agreement and relationship that the doorways open for us to pass through to new levels of experience.