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Reconnecting to the Magic and Spirit of Nature
author: Jesse Wolf Hardin I had never heard of Jesse Wolf Hardin before reading Gaia Eros. I can rightfully say that this man has made a huge impression on me, and helped to solidify some of my own thought processes. Jesse Wolf Hardin is a man of many talents, and a man of many faces - none of which are masks, and all of which are open for the world to see. He is an internationally known artist, musician and lecturer on Earth centered spirituality, Pagan and magical practices. Hardin currently resides in the Gila Mountains of New Mexico, on ancient ceremonial lands that now constitute the Sweet Medicine Sanctuary with his life partner, Loba. Together, they have re-wilded the canyon that they live in, and make it available as a teaching sanctuary for wilderness restoration and earth centered spirituality. The proceeds from Gaia Eros are being donated to the Earthen Spirituality Project - a non-profit organization which carries the mission of guaranteeing the ecological, archeological and spiritual integrity of the Sweet Medicine Sanctuary. Gaia Eros is a series of essays on Mother Earth (Gaia) and spirituality. Some of the essays are shorter than others, all have a point, and all are written with a deep sense of heart and soul. If you are not ready to face yourself, then set this book aside for another day. For you will find yourself in this book - those shadows that you would rather not encounter, the rough edges that you have built walls around. They are all here. I am going to wander through the essays, landing here and there to share a tidbit of Hardin's wisdom, and a laugh or two. My hope is that in this manner you will see what I see here - hope for the future, hope for the present, and an acknowledgment that Mother Earth is a living, breathing entity that deserves our best efforts and our humble thanks for offering us refuge. From the book: "Part bard, part mystic, and ever diligent walker between the worlds, it's not surprising to find Jesse's words ringing from these pages with visionary clarity - you are called! "Gaia Eros" calls us back to the Mother with honor, respect, integrity, mindfulness, and gratitude as essential guides for our reawakening." Patricia Telesco, author of "Enchanted Life" and co-author of "God/Goddess Gaia Eros does more than present planet/mother earth as a living, breathing eco-system, and it goes far beyond showing us ways in which we can reconnect with her. These are the words of an ecological activist, one who is committed to the re-wilding of Gaia (mother earth), and committed to teaching others the re-wilding way. From the book: "In an age of accelerating distraction and advancing destruction, each makes his or her heroic journey in the direction of presence and place, authenticity and response-ability, reconnection and rewilding, sensation and celebration, clarity and power, assignment and purpose, tribe and truth. Taking risks, pushing the envelope, doing all they can to help. They are the small but growing number who refuse to numb down or look away, empathics who feel both the suffering and joy of the world in every cell of their being - seekers experiencing the world through awakened primal instinct and their so called "sixth sense," through their caring hearts, through every inch of skin. And each draws insight and instruction from relationship with the living, inspirited Earth. They are they inheritors of, the practitioners of, and living vehicles for what for what we call New Nature Spirituality (NNS). You are asked to think in this book. You are given questions to ponder and carry with you as you read Hardin's words. Questions like:
I have never seen the subject of ecstatic communion done this well - whether it is communion with self, communion with nature or communion with another. Joy and bliss are pure thoughts - and listening to Hardin describe his claw footed bathtub, placed outdoors, overlooking a river, with a small cobalt bowl of creamy truffles on a nearby rock, and the delicious scent of the almond and orange body scrub around him is an ecstatic experience in and of itself. Hardin talks through story - his personal story, an evocative walk through one man's life and times. I was brought to tears when he described the "why" of his setting out pathways - it was because he and Loba noticed that where they walked the earth was disturbed. So he gathered rocks, and placed them along the path that they would be walking with humbleness and reverence. He noted that he placed them with the lichen side up, very carefully, so that the work of the lichen could continue. Hardin writes of the politics of ecology, and the hard core realities. He writes of sitting in a van with other protesters that had been arrested while they watched the forest that they were there to protect being cut down. He writes of selling the engine to the school bus that he was living in so that he could help make the down payment on the canyon that he and Loba now live in. He writes of the seven streams ( well, one winding stream that needs to be crossed seven times!) that need to be crossed to get onto his land. He writes of the decisions that needed to be made about what to do with the land, about how they were going to go about rewilding it, about making the decision to forgo planting their own garden, and learning to use the gifts of the land, and the decision to not have pets. Throughout the book are beautifully crafted line drawings, done by Hardin himself, melding man, animal and nature into one being. This book is a great offering to humanity. I recommend it for your personal library, and as a gift to those that you care about. In doing so, you will help keep the rewilding and preservation of the Sweet Medicine Sanctuary going.
Bonnie Cehovet
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