An adventure story where two worlds collide when Uncle Ruff believes his nephew needs experience in the outdoor world and devises a plan to educate nineteen-year-old Mike Anderson. But plans go array and the two become separated. When a she-bear and a family of forest squatters enter the picture lives arer placed in jeopardy and Mike is left to his own designs. Can he match the skills of the forces against him?

Addressing the pervasive longing for meaning and fulfillment in this time of crisis, Nature and the Human Soul introduces a visionary ecopsychology of human development that reveals how fully and creatively we can mature when soul and wild nature guide us. Depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin presents a model for a human life span rooted in the cycles and qualities of the natural world, a blueprint for individual development that ultimately yields a strategy for cultural transformation. If it is true, as Plotkin and others observe, that we live in a culture dominated by adolescent habits and desires, then the enduring societal changes we so desperately need won’t happen until we individually and collectively evolve into an engaged, authentic adulthood. With evocative language and personal stories, including those of elders Thomas Berry and Joanna Macy, this book defines eight stages of human life — Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master, and Sage — and describes the challenges and benefits of each. Plotkin offers a way of progressing from our current egocentric, aggressively competitive, consumer society to an ecocentric, soul-based one that is sustainable, cooperative, and compassionate. At once a primer on human development and a manifesto for change, Nature and the Human Soul fashions a template for a more mature, fulfilling, and purposeful life — and a better world.

A unique look at Christian biblical interpretation and theology from the perspective of Native American tradition. This book focuses on four specific experiences of Jesus as portrayed in the synoptic gospels. It examines each story as a “vision quest,” a universal spiritual phenomenon, but one of particular importance within North American indigenous communities. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness is the first quest. It speaks to a foundational Native American value: the need to enter into the “we” rather than the “I.” The Transfiguration is the second quest, describing the Native theology of transcendent spirituality that impacts reality and shapes mission. Gethsemane is the third quest. It embodies the Native tradition of the holy men or women, who find their freedom through discipline and concerns for justice, compassion, and human dignity. Golgotha is the final quest. It represents the Native sacrament of sacrifice (e.g., the Sun Dance). The chapter on Golgotha is a discussion of kinship, balance, and harmony: all primary to Native tradition and integral to Christian thought.

A personalized spiritual program for growth and healing, drawn from Native American practices and other cultural traditions from around the world For centuries, ancient cultures embarked on rites of passage to gain entrance to the spiritual realms and attain self-knowledge. Now international lecturer and healer Denise Linn and Meadow Linn draw on their Native American roots, as well as the teachings of other cultures, to create a carefully crafted spiritual program for anyone wishing to venture on a retreat or create a uniquely personal Quest of his or her own. This practical, engaging book will show you how to: • Discover your life’s purpose • Find mystery at the core of your life • Release limiting beliefs about yourself • Call for a vision • Harness the power of the Sacred Circle • Confront and free yourself from fears • Heal emotional wounds • Develop peace of mind This book gives you the necessary tools to prepare for a Vision Quest that will take you to the center of your soul.

Providence is Quinn's fascinating memoir of his life-long spiritual voyage. His journey takes him from a childhood dream in Omaha setting him on a search for fulfillment, to his time as a postulant in the Trappist order under the guidance of eminent theologian Thomas Merton. Later, his quest took him through the deep self-discovery of psychoanalysis, through a failed marriage during the turbulent and exciting 60s, to finding fulfillment with his wife Rennie and a career as a writer. In Providence Quinn also details his rejection of organized religion and his personal rediscovery of what he says is humankind's first and only universal religion, the theology that forms the basis for Ishmael. Providence is an insightful book that address issues of education, psychology, religion, science, marriage, and self-understanding, and will give insight to anyone who has ever struggled to forge and enact a personal spirituality.

“VISION QUEST” is a book recording the continual soul expansion of the seeker, Peter James Ford. Peter’s journey began after a powerful spiritual experience in the little historic seaport in Newburyport, Massachusetts. In Peter’s late night meditations which were along the Merrimac River, the boardwalk, the Salisbury Reservation on the Atlantic Ocean, Plum Island, Maudsley Estate State Park, Pow Wow Hill (Native American Burial Grounds) and Old Hill Burial Grounds he was having vivid explosions in his mind of ‘seemingly’ past life experiences and powerful insights. Peter began seeing the hidden secrets of this quaint little seaport that people never take the time to see. Peter’s intuition and senses increased in an almost scary powerful way giving Peter wisdom from unseen sources. The source may be the Akashic Records/Library that is not a physical library but a place in the ethers that contains all the wisdom and knowledge ever known to anyone over the eons. We can access this power through ancient spiritual practices and apparently Peter has done just that. Stories and Tales began flowing from Peter and he wrote his first book. In the last three years Peter has written eight more books and shares everything he has found from his journeys to the inner worlds. Peter wrote a seven-book series under the title “MYSTICISM IN NEWBURYPORT” with an eighth bonus/companion book called “MYSTIC”. Now you are holding his new writings in your hands. Peter laughingly calls himself “An Unlikely Messenger” as his younger years were nothing resembling anything spiritual. So, here is the story of just another seeker realizing his divinity and returning to his own heart...

In the tradition of memoirs like Daniel Pinchbeck's 2012 and Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries, Adam Elenbaas's Fishers of Men chronicles his journey from intense self-destruction and crippling depression to self-acceptance, inner awareness, and spiritual understanding, through participation in mindexpanding-and healing ayahuasca ceremonies in South America and beyond. From his troubled and rebellious youth as a Methodist minister's son in Minnesota, to his sex and substance abuse-fueled downward spiral in Chicago and New York, culminating in a depressive breakdown, Elenbaas is plagued by a feeling of emptiness and a desperate search for meaning for most of his young life. After hitting rock bottom at his grandfather's house in rural Michigan, a chance experience with psychedelic mushrooms convinces him that he must change his ways to achieve the sense of peace that he has always desired. Several subsequent psychedelic experiences inspire him to embark on a quest to South America and take part in a shamanic ceremony, where he consumes ayahuasca, a jungle vine revered for its spiritual properties. Over the course of nearly forty ayahuasca ceremonies during four years, Elenbaas discovers the truth about his own life and past, and begins to mend himself from the inside out. Fishers of Men is the gripping, heartbreaking, and yet ultimately uplifting story of the power to transcend one's past.

In the not too distant future, the earth had evolved into a brave new world filled with equality, unity and hope for a better mankind. Humans, thanks to the genetic splicers, had just begun to remember the limitless powers of the human mind. But new technologies were also combined with human DNA and they have become sentient. Biologically based robots called Biodroids have discovered emotions, and declared an end to the age of man. They began to rise up, threatening the brave new world that had been so carefully constructed. Our story begins when this great change touches the life of Lazer, a teenage boy living through this great shift. Finding it hard enough to get through puberty, discover first love and stay out of trouble, his world was altered by a series of tragedies that shocked him into adulthood. He and his best friends Cashton and Kyla are jolted into a new reality and life as they knew it on Atlantia was about to be forever changed. There is one truth Lazer has yet to figure out, destiny has called and he must learn he is the hero this changing world needs. His best friends Cashton and Kyla (a secret love denied by circumstance), stand with Lazer at the beginning of a revolution to save humanity. They become unwilling witnesses to a great evolution and together they will learn the price that must be paid. The Atlantian VQ is a classic adventure that confronts the loss of innocence and the tender heartbeats of first love, a future held in hostage while the whole of human existence hangs in the balance. Come with me into the world of the new Vision Quest's THE ATLANTIAN VQ because... this is only the beginning.

Blending numerous heritages, wisdoms, and teachings, this powerfully wrought book encourages people to take charge of their lives, heal themselves, and grow. Movingly rendered, The Book of the Vision Quest is for all who long for renewal and personal transformation. In this revised edition—with two new chapters and added tales from vision questers—Steven Foster recounts his experiences guiding contemporary seekers. He recreates an ancient rite of passage—that of “dying,” “passing through,” and “being reborn”—known as a vision quest. A sacred ceremony that culminates in a three-day, three-night fast, alone, in a place of natural power, the vision quest is a mystical, practical, and intensely personal journey of self-knowledge.