Printed book: $25.00

David Tacey

Edge of the Sacred

Jung, Psyche, Earth

224 pages, ISBN 978-3-85630-729-5, Daimon

Does earth have spirit or soul? This is a question being asked ever more frequently, especially by those interested in the future of the natural world and the development of consciousness. The alchemists said ‘the greater part of the soul is outside the body’, and indigenous cultures have felt that soul or spirit resides in Nature and the physical environment. Such notions have been dismissed by modernity as illusions, but we are beginning to have second thoughts about the animation of the earth. Science and rationality have not taught us how to love or care for the earth, and in the modern era the environment has been disrespected.

The mythic bonds to Nature such as those found in Aboriginal Australian cultures appear to have real survival value because they bind us to the earth in a meaningful way. When these bonds are destroyed by excessive rationality or a collapse of cultural mythology, we are left alone, outside the community of Nature and in an alienated state. In this state we do real damage to the environment, because it is no longer part of our spiritual body or moral responsibility.

Jung was one of the first thinkers of our time to consider the psychic influence of the earth and the conditioning of the mind by place. Inspired by his writings and those of James Hillman, the field of ecopsychology has arisen as a powerful new area of inquiry. Edge of the Sacred: Jung, Psyche, Earth contributes to global ecopsychology from an Australian perspective.

Contents

Preface
Introduction: The Sacred From Below - The Earthly Spirit of Our Time

Psyche and Earth
    Mind and Earth: Psychic Influence Beneath the Surface
    The Primitive Within: Colonization in Reverse

Going Native in Africa and Australia
    Going Native in Islamic North Africa: Danger and Opportunity
    Towards the Dreaming Place: A Memoir

The Psyche Down Below
    Descent into the Unconscious
    The Need for Sacrifice
    On Not Crossing the Gap

Spiritual Renewal
    Relaxing Barriers, Admitting the Other
    Entering the Dream of Nature
    Holy Ground and Creation Spirituality
    Conclusion: Tracking the Sacred

Bibliography
Index