Earth Angels Engaging the Sacred in Everyday Things

by MCNIFF, SHAUN

• ISBN13: 9781570626401
• ISBN10: 1570626405
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

By the time you finish this book, the term "inanimate object" will no longer have a place in your vocabulary, for Shaun McNiff will awaken you to the wondrous energies streaming out of familiar things and bringing a sense of magic into everyday life. Join the author as he discovers the autonomous spirits of a silver Mercedes convertible, a mysterious cigarette burn on the dining room table, and the scary shadow of a tree outside a child's room. Contemplate with him the bleakness of a hotel conference room and the crucifix that hung over his childhood bed. Let him lead you on a field trip to the "unholy lands" of the shopping mall and faculty meeting, to the familiar spirits of his seaside New England homes, to the realm of dream, reverie, and memory, as he demonstrates how to connect with the life-giving energies of images and things, places and people. These are the earth angels-spirits of everyday life that call for the return of our lost soul to the world. Unlike the images of winged beings that now pervade popular culture, the earth angels also include the soul's unattractive messengers, whose mission may require offense, pain, or fear as a preparation for change and renewal. Does a Styrofoam cup have soul? McNiff says yes, for the most debased things show us that the presence of the divine depends upon the quality of attention that we bring to our experiences.

Author Biography

Shaun McNiff, Ph.D., is Dean of Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Through the Eyes of Angels
A new way of looking	p. 3
A silver Mercedes convertible	p. 15
"Not I, not I"	p. 27
Seeing connections	p. 32
Things to do	p. 38
Intimate Rites
Early memories of ensouled things	p. 45
Domestic spirits	p. 51
Shrine-making	p. 58
Things to do	p. 87
The Creative Spirit
Angels fly out from everything	p. 95
"Every instant in a new cloak"	p. 110
Presence	p. 116
Creating with the world	p. 134
Things to do	p. 151
Topsy-Turvy
Inverted perspectives	p. 163
The church and the museum	p. 169
Love thy demons as thyself	p. 175
Angels of the wound	p. 184
Things to do	p. 195
Exaltation Before Things
Images of the beloved	p. 203
Soulful materialism	p. 215
The enticements of water	p. 228
Dreams	p. 235
The image is the fulfillment of the soul's desire	p. 253
Things to do	p. 261
Notes	p. 267
Index	p. 279
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