Books That Teach
Participants can use the following books in Earth Creativity School's 12-week classes. The actual set of books selected for a specific class depends on the unique design of that customized class. Most of the books contain exercises or activities for participants to complete during the 12 weeks.
The following is not a complete list, but it gives you a good taste for the kinds of books we use. I either know or have worked with almost all of the authors, and of course, I have read and recommend all of these books as well as the others used in Earth Cretivity School.
If you feel drawn to one of these books, or to a book that is not listed, be sure to ask me (kay@dayss.com) to work it into your custom 12-week program.
Some of the author websites are fascinating or offer workshops. Check out the websites of David Abram, Joanna Macy, Linda Naiman, and Gabriele Rico in particular.
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Earthwalks for Body and Spirit |
by James Endredy |
"Walking is an endless school of mysteries and magic; its instructors, the forces of Nature, the animals and trees. Through walking we can look at our lives and our place in the grand scheme with new eyes while in communion with everything surrounding us." –James Endredy
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The Teachings of Don Carlos |
by Victor Sanchez |
"The warrior is so called because he or she is always struggling against personal
weaknesses and limitations; against the forces that oppose the increase in knowledge
and power; against the forces that are driving us to our destiny aas ordinary men
and women, forces determined entirely by personal history and circumstances. the
warrior wants to rescue the possibility to choose how to be and how to live. It
is a struggle for harmony and tranquillity. It is a struggle for freedom, knowing
that this struggle begins inside, projecting itself from there toward everything
that makes up the world of actions. It is a quiet, gentle, joyful fight.
The attitude of a warrior is a notion, a direction, a persistence in choosing the
strongest and most authentic way in each action." –Victor Sanchez
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Reconnecting With Nature |
by Michael J. Cohen, EdD |
"Nature is a marvelous intelligence, a maverick genius, that speaks to us every moment of our lives through at least 53 natural senses. Each of our 53 natural senses is a distinct feeling experience. Nature beautifully sustains itself in balance by using these 53 natural senses. To habitually think in multisensory ways is to consistently be inspired by nature's beauty within us. Our problem is that we learn to restrict ourselves to only 5 of the natural senses we are born with." –Michael J. Cohen
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Story About Feeling |
by Bill Neidjie, Aborigine Elder |
"Story About Feeling is the name Bill gave to the talks we had together in October
and November of 1982. I recorded many hours of Bill's words on audio tape during
that time. This work is a transcript from those tapes. I haven't attempted to explain
or interpret Bill's story. As he says, "Someone can't tell you. Story e telling
you yourself."
Begin to care for nature, and nature cares for you, in unsuspected ways. That's
the message from Bill Neidjie, a down-to-earth wisdom inherited from the oldest
living culture in the world - 40,000 years of caring for country and feeling the
benefit of "that tree, star, wind..."
Bill Neidjie speaks Aboriginal English, a form of that language adapted by the Aboriginal
people of Australia in their oral tradition. To share in that tradition, read this
book aloud - it's the best way to recreate Bill's original thought, and the most
fun. Enjoy this book." –Keith Taylor
"Don't go round and put your head down.
Listen carefully, careful and this spirit e come in your feeling and you will feel
it... anyone that.
I feel it... my body same as you. I telling you this because the land for us never
change round.
Places for us, earth for us, star, moon, tree, animal, no matter what sort of a
animal, bird or snake...
all that animal same like us. Our friend that."
–Bill Neidjie
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The Art of Original Thinking |
by Jan Phillips |
"The compass is not the mind, but the heart, and the journey takes us away from
what was and toward what can be."
"The premise of this book is that we are here to advance the evolution of thought,
of human sensibility, of our own personal potential to be more tha anyone ever said
we could be. Its intention is to inspire thought leaders who are willing to be visible,
vocal agents of evolutionary thinking for global good. Its reach is both deep and
wide. It will guide you on a journey into your own thought patterns and processes,
helping you free yourself from obstacles to original thinking. And once you begin
to think from your genuine center, once you begin to experience your own pure, uncontaminated
thoughts, you will feel rising up from within you a calling, a challenge to be of
use, an idea that needs you in order to become real in the world. And it is this
idea, your own original thought, that will guide you, empower you, enable you to
take your place as a thought leader and catalyst for creative action." –Jan
Phillips
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To Be Healed by the Earth |
by Warren Grossman, PhD |
In 1987, Warren Grossman contracted a parasitic disease during a vacation to Brazil.
Doctors gave him a week to live. He went home to die, but he did not die. Instead,
he spent a year very sick but slowly recovering. How did he do it? He went outdoors
to lie on the ground each day, and gradually the energy he felt emanating from the
earth began to strengthen his body and mind. Since his recovery, he has been healing
and teaching people how to tap into the earth's energy in order to heal themselves.
"All people long to be more whole, whether physically, psychologically, or spiritually.
To heal is to become more whole. We suffer from being less than complete. Our incompleteness
is felt as pain, disease, dissatisfaction, anger, illness, and fear. We long for
completion.
It is the energy of nature that heals. We live in and are part of an environment
of natural energy that takes various forms, such as earth, air, water, and plants.
It is from these that healing can come. Those who believe taht the Earth is inert
and lifeless disdain their only possible source of healing."
–Warren Grossman
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A Passion for the Possible |
by Jean Houston, PhD |
"New birth requires new being. It means laying down new pathways in the senses." –Jean Houston
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Shamanic Journeying |
by Sandra Ingerman |
"I've never met a person who couldn't journey - but I've met many for whom it took
several tries before they could. Keep up the practice. Relax. Breathe into your
heart, open all your senses, set an intention, and in time you will be journeying."
–Sandra Ingerman
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Practical Shamanism |
by Shiela Baker |
"The heart of this book begins with Part Two, where you begin the exciting process of learning how to journey. We walk through each of the fourteen journeys that we take together, step by step. The steps are always the same and easy to learn, and when you have learned them, you will know how to journey. However, there is no right or wrong way to journey, just as there are no right or wrong journeys. The processing of journeying leads each of us to our own individual truth." –Shiela Baker
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Soulcraft |
by Bill Plotkin |
"Surrendering fully to being lost - and this is where the art comes in - you will discover that, in addition to not knowing how to get where you had wanted to go, you are no longer so sure of the ultimate rightness of that goal. By trusting your unknowing, your old standards of rightness dissolve, and you become eligible to be chosen by new, larger standards, those that come not from your mind or old story or other people, but from the depths of your soul. You become attentive to an utterly new guidance system." –Bill Plotkin
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Nature and the Human Soul |
by Bill Plotkin |
"As an Artisan in an egocentric world, you must persevere in fashioning and offering your innovations. You must remind yourself that there are people and places that need exactly what you were designed to create. Yes, in our society there aren't so many people that are receptive to soul-rooted gifts, but then there are also few people like you manifesting such gifts. It just might take longer for you to find each other. Don't give up." –Bill Plotkin
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The Grace of Great Things |
by Robert Grudin |
"Creativity is dangerous. We cannot open ourselves to new insight without endangering the security of our prior assumptions. We cannot propose new ideas without risking disapproval and rejection. Creative achievement is the boldest initiative of mind, an adventure that takes its hero simultaneously to the rim of knowledge and the limits of propriety. Its pleasure is not the comfort of the safe harbor, but the thrill of the reaching sail." –Robert Grudin
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Coming Back to Life |
by Joanna R. Macy & |
"This is a guidebook. It maps ways into the vitality and determination we each possess
to take part in the healing of our world. It describes a body of work that has grown
up over the last twenty years and helped hundreds of thousands of men and women
around the globe to find solidarity and courage to act, despite rapidly worsening
social and ecological conditions.
This work can be done alone, and has reached into countless private lives. It is
most effectively done in groups. Its methods, developed in and for workshops, yield
remarkable openings to the truth of our common condition when brought into classrooms,
churches, conferences, and organizational settings. Because it reconnects us with
each other and all beings, arousing our passion for life and our power to protect
it, we call it simply the Work that Reconnects." –Joanna Macy
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Calling the Circle |
by Christina Baldwin |
"Gathering in peer-led, spirit-centered circles helps us successfully face the challenges
of our times." –Christina Baldwin
"There is something magical about any intense, tightly knit group working together
and playing together, a feeling of being in the world while at the same time being
apart from it, apart together. We believe that even those of us who have not experienced
that magic hear its distant music, feel its ancient call. A transformative community
is a nearly indespensable launching pad for transformation. Such a community can
create the context and the confidence for a transforming journey." –George
Leonard and Michael Murphy, The Life We Are Given, as quoted in Calling the Circle.
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Turning to One Another |
by Margaret J. Wheatley |
"If we spent more time outside, letting life teach us, I know we would change our
relationship to the earth. We would remember what it feels like to be part of life,
rather than trying to play god with it."
–Margaret J. Wheatley
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Infinite Wealth |
by Barry Carter |
"The end of the company means that the new wealth-creation process will require
systems and organizations so different from those of a company that the new institution
can no longer be classified as a company by any reasonable definition.
There will be no management, no employees, no central stock ownership, no central
control or planning, no bureaucracy, no departments, no salaries, no wages, and
no traditional division of labor. The new organization for an Information Age can
best be described simply as a community.
The end of companies, controlled economies, and employment as the primary way we
work does not mean that there will be no more employees or companies. There will
likely be companies, but most people will not work in them. In fact, employees are
destined to become the new underclass in society." –Barry Carter
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Digital Aboriginal |
by Mikela Tarlow & Philip Tarlow |
"The reason it is valuable to equate the digital psyche with the aboriginal mind is that both rest on understanding a similar dynamic, chaotic space. Since they were there first, the aborigines forged a lot of great behavioral solutions for coping wiht indeterminacy. Discovering how they were able to cope with an intangible reality can save us all a lot of time. We don't have to reinvent the behavioral wheel." –Mikela Tarlow & Philip Tarlow
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Orchestrating Collaboration at Work |
by Arthur B. VanGundy & Linda Naiman |
"Businesses today want to break away from their limitations, aim higher, and be a creative force for the greater good of the world. We need the transformative experiences that the arts give us to thrive in a world of change. In ancient cultures, the mystery schools put students through initiations to overcome fear, learn something about their true nature, and gain self-actualization (self-mastery). The arts give us a taste of the mystery and help make sense of the world." –Arthur B. VanGundy & Linda Naiman
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Thinkertoys |
by Michael Michalko |
"Randomly pick up a magazine and read one article, no matter how remote its subject is to your challenge. Then contemplate the connections between the article and your challenge; try to generate some new ideas. Any such exercise is extremely valuable in helping you set up and cultivate habits that encourage random input." –Michael Michalko
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Cracking Creativity |
by Michael Michalko |
"Once we have an idea we think works, it becomes hard for us to consider alternative
ideas. We tend to develop narrow ideas about what will work or what can be done
and stick with it until proven wrong. Genius, on the other hand, operates more in
accordance wiht the laws of biological evolution ... in that it requires the unpredictable
generation of a rich diversity of alternatives and conjectures." –Michael
Michalko
"It is not enough to understand the strategies. To create original ideas and creative
solutions, you must use the techniques." –Michael Michalko
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Thinkpak |
by Michael Michalko |
"Thinkpak is a brainstorming tool. It is designed to break you out of your habitual way of thinking and produce a wide variety of fresh thoughts that will lead to new insights, original ideas, and creative solutions to problems. It will change the way you think." –Michael Michalko
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Creative Whack Pack (Cards) |
by Roger Von Oech |
"The Creative Whack Pack is a creativity tool. It will "whack" you out of
habitual thought patterns and allow you to look at what you're doing in a fresh
way.
The Creative Whack Pack is a "creativity workshop in a box." It consists
of 64 cards, each featuring a different strategy. Some highlight places to find
new information. Others provide techniques to generate new ideas. Some lend decision-making
advice. and many give you the "kick" you need to get your ideas into action.
The Creative Whack Pack is a "gift for your creative gift." Playing with
it will make you more creative." –Roger Von Oech
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Writing the Natural Way |
by Gabriele Lusser Rico |
"How to use this book: In the beginning, you will relearn the fresh, childlike attitude of wonder through clustering; later you will develop your inborn receptivity to pattern making through the trial web, regain the playfulness of language rhythms and recurrences, draw on your natural imaging powers, reclaim the ability to think metaphorically, reconcile opposites to build creative tension, and balance original vision with revision. The culminating chapter leads you into a sustained piece of natural writing, combining all the techniques presented throughout the book." –Gabriele Lusser Rico
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The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain |
by Betty Edwards |
"I found that students could draw better by looking not at the form they wanted
to draw but instead by looking at the sapce around the form."
"The magical mystery of drawing ability seems to be, in part at least, an ability
to make a shift in brain state to a different mode of seeing/perceiving."
"Many artists have spoken of seeing things differently while drawing and have often
mentioned that drawing puts them into a somewhat altered state of awareness. In
that different subjective state, artists speak of feeling transported, "at one with
the work," able to grasp relationships that they ordinarily cannot grasp. Awareness
of the passage of time fades away, and words recede from consciousness. Artists
say that they feel alert and aware yet are relaxed and free of anxiety, experiencing
a pleasurable, almost mystical activation of the mind."
"The key to learning to draw, therefore, is to set up conditions that cause
you to make a mental shift to a different mode of information processing - the slightly
altered state of consciousness - that enables you to see well. In this drawing mode
you will be able to draw your perceptions even though you may never have studied
drawing. Once the drawing mode is familiar to you, you will be able to consciously
control the mental shift."
–Betty Edwards
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New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook |
by Betty Edwards |
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Life, Paint and Passion |
by Michele Cassou & Stewart Cubley |
"You paint for process or you paint for product. This book is about painting for
process. It sounds very simple, but it is a radical thing, because usually we want
something out of what we do. we want a painting we can use, we can sell, we can
show, something that can prove our worth.
If you paint for product you have a certain result in mind. You have a direction,
a goal, a place you are trying to reach - you follow a map. If you paint for process
you can go anywhere. There is freedom. Possibilities are endless." –Michele
Cassou
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Modeling a Likeness in Clay |
by Daisy Grubbs |
"If you are interested in modeling portraits in clay, in capturing the likeness of a friend, relative, child, or for that matter anyone at all, this book is for you. It is for the beginner and the more experienced sculptor." –Daisy Grubbs
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Bashar: Blueprint for Change |
by Darryl Anka, Channel for Bashar |
"Bashar, you say we are transforming. How do we transform our economy? Or will we
have economic depression?
You will to some degree. But the idea is that there does not have to be a depression.
You are simply recognizing that your economic structure is shifting, is changing.
And yes, in your terms the old one may need to break down. But that breakdown does
not in any way mean it must be in a depletive manner. It can be replaced;
it can be regrown in a different way; it can be transformed.
But do you feel that there will be a major shifting in the economy?
Oh, yes.
Do you have anything to say to us about ways that we may accelerate ourselves through
that shift?"
Yes. Begin by basing your economics on each other, not on a symbol! You yourselves
are what back your services. That is all there is to it. Direct interaction between
individuals, with the removal of the limitations you call borders, will facilitate
an interactive global economy." –Bashar
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The Toltec Path of Recapitulation |
by Victor Sanchez |
"Recapitulation is the natural process of energetic restoration of our energetic body from the damages that come from the past. This natural act is done by our body. It consists of bodily remembering and reliving the meaningful events of our lives in order to perform a healing process to recover the state of energetic completeness and balance that we had when we were born." –Victor Sanchez
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The Power of Now |
by Eckhart Tolle |
"The mind cannot know the tree. It can only know facts about the tree. My
mind cannot know you, only labels, judgments, facts, and opinions about
you. Being alone knows directly.
There is a place for mind and mind knowledge. It is in the practical realm of day-to-day
living. However, when it takes over all aspects of your life, including your relationships
with other human beings and with nature, it becomes a monstrous parasite that, unchecked,
may well end up killing all life on the planet and finally itself by killing its
host." –Eckhart Tolle
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Courageous Dreaming |
by Alberto Villoldo, PhD |
"When you dream a new world, your co-creator is the Universe, the creative force that causes trees to grow from seedlings and galaxies to grow from stardust." –Alberto Villoldo
"The creative individual is a master of courage, the person in the crowd who proclaims that "the emporer has no clothes" when everyone else is afraid to speak up. She can do this because she's true to herself and her dream, and she has no fear. She may not be a dancer or a poet, but she lives her life as an artist, surrendering to the power of creativity, seeing beauty everywhere." –Alberto Villoldo
