Sacred Planet
Issue 255 • July/August 2009
Buy a copy of this issue
Become a member and receive 6 issues a year
Contents
Key
Free for all to view
Free for members to view
Not available
Welcome
Pilgrims or Tourists? • Satish Kumar
The sacred Earth is a gracious host, but are we prepared to be pilgrim guests rather than tourists?
Frontline
350.org • Bill McKibben
Why 350 is the most important number in the world.
Language Nests • Nick Hunt
Indigenous languages are a vital storehouse of knowledge.
The Plight of the Bumblebee • Ruth Rosselson
Life as we know it could be wiped out if one species of insect vanishes from our countryside.
Keynotes
Living Within Our Means • Jonathon Porritt
The solution to the ultimate recession lies in sustainable capitalism.
The Mother of Beauty • John Daniel
We grow from the compost of those who have died.
Quotes
As Death Approaches • Susan Deborah King
I can't believe I'm laughing.
Biocultural Diversity
Potent Places • Liz Hosken
Sacred sites are like a network of acupunture points across the Earth.
Guardians of the Ocean • Sam Bleakley
A passion for riding waves is the perfect way to nurture an ecological conscience.
Creation Story • Colin Campbell
Human beings can return to the place where the spirit keepers live.
Laws of Origin • Silvia Gomez & Nelson Ortiz
An interview with Macuna Indians from the Colombian Amazon.
The Kiss of Death • Christopher McLeod
Cultivating respect for local traditions amongst tourists to North American sacred sites.
The Eye of Reverence • Josep-Maria Mallarach
The sacred landscapes and seascapes of ancient Europe can still be seen by those prepared to look beyond the usual tourist experience.
Undercurrents
Farm Freedom • Peter Melchett
Genetically modified plants and animals have fallen far short of scientists' predictions.
Zero Waste • Robin Murray
Our waste is the shadow side of our economy, not the mark of a civilised society.
Resilience • Brian Goodwin
The bottom-up participatory process that is the Transition Movement.
The Green Response • Nick Robins & Tony Juniper
A green perspective on the current state of our economy.
The Arts
Music and Place • Mark Kidel
Has the dislocation of 'world music' from its context led to multicultural mediocrity?
Angels, Birds and Journeys • Andy Christian
John Maltby's original and imaginative forms and symbols.
Regulars
Poetry - New Voices • Peter Abbs
An Anthology of new poetry.
A Sense of Place - Journey into Silence • Gail Simmons
Finding solace in the Sinai desert.
Slow Travel - Sahara's Eternal Mirror • Stephanie Strong
Real travel is about being present, feeling alive and relishing every moment.
Short Story - The Lake Fisherman • Caspar Walsh
A stunning lakescape covered in ever-shifting light, wind and rain which lured me back time after time.
Nature Writers - Hymn to Biodiversity • Richard Mabey
The hypnotic rhythms and luminous incantations of the 18th-century poet Christopher Smart.
Pioneers - Awakening the World • Leo Hickman
Tackling climate change takes more than just purchasing an electric car.
The Occasional Didymus - Intensive Care • John Moat
Reflections on over population and heatlhcare.
Letters to the Editors - Architectural Aesthetics
Reviews
Armchair Travel • Philip Carr-Gomm
Review of Sacred Places: Sites of Spiritual Pilgrimage.
The Phoenix Economy • John Elkington
Review of The Phoenix Economy: 50 Pioneers in the Business of Social Innovation.
Greening the Economic Recovery • Miguel Mendonça
Review of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.
Adapt and Survive • Stephan Harding
Review of The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning.
A Celebration of Place • Adam Thorpe
Review of Connermara: The Last Pool of Darkness.
A Poetics of the Spirit • Peter Abbs
Review of Hiddenness, Uncertainty, Surprise: Three Generative Energies of Poetry.
Web Exclusives
Review - Elephant Ecosystems • John Seed
Review of Elephants once ranged throughout most of Asia, but now their habitat is reduced to isolated fragments.
Article - Living Legacies • Karl Hansen
In Ethiopia people are embracing local and ecological knowledge to protect and enhance the integrity of their land.
Article - Closer to the Sky • Lara Lutzenberger
Integrating human beings with their non-human parents.
Article - Cultural Crossroads • Chagat Almashev
Sacred sites are the acupunture points of the planet.
Review - Borderline Beings • Samuel Bendeck Sotillos
Review of Plant Lives: Borderline Beings in Indian Traditions.
Review - Declaration of Transition • David Kelf
Review of Sustainability by Design: A Subversive Strategy for Tranforming our Consumer Culture.
Review - A Message from Mars • Giovanna Dunmall
Review of Hope and the Magic Martian.
Review - Nature and Nonviolence • Thích Nhất Hạnh
Review of The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology.
Review - Numbers, Not Adjectives • Miguel Mendonça
Review of Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air.
Review - Soil Not Oil • Vandana Shiva
Review of Soil Not Oil: Climate Change, Peak Oil and Food Insecurity.
Review - The Deep Woods • Leo Mellor
Review of Zoro’s Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods.
Review - The Efficiency Trap • Dan Grace
Review of Slow-tech: Manifesto for an Over-wound World.
Review - The Language of Art • Victor de Waal
Review of Jill Paine: A Life Inspired by Nature, Art and Spirituality.
Review - To Be A Pilgrim • Leila Dregger
Review of Grace: Pilgrimage for a Future without War.
Review - Toppling the Oligarchs • Hugh Warwick
Review of How the Rich are Destroying the Earth.