Green Psychology
Transforming Our Relationship to the Earth
 

Ralph Metzner, PhD 
Foreword by Theodore Roszak and Epilogue by John Seed
Published by Park Street Press, 1999

 

Available from Inner Traditions

German Translation available here

 

 

In Green Psychology Ralph Metzner explores the history of this planetary pathology and examines the ways that we can heal the rift and restore a healing partnership with nature. His search for role models takes him from shamanic ceremonies with the Lacandon Maya of Mexico to fasting vision quests in the California desert; from the astonishing nature mysticism of the 11th century abbess Hildegard von Bingen to the black goddesses and green or horned gods of our pagan ancestors. He examines the historical roots of the split between humans and nature, showing how first sky-god worshiping cultures, then monotheisms, and finally mechanistic science continued to separate the human psyche from the life-sustaining Earth. His final chapters explore solutions – showing that disciplines such as deep ecology, ecofeminism, ecopsychology and bioregionalism converge in creating a systems worldview in which the mind of humanity the health of the planet are harmoniously intertwined. Green Psychology is inspiring reading for all those concerned with the future of the planet and living in right relationship to it.