Touchstone review

Review from Touchstone, the journal of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Thanks, folks, the positive reinforcement is much appreciated!

THE WANTON GREEN ed Gordon McLellan and Susan Cross

ISBN 978-1-906958-29-9 

Gordon, a.k.a. ‘Gordon the Toad’ is widely respected as an educational ecologist and shamanic practitioner: and what’s in this book is from people similarly worth listening to. The approaches which this collection of contemporary pagan writings on place covers are; personal journeys and intimate connections; river, well and sea; exploring - mud on your boots; step back and consider; where are the wild places?; and urban wilderness.

There is something for every thinking Druid here, served from individual perspectives of those who walk their talk: its breadth is inspirational.                 

The ethos is sound: Pagans, far from feeling ‘ownership’ of the world, ‘recognise a symbiosis where we are simply a part of the whole and certainly not the most important part of it all’ and the book is, ultimately, about knowing and belonging, in the profoundest sense. The editors are active in working for change, but this is not a strident or uncomfortable read; the pieces are celebratory, intimate, praise songs to beloved landscapes, gentling us into a mindset to open to just being part of it all. Not just the pretty bits; all. ‘I spoke up on behalf of trees and hills, grubby backyards and windowboxes...’ A deeply enriching read. Recommended.Penny Billington