A More Wakeful World: Animist Book Club Call for Submissions

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #038c4a;”]T[/dropcap]his May, the “ABC” in Animist Blog Carnival will also stand for the Animist Book Club!

Here on Holy Wild, I’ll be hosting this monthly gathering of bloggers and writers exploring the evolving role of animism in modern Pagan and earth-centered spiritual traditions. Most months, the ABC host chooses a theme for all participating writers to explore (past themes have included Becoming an Animist, Bioregionalism, Trees, Animist Ethics, and Dreams). This time, I wanted to try something a little different. And so, the ABC theme for May is:

A More Wakeful World: Reviews and Responses
to the Writing of Emma Restall Orr

Emma Restall Orr is one of the most prominent and well-respected Druids today. For more than two decades, she has been sharing her vision of creative, embodied living in relationship with the natural world in her books and other writing, as well as through her advocacy work in the UK. Her recent book, The Wakeful World: Animism, Mind and the Self in Nature, is one of the few resources out there that explores a thoroughly modern approach to animistic spirituality grounded in both a solid grasp of western philosophy and the poetic insight that has come to characterize her work.

One of the biggest obstacles for people who want to learn more about modern animism is that there are so very few resources available. My hope is that highlighting writers like Emma Restall Orr can bring greater visibility to the resources we have, and spark some great conversations about how animism has influenced so many of the Pagan traditions that are thriving today.

How Do I Participate in the ABC?

You don’t have to identify as an animist to join in the ABC! Anyone can participate by writing on the chosen theme and exploring how animistic practices and beliefs have influenced their own spiritual lives and communities. To contribute to the Animist Blog Carnival-slash-Book Club, there are just a few simple steps to follow:

1. During the month of April, write about the upcoming theme on your own blog or website. Your contribution might be an essay, article or book review, or it could be a creative piece like a poem, short story or memoir. For this month’s theme, I especially encourage you to read and write a response or review of The Wakeful World — but reflections on any of Orr’s other work are also welcome! (You can find a list of her published writing on her website). You can also contribute old or previously published posts.

2. Make sure to include in your post a link back to this blog (https://alisonleighlilly.com/blog/), as well as a link to the Animist Blog Carnival HQ at http://lifthrasirsuccess.wordpress.com/animist-blog-carnival/ (where you can also find more detailed writer’s guidelines and links to all of the past ABC themes).

3. Send me a link to your blog post or essay via my contact page or by emailing me at: ali [at] alisonleighlilly.com. Make sure you send me your submissions by Sunday, April 27, 2014.

4. Sit back and enjoy! I’ll be sharing the links from all contributors and participants in a big ABC Animist Book Club round-up on Thursday, May 1st!

This is the first time the ABC has experimented with using a “book club” approach to the monthly theme. If all goes well and we get lots of folks involved, I hope we’ll be able to feature more awesome animistic writers on a regular basis! Thanks for joining, and I look forward to reading your thoughts and reflections!