Month: January 2014

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The Compassionate Hunter’s Guidebook

hunterSo, I recently preordered this book; while I am not a hunter myself (not yet, anyway), I still really want to read it, since a lot of the hides and bones I work with in my art and spirituality are from hunted animals, and because I’m very interested in showing people there’s a lot of room between NEVER KILL ANIMALS EVER and KILL ALL THE ANIMALS ALWAYS. Here’s the back cover blurb to entice you further:

The act of harvesting wild meat directly from the land demands that one enter a world of awareness, wildness, life and death that as a culture we have lost our connection to.

The Compassionate Hunter’s Guidebook is a guide for those that come to the act of hunting with pure intentions, motivated by a desire for healthy food that comes directly and humanely from the earth where they live. This practical guide suggests that hunting is not a ‘sport’ and the animals whose lives are taken are not ‘game’. It combines a deep, honest exploration of the ethics of killing with detailed practical instructions geared toward the beginning hunter, including:

  • Understanding your prey;
  • Tools, techniques and preparation;
  • The act of the hunt;
  • From forest to table – processing, preserving and preparing your kill.

A unique and comprehensive, fully-illustrated guide to the complexity, ethics, and spirit of the hunt, The Compassionate Hunter is a must-read for beginning and experienced hunters alike. It will appeal to anyone who wishes to delve more deeply into the complex, humbling and ultimately profound reality of our relationship with the food that nourishes us.

If you want to preorder your own copy from the author, here’s the relevant page. It’s also on Amazon and Powell’s for preorder, but I strongly recommend supporting authors as much as possible, and ordering from his site will get him the biggest percentage of the cover price.

There will, of course, be a review in the future once it’s out and I have my copy in my hot little hands.

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Some Recent Writings of Mine From No Unsacred Place

If you aren’t a reader of No Unsacred Place, for which I am both writer and admin, you may have missed my most recent writings there. Here’s a summary with relevant links:

I Carry the Ocean In My Blood – Water reminds me of my evolutionary history; here’s where I trace that ancestry.

The Art of Taking as an Offering– We often think of offerings as something you give–but how do you take an offering away?

A Call to Hope – Why guilt isn’t good for us, especially in our relationships with the rest of nature.

Return of the Green Shopping List: Stuff You Don’t Need Edition – Here are a few things you can cut out of your shopping list (and save both the earth and some money!)

Being a Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves – I continue to explore my path as a naturalistic pagan , and why connection is at the heart of my spirituality.

Forest Fire Dreams and Nightmare Tornadoes – I don’t talk about my dreams much, but these two motifs of my bad dreams were worth mentioning.

Saving Our Water – This is a discussion of some simple ways to cut down on household water use.

A Call for Urban Greening – We shouldn’t abandon our cities. We should green them!

United Watersheds of America? – A brief piece on a potential redrawing of U.S. state lines based on watersheds.

Inspired by David Douglas – My most recent piece, part musing and part book review, discusses the kinship I feel with this early naturalist and his enthusiasm for the world around him.