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About this book
"A glittering gem of a book!"—Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus
Following dragonflies into the territory between nature and the human psyche
Two decades ago, naturalist and environmental writer Brooke Williams had a powerful dream about a dragonfly, a dream that cracked open his world by giving rise to a steady stream of dragonfly encounters in his waking life.
In the years since, he has delved deeply into the fascinating biology and natural history of dragonflies and made pilgrimages to see them (he now has 38 species on his life list) while also exploring their symbolic meaning and cross-cultural significance.
Encountering Dragonfly is his account—related in a series of odonate encounters—of being drawn into a different kind of relationship with the natural world. By opening himself to the personal and mytho-poetic meanings of dragonfly, and patiently courting an understanding of these creatures that is built upon, but also transcends, a naturalist's observation, Brooke has come to believe in the importance of 're-enchantment.'
Throughout much of human history, we lived in an enchanted world in which myth and magic, ritual, stories, and spirits informed every aspect of our lives, defining the relationships between psyche, Earth and cosmos. The enchantment ended with the Enlightenment and modernity, when reason and scientific discovery explained away the magic, commencing a commodification of nature that has only intensified ever since.
Brooke's personal re-enchantment has required of him a faith that material, biological reality isn't the only reality; it recognizes symbols and archetypes as remnants of a different understanding, which may—as perhaps they always have—play a role in our long-term survival.
In many cultures, the dragonfly carries messages between the inner and outer world. For Brooke Williams the message of the dragonfly is to ask questions about synchronicity, awe and the collective unconscious, and how to engage with a world increasingly out of balance. What are the implications of following a path toward greater enchantment? In a time where the stakes have never been higher, nor the political and biological imperatives of climate change and environmental degradation more urgent, can we afford to choose such a path? Perhaps more to the point, can we afford not to?
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Author’s Note
- Introduction: Meadowhawk, Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 1. Random Skimmer, Dream, Napping on Cortes Island, British Columbia
- 2. Bluet (Either Taiga, Northern, or Boreal), Cortes Island, British Columbia
- 3. Cherry-faced Meadowhawk, Castle Valley, Utah
- 4. Dead Darner Dream, Green Notebook, Castle Valley, Utah
- 5. Eight-Spotted Skimmers, Salt Lake City, Utah
- 6. Great Spreadwing, Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 7. Darner Swarm, Castle Valley, Utah
- 8. Eight-Spotted Skimmer, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
- 9. Unidentified Skimmer, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
- 10. Meadowhawk (Either Variegated or Autumn), Dragonfly Pond, Maine
- 11. American Rubyspot, Colorado River, Utah
- 12. Petroglyph, Possibly Brimstone Clubtails, Butler Wash, Utah
- 13. Autumn Meadowhawk, Maine
- 14. Meganeura Fossil, France
- 15. Ringed Darner or Galapagos Darner? Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
- 16. Arctic Darner, British Columbia
- 17. American Emerald, Yosemite, California
- 18. Shadow Darner, Surry, Maine
- 19. Female Powdered Dancer, Peach Beach, Colorado River, Utah
- 20. Canada Darner, Surry, Maine
- 21. Broad-Bodied Chaser, Rodmell, England
- 22. Pied Skimmer, Yi River/Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China
- 23. Damselfly, Peach Beach, Colorado River, Utah
- 24. Eight-Spotted Skimmer, Professor Valley, Utah
- 25. Powdered Dancers, Peach Beach, Colorado River, Utah
- 26. Variegated Meadowhawks, Big Bend National Park, Texas
- 27. Meadowhawks, Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 28. Boston Whaler, Castle Valley, Utah
- 29. Pictograph, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah
- 30. Zuni Dragonfly Necklace, Grand Canyon, Arizona
- 31. Story, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- 32. Praying Mantis, Castle Valley, Utah
- 33. Powdered Dancers, Colorado River, Utah
- 34. Blue-eyed Darner, Pond, Ridgway, Colorado
- 35. Dancers, Darners, Skimmers, Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 36. Darners (Giant, Great Mossy), Skimmers, Saddlebags, etc., Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 37. Flame Skimmer, Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 38. “Red dragonfly,” Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- 39. Flame Skimmer, continued, Town Pond, Castle Valley, Utah
- Appendix: Toward Becoming an Imaginal Ecologist
- Questions And Exercises For Exploring Enchantment
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover