Blessings of the Animals: Celebrating Our Kinship With All Creation
(forthcoming from Lantern Books, Fall 2012)
What happens when a Piper Aztec dive bombs an airfield
with five dozen eggs travelling at 150 miles per hour?
How are modern transit systems using the "swarm intelligence"
of social insects to improve the routing and efficiency of airlines?
How did the Dog Star become associated with canine "spirit guides"
in diverse times and cultures, from the Chinese to the Cherokee?
How does meditation practice help a Buddhist beekeeper?
And what happens when a Vermont artist meets the Antandroy,
a pre-literate tribe of Madagascar,
to request help burying her portraits of deceased lemurs?
This book is a celebration of the wonderful oddities of the animal kingdom, from Worm Charmers to Dog Chapels, the chapters mostly growing out of Interspecies Blessing ceremonies I've conducted over the years and dedicated to my own dog Smokey: part Shepherd, part Kangaroo and part Snapping Turtle.
Reverend Gary Kowalski
"Blessing of the Animals is a heart-touching and humorous blend of stories that reveal the beauty and grace of nonhuman animals, and their power to heal and inspire us. Reverend Kowalski has given us a book full of delightful anecdotes and surprises that will help every reader understand animals—and themselves—with greater insight and sensitivity. Highly recommended!"
Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet
with five dozen eggs travelling at 150 miles per hour?
How are modern transit systems using the "swarm intelligence"
of social insects to improve the routing and efficiency of airlines?
How did the Dog Star become associated with canine "spirit guides"
in diverse times and cultures, from the Chinese to the Cherokee?
How does meditation practice help a Buddhist beekeeper?
And what happens when a Vermont artist meets the Antandroy,
a pre-literate tribe of Madagascar,
to request help burying her portraits of deceased lemurs?
This book is a celebration of the wonderful oddities of the animal kingdom, from Worm Charmers to Dog Chapels, the chapters mostly growing out of Interspecies Blessing ceremonies I've conducted over the years and dedicated to my own dog Smokey: part Shepherd, part Kangaroo and part Snapping Turtle.
Reverend Gary Kowalski
"Blessing of the Animals is a heart-touching and humorous blend of stories that reveal the beauty and grace of nonhuman animals, and their power to heal and inspire us. Reverend Kowalski has given us a book full of delightful anecdotes and surprises that will help every reader understand animals—and themselves—with greater insight and sensitivity. Highly recommended!"
Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet
