Blessings of the Animals: Celebrating Our Kinship With All Creation
(Lantern Books, November, 2012)
Come into the Cathedral of the Earth, to worship and to wonder.
Explore how modern transit systems use the "swarm intelligence"
of social insects to improve their routing and efficiency.
Ponder how the Dog Star became associated with canine "spirit guides"
in diverse times and cultures, from the Chinese to the Cherokee.
Learn how meditation practice helps a Buddhist beekeeper fend off
a virus that threatens honeybees worldwide.
And find out 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, and from the earthworm to the elephant, 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
As a veterinarian and minister I know a lot about animals and their relationships, however, the amount of information included in each chapter amazes me and broadens my understanding of the wonder, beauty and behavior of our kin. The reader will find hope, healing and heart in this book, as did I."
Reverend LoraKim Joyner, D.V.M., Director of Lafeber Conservation
Explore how modern transit systems use the "swarm intelligence"
of social insects to improve their routing and efficiency.
Ponder how the Dog Star became associated with canine "spirit guides"
in diverse times and cultures, from the Chinese to the Cherokee.
Learn how meditation practice helps a Buddhist beekeeper fend off
a virus that threatens honeybees worldwide.
And find out 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, and from the earthworm to the elephant, 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
As a veterinarian and minister I know a lot about animals and their relationships, however, the amount of information included in each chapter amazes me and broadens my understanding of the wonder, beauty and behavior of our kin. The reader will find hope, healing and heart in this book, as did I."
Reverend LoraKim Joyner, D.V.M., Director of Lafeber Conservation
