Marin writer, poet, and earth advocate Mary Reynolds Thompson's new book Reclaiming the Wild Soul: How Earth's Landscapes Restore Us to Wholeness (White Cloud Press, October 2014) will release with a book launch celebration at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Sunday, October 5 at 1 pm (51 Tamal Vista Blvd.)

In "Reclaiming the Wild Soul" I take readers on a journey through the deserts, forests, oceans and rivers, mountains, and grasslands as aspects of their own psyche and soul. As we awaken to these archetypes of the Earth within us, we open to a deeper, wilder, and more ancient wisdom––one that can guide our path and help us to reclaim our true nature.

Why did Henry David Thoreau Say that "In Wildness is the Preservation of the World." And why is he so often misquoted as saying "In Wilderness is...." Is wildness different from wilderness, and how? Is it possible that in de-wilding the world, we don't just lose forests and meadows, but some quality that resides within our own psyches and souls? This video explores why wildness is such an essential aspect of our own human journey, and how just like our great wilderness areas, it too needs to be protected.

Human consciousness emerged during the Cenozoic period--a time of an extraordinary uprising of life, beauty, and diversity. Our imaginations, creativity, and aliveness are dependent on the vibrancy of the Earth.

When we live with the understanding that all of life has consciousness, then we see nothing strange is talking to trees or listening to the wisdom of sunlight and grasses. This ability to open up to what the Earth has to teach to us lies at the heart of the shamanic experience.

We begin to live our wild soul story when we connect to the natural world in a way that shatters the illusion that we are separate from nature. As we begin to sense our oneness with the Earth, we discover our passion, place, and purpose.