ECOPSYCHOLOGY

Theodore Roszak:

“Most of the world's mystic and occult traditions have been worked up from the gnosis of primitive and pagan cultures. At bottom, these traditions are sophisticated, speculative adaptations of the old folk religions, which preserve in some form their antique wisdom and modes of experience. Behind the Cabbala and Hermeticism, we can still see the shadowy forms of ritual magic and fertility rites, symbols of a sacred continuum binding man to nature and prescribing value. In all these mystic traditions, to know the real is to know the good, the beautiful, and the sacred at the same time.”

Theodore Roszak, The Monster and the Titan: Science, Knowledge, and Gnosis, Daedalus, Vol. 103, No. 3, Science and Its Public: The Changing Relationship (Summer, 1974), pp. 17-32 .

---

Where Psyche Meets Gaia", in Roszak, Theodore, Mary E. Gomes, and Allen D. Kanner, ed. Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1995. [ONLINE HERE]

---

Spirituality in the Work of Theodore Roszak: Implications for Contemporary Ecopsychology, Tristan L. Snell, Janette G. Simmonds, and R. Scott Webster, [Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, Australia. Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.]

ABSTRACT

“Despite the recent flourishing of ecopsychology research, risks may be involved if ecopsychology remains a loosely defined paradigm. We suggest that drawing from some of the central themes of Theodore Roszak’s The Voice of the Earth (1992), a seminal text of ecopsychology, may help to elucidate the unique contribution of ecopsychology and its sustained relevance for environmentally focused psychologies. To provide a comprehensive review, we consider The Voice of the Earth by placing this text in the context of Roszak’s broader body of literature, discussing his earlier and more recent works. We particularly focus on the theme of spiritual experience throughout Roszak’s literature, as we believe that this is one of the more unique and important aspects of his work that has implications for the future development of ecopsychology as a paradigm and social movement. In conclusion, we suggest that Roszak’s emphasis on the value of a spiritual or animistic experience of nature, as a means of fostering empathy toward the natural world, may assist in providing meaningful focus to contemporary ecopsychology.”  [ONLINE HERE]