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Eco-Spirituality in the 21st Century, by Dana O’Driscoll and Nate Summers

Eco-Spirituality in the 21st Century: ReVisioning Nature, Community, and Connection for a Better Tomorrow, by Dana O’Driscoll and Nate Summers
REDFeather, 0764370162, 208 pages, October 2025

Ecological spirituality is not simply a revival of ancient, indigenous traditions—it is an essential response to a world at a turning point. As climate instability, ecological degradation, mass extinction, and disconnection from the natural world deepen, humanity is being called to remember that we are not separate from the Earth but woven into its living community. Rather than viewing Nature as something to control or consume–”natural resources” to be harvested for human purposes, eco-spiritual paths invite reverence, reciprocity, and stewardship. They encourage us to open our senses, hearts, and minds to reestablish our relationships with the rhythms of the seasons and the wisdom of the land and its diverse inhabitants. This perspective is not rooted in nostalgia; it is profoundly future-oriented, establishing the sensual, social, and spiritual foundation needed to cultivate resilience, regeneration, and collective care.

Dana O’Driscoll and Nate Summers explore this timely shift in Eco-Spirituality in the 21st Century, presenting a vision of spirituality that blends ancestral awareness with modern ecological responsibility and calls readers toward a more conscious, participatory relationship with the planet–especially with one’s local ecology. In recognizing the spiritual sovereignty and sacredness of rivers, forests, soil, sky, and all living beings therein, we begin to understand that healing the Earth and healing ourselves are inseparable.

 “[T]o fight anthropocentrism and all of its resulting problems and work to move us toward a biocentric, animistic philosophy that interweaves connections to nature (ovate practices), the world of spirit (druid practices), and the human community (bardic practices).”1

Remembering our place within the web of life may be one of the most important steps toward creating a balanced and compassionate future.

The authors use three perspectives–Ovate, Bardic, and Druidic–to explore the seven core principles of the new vision of eco-spirituality they present. Each chapter focuses on and unpacks one of the 7 R’s–Reconnection, Respect, Rewilding, Regeneration, Resilience, Reenchantment, and ReVisioning–interweaving the three perspectives to help readers establish new ways of relating to the natural world.

Going beyond mere discussion of each R theme, each chapter presents nature-inspired artwork and a trio of stories (the bardic perspective in action!) that provide a vision of how each theme manifests in past, present, and future. Accompanying each story, the authors offer plenty of example practices, journalling prompts, and other tools to help the reader cultivate deeper relationships to the natural world, other living beings, and the spiritual reality that grounds these relations.

While bardic practices help us to form human connections and grow communities based on shared values, the ovate perspective focuses on the renewal of our direct sense-experience and relationships to the panoply of living beings–plant, animal, insect, water, and mineral–in our local environment. The emphasis O’Driscoll and Summers place on engagement with one’s local ecology cannot be overstated, and is even one of the book’s greatest strengths. Far too often, books on similar topics tend to focus on large-scale (even global) social change aimed at destroying “the patriarchy” and (simply) replacing such structures with a new system of values. 

The authors certainly support the decomposition of perspectives and values which have led to the vast imbalances in our relationships to Nature, other living beings, and the animistic spirits abiding therein. However, they also emphasize that action must start locally. It is only through real (Re)connection (chapter 1!) with the patterns of life in one’s immediate environment that we can move toward collective change.

Rather than engage exclusively in “green” political action, which often manifests as just a different form of human-centered control/manipulation that created these imbalances, Summers and O’Driscoll urge us to cultivate our awareness of and relationships with our immediate natural and social environment. Not only does this increase personal connectedness with Nature, neighbors, and kin, it also decreases our dependence on goods and services extracted and imported from their own locality (and the necessity of money to purchase such things).

In the final chapters, “Reenchantment” and “ReVisioning”, the authors state that this book is in fact an explicit work of magic meant to help birth their vision of a more connected, caring world. Although every chapter incorporates the druidic perspective, including examples and guides for cultivating ritual practices which deepen our relationships with the spiritual beings of the natural world, the latter chapters share a vision of a world that is overflowing with Spirit.

This Reenchanted reality is one where mutual respect and cooperation between the human, natural, and spirit worlds can bring about lasting, global change, despite being carried out at the personal and local scales. Within the druidic perspective, O’Driscoll and Summers rely on the familiar notion of microcosm/macrocosm–as above, so below, as within, so without–to characterize our place and role in the world. I found their response to our perceived sense of powerlessness in the world to be especially insightful:

“Modern Western culture teaches us we are insignificant, we cannot make a difference, and we cannot levy broader change… The principle of the microcosm/macrocosm suggests that you can make a major difference even by focusing your efforts in small ways.”2

One of my favorite aspects of Eco-Spirituality in the 21st Century is the perfect container the authors create for developing practices, rituals, and relationships with one’s local ecology. They are very careful to present practices/rituals as general guidelines, rather than as prescriptive rites that must be performed in a certain way. In fact, the reader is often advised to refrain from overly-formal or strict practices. Instead, the importance is to focus on one’s intention while adapting the practice to the needs of the particular environment and beings involved. This is precisely why the book begins with ovate-inspired Reconnection: attentive listening/witnessing to the needs of the land/spirits, asking their permission to perform rituals or harvest, and unceasing gratitude for their presence and support. These attitudes and behaviors are the living heart of the process that will ultimately culminate in our new-old ways of perceiving, relating, and co-creating a more balanced and harmonized life for humanity and all of Nature.

Overall, nearly any reader will find something of value in this magical tome, whether you’re taking the first steps to reevaluate your relationship with the natural world, or you’re a practicing druid or permaculture expert. O’Driscoll and Summers weave a beautiful story that both informs and inspires us toward a renewed vision of the World, starting with nothing more than dirtying our hands and feet in the living soil of Mother Earth.

Land Healing, by Dana O’Driscoll

Land Healing: Physical, Metaphysical, and Ritual Practices for Healing the Earth, by Dana O’Driscoll
REDFeather, 0764367706, 208 pages,  March 2024

Land Healing: Physical, Metaphysical, and Ritual Practices for Healing the Earth by Dana O’Driscoll is a comprehensive guide to land healing for neopagans and earth-based spiritual practitioners. Drawing on her decades of experience as a land healer, O’Driscoll offers readers an opportunity to deepen their understanding of ecological stewardship and personal spiritual growth through a flexible framework that’s easy to adapt to one’s lifestyle. The book covers a wide range of topics, including physical land healing, metaphysical healing techniques, and spiritual self-care. 

O’Driscoll is a wonderful guide on the path to becoming a land healer, and her writing in this book is thoughtfully insightful. Since 2019, she has served as Grand Archdruid in the Ancient Order of Druids in America. She is also a certified permaculture designer and permaculture teacher. She successfully weaves in so much information to this book while keeping the reader grounded and centered to integrate the wisdom.

The book begins with an introduction to land healing, sharing with readers why it’s so important right now in our anthropocentric time period to heed the call of tending to the land. O’Driscoll takes the time to explain the foundation of beliefs shared in this book, such as animism, energy-work, and magic, along with how these metaphysic practices can be incorporated into the ecosystems of the physical world.

For those ready to undertake being a land healer, O’Driscoll starts from step one of gathering the necessary supplies. She shares how to make one’s own “Crane Bag” so that one always has the supplies necessary to work with the land in whatever capacity is called for at the moment. There are seven main methods of land interaction she prepared readers to engage in: blessing, growth, healing, protection, sleep, acknowledgement, and passage. Each landscape one works with will require different types of healing, and learning these seven is a great way to get started.

One of the central themes in Land Healing is the concept of reciprocity. O’Driscoll emphasizes the importance of a reciprocal relationship with the earth, where land healers open themselves to commune with the land on the land’s terms rather than their own whims or desires.  There’s an emphasis on forming an intentional relationship with the land before doing any work.

Some land might be very open to the land healer’s desire to work with it, while other land needs time to warm up. Occasionally, land might even refute any efforts of the land healer, and it’s important to honor the land’s decision. O’Driscoll teaches readers how to acknowledge, witness, and apologize to the land–a great first step in building a relationship based on trust and respect. Additionally, she shares the importance of remembrance in this work, honoring what was before as a powerful act of healing.

Readers gain a lot of insight about how to work with the different needs of the land energetically in chapters four through six, where O’Driscoll teaches about the seven elements (four classical elements–fire, air, water, earth–and three spirit aspects–above, below, within). She offers a variety of methods to perform energy work on the land, including sigils, virtualization, meditation, energy work, chanting, creating mandalas, and smoke prayers, depending on the needs of the land.

This was the first book I’ve read on the topic that acknowledged some land might prefer to go into a deep slumber to rest during trauma. Land healers can offer palliative care for land that is too damaged to be fully restored or “energetically awake and suffering”3. I found the chapter on energetic palliative care quite touching, and it made me feel more deeply into the consciousness of different lands.

Later in the book, there’s a chapter about working with plants and animals that have passed on, and I found it very holistic for O’Driscoll to include this too, as it’s not just the land that suffers in the wake of environmental destruction. For those who feel called and ready, she shares a bit about psychopomp work that can be done to help these living entities transition from life to death, as well as rituals to honor those that have passed on.

O’Driscoll’s knowledge of permaculture and ecology shines through in the one chapter about physical land healing. This chapter offers practical advice about how one can get to know their ecosystems better. From studying the plants to engaging in conservation work, there’s plenty of local ways one can get involved with the lands around them. O’Driscoll shares a bit about permaculture, creating wildlife refugia, and the often-overlooked practice of wild-tending as further ways readers can engage physically with the land.

Beyond specific energetic and physical techniques, O’Driscoll emphasizes the importance of the healer’s own spiritual well-being.  The final chapter focuses on self-care and suggests land healers create a self-care plan for themselves when doing this work. The stress of witnessing ecological crises, offering our energy to the land in the form of blessings and healing, or even just basic life stuff that crops up all can take its toll on the well-being of a practitioner. I love that O’Driscoll cares deeply enough for readers to fortify them with wonderful suggestions about how to care for one’s mind, body, and spirit.

Overall, Land Healing is a practical guide for hands-on ways readers can cultivate their practice of engaging with the land physically and energetically to promote ecological well-being. The techniques shared by O’Driscoll promote a deep understanding of the spiritual and energetic dimensions of our relationship with the land. Anyone interested in deepening their relationship with the earth and taking an active role in its healing, particularly those who follow a nature-based spiritual path, will find all they need to begin their own journey of land healing within this book.

While many might set out to heal nature, in turn, I have no doubt they will discover the healing power of nature through this work.  O’Driscoll illustrates how engaging with the natural world can be a transformative experience, offering physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. And one of the best things about this book is how she shares personal anecdotes and practical exercises that encourage readers to embrace nature as a source of solace and inspiration.

Through a combination of ecological wisdom and spiritual insight, O’Driscoll invites readers to embark on a journey of healing—for themselves and the planet. Land Healing is a valuable resource for those seeking to deepen their relationship with the natural world and contribute to a more sustainable future.