Earth and nature-based spirituality is proliferating globally. In Part I of this study, I argue that although participants in countercultural movements often eschew the label religion, these are religious movements, in which these persons find ultimate meaning and transformative power in nature. Focusing on the deep ecology movement, I further argue that (1) experiences of nature spirituality are evoked by practices as diverse as mountaineering, neo-shamanic ritualising and states of consciousness induced by hallucinogens; (2) earthen spiritualities are often contested and may be viewed as inauthentic or dangerous by practitioners of other forms of nature spirituality; and (3) despite significant diversity, a sense of connection and belonging to nature (sometimes personified as a transforming, if not transcendent power) unites these cross-fertilising and sometimes competing spiritualities. Part II examines additional forms of nature-oriented religion, searching further for continuities, discontinuities and ironies among its diverse forms. 2001 Academic Press Question: 'What are your spiritual beliefs?' Answer: 'Well, I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. Look at the sun. If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals' Mikhail Gorbachev (1997) Monkeywrenching or 'ecotage' is 'a form of worship toward the earth. It's really a very spiritual thing to go out and do . . . Keep a pure heart and mind . . . You are a religious warrior for the Earth.' Dave Foreman, co-founder of Earth First!, discussing the spirituality of direct action resistance (Shuman and Desseaux 1993) The closer you get to real matter, rock, air, firewood, boy, the more spiritual the world is. from Dharma Bums
Spirituality in Contemporary Parlance
In contemporary parlance people increasingly substitute the term 'religion' for 'spirituality' when trying to express what moves them most deeply. This usage has drawn the increasing attention of scholars, who seek to define the various meanings of spirituality and understand the perceptions and experiences that have led to the increasing popularity of this term. I seek to illuminate the way 'spirituality' is used and contested among those self-consciously engaged in 'earth-based' or 'nature-based' spirituality and thereby to understand contemporary earth-based religion.
A number of scholars have recently drawn a distinction between spirituality and religion. Wade Clark Roof, for example, explains that a common perception today is that 'to be religious conveys an institutional connotation [while] to be spiritual . . . is more personal and empowering and has to do with the deepest motivations in life' (Roof 1993, pp. 76-7, cf. 76-9, 129-30). Testing Roof's findings, a recent study