A review by wellworn_soles
The Wakeful World: Animism, Mind and the Self in Nature by Emma Restall Orr

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Undoubtedly the most important book I've read this year (and possibly last). I mentioned part of the way through reading this how I had first become aware of this book back in 2015 during a time of spiritual deconstruction. In that period, her opening words clearly articulated my stance:

 An essential part of a philosopher's work is to root out assumptions, and tear them apart. For in seeking answers to those questions that sit on the very edge of language, on the edge of what it is thought possible to understand, it is our assumptions that are often the greatest obstacle in our thinking. 

I wonder if, 6 years ago at 21, I would have been able to fully take in the rest of this work. It is a masterwork; a quiet landmark text in the field. In some ways, I am glad that it took years before I circled back; more fully in love with uncertainty and more capable of releasing my internal locus, this book sang from end to end. Emma Rostell Orr has not only imparted a clear and meticulously argued animist philosophy; she has also used the "poetry of animism" to start the deep work of conveying the deeper, sweeter waters of her tradition.

Orr took impressions and half-thoughts that have haunted my footsteps for nearly a decade - those of legacy, memory, and what we impart; of the fundamental interrelationship between us and the world; of the power that hums in and through all things - and gives it shape. It may feel slow at the beginning, but Orr's steady build is necessary. As stated above, there are so many assumptions tied up in the language we use to grapple with metaphysical, ethical, and philosophical questions that each must be examined, deconstructed, and clearly delineated before we can move together into the weeds.

A shared foundation of meaning and agreed-upon definitions is needed. This is especially true when touching something like animism, which has an unfortunate connotation of New Age-y ephemeral platitudes one finds peddled by modern magic shops. Orr's work is far from this.  This is academically rigorous, solidly proofed, and brimming with life. Her philosophy taps into an ancient root that is capable of asking and answering philosophical questions of Consciousness, the Self, Mind and Body, and free will in ways more personally satisfying than many other competing worldviews.

There is a fundamental reverence imbued in these pages, and its argument - if you resonate with it as I have - leaves with no choice but to radically alter your movement through the world. This book extends the tzelem Elohim - the image of G-d in the face of each human - to each animal, each tree, each stone and raindrop; to the sunrise and the spinning galaxy. As an introduction to mature Western animistic thought, this is a must-read. 5 well-earned stars.