Greening the Paranormal
Greening the Paranormal: Exploring the Ecology of Extraordinary experience
Jack HunterWe are at a critical moment in the history of humankind’s relationship with the Earth, and all the species that co-inhabit with us. This is a time of climate change, species loss and ecological collapse on a scale that has never been seen before. New ways of thinking will be required if we hope to overcome these global problems and develop a more harmonious relationship between the human and non-human worlds. In the spirit of creative exploration this book suggests that approaches emerging from the study of (and engagement with) the super-natural may ultimately help us to re-connect with the natural, and in so doing develop innovative approaches to confronting the eco-crisis.
'Greening the Paranormal' explores parallels between anomalistics (the
study of the paranormal in all its guises, incorporating parapsychology,
paranthropology, cryptozoology, religious studies, and so on), and ecology (the
study of living systems), not just for the sake of exploring interesting
intersections (of which there are many), but for the essential task of
contributing towards a much broader – necessary – change of perspective
concerning our relationship to the living planet. The chapters collected in
this book demonstrate that we have much to learn from exploring the ecology of
extraordinary experience.
Praise for 'Greening the Paranormal'
"This book does everything one can hope for. It begins with a shocking
shared road encounter with what looks like, well, the Green Man of European
folklore. It then travels through any number of well worn paranormal paths,
each time, like the initial astonished encounter, spotting new (and yet very
old) things and struggling mightily with the empirical highly strange aspects
of the phenomena. The essayists do not flinch. They do not look away. They walk
ahead, right into the dark green forest of religion, mythology, and folklore.
What they bring back could signal major shifts in our intellectual, social,
political, and moral landscapes with respect to a natural world that is really
a super natural world, that is really us."
–Jeffrey J. Kripal, PhD., author of 'Secret Body: Erotic and Esoteric
Currents in the History of Religions'
"Having joined the Green movement in 1973 after reading Limits to
Growth, which warned of potentially devastating climate change, I have
supported Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth etc., since then. Recently I have
become a Green Town Councillor to further help in changing the way in which we
live our lives. However, my work has always been in Parapsychology, both as a
teacher and a researcher. I have always seen Parapsychology as the spiritual
aspect of the Green movement, and have given talks and written articles to that
end. So I am absolutely delighted that Jack has brought out this compilation of
the Green aspects of the Paranormal, written from a very diverse array of
perspectives. I hope that it makes a great impact on our society which is in
desperate need of changing its predominant world view."
–Serena Roney-Dougal, PhD., author of 'Where Science and Magic Meet'
About the author
Dr. Jack Hunter is an anthropologist exploring the borderlands of consciousness, religion and the paranormal, living in the hills of Mid-Wales. His doctoral research with the University of Bristol examined the experiences of spirit mediums and their influence on the development of self-concepts and models of consciousness, and is an effort towards a non-reductive anthropology of the paranormal. He is the founder and editor of Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal. He is the author of Why People Believe in Spirits, Gods and Magic (2012), editor of Strange Dimensions: A Paranthropology Anthology (2015), Damned Facts: Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore and the Paranormal (2016), and co-editor with Dr. David Luke of Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds (2014). He has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology (JEEP), Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religion (JBASR), the Journal for the Study of Religious Experience (JSRE) and is a founding member of the Afterlife Research Centre (ARC). He is currently an Access to Higher Education tutor for Health and Social Care (Social Sciences) at North Shropshire College, where he teaches Psychology and Sociology. He completed a Permaculture Design Course at Chester Cathedral in 2017, and is currently working on a project to develop a mainstream permaculture curriculum for schools. He is also a musician and an ordained Dudeist Priest. To find out more about his research and publications visit http://www.jack-hunter.webstarts.com
Dr. Jack Hunter is an anthropologist exploring the borderlands of consciousness, religion and the paranormal, living in the hills of Mid-Wales. His doctoral research with the University of Bristol examined the experiences of spirit mediums and their influence on the development of self-concepts and models of consciousness, and is an effort towards a non-reductive anthropology of the paranormal. He is the founder and editor of Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal. He is the author of Why People Believe in Spirits, Gods and Magic (2012), editor of Strange Dimensions: A Paranthropology Anthology (2015), Damned Facts: Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore and the Paranormal (2016), and co-editor with Dr. David Luke of Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds (2014). He has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology (JEEP), Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religion (JBASR), the Journal for the Study of Religious Experience (JSRE) and is a founding member of the Afterlife Research Centre (ARC). He is currently an Access to Higher Education tutor for Health and Social Care (Social Sciences) at North Shropshire College, where he teaches Psychology and Sociology. He completed a Permaculture Design Course at Chester Cathedral in 2017, and is currently working on a project to develop a mainstream permaculture curriculum for schools. He is also a musician and an ordained Dudeist Priest. To find out more about his research and publications visit http://www.jack-hunter.webstarts.com