Does the earth have a spirit or soul? Science and rationality have not
taught us how to love or care for the earth. The mythic bonds to nature,
such as those found in Aboriginal Australian cultures, appear to have
real survival value because they bind us to the earth in a meaningful
way. When these bonds are destroyed by excessive rationality or a
collapse of cultural mythology, we are left alone, outside the community
of nature and in an alienated state. Jung was one of the first thinkers
of our time to consider the psychic influence of the earth and the
conditioning of the mind by place. Inspired by his writings and those of
James Hillman, the field of eco-psychology has arisen as a powerful new
area of inquiry. Edge of the Sacred: Jung, Psyche, Earth contributes to
global eco-psychology from an Australian perspective.