this book is intelligent, lovingly written, insightful, well researched, and remarkable in the interdisciplinary nature of its scholarship. The authors seemlessly integrate every branch of the social sciences (drawing heavily on anthropology), biology, history, comparative religion, cultural criticism, you name it. If you are a smart person -- an academic, a critical thinker, a theory wonk, whatever -- who is also aware of spirit and "worships" nature, the earth, the sun, moon, and stars, this book is essential reading.
