The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martin Prechtel

The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martin Prechtel

"Beautifully written and wise ... [Martin Prechtel] offers stories that are precious and life-sustaining. Read carefully, and listen deeply."--Mary Oliver, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner

Inspiring hope, solace, and courage in living through our losses, author Martín Prechtel, trained in the Tzutujil Maya shamanic tradition, shares profound insights on the relationship between grief and praise in our culture--how the inability that many of us have to grieve and weep properly for the dead is deeply linked with the inability to give praise for living. In modern society, grief is something that we usually experience in private, alone, and without the support of a community. Yet, as Prechtel says, "Grief expressed out loud for someone we have lost, or a country or home we have lost, is in itself the greatest praise we could ever give them. Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses."

Prechtel explains that the unexpressed grief prevalent in our society today is the reason for many of the social, cultural, and individual maladies that we are currently experiencing. According to Prechtel, "When you have two centuries of people who have not properly grieved the things that they have lost, the grief shows up as ghosts that inhabit their grandchildren." These "ghosts," he says, can also manifest as disease in the form of tumors, which the Maya refer to as "solidified tears," or in the form of behavioral issues and depression. He goes on to show how this collective, unexpressed energy is the long-held grief of our ancestors manifesting itself, and the work that can be done to liberate this energy so we can heal from the trauma of loss, war, and suffering.

At base, this "little book," as the author calls it, can be seen as a companion of encouragement, a little extra light for those deep and noble parts in all of us.

Martn Prechtel, a master of eloquence and original language, is a writer, artist, and teacher who seeks to promote the nuance, irony, and premodern energy contained in any live language through his written and spoken work. He fled New Mexico to live in the village of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, as a half-blood Native American with a Pueblo Indian upbringing, later becoming a full member of the Tzutujil Mayan society there. He was a principal in that body of village leaders charged with teaching the young people the meanings of their ancient legends through adult rites of passage rituals for many years. Prechtel is back in New Mexico, where he teaches at Bolad's Kitchen, his international school. Prechtel's search for the Indigenous Soul uses song, ritual, farming, sacred building, old textiles, tools, and stories to assist individuals from all over the world remember their own sense of place in the daily sacred.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781583949399
ISBN 10	1583949399
Title	The Smell of Rain on Dust
Author	Martin Prechtel
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	North Atlantic Books,U.S.
Year published	2015-04-14
Number of pages	184
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.