Letters to the River

Letters to the River places the struggles and crises we currently face -- personal, political, moral, ecological and spiritual -- within the context of a mythic and heroic journey. In doing so, it forms a bridge between the left side and the right -- the practical, daily life we can neither ignore or avoid, and the enchanted, shimmering world reported by sages and shamans throughout the millennia. Letters to the River points the way to a path that's deep and soulful. It speaks eloquently to our reason (the right side) about the territory we need to explore and the issues we must face to find that "dream worth living." But it does not stop there. In the "Letters" themselves we hear the beckoning of the left side, the call of the soul within that magical, alluring dream. And in so doing, we sense who we might become if our soul not only found its voice, but began to sing, loudly, one breathtaking song.

Letters to the River places the struggles and crises we currently face — personal, political, moral, ecological and spiritual — within the context of a mythic and heroic journey. In doing so, it forms a bridge between the left side and the right — the practical, daily life we can neither ignore or avoid, and the enchanted, shimmering world reported by sages and shamans throughout the millennia. Letters to the River points the way to a path that's deep and soulful. It speaks eloquently to our reason (the right side) about the territory we need to explore and the issues we must face to find that “dream worth living.” But it does not stop there. In the “Letters” themselves we hear the beckoning of the left side, the call of the soul within that magical, alluring dream. And in so doing, we sense who we might become if our soul not only found its voice, but began to sing, loudly, one breathtaking song.

Sparrow Hart has apprenticed himself to nature and the wild for over forty years, exploring inner and outer landscapes beyond the unexamined limits of consensual reality. Seeking something deep and extraordinary, that "dream worth living," his adventures have included a five-month solo in the wilderness, travels to the Amazon, over 30 personal vision quests, and treks to the mountains, forests, canyons, and deserts of Mexico and the United States, as well as apprenticeships with a wide variety of native and non-native "medicine teachers." Through all this, Sparrow considers his greatest mentor to be the Earth itself. Following his first vision quest in 1980, Sparrow founded Circles of Air and Stone, which has guided small groups of men and women through 11-day vision quest programs for over three decades. He's the creator of Adventures of the Spirit, a series of workshops for men and women that offer a deep encounter with inner and outer nature, and the founder and guide of two programs for men--the annual Men's Wisdom Council at the Rowe Conference Center and The Mythic Warrior Men's Training--that have thrived for over twenty years. Regarded as an authority on the vision quest process, well-versed in myth and storytelling, he's known for his ability to translate the world's enduring spiritual principles into the concrete challenges and choices of today. He has one daughter, Prairie, and lives in Putney, Vermont. Sparrow can be contacted through his website at www.questforvision.com.