Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

ONE: DEPARTURES
One. Power and Desire in Earth's Tangled Web
Two. Reimagining Earth
Three. Orchestrating Sacred Space

TWO: GLASTONBURY
Four. Stage, Props, and Players of Avalon
Five. Many Glastonburys: Place-Myths and Contested Spaces

THREE: SEDONA
Six. Red Rocks to Real Estate
Seven. Vortexes and Crossed Currents: Sedona's Multichannel Wilderness

FOUR. ARRIVALS
Eight. Practices of Place: Nature, Heterotopia, and the Postmodern Sacred

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

A study of people and politics at two New Age spiritual sites

About the Author

Adrian Ivakhiv teaches in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

Reviews

The Scots have a phrase to describe those swept up by transcendental themes: they are off with the faeries. But Ivakhiv (Univ. of Wisconsin—Oshkosh) packed his sociology of religion template with him on his journey and the results are fascinating. Focusing on Glastonbury, England, and Sedona, Arizona—two internationally famous New Age power places—he analyzes the myth/history and contemporary politics at each locale. Glastonbury is noted as the burial spot of King Arthur, the locus of the Holy Grail, and the site of a terraced Tor that reflects Earth Energy. Local farmers, long—term Avalonians, and a new, rag—tag band of itinerant seekers jostle one another for social control. In Sedona, Hollywood filmmakers, retirees, and upscale realtors mingle with spiritual pilgrims amidst towering red rocks. In somewhat dense yet sympathetic prose, the author suggests that many visitors to these sacred sites may encounter the nonhuman Other, but that the message received is always personal and cloaked with puzzle and mystery. Increasing interest in these sites reflects an alternative rationalism that Ivakhiv believes sets forth a serious challenge to modern technological society and the reign of global capitalism. Superb analysis. General readers; lower—division undergraduates through faculty and researchers.
*Choice*

. . . Ivakhiv packed his 'sociology of religion' template with him on his journey and the results are fascinating. . . . Superb analysis.March 2002
*Choice*