Earth Angels in Everyday Life with Shaun McNiff

Program Description

Here is a completely different kind of angel-seeking. Disregarding the transcendent winged beings of traditional lore, McNiff points instead to “earth angels”–objects right in front of us, however mundane or unholy they may seem–that enrich our psychic life with significance and imagery. We usually ignore them, but they can help us re-embody our spiritual awareness, and bring it down to earth. Even a styrofoam cup can be an artifact that connects us to memories and dreams, to the light and shadow within us. “The spirits are in all the things of the cities–the debased ones too,” says McNiff. “And we need them in order to imagine with the world, to create with the world.” He describes simple ways to “ensoul” your home or workspace by welcoming the earth angels.

McNiff is dean of Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, and the author of Earth Angels (Shambhala 1995).

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• What’s missing in the current angelic revival
• What are simple ways to “ensoul” your home or office
• Why is a household altar powerful
• How to learn from things that bother you
• How to Transcend “politically correct” judgments of materialist culture
• What is the similarity between demons and angels
• What the cultural crisis in art might accomplish
• How objects connect you to spirit

Program Number; 2555                 Host: Michael Toms                    Interview Date: 11/7/1995