Clark Strand

Begin to meditate—or renew your practice—with this
straightforward guide that is free from pretension and complication.

Is there a way you can learn to slow down and experience yourself more fully, your life more deeply, and other people in the present moment without adopting a new religious or philosophical ideology? Clark Strand answers with a clear and simple "yes!" Short, compelling reflections show you how to make meditation a part of your daily life, without the complication of gurus, mantras, retreats, or treks to distant monasteries.

What is the proper way to breathe? Where should I meditate? What should I sit on? How often should I practice? You'll find the answers surprising as Strand breaks down modern-day stereotypes about meditation and leaves the one thing a successful meditation practice truly needs: you.

Begin to meditate—or renew your practice—with this
straightforward guide that is free from pretension and complication.

Is there a way you can learn to slow down and experience yourself more fully, your life more deeply, and other people in the present moment without adopting a new religious or philosophical ideology? Clark Strand answers with a clear and simple "yes!" Short, compelling reflections show you how to make meditation a part of your daily life, without the complication of gurus, mantras, retreats, or treks to distant monasteries.

What is the proper way to breathe? Where should I meditate? What should I sit on? How often should I practice? You'll find the answers surprising as Strand breaks down modern-day stereotypes about meditation and leaves the one thing a successful meditation practice truly needs: you.

Strand’s mystical poems to Ma Kali, the Dark Goddess of India, as occasioned by his encounters with the material dealt in depth in both Waking Up to the Dark and the Way of the Rose.

“A treasure of mystical poetry, these poems pulsate with truth.” —Carolyn Myss, author of Intimate Conversations with the Divine and Anatomy of the Spirit

In the early hours of June 16, 2011, Clark Strand witnessed a startling apparition of the Divine Feminine in the form of a young woman with an X of black electrical tape over Her mouth. Strand removed the tape, and She began to speak of a coming age of chaos and collapse in which the world of humankind would be severely chastened so that Her world—the world of Nature—could be renewed. Overwhelmed by the presence of One so fully Other, Strand found that love was the only language that would suffice. Drawing inspiration from Song of Songs and the Bengali mystics Ramprasad and Sri Ramakrishna, he began a series of poems to Ma Kali, the Dark Goddess of India, the words to which often came from the Great Mother Herself.

Strand’s mystical poems to Ma Kali, the Dark Goddess of India, as occasioned by his encounters with the material dealt in depth in both Waking Up to the Dark and the Way of the Rose.

“A treasure of mystical poetry, these poems pulsate with truth.” —Carolyn Myss, author of Intimate Conversations with the Divine and Anatomy of the Spirit

In the early hours of June 16, 2011, Clark Strand witnessed a startling apparition of the Divine Feminine in the form of a young woman with an X of black electrical tape over Her mouth. Strand removed the tape, and She began to speak of a coming age of chaos and collapse in which the world of humankind would be severely chastened so that Her world—the world of Nature—could be renewed. Overwhelmed by the presence of One so fully Other, Strand found that love was the only language that would suffice. Drawing inspiration from Song of Songs and the Bengali mystics Ramprasad and Sri Ramakrishna, he began a series of poems to Ma Kali, the Dark Goddess of India, the words to which often came from the Great Mother Herself.

“A brilliant and engaging book on haiku, and on the state of the body and mind required in the million to one shot against producing a good one” —Jim Harrison

First published in 1997, Seeds From a Birch Tree introduced readers to the only form of poetry in all of world literature that makes nature into a spiritual path. Its message was simple: Haiku teaches us to return to nature by following the seasons—seventeen syllables at a time.

With its mix of poetry and memoir, fallen leaves and birdsong, Seeds From a Birch Tree awakens us to what Bashō called “the life of each thing.” Simple instructions guide us to the possibilities for creativity and joy hidden in plain sight in the natural world around us, giving us hope and resilience in the face of life’s challenges.

This Revised & Expanded 25^th Anniversary Edition includes the complete text of the original classic, plus dozens of new haiku and an Afterword by the author discussing haiku for the 21^st century.

“A brilliant and engaging book on haiku, and on the state of the body and mind required in the million to one shot against producing a good one” —Jim Harrison

First published in 1997, Seeds From a Birch Tree introduced readers to the only form of poetry in all of world literature that makes nature into a spiritual path. Its message was simple: Haiku teaches us to return to nature by following the seasons—seventeen syllables at a time.

With its mix of poetry and memoir, fallen leaves and birdsong, Seeds From a Birch Tree awakens us to what Bashō called “the life of each thing.” Simple instructions guide us to the possibilities for creativity and joy hidden in plain sight in the natural world around us, giving us hope and resilience in the face of life’s challenges.

This Revised & Expanded 25^th Anniversary Edition includes the complete text of the original classic, plus dozens of new haiku and an Afterword by the author discussing haiku for the 21^st century.

2022 Foreword INDIES Award Winner | Silver: Body, Mind  Spirit

2023 IPPY Award Winner | Bronze: New Age/Mind, Body, Spirit

Hidden in the darkness is an ancient secret suppressed by every aspect of our light-drunk modern world—there is a Great Mother from the bottom of time who has always guided us through perils and calamities. Now is the hour of Her return.

“An exigent, affecting summons to rediscover the night.”—Kirkus Reviews

Is darkness synonymous with ignorance and evil? Or is it the original matrix from which all life emerges, and the Mother to whom it returns? Higher and higher levels of artificial illumination have suppressed our contact with the numinous since the Industrial Revolution, with dire consequences for society, our planetary ecology, and our souls. This mystical testament weaves together paleobiology, memoir, history, science, and spiritual archaeology to lead readers back into the lost mysteries of the dark. Not since The Teachings of Don Juan or Ishmael has a book diagnosed with such urgency and cultural coherence the problems at the heart of modern life.

In Waking Up to the Dark, Clark Strand offers penetrating insight into the spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pull the plug on our billion-watt culture. He argues that the insomnia so many of us experience as “the Hour of the Wolf” is really “the Hour of God”—a wellspring of rest and renewal, and an ancient reservoir of ancestral wisdom and inspiration. And in a powerful yet surprising turn, he shares with us an urgent message for the world, received through a mysterious young woman he calls Our Lady of Climate Change (aka THE VIRGIN MARY), about the challenges we all know are coming.

2022 Foreword INDIES Award Winner | Silver: Body, Mind  Spirit

2023 IPPY Award Winner | Bronze: New Age/Mind, Body, Spirit

Hidden in the darkness is an ancient secret suppressed by every aspect of our light-drunk modern world—there is a Great Mother from the bottom of time who has always guided us through perils and calamities. Now is the hour of Her return.

“An exigent, affecting summons to rediscover the night.”—Kirkus Reviews

Is darkness synonymous with ignorance and evil? Or is it the original matrix from which all life emerges, and the Mother to whom it returns? Higher and higher levels of artificial illumination have suppressed our contact with the numinous since the Industrial Revolution, with dire consequences for society, our planetary ecology, and our souls. This mystical testament weaves together paleobiology, memoir, history, science, and spiritual archaeology to lead readers back into the lost mysteries of the dark. Not since The Teachings of Don Juan or Ishmael has a book diagnosed with such urgency and cultural coherence the problems at the heart of modern life.

In Waking Up to the Dark, Clark Strand offers penetrating insight into the spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pull the plug on our billion-watt culture. He argues that the insomnia so many of us experience as “the Hour of the Wolf” is really “the Hour of God”—a wellspring of rest and renewal, and an ancient reservoir of ancestral wisdom and inspiration. And in a powerful yet surprising turn, he shares with us an urgent message for the world, received through a mysterious young woman he calls Our Lady of Climate Change (aka THE VIRGIN MARY), about the challenges we all know are coming.