The Soul of the World: A Modern Book of Hours

by Phil Cousineau (Editor), Eric Lawton (Editor)

"Contemplation of beauty is hte consolation of hte world." -- from the Introduction A collaboration between a writer/poet and a photographer, The Soul of the World speqaks to our desire for connection and celebration by contemporizing the medieval book of hours--a classical device for "making holy the houirs." Each day is divided into eight periods of guided meditation that trace the natural rhythms of hte day and week, joining the inner world of hte spirit and the outer world of nature and reconnecting our souls with the soul of hte world. POhotographs from around the world--froim sunrise in Darjeeling to midnight in Santa Fe--are paried with eclectic passages by diverse thinkers, including Lao Tzu, Sappho, Hildegard of Beigen, John Keats, Langston Hughes, Anna Akmatova, Jorge Luis Borges, Gary Snyder, Rosario Castellanos, David Brower, adn many more. Juxtaposing eclectic reflections with stunning photographs from around the world, this modern book of hours serves as a "pocket cathedral," creating space for reflection and renewal at any time, in any place.

Genres: Art

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Phil Cousineau is the award-winning author of The Wisdom of the Odyssey and over forty other books, including the bestselling The Art of Pilgrimage, The Hero’s Journey, and Once and Future Myths. With more than 40 books and 25 scriptwriting credits to his name, the "omnipresent influence of myth in modern life" is a thread that runs through all his work.

A writer, filmmaker, storyteller, and cultural historian, Phil has consulted on mythology and story for major studios including Warner Brothers, Pixar, and Lucasfilm. A protege of mythologist Joseph Campbell, Cousineau began his career teaching screenwriting classes on Myth and the Movies at the American Film Institute in the 1980s.

He was co-writer and host of Link TV/PBS-TV's Global Spirit, the "inner travel" television series, which Bill Moyers called "more important than journalism today." His documentary films have won more than 25 international awards, including the Academy Award-nominated, Forever Activists.

Born in an army hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, Cousineau grew up in Detroit, Phil Cousineau has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 40 years. All of his grandparents were French-Canadian.