About
Robert Tindall is the author of three books on shamanism and indigenous culture, "The Jaguar that Roams the Mind," "The Shamanic Odyssey," and "Sacred Soil: Biochar and the Regeneration of the Earth." I have lived for years in the Amazon rainforest apprenticing in the shamanic vegetalista tradition and so bring an anthropological perspective to my writing. I have a Masters in English Literature with a focus on medieval Arthurian romance and now teach online from my cabin in a Redwood forest just above the ocean in Mendocino, California. You can find other musings of mine on my blog: roamingthemind.com.
I have just finished my first installment in a fantasy trilogy for adults, "The Raven, the Fool, and the Valkyrie" based in the Brothers Grimm fairytale, "The White Snake." While intended for adult readers, it will appeal to younger readers as well with its exploration of neuro-divergence and psychedelic states of consciousness. And ravens.
Featured Work
Sacred Soil: Biochar and the Regeneration of the Earth
A fascinating description of how utilizing the biochar embedded in terra preta, the recently rediscovered sacred soil of the pre-Columbian peoples of the Amazon rainforest, can cut our dependency on petrochemicals, restore the health of our soils, remove carbon from our overheating atmosphere, and restore the planet to pre-industrial levels of atmospheric carbon by 2050. The authors show that the rediscovery of terra preta is an opportunity to move beyond the West’s tradition of plunder and genocide of the native civilizations of the Americas by offering an invitation to embrace the deeper mystery of the indigenous methods of inquiry and to participate in an animate cosmos that gave rise to such a powerful soil technology. Sacred Soil, in recognizing the need for biocultural regeneration, takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the phenomenon of biochar soils, utilizing mythopoeic, historical, anthropological, and scientific perspectives to embrace the deep past, the vexed present, and the prospectus for our future. Coming at this crucial juncture in human history, the potential resting in biochar is also an open doorway into the indigenous ways of knowing that enabled the pre-Columbian Amazonian high civilizations to support a population of millions while leaving their lands more fertile than when they arose.
Other Works
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The Shamanic Odyssey: Homer, Tolkien, and the Visionary Experience
2012
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The Jaguar that Roams the Mind: An Amazonian Plant Spirit Odyssey
2008