By Doug Holder

The Hunter‚Äôs Trance: Nature, Spirit & Ecology. Carl Von Essen. (Lindisfarne Books. 610 Main St.  Great Barrington, Mass.) $25

In “The Hunter’s Trance: Nature, Spirit & Ecology,” (Lindisfarne Books 2007) Carl Von Essen writes that ever since he was a child he has been beguiled by the sights and sounds of nature. He realized early the importance of the natural world and the primal, spiritual and physical value it brings to a life. Von Essen also realized that he was not alone. Many people have ecstatic experiences in the wild, he writes, be they scientists, fishermen or mountaineers.

Regarding the negative impact civilization has had on the environment Von Essen writes:  ‚ÄúA vision evolved that a spiritual bond with the natural world can be a potent path toward environmental healing. That vision, undoubtedly shared by many, has taken shape in this book.‚Äù

Von Essen, a retired oncologist, uses the book to explore “the roads and byways of mystical experiences as they relate to our evolutionary, biological and psychological connection with nature.”

And Von Essen does this well. He uses liberal doses of poetry from Emerson, Longfellow and Whitman, among others, and the philosophical musings of psychologist William James. Hard data from research by respected scientists reinforces his point, and personal anecdotes about ecstatic experiences in the wild fill out the book.

Von Essen encourages readers to commune with nature through what he dubs the “hunter’s trance.” He writes: “The hunter’s trance is a total mental and physical concentration whereby extraneous signals internal or external are quenched or diverted, enabling the psyche of the hunter to perceive his quarry and its world with a supernatural alertness. The merging of the world into the mind allows the subject to experience a comprehension that extends beyond the everyday dimensions of perception.” This is prudent advice for escaping all the “white noise” in this febrile world that keeps us from a true meditative sensibility.

Von Essen is a veteran world traveler and explorer with many exotic locales on his resume. Provincial in my own travels for lack of funds, time or ambition, I couldn’t help but wonder if it’s possible to experience some of what Von Essen felt on a verdant part of Highland Avenue rather than the Himalayas.

Still, the book is written in a very accessible manner, with pertinent selections of poetry, philosophy and more included. In a way Von Essen mourns how far we have moved away from our primitive selves and our consequent divorce from nature. Von Essen uses a selection of William Wordsworth‚Äôs famous poem, ‚ÄúLines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey‚Äù  to convey this sentiment:

“For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes
The still sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh or grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue. And I have felt a presence…

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and living air,
And the blue sky, and the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of thought.
And rolls all things…

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
Of all my moral being.”

Von Essen wants society to reconnect with the wonders of the natural world. He hopes we will realize what we have missed and what we will miss, and that this realization will inspire us to stop the rapid destruction of our environment.