"Ginny Anderson is a sure-footed guide, not only to natural treasures in the Bay Area, but to the richness of our inner experience. Circling San Francisco Bay brings the outer and inner worlds together. It is a gift to the community of life and a valuable tool for deeper connection-a book that not only informs but also enchants." -Lauren deBoer, executive editor, EarthLight magazine "Shamanic naturalist Ginny Anderson takes us to seven sacred sites around San Francisco Bay to gain a better understanding of their connections, and ours, in the complex web of life. This is a celebration of our glorious bioregion, and our responsibility to it-and not a moment too soon." -M. Macha NightMare, priestess, ritualist, and author "Anderson shows us how to find these pillars of our paradise, as we come into a deeper and more spiritual bond with Mother Earth. A numinous, sentient work, and a signpost on the path to true joy in life." -Sandy Miranda, KPFA FM host/producer. "In Circling San Francisco Bay, a graceful meditation on reciprocity with the natural world, Ginny Anderson shows us that we need look no farther than our own Bay Area greenbelt for the balm that soothes the nerves and feeds the soul." -Lorraine Anderson, editor, Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature "Ginny Anderson's tour of Bay Area sacred mountains elicits the fragrance of native herbs, the sparkle of crystal rock outcroppings, and the wisdom of the natives who dwelled in this land we now call home. Circling offers its readers exercises to enhance their sensory awareness of specific sites - and pathways to greater methaphorical insights. At every stop, we read the voices of other Circling participants, telling how the wide vistas and meditations on nature's patterns have opened their souls to new understanding." -Debbie Mytels, Associate Director of Acterra: Action for a Sustainable Earth, and a participant in Circling the Bay 1991

In this visually rich, multigenerational lyric essay, Mary Ann Hogan reflects on a life of letters and her relationship to her late father, Bill Hogan, well-known literary editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, whom John Steinbeck once dubbed “an old and valued friend.” Circle Way is a bittersweet memoir of a father, daughter, and a prominent California family. Written in an evocative, expressionistic style, this work of creative nonfiction flutters somewhere between journalism and poetry. At the heart of the story, journalist Mary Ann Hogan grapples with identity, family, and the creative calling. Sifting through her father's notebooks after his death, Mary Ann discovers a man whose unrealized dreams echo her own. Eager to learn more about her family even as she wrestles with terminal illness, Mary Ann explores the fascinating cast of characters who were her forebearers. We meet the author’s great grandfather, an Oakland lumber baron who lost his fortune in the crash of ’29, and a great uncle who was sent to San Quentin for two deaths some say he may not have caused. Richly illustrated with Bill Hogan’s original sketches and watercolors, this poignant and absorbing tale is an immersive feast for anyone interested in literature, history, and the often-mysterious facets of family.

Inspiring accounts from renowned contemporary working shamans about their first moments of spiritual epiphany • With contributions by Sandra Ingerman, Hank Wesselman, John Perkins, Alberto Villoldo, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Tom Cowan, Lynn Andrews, Linda Star Wolf, and others • Also includes shamanic awakening experiences from those with unique shamanic paths--teachers, mothers, social workers, academics, and even rappers How does one receive the “call” to enter onto the shamanic path? What causes some people to change their safe, uneventful, and ordinary lives and start on a spiritual search? For many it is a singular instant, a flash when the mystical reveals itself and the person is drawn into the world of shamanic power. For a few, it is a more gradual awakening, filled with numinous events that build upon one another until the calling of the shamanic path can no longer be ignored. In this book of remarkable stories, we learn firsthand about the many different forms of the “aha” moment of shamanic awakening, whether they arise from ceremony, near-death experiences, dream messages, or entheogenic substances. We travel alongside Sandra Ingerman, Hank Wesselman, John Perkins, Alberto Villoldo, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Tom Cowan, Lynn Andrews, Linda Star Wolf, and other well-known shamanic practitioners as they begin their transformations into the prominent shamans we know them as. We experience the real-life shamanic epiphanies of those with unique shamanic paths--teachers, mothers, social workers, academics, healers, and even rappers who have all experienced a moment in time in which they were awakened and the shamanic path showed itself to them. As each of these unique and beautiful stories of unexpected realization, insight, and inspiration unfolds, we see how these single moments--usually entirely unexpected--are able to transform the individual’s life, clearing their vision and allowing a new consciousness to emerge. As a whole, this collection paints a breathtaking portrait of the intricacies of the shamanic path and the paradigm shift of which we all are part.