Upcoming events on The Body Leads the Way
Please join me and the poet Leland Seese for a conversation on Sunday, March 2, about The Body Leads the Way: Ritual, Liminality, and Imagination. We'll be talking about the intersection of ritual, liminal moments, art, and imagination in Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, animist, and secular traditions. Please come and join the conversation.
WHEN: Sunday, March 2, 5 p.m. wine and cheese reception followed by 6 to 7:30 p.m. book conversation
WHERE: Mt. Baker Park Presbyterian Church 3201 Hunter Blvd SOUTH Seattle, WA 98144
Reviews
Excerpt: "The author describes her book as "an active intuition going for a walk"; Potter's lyrical essays will make readers want to join the walk, too…A poetic and inspiring invitation to find ways of dwelling in meaning and joy."
Forthcoming review from D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer for Midwest Book Review: "These are essays that enlighten, gently nudge readers into self-analysis, and promise enchantment for a wide range of audiences, from those involved in the sociology of other cultures and rituals to readers interested in weaving spiritual threads into their own lives…With its sense of wonder, personal engagement, and greater participation in collective understanding and connection, The Body Leads the Way is nothing short of outstandingly thought-provoking, intimate, and heartfelt."
Endorsements
This book is a wonder. Potter's dynamic interpretations of the relationships between ritual and liminality are boundary-blasting, widely, deeply learned, and blessedly accessible. She combines personal narrative with scholarly sources in ways that are profound, probing, delightful, and generously invitational. The Coda, "How to Wear a Prayer Shawl," the author's final gift to her readers, is alone worth the price of the book.
–Mary Farrell Bednarowski, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
With sensitivity and vibrancy throughout The Body Leads the Way, Potter entices us to dance with her through spaces between here and there, times between now and then, liminal experiences facilitated through unifying rituals. Traversing continents and cultures, she draws upon wisdom from world scriptures, classic sages, and contemporary scholarship as she delves into the seemingly inexpressible surplus of meaning afforded by communal practices and places. Consistently, she advances ritological studies through poetic descriptions of personal experiences and a robust exploration of relations between art and ritual.
–Joseph L. Price, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, Whittier College
Mary Potter invites her readers to cherish and explore rituals in their daily lives as embodied ways of thinking. Ritualizing leads to wholeness, an integration of body and mind. Her book is based on personal experiences and conceptual richness and leads the readers to a 'liminal life', the between of the world we live in and the world to become. In this fragmented, transitive era we need liminal leaders who offer us a way forward. As such, Mary Potter's book is a beacon, a sign of hope.
–Martin Hoondert is associate professor of Music, Religion and Ritual at the Department of Culture Studies, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (The Netherlands). He specializes in music and ritual, and his research focuses on death rituals and commemorative practices.