Wild Rituals: 10 Lessons Animals Can Teach Us About Connection, Community, and Ourselves

by Caitlin O'Connell

Overview

Wild Rituals explores how embracing the rituals of the animal kingdom can make us more connected to ourselves, nature, and others.

Behavioral ecologist and world-renowned elephant scientist Caitlin O'Connell dives into the rituals of elephants, apes, zebras, rhinos, lions, whales, flamingos, and many more.

This fascinating read helps us better understand how we are similar to wild animals, and encourages us to find healing, self-awareness, community, and self-reinvention.

• Filled with fascinating stories on 10 different animal rituals
• Features original full-color photos, from the Caribbean to the African savannah
• Demonstrates the profound way we are similar to the wild creatures who captivate us

Wild Rituals journeys into the desert, tundra, and rainforest to reveal the importance of rituals and how they can help us find a simpler, more meaningful way of living.

In a culture of technology where we find ourselves living at a greater distance from nature and each other, this remarkable book taps into the unspoken languages of creatures around the world.

• Caitlin O'Connell is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and an award-winning author who spent more than 30 years studying animals in the wild.
• Makes a great gift for anyone curious about nature, animals, and how humans compare to and interact with both
• Add it to the shelf with books like Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina; Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal; The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion—Surprising Observations of a Hidden World by Peter Wohlleben; and The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452184852
Publisher:	Chronicle Prism
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	669,438
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Caitlin O'Connell, PhD, is a world-renowned elephant scientist on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. She is also an associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed The Elephant's Secret Sense, among other award-winning books. Her book Elephant Don is the subject of the award-winning Smithsonian documentary, Elephant King. O'Connell is also the cofounder and CEO of the nonprofit organization, Utopia Scientific. She has taught science writing for Stanford University and the New York Times.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Lost Art of Ritual 1

1 Greeting Rituals: Spit, Snot, and Other Social Grease 17

2 Group Rituals: The Power of the Collective 31

3 Courtship Rituals: Outlandish Attractions 47

4 Gifting Rituals: Shiny Objects, Flowers, and Dead Birds 63

5 Spoken Rituals: Rumbling, Roaring, and Yodeling 77

6 Unspoken Rituals: The Gravity of Proximity, Postures, and Expression 97

7 Play Rituals: Catch a Lion by Its Tail 117

8 Grieving Rituals: Ritualized Healing through Time 133

9 Rituals of Renewal: Spring Gleaning and Other Rhythms in Nature 151

10 Rituals of Travel & Migration: Forest Bathing and a Journey to Oneself 165

Notes 185

Acknowledgments 219

About the Author 223

Editorial Reviews

"The author has spent more than 3 decades studying animals in their natural habitats and has organized this book into 10 lessons that animals can teach us - including lessons on grieving, gifting, play, and greeting. We found it fascinating, inspiring, and eye-opening." -Greatist

"Entertaining and educational.. Wild Rituals is a fluid read, filled with personal stories and examples of human and animal behaviors witnessed during O'Connell's travels and studies across several continents." -Animal Welfare Institute

"Nature is heavily ritualized. Caitlin O'Connell provides a delightful tour of the animal kingdom to help us discover all of the rituals in fights, play, courtship, greetings, and mourning. As for us, rituals make social life more predictable and easier to manage." -FRANS DE WAAL, New York Times bestselling author of Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves

"In this beautiful, sweeping book that encompasses animals from insects to humans, Caitlin O'Connell not only affirms our profound connections to the rest of the natural world; she also, at a time of intense division and strife, importantly highlights how, through ritual, we can connect again with each other." -SY MONTGOMERY, New York Times Bestselling author of The Soul of An Octopus and How to Be a Good Creature

"Caitlin O'Connell takes a fascinating look at rituals, both human and non-human, and at the deep ties that link them." -ELIZABETH KOLBERT, Pulitzer Prize Winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Sixth Extinction

"Riveting, informative, and hopeful. Every page has some wondrous new insight that moves or astonishes. Caitlin O'Connell writes with such abundant curiosity and passion that leaves us transformed, with new hope for the way rituals might lead us to a deeper, more meaningful, and ultimately, more humane way of being. A must-read, especially in these challenging times." -JENNIFER ACKERMAN, New York Times bestselling author of The Bird Way and The Genius of Birds

"A colorful combination of scientific discovery, and storytelling, Wild Rituals shows us how an array of animal behaviors can de-escalate violence and make life run smoother and safer-and how nonhuman animal rituals resonate with our own." -JONATHAN BALCOMBE, New York Times bestselling author of Super Fly and What a Fish Knows

"The deep similarities between humans and the other animals are not just about genetics. They're also about shared emotions, and similar aspects of cultures. Here, behavior expert and master storyteller Caitlin O'Connell illuminates the vast but little-known realm of rituals. And she does so beautifully in this solid and delightfully written book. " -CARL SAFINA, New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Words and Becoming Wild

From the Publisher