Field Studies Sanctuary
Books
This curated collection is born from the Spiraling Into Source journey — books that nourish the soul, awaken remembrance, and inspire healing. Explore sacred reads on ancestral wisdom, food-as-medicine, spiritual growth, and Earth-honoring practices. Each title is chosen to support your path inward and outward.
SPIRALING INTO SOURCE
A Sacred Journey of Remembering, Ritual, and Rooted Healing
Spiraling Into Source, by Shannon Reed, is a living invitation to remember who you are and why your soul chose to be here — in this life, at this time, on this Earth. Part memoir, part spiritual guide, and part love song to the Earth, this book gently leads readers through an unfolding journey of healing, remembrance, and reconnection.
Written with fierce tenderness, Shannon offers a path forward for those seeking to reclaim their truth, reconnect with the land, and remember who they are beneath the noise of the world. Organized in spirals rather than chapters, the text mirrors the nonlinear nature of healing, weaving in ancestral wisdom, plant medicine, sacred rituals, and embodied practices for soul-deep transformation.
Whether you are just beginning your spiritual path or returning home to it, this book is a companion for the inward journey — rooted in love, integrity, and liberation. This is a journey of sacred remembrance — unfolding in spirals, like all things rooted in Earth and soul.
Coming Fall 2025
Reading Recommendations From Spiraling Into Source
Each spiral within Spiraling Into Source offers two streams of nourishment: core spiritual and energetic texts that ground the journey, and “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” selections that explore healing through food, ritual, and ancestral wisdom. These paired reading paths invite both soul and body into remembrance — honoring the sacred in story, sustenance, and self.
Core Recommendations
Spiral One: The Voice Within · Intuition, Inner Knowing, Sacred Trust
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer – A poetic interweaving of Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, encouraging a reciprocal relationship with the natural world.
The Four Sacred Gifts by Dr. Anita L. Sanchez – Offers four guiding principles from Indigenous elders worldwide to help navigate life’s challenges with grace and resilience.
Voices of Fire: Reweaving the Sacred Hoop by Linda Hogan – Essays and poems exploring our spiritual and physical connections to Earth.
Spiral Two: Grief as Portal, Not Prison · Loss, Love, Sacred Surrender
The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martín Prechtel – The healing power of grief through Mayan teachings, showing how grief and praise are inseparable.
The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller – A soulful guide to transformational grief rooted in ritual and ancestral memory.
It’s OK That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine – A compassionate disruption of the modern grief narrative, honoring pain without the need to fix it.
Spiral Three: Ancestral Echoes & Healing The Lineage · Lineage, Inheritance, Sacred Repair
The Healing Wisdom of Africa by Malidoma Patrice Somé – A deep dive into West African spiritual traditions, community, and soul repair.
Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta – Indigenous wisdom and global systems reframed through storytelling and relational knowledge.
Ancestral Medicine by Daniel Foor – A practical guide to ancestral reconnection and ritual with cultural sensitivity and care.
Spiral Four: The Divine Feminine Awakens · Reclamation, Intuition, Fierce Grace
Sacred Woman by Queen Afua – A transformative guide to spiritual and physical health rooted in African traditions.
If Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie – A soulful invitation to feminine power through myth, land, and belonging.
The Crone by Barbara G. Walker – Reclaims the Crone archetype as a source of wisdom and unapologetic feminine truth.
Spiral Five: Menopause and the Wild Woman’s Rite of Passage · Liberation, Embodiment, Inner Fire
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés – Myths and stories revealing the power of the wild woman archetype.
The Galveston Diet by Mary Claire Haver – Science-backed nutritional wisdom for hormonal shifts.
New Menopausal Years by Susun S. Weed – A herbalist’s guide to menopause as spiritual and physical initiation.
Spiral Six: Tools As Mirrors – The Living Altar · Intention, Presence, Sacred Simplicity
Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé – A spiritual memoir and initiation into Dagara cosmology and ritual.
Earth Path by Starhawk – A guide to Earth-based ritual, activism, and sacred ecology.
Bowl of Light: Ancestral Wisdom from a Hawaiian Shaman by Hank Wesselman (in collaboration with Hale Makua of Hawaii) – An invitation to awaken inner light, simplicity, and ancestral presence through the teachings of Hawaiian spirituality.
Spiral Seven: Remembering Through the Body · Movement, Breath, and the Language of Earth
Wisdom of the Body Moving by Linda Hartley – A somatic invitation into embodied healing and breathwork.
Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World by Serene Jones – A moving exploration of creativity, vulnerability, and grace as everyday ceremony in the face of chaos and uncertainty.
The Practice of Dream Healing by Edward Tick – Dreamwork, myth, and ritual as portals to ancestral memory.
The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche – A sensual, sacred translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.
Spiral Eight: Plant Medicines and Food as Sacred Communion · Nourishment, Ancestral Wisdom, Ritual Eating
Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez (Zapotec & Ch’orti’ Maya) – A powerful and necessary book centering Indigenous science, land restoration, and climate justice through a deeply relational lens.
The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook by James Green – A welcoming, hands-on guide to crafting plant medicines.
Sacred Plant Initiations by Carole Guyett – Ritual connection with plant spirits and medicine as ceremony.
Spiral Nine: Consciousness Beyond the 3D · Quantum Seeds
The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot – A mind-expanding exploration of quantum reality and perception.
Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza – Bridging neuroscience and energy work to unlock human potential.
Original Instructions edited by Melissa Nelson – Indigenous teachings for relational, sustainable living in a changing world.
Spiral Ten: The House of Mirrors · Life Reflects You
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz – Four sacred principles to live by, rooted in Toltec tradition.
Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach – A heart-centered invitation to meet yourself with presence and compassion.
Earth and Spirit by Indigenous Leaders – Teachings on land, soul, and ancestral wisdom across traditions.
Spiral Eleven: Creativity as Ceremony · Art as Expression, Life as Offering
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert – Trusting creativity as a living relationship with the sacred unknown.
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – A spiritual path to creative recovery and expression.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott – Raw, real reflections on writing and the courage to show up imperfectly.
Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown – Also appears here for its radical invitation to shape-shift and co-create.
Spiral Twelve: Spiraling Into Source · The Infinite Journey Home
What We Sow by Jennifer Jewell – Gardening as prayer and planetary care.
The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram – A poetic, ecological reclaiming of perception.
The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo – A daily companion for the soul’s spiral path.
Held by the Land: A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness by Leigh Joseph (Squamish First Nation) – Rooted in land, ceremony, and respect, this guide reconnects readers to traditional plant knowledge as a form of spiritual and ecological belonging.
Where to Find These Books
We invite you to support the brilliant authors featured in Spiraling Into Source by sourcing their books in ways that reflect the values of this project:
Shop local. Ask your neighborhood bookstore to order titles for you. They often love to help!
Use IndieBound.org to find independent bookstores near you or to order directly online.
Explore BIPOC-owned bookshops such as Semicolon Bookstore, Loyalty Bookstores, or The Saltwater Bookshop. Or – better still – from Helena’s, Montana Book Company.
Order directly from authors whenever possible to ensure they receive the most support.
Reciprocity begins with how we invest our energy and resources.
Each book is an offering, a thread in the greater weaving of wisdom, healing, and ancestral return. May they nourish your journey as they have nourished ours.
Let Food Be Thy Medicine Recommendations
Spiral One: The Voice Within
The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz – A poetic and practical guide to microbial alchemy and ancestral kitchen practices.
Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul by Deborah Kesten – Explores spiritual nutrition and sacred eating through cross-cultural, heart-centered perspectives.
The First Forty Days by Heng Ou – Revives postpartum nourishment traditions with reverence for ritual and healing.
Food Rules by Michael Pollan – Simple, timeless truths that reconnect us with ancestral eating wisdom.
Spiral Two: Grief as Portal, Not Prison
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – Illuminates how trauma is stored and healed through body-based nourishment.
My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem – Healing ancestral trauma through somatic and soulful presence.
Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith – A chakra-rooted map that bridges emotional eating and energetic healing.
Wisdom of the Body by Sherwin Nuland – Celebrates the body’s own divine intelligence and capacity to self-heal.
When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté – Illuminates the connections between suppressed emotion, illness, and nourishment.
Spiral Three: Ancestral Echoes & Healing The Lineage
Sacred Instructions by Sherri Mitchell (Penobscot Nation) – Though not a food book per se, it holds teachings on balance, sustenance, and the nourishment of cultural wisdom and collective healing.
It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn – Acknowledges inherited trauma and how it affects food and body connection.
The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Well by Chelsey Luger & Thosh Collins (Lakota/Anishinaabe & Acoma/Haudenosaunee) – Embodied Indigenous practices for healing, food, movement, and ceremony.
Decolonizing Trauma Work by Renee Linklater – Indigenous healing practices that center story, sovereignty, and sacred food.
Honoring the Medicine by Kenneth Cohen – Deep reverence for traditional healing, including food as sacrament.
Spiral Four: The Divine Feminine Awakens
The Sacred Kitchen by Robin & Jon Robertson – Food as prayer, presence, and energy.
Feeding the Soul by Tabitha Brown – Joyful, plant-based recipes infused with wisdom and grace.
Whole Detox by Deanna Minich – Colorful, chakra-based healing through food and intention.
Clean Soups by Rebecca Katz – Broths and soups for nervous system support and feminine restoration.
Divine Nourishment by Mary Lane – Explores emotional and spiritual connections to food through feminine archetypes and seasonal cycles.
Spiral Five: Menopause and the Wild Woman’s Rite of Passage
The Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein – Reclaims intuitive eating as sacred practice.
The Mystic Cookbook by Denise & Meadow Linn – Blends food, frequency, and personal ritual.
Sweetening the Pill by Holly Grigg-Spall – Explores hormonal sovereignty and natural cycles.
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen – Stories of healing shared through food and presence.
Eating in the Light of the Moon by Anita Johnston – A soulful journey through feminine hunger and sacred nourishment.
Spiral Six: Tools As Mirrors – The Living Altar
Whole Food Cooking Every Day by Amy Chaplin – Nourishment rooted in rhythm, reverence, and real ingredients.
The Mind–Gut Connection by Emeran Mayer – The science behind intuition and gut intelligence.
Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm, Clear Mind by Kate O’Donnell – Ayurvedic cooking for spiritual clarity.
Plant–Based Buddha Bowls by Kelli Foster – Intention-filled meals for mindful nourishment.
Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? by Mark Hyman – A holistic map for choosing vitality-centered foods.
Spiral Seven: Remembering Through the Body
The Herban Alchemist by Tonya Papanikolov – Plant-based rituals, elixirs, and seasonal soul food.
Plant Spirit Healing by Pam Montgomery – Deepens the soul–food connection through energetic communion.
The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock – A guide to kitchen magic and intuitive cooking.
Alchemy of Herbs by Rosalee de la Forêt – Folk healing through heart-centered recipes and plant wisdom.
Initiated by Amanda Yates Garcia – Memoir-meets-spellbook connecting food, ritual, and transformation.
Spiral Eight: Plant Medicines and Food as Sacred Communion
A Mind of Your Own Kitchen by Justine Sanchez – Rooted in nourishment and herbal wisdom, with a focus on reclaiming sovereignty in the kitchen through healing foods and rituals.
The Ayurvedic Self-Care Handbook by Sarah Kucera – Rituals and recipes for seasonal alignment and intuitive nourishment.
The Kitchen Mystic by Mary Hayes Grieco – Sacred reflections on food, faith, and the everyday altar.
Good Enough by Leanne Brown – Soulful, practical meals to restore dignity and pleasure.
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh – Zen mindfulness for every sacred bite.
Spiral Nine: Consciousness Beyond the 3D
The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman – Restoring pre-colonial foodways as acts of reclamation and memory.
Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz – Fermentation as microbial liberation and ancestral tradition.
Decolonize Your Diet by Luz Calvo & Catriona Rueda Esquibel – Food as cultural resistance and sacred identity.
The Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther – Earth-honoring, slow, seasonal traditions in the kitchen.
Black Food edited by Bryant Terry – Celebrates Black foodways through essays, poetry, recipes, and soul.
Spiral Ten: The House of Mirrors
The Everyday Ayurveda Guide to Self-Care by Kate O’Donnell – Daily rhythms of nourishment and balance.
Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford – A cross-cultural compendium of nutrition and ancient wisdom.
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay – Not a cookbook, but a profound reminder to find nourishment in joy.
The Slow Down Diet by Marc David – Encourages mindful eating as a path to liberation and wholeness.
Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey – Food for the soul through rest, reflection, and radical care.
Spiral Eleven: Creativity as Ceremony
Sacred Cocoa by Christine Olivia Hernandez – A ceremonial guide to cacao and creativity.
In the Flo by Alisa Vitti – Cyclical living, food, and energy for those tuned into their feminine rhythms.
Queer Magic by Tomas Prower – Culinary rituals and magical nourishment across queer cultural lineages.
Kitchen Witchery by Laurel Woodward – Cooking as sacred spellwork with seasonal guidance.
Blissful Basil by Ashley Melillo – A plant-based celebration of comfort foods, written with heart, intention, and healing in mind – aligning with creativity and ceremony.
Spiral Twelve: Spiraling Into Source
The Spirit of Food edited by Leslie Leyland Fields – Faith-based reflections on food and belief.
The Healing Kitchen by Alaena Haber & Sarah Ballantyne – Recipes rooted in gut-healing and food as remembrance.
Gather by Sofia Minson – Indigenous food, art, and tradition in a visually stunning format.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat – The intuitive magic behind food preparation and elemental cooking.
Feast: Food of the Islamic World by Anissa Helou – Cultural celebration and ancestral stories through shared meals.