Shiva: The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy

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A study of Shiva — the Hindu god of destruction and renewal, asceticism and ecstasy — by an ethnobotanist who traces his presence from the Himalayas to the roots of European folklore. Storl writes as both scholar and devotee.

Shiva: The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy explores the mythology, iconography, and living worship of Shiva across the Indian subcontinent — the cosmic dancer, the yogi of the cremation grounds, the lord of plants and animals. Drawing on his fieldwork and his background in anthropology and ethnobotany, Storl follows the threads connecting Shiva to older shamanic and nature-based traditions, including parallels he finds in pre-Christian Europe. The book moves between Hindu scripture, ritual, and the author's own encounters, presenting one of the world's enduring archetypes of wildness and transformation.

• Author: Wolf-Dieter Storl
• Publisher: Inner Traditions
• Published: 2004

About the Author — Wolf-Dieter Storl

Cultural anthropologist, ethnobotanist, and author who has taught and conducted fieldwork across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Known for his writing on plant lore, folk traditions, and the spiritual dimensions of nature, he brings a scholar's range and a practitioner's sympathy to subjects spanning herbalism, mythology, and indigenous cosmology.