Grounded: A Journey into the Landscapes of Our Ancestors

From the author of The Oak Papers comes a beautiful meditation on how to foster a profound and healing spiritual communion with the natural world, exploring how the sacred can be accessed by looking to the past, to our ancestors and how they tread through their worlds.

“Canton's writing has an exquisite, somewhat dreamlike quality.”—Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees

When James Canton walked into Suffolk’s Lindsey Chapel, it was the beginning of what would become a new journey in his life—hours away from the bustling city of London and distant from the years in his early twenties when he traveled from Egypt to Argentina. Standing inside the quaint chapel, Canton realized that his past cosmopolitan desires had been replaced by an intense yearning to understand the history of the place he called home, a burning curiosity about the past and the spiritual ways and beliefs of the people who came before us.

In Grounded, Canton retraces his steps into the places where our ancestors have experienced profound emotion, otherwise known as numinous experiences, to help us better understand who we are. Through lyrical meditation, reflection, and a thoughtful consideration of the ways and beliefs of the people who came before us, Canton seeks to know what our ancestors considered to be human, and what lessons we can learn from them to find security in our contemporary selves. Steeped in literary and folklore references, Grounded is a powerful exploration of the power of nature to soothe, nourish, and inspire the human soul.

Canton’s personal pilgrimage uncovers the layers of meaning in the land around us:

• A Search for the Numinous: From a quiet chapel in Suffolk to the ancient stones of Wiltshire, Canton seeks the places where our ancestors felt a profound connection to the sacred.
• Ancestral Wisdom: What can the lives of hunter-gatherers and the first farmers teach us about belonging and security in the modern world?
• Prehistoric Britain: A thoughtful exploration of Neolithic monuments, Bronze Age rituals, and the deep history written into the British landscape.
• British Folklore and History: Discover a world steeped in folklore, from pagan rites and sacred fires to the stories of saints and martyrs that shape the land we walk today.

"To know what we are, and so how to behave and to thrive, we need to know where we've come from. Canton is an acute, gentle, companionable and elegaic guide through our past—and so through our present and future. He lets the land and our ancestors' bones speak. Their lessons could not be more urgent or exhilarating. You should join him in this sacramental journey." - Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild and Being a Human

“Written to quiet our stentorian age, Canton’s Grounded yearns for the solid and the sacred—the rushingly silent convergence of spirit and matter but also of ancient matter imbued with a timeless spirit.”  - Daniel Griffith, author of Dark Cloud Country

“Canton evokes moments of vivid experience with unshowy power.” - Wall Street Journal

“Intensely alive to the landscape; its pasts, people, and creatures.” - Robert Macfarlane, author of The Lost Words and Underland

“Canton’s writing has an exquisite, somewhat dreamlike quality.” - Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees

“Echoes of Walden” - Kirkus Reviews, on The Oak Papers

PRAISE FOR JAMES CANTON "Intensely alive to the landscape; its pasts, people and creatures" - Robert MacFarlane, author of The Lost Words and Landscapes

PRAISE FOR THE OAK PAPERS: “Nature-lovers will find Canton’s poetic tribute to be a treat.” - Publishers Weekly

"This is a profound meditation on the human need for connection with nature, as one man seeks solace beneath the boughs of an ancient oak tree. The tree and its surrounds come to life in shimmering detail, and Canton's writing has an exquisite, somewhat dreamlike quality" - Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees, on The Oak Papers

“Canton’s gift for vivid description makes this journey—this excavation of place and purpose—a captivating and ultimately anchoring one. Grounded is a joyful peer beneath the surface to where our own roots channel those of ancient time: it has brought new meaning to my everyday rituals of walking and seeing.” - Matt Collins, author of Forest: Walking Among Trees

“A vivid exploration to the hearth-heart of the sacred places of our past – brimming with warmth and gentleness.” - Keggie Carew, author of Beastly and DADLAND