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375 reviews for:
For Small Creatures Such as We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in Our Unlikely World
Sasha Sagan
4.11 AVERAGE
375 reviews for:
For Small Creatures Such as We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in Our Unlikely World
Sasha Sagan
4.11 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Antisemitism, Pregnancy
This is a beautiful book about finding ritual and meaning in our uncertain and seemingly meaningless world. The author incorporates wisdom from all cultures and religions, and paints a picture that makes me feel hopeful and inspired.
2.5 stars
Not for me, I think. I'm don't consider myself immersed in the spirituality of ritual and the natural world, but it doesn't seem particularly hard to find that connection? Space is vast, we are but mere micro-particles in the expanse of time, the flap of a butterfly's wing is meaningful, as is the coffee your spouse prepares you every morning, etcetcetc. Am I missing a bigger point here? There are some interesting bits about rituals across history and other religions and cultures. I admittedly was not very interested in the author's personal life (maybe I'm supposed to be because her father is Carl Sagan? idk), and there's a lot of that, including her very deep, everlasting love for her parents and husband. Which is sweet, but....why am I reading about it? My secondhand embarrassment spidey sense was tingling, at times.
Not for me, I think. I'm don't consider myself immersed in the spirituality of ritual and the natural world, but it doesn't seem particularly hard to find that connection? Space is vast, we are but mere micro-particles in the expanse of time, the flap of a butterfly's wing is meaningful, as is the coffee your spouse prepares you every morning, etcetcetc. Am I missing a bigger point here? There are some interesting bits about rituals across history and other religions and cultures. I admittedly was not very interested in the author's personal life (maybe I'm supposed to be because her father is Carl Sagan? idk), and there's a lot of that, including her very deep, everlasting love for her parents and husband. Which is sweet, but....why am I reading about it? My secondhand embarrassment spidey sense was tingling, at times.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Man, this book...
Sasha Sagan - yes, daughter of THAT Sagan - gives us a book that is simultaneously silly and light-hearted at some points, and then devastatingly sad and existential at others. She reflects on ritual, meaning, and life itself. Why do humans do the things we do? Why do we have rituals? Why do so many cultures and religions separated across a vast chasm of time share so many things in common? She explores these questions and more, with anecdotes from her own life and plenty of research into other religions and cultures throughout human history. From the changing of the seasons, to marriage and sex, to monthly rituals, to the book's closing chapter on death... she covers a lot of ground.
Sasha is herself secular, so she does not adhere to an organized religion - it seems fair to say that she is "spiritual," but in a secular way. Her spiritualism is rooted in an awe of the vast wonders of our universe, not worship of a particular deity. Yet she argues that ultimately, whether you're religious or not, science need not spoil our sense of wonder at the world and universe we inhabit - in fact, it can only enhance and enrich it.
There is one event that looms over the book - one event that the narrative circles back to again and again - and that is the death of her father, the beloved astronomer Carl Sagan. She was barely a teenager when this happened, and it became - as she herself acknowledges - the defining experience of her life. As someone who has loved Carl Sagan since I was myself a young teenager, the passages about his passing are simultaneously the most devastating and the most moving of the book.
Read this book, it will make you more appreciative of the beautiful texture of life, but be prepared for a serious feels trip.
Sasha Sagan - yes, daughter of THAT Sagan - gives us a book that is simultaneously silly and light-hearted at some points, and then devastatingly sad and existential at others. She reflects on ritual, meaning, and life itself. Why do humans do the things we do? Why do we have rituals? Why do so many cultures and religions separated across a vast chasm of time share so many things in common? She explores these questions and more, with anecdotes from her own life and plenty of research into other religions and cultures throughout human history. From the changing of the seasons, to marriage and sex, to monthly rituals, to the book's closing chapter on death... she covers a lot of ground.
Sasha is herself secular, so she does not adhere to an organized religion - it seems fair to say that she is "spiritual," but in a secular way. Her spiritualism is rooted in an awe of the vast wonders of our universe, not worship of a particular deity. Yet she argues that ultimately, whether you're religious or not, science need not spoil our sense of wonder at the world and universe we inhabit - in fact, it can only enhance and enrich it.
There is one event that looms over the book - one event that the narrative circles back to again and again - and that is the death of her father, the beloved astronomer Carl Sagan. She was barely a teenager when this happened, and it became - as she herself acknowledges - the defining experience of her life. As someone who has loved Carl Sagan since I was myself a young teenager, the passages about his passing are simultaneously the most devastating and the most moving of the book.
Read this book, it will make you more appreciative of the beautiful texture of life, but be prepared for a serious feels trip.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
A warm, open hearted and curious minded meditation on how amazing it is that we get to live our everyday lives. A good sacred text for secular people (and probably religious people too).
emotional
informative
inspiring
I wanted to pick this book up and compare it to The Power of Ritual by Casper Ter Kuile. Both books explore how non-religious people can create or adopt rituals to bring more meaning to their lives.
I really did enjoy both authors’ approaches but I especially liked the history and insight into other cultures that Sasha Sagan included. Reading her book gave me such an appreciation for the history of humankind and the awe-inspiring nature all around us. I loved reading about how her secular parents (astronomer Carl Sagan and writer/producer Ann Druyan) raised her and how, now that she’s a mother, she’s thinking about what kind of rituals to introduce to her daughter. I also liked the structure of the book and noted several ideas for incorporating daily, weekly, and monthly rituals into my life.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Whatever it is that we have yet to learn will be part of nature once we understand it. And when we do, I hope we can still feel wonder. In those revelations and the ways the randomness, the chance, the chaos sometimes, somehow works out. Still magical. Still beautiful.