Author: Lynn White, Jr.

Cited by

• Annie Proulx (1)
  • IN: Barkskins (2016) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: In Antiquity every tree, every spring, every stream, every hill had its own genius loci, its guardian spirit. These spirits were accessible to men, but were very unlike men; centaurs, fauns, and mermaids show their ambivalence. Before one cut a tree, mined a mountain, or dammed a brook, it was important to placate the spirit in charge of that particular situation, and to keep it placated. By destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects.
    FROM: The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis, (1967), Article, US