Transcendentalism and the Cultivation of the Soul

Summary

A study of the spiritual practices developed by the nineteenth-century American Transcendentalist movement and a case for their necessity today.

"The stern old faiths have all pulverized," Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1860. "'Tis a whole population of gentlemen and ladies out in search of religions." Often seen as a mainspring of the nineteenth-century literary tradition and the preserve of New England intellectuals in retreat from society, American Transcendentalism is more accurately described as a religious movement. In Transcendentalism and the Cultivation of the Soul, Barry M. Andrews shows how Transcendentalists developed rich spiritual practices, nurtured their souls, and discovered the divine. The practices they adopted are common and simple—among them, keeping journals, contemplation, walking, reading, simple living, and conversation. As Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller, and others pursued meaningful and rewarding spiritual lives, they were inspired to fight for abolition, women's rights, and education reform. In approachable and accessible prose, Andrews uncovers a wealth of spiritual practices that are of particular value for today's spiritual seekers and religious liberals.