One Is the Sun

By Patricia Nell Warren

Book Overview

Earth Thunder had fled the ruins of a Mayan temple-school in Yucatan, survivor of a hideous massacre of learned priestesses who had fought to defend their freedom from the white man's church rule. All her life she had journeyed north in search of people who wanted to know Mother Earth and her interlocking Circles of Life. From a bustling city in Europe, a noblewoman sent her family across the ocean, to renew a spiritual link with the Native American people. To her thirteen-year-old grandniece Helle she entrusted a tiny globe, symbol of Freia, as her own ancestors had called the Earth. In her quest to honor Life, and share her knowledge, Earth Thunder freed a slave girl who would become her apprentice, River Singing. Golden-haired Helle also became Earth Thunder's apprentice. Together, the two young women helped build a new temple-school in the Deer Lodge Valley of Montana. There they put into action the old count that teaches of Life: One is the Sun, Two is the Earth . . . Five is humanity, self and spirit. And, when danger threatened -- from a marauding highwayman and a hellfire preacher -- one of the last centers of ancient learning and healing in the West would fight bravely, and leave its mark in Time . . . .

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345370422
• ISBN13: 9780345370426
• Release Date: March 1991
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 535 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A Fascinating Blend of Cultures

When I saw Patricia Nell Warren at a reading in 1979 she said she was going to Montana to write this book. When I finally picked it up I was amazed. I would have thought that a story of a Mayan holy woman and European American Pagans sharing their traditions with each other would have been completely fictional, but the author tells us that this novel is based on stories in her family about her ancestors. This is hidden history about people that might have been forgotten if Patricia Nell Warren hadn't told us about them. I also appreciated her drawings at the head of every chapter. It just shows how much love and care went into this book.

Seeing the world through another's eyes.

This book is both engrossing and poignant, as it tells the story of a Medicine Woman and her tribe of outcasts and misfits, and their struggles to live a simple, but spiritual, life in the "Old West". It's been a long time since I've read a book that connected me so strongly with its characters; who became life-like as the story unfolded. In addition, my eyes were opened to the possibility of what life in the "Old West" might have been like for anyone other than a white man. Its message of courage, strength, hope and endurance is a timeless one that serves as a reminder of the enduring quality of the human spirit.

compelling

I read this book years ago, and am glad to see it is being reissued. I loaned my copy out to one too many friends, and am pleased to know I can order a new copy . A MUST read for anyone interested in the history of what (may have) really happened in the West.

This is an excellent book!

This book is an amazing and powerful story about women and the Native American Culture. Anyone wanting to read a positive up-lifting story about women should read this incredible book! I have shared this book with many of my friends who have in turn shared it with their friends. A definite must read!

excellent historical fiction

This book is very different from Patricia Nell Warren's other books but that doesn't make it any less appealing. The detail of the main character's life is well researched. This book is a must for anyone who has read Warren's other books and for anyone interested in early North American history.