Excerpts
"I am not from anywhere. I am of the rivers. I am of the mountains. Of the hollows. The animals who have made me. I am of the horse. The dog. I am of the wild."
"Wildness can heal, but it can also teach. I have come to know this world in many ways. The wisdom of wild things being one."
"If there were gods for wild things or any things, they live in those hues."
"My greatest fear has always been that I would become a man afraid to be himself."
"To be wild in this moment, to be caught in the primal stare between predator and prey meant navigating a millennium of evolution, of time, instinct, and discipline to confront the animal within and the fluidity of what it means to be human."
Advanced Praise
"What happens when we move too far from nature, from our natural selves? What is the price of urbanization? In his memoir, Weidner traces his roots from the deep hollows of Ohio to the California coast, an extraordinary journey of the soul and body. His connection to equines is both his salvation and his downfall. There is a wildness in all living creatures, and in that recognition, in that twinning of souls, there is also a kind of redemption."
“In straight-forward prose, Weidner captures the time and space that built his character. His story is one of rewilding: breaking free of the stories we tell ourselves that, if not liberated, become a destiny. Brilliantly, in the unfolding of the moments that have constructed the man, we witness the process of the author himself becoming more free and more disentangled from his past. In essence, we bear witness to the rewilding of the author by the end of the memoir. Like his prose, the process is brutal, yet beautiful in its truthfulness and wildness. In the landscape of Weidner's memoir, truth is wildness and only in the wild is there truth.”
"The Gods of Wild Things is a profound journey into wilderness within, guided by the ancestral teachings of Nature, that resonate deeply with the primal instincts rooted in our beings. Ned invites us, and at times compels us, to cross threshold after threshold through intense rites of passage, transforming our understanding of existence through the rawness of his authentic experience. This book is a must-read for those yearning to grow towards and into the real self, who thrives in the untamed, and oftentimes, uncharted territory within, where the essence of our humanity is both celebrated and put to the test. Get ready to witness your own reflection in the wise trees who stand as ancient sentinels, singing rivers who echo your innermost thoughts, in the wild horses who will remind you of your birth right to freedom, and in the beauty and heartache of the human experience that weaves itself into the natural world, beckoning you to face your deepest fears and highest aspirations."
- Jennifer Olds, author of The Half-Acre Ranch, Rodeo and the Mimosa Tree, and Good Night, Henry.
“In straight-forward prose, Weidner captures the time and space that built his character. His story is one of rewilding: breaking free of the stories we tell ourselves that, if not liberated, become a destiny. Brilliantly, in the unfolding of the moments that have constructed the man, we witness the process of the author himself becoming more free and more disentangled from his past. In essence, we bear witness to the rewilding of the author by the end of the memoir. Like his prose, the process is brutal, yet beautiful in its truthfulness and wildness. In the landscape of Weidner's memoir, truth is wildness and only in the wild is there truth.”
- Ashley Delaune, retired professor of English, co-founder of Kumankaya Healing Center, Curandera.
"The Gods of Wild Things is a profound journey into wilderness within, guided by the ancestral teachings of Nature, that resonate deeply with the primal instincts rooted in our beings. Ned invites us, and at times compels us, to cross threshold after threshold through intense rites of passage, transforming our understanding of existence through the rawness of his authentic experience. This book is a must-read for those yearning to grow towards and into the real self, who thrives in the untamed, and oftentimes, uncharted territory within, where the essence of our humanity is both celebrated and put to the test. Get ready to witness your own reflection in the wise trees who stand as ancient sentinels, singing rivers who echo your innermost thoughts, in the wild horses who will remind you of your birth right to freedom, and in the beauty and heartache of the human experience that weaves itself into the natural world, beckoning you to face your deepest fears and highest aspirations."
- Yamin Chehin L.Ac Dipl O.M., Council Trainer, Rites of Passage Guide.
