Spirited Nature is the evocative tale the author's, Simon Gordon Wheeler, path of learning to connect with the nature. The tale takes us to a small Irish farm where Wheeler joins his partner. The events that occur would be considered ″common″ events in virtually any rural environment – something in itself which is a vanishing feature of ″modern civilization.″ One of the things that signifies the book is Wheeler's attempts at quieting his mind and ego to allow himself to be part of this world around him rather than an actor upon it. Other reviewers have referred to the path that Wheeler follows as ″transformative.″ I am not sure that is the word I would use. He was in a real sense returning to a time when humans actually listened to the world in which they lived, and realized that the so-called ″natural″ world is enspirited. In many ways, what Wheeler shares is the peeling away of the layers of separation that have become part and parcel of humans entrapped in this technological world, and then connecting with the enspirited world around him. Wheeler's interpretation of those experiences could be framed a number of different ways, but he conveys old archetypes in some regard. Regardless of how one tries to characterize some of the spirits of nature, we can generalize this conceptualization to working with the forces of the land rather than against them. He also connects deeply with the creatures for whom he is guardian. This too is a process of listening and working with them, rather than trying to control them. His experience brings an appreciation of the wisdom and lives of what we too often assume are ″simple″ beings. Regardless whether one identifies the book as spiritual or not, it is beautifully and colorfully written. His writing paints pictures in one's mind. The book is a good read from both regards: the story of his personal connection with the enspirited world; or as a wonderfully descriptive writing of rural Ireland. ~ Rowan Wolf, Journal of Uncommon Thought

Like many others nowadays, Simon Gordon Wheeler in Spirited Nature: Healing Adventures in Rural Ireland (O-Books, UK £11.95 / US $19.95, March 2014), echoes the oft-quoted words of Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), the French philosopher, scientist and Jesuit priest: ‘We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.’ Half a dozen pages from the end of his book, Simon says: ‘We are spiritual beings trying to be human, not human beings trying to be better spirits.’ This is the essence of what he has to say. If the book had been a typical memoir or travelogue about a townie moving from the UK to live in rural Ireland, it would surely have been entitled A Mouse in the Toaster (taken from an amusing incident which Simon describes). But it is far from that particular genre, although the first part of it is an entertaining and acutely observed evocation, for the uninitiated, of life in the Irish countryside, and Simon’s intrepid dealings with chickens, ducks, goats and the neighbours. An English and drama teacher and a counsellor, Simon gives up his comfortable middle-class life in England to be with an old girlfriend, Sally, who has a smallholding in Wicklow, when she falls ill. Like his great-grandfather, Simon is a dowser and his mother is a healer, so he is primed in some ways for his ‘healing adventures’. Through tales of healing, mediumship, dowsing and shamanism, Spirited Nature recounts Simon’s interaction with various kinds of spiritual energy and how he reconciles living with equal ease in the material world and the world of the spirit. In the latter, he discovers many ‘sub-worlds’. We can see how the book’s title works on two levels: the spirits in Nature, and the acquisition of the author’s own ‘spirited nature’. ~ Geoff Ward, http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/16927299-healing-tales-from-rural-ireland

Simon Wheeler’s book is an inspiration. It has staggering knowledge and vision. I feel as if every cell in my body has been profoundly affected. This magnificent book is full of mystery. I strongly urge everyone to read it. ~ Brian Blessed, actor, director, mountaineer, explorer, adventurer and author.

Simon’s beautifully written tale is breathtakingly evocative of rural Irish life – the sounds, smells, colours, pace, and bucolic atmosphere are lovingly summoned to vibrant life on the page. Yet this is no ordinary tale of pastoral living. It is Simon’s shamanic encounters with Herne and other denizens of liminal realms, and the deceptive ease with which he walks between the worlds that makes this a remarkable account of a life-changing experience, one that forces us to question our own relationships with other beings and the very nature of reality. ~ Grahame Gardner, President of the British Society of Dowsers.