The World Turtle is Dying - A New Take on an Old Myth - Writing Life

An Angry Earth, the latest book by author and illustrator Michael Poeltl (pronounced pur-tel – Yes, sounds just like: turtle) is a picture book which borrows from the myth of the world turtle. This story has several origins, touching multiple continents, but perhaps the best known is the Hindu telling of the gigantic turtle who supports the world on its shell.

Poeltl borrows the myth in order to get his point across – that the world is alive. Just as a living, breathing turtle carrying the world upon its shell, the earth too is alive, and the turtle acts as the metaphor.

Poeltl goes on to briefly explain how the world is alive and functions as a single entity supporting multiple species which each plays its role in sustaining the delicate balance the earth has created for us all.

So, the question he asks the reader is; “if you could not swim, would you kill the turtle whose back you lived on to live more comfortably?”.  Seems a no-brainer, right? Why would you kill the very thing which sustains you? And so, with a rather graphic illustration he captures the ugly side of man essentially sawing the head off a turtle.

Of course anyone can see the metaphor here; as intended. Poeltl is bringing our attention to the theft of our earth’s natural resources, the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting pollution which is choking the very life out of our delicate ecosystem.

So the answer is, Yes. Would we kill the turtle (the Earth) to further our greed? Absolutely, Yes! And climate change is our proof. Of course the Pacific plastic patch is an excellent reminder as well. Our disappearing rain forests. Our decimated coral reefs. There are numerous examples of man’s footprint on this earth, and with so many being negative, Poeltl decided to bring the story back in a picture book which is illustrated in pen and ink to depict the violent end which awaits us all if we continue on our path of self-destruction in the name of greed.

This cool for kids and parents’ rendition of a ‘tell it like it is’ environmentally-friendly story will offer a blunt and no-holds barred example of what happens when the earth says: “ENOUGH.”

Whether you read it to your kids or just keep it for yourself, it is sure to leave an impression. Poeltl takes the scared straight approach with An Angry Earth and says: “if a few kids get upset by it, maybe those kids will pick up the trash others are throwing down in an effort to reduce the damage we’re doing to Mother Earth. Maybe then the Earth won’t hate them.”

Spirit Science, it's all about the science of your spirit

Book one of the Hello Me series

If you’re involved in spiritual pursuits you’ve likely heard the term: spirit science in recent years. It’s a relatively new term for a growing community of people dedicated to proving we are more than our five senses allow us to grasp; that we are spirit first. More often than not this research takes place in labs. Yes, science labs; thus the term; spirit science. Much progress has been realized in this field of study, opening the eyes of both the spiritual and scientific communities.



Book two of the Hello Me series

Quantum mechanics really opened the door to the spiritual realms when scientists began to realize that nothing that appears solid is really ‘solid’; that atoms are 99.9% empty space and that sub atomic particles act as both waves and solids, concluding that the physical word only exists because we’re consciously aware of it. Where does this energy come from in order to create our day to day? The quantum field. What is the quantum field? Well, it seems to be a place of limitless energy where anything is possible, where if you expect it to happen, it will. Sounds like self-fulfilling prophesy doesn’t it? The most practiced experiment in quantum mechanics is the double slit experiment. This has proved time and time again that if you measure the electrons being shot at a wall with a two slits, the electrons act as solids, but when they are not measured, they act like waves.

With this new information and a growing discontent with the direction the world is heading (climate change, fossil fuel dependency, famine, modern slavery, depression, material greed), people are beginning to wake up out of the haze of the industrial revolution and take note that we exist in more than our three dimensions.

Among others, there are notable organizations which practice the study of spirit science like the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which serves an emerging movement of globally conscious citizens dedicated to manifesting our highest capacities. The word “noetic” is a Greek word which means “intuitive mind” or “inner knowing. How is this science?  Ask Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut who earned a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctorate of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He’s the founder of the institute.

Like Mitchell, the list of scientifically minded individuals who are convinced of a spiritual realm, and who believe something beyond our scope of understanding exists in the quantum field, or, the field of all possibilities, is staggering. Einstein was one such scientist, as were Tesla, DaVinci and Darwin.

The very notion that these scientific minds, who’ve answered some of humanities greatest scientific questions - encouraging many more, were spiritual people gives credence to the term spirit science, and all that it represents.

"Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive."

– Albert Einstein

By Michael Poeltl – Author of several novels and the Hello Me series of Middle grade illustrated books which teach the science behind our spirit.

Michael Poeltl