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Michael Black is a poet, a mystic, a healer, as well as an ecological advocate. He currently lives in the San Francisco area.
Michael was born in Seattle, Washington and raised in Portland, Oregon.
As a youth, he sang in a choir within the Episcopal Church. This experience later influenced his writing and spiritual perspective. As he says, "I was weaned on Renaissance polyphony and medieval plainchant, so that William Byrd, Palestrina, de Lasso, Gibbons, Monteverdi and many others played a significant role in my spirtual coming of age... For me, very early on, art replaced religion."
Influenced by his father and grandmother, Michael developed an early love of nature, exploring the woods of the Pacific Northwest from childhood. "That passion explains why ecological writing and advocacy continues playing such a major role in my life."
As an adult, Michael is raising his son within the Jewish tradition. Although Michael does not strongly identify with institutionalized religion and says he tends toward a nature-focused, pantheistic view, he also says, "I am honored by Moses' presence in my life."
In 2001, while attending a workshop in Oregon, Michael Black experienced a spontaneous kundalini awakening that he describes as "a gift of Grace" that continues to radically alter his world.
A true eclectic, Michael has since been inspired to broaden his personal exploration, becoming a dedicated practitioner of yoga, and delving into the convergent Vedic and Buddhist traditions, as well as Andean mysticism.
He says, "My poetry, prose, and even my more traditional scientific writing, reflects an effort to celebrate the Beloved through my passion for language and for Truth. Writing of the Sacred is one response as to why I am here..."
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