A Prayer for the Earth: Discovering a New Cosmological Vision through a Reading of Linda Hogan's Power and Gregory Maguire's Wicked from an Ecofeminist, EarthCentered and Spiritual Perspective

Linda Hogan's Power and Gregory Maguire's Wicked are two works of literature
that encompass a process of raising and transforming consciousness about humans'
relationships with each other and with the Earth and elemental energies. Both can be
considered prayers to and for the world. The goal of this thesis is to highlight and explore
themes of spirituality, ecofeminism, environmental justice, anti-colonialism, indigenous
philosophies regarding sense of place, human and animal rights, and feminist critical
theories of race and gender through the artistic, creative and powerful writing of these
authors. These works both reflect and participate in ongoing processes of political and
spiritual change away from patriarchal, Eurocentric and imperial culture. By applying
concepts including F. Marina Schauffler's "Ecological Conversion" and Gloria
Anzaldua's "Mestiza Consciousness," I will show how the novels' characters, though
very differently, encompass these transformations of consciousness.