The Garden of The Gods

A botanical history of spirituality: world religions told through plants — at once lyrical, grounded, and accessible.

Just as Dante descended into the realms of the soul to reveal their moral geography, The Garden of the Gods ventures into humanity’s hidden landscapes to uncover the roots of faith, imagination, and the desire for transcendence. In this journey of ascent and revelation, leaves, flowers, and fruits replace angels as guides to meaning.

Aina S. Erice reconstructs the hidden history that links the plant world to humankind’s most enduring belief systems, revealing how plant life has nourished both our bodies and the sacred. From prehistoric offerings to contemporary religious rituals, she traces a sweeping, richly documented journey across cultures and religions — from the Paleolithic to the present — advancing a powerful and suggestive idea: there are no religions without plants.

Written in a lyrical yet precise voice, Erice leads readers through landscapes of the soul where forests become temples, fruits turn into offerings, and roots act as living metaphors of mystery. From the cedar revered by the Haida to the cosmic maize of the Maya, from leaf oracles to sacred perfumes, this book reveals an essential truth: nature does not merely sustain life — it inspires belief and enables transcendence.

Responding to a growing international interest in the spiritual bond between humanity and nature, The Garden of the Gods aligns with bestselling works by Peter Wohlleben, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Richard Tomkins, and Stefano Mancuso, while offering a distinctly original perspective: a global history of belief told from the point of view of plants.