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, earth-centered, 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.