Long gone are the days of drinking naturally pure water from flowing rivers and streams--or even your tap. Today it is becoming common practice to use bottled or filtered water. How did we arrive at such a state, and what can we do about it?Pollution, ever-increasing population, industrial pressures, rainforest destruction, and ground water waste have all led to the deterioration of water quality, yet the underlying problem--as Marks shows in his wide-ranging, thoughtful book--is the general lack of understanding of the nature of water itself.Marks' topics are as diverse: water's role in the origin of the universe and life itself; cosmic rain and water in interstellar space; water in the traditional myths and religions; the power of water in its many forms in the natural world; vortex energy and living water; water and the human body; water healing; and a history of water pollution. He offers hope for the future by discussing the work of visionaries such as Theodor Schwenk and Viktor Schauberger.We see that, in the end, one cannot understand water unless it is viewed as a mediator--not only between life and death, but also between the physical and the spiritual worlds.