Review Detail

Deborah DeNicola is a poet first and foremost, the author of five poetry collections. She approaches life and her metaphysical explorations from that mindset, which adds a depth and a perspective seldom found in popular New Age offerings. And given her credibility as an academic professor and her personal honesty, this book, I think, presents esoteric ideas in a way that the more conventional and practical minded among us can at least consider. They don’t seem so ‘woo woo’ coming from her!

In this time when many teachers and gurus are answering the call to spread the word about the need for transformation and new ways of being, with wise prescriptions and helpful systems, this book is a refreshing change. DeNicola tells the story of her spiritual and deeply intimate experiences which began unexpectedly as she wrestled with depression following an unhappy love affair. She succinctly describes what happened and how she tried to understand these psychic events in the context of the world crisis that we are all now facing. We journey with her in her search for meaning – a meaning that she needs to satisfy her intellectually as well as spiritually. And in some gentle way, I found it reassuring to read of her struggles and wonderings, so similar to my own. At no time does she intimate that she has THE answer, only that she discovered ideas and ways of being that enable her to be more fully present and fulfilled in her own life.

Of course the quest itself makes for good reading and leads us hopping between quantum physics and String Theory, medieval history, the Knights Templar and the Black Madonna’s, the Gnostic gospels, past and future lives and different ways of knowing. Jungian dream work holds it all together. We meet many interesting characters and co travelers.

A delightful and beautifully written book, as one would expect from a poet!