Latest Reviews

Love this book! I really like how each cards description relates to relationship issues, patterns through pictures. Also, there is a nice affirmation and question section for each card! So I got more out of this book than just a typical tarot book. It works for any level of tarot enthusiast.

Dancing With Duality is a book about finding true freedom, and its lesson is that freedom is not always what you might perceive it to be: “I’ve learned that true freedom is not the ability to indulge in pleasures or emotional highs. Real freedom comes from discipline and focus.”

This is the remarkable story of author Stella Vance’s journey throughout the four corners world to find herself. In North and South America she explores her sensuality, in she Arabia she deepens her understanding of a culture where women’s freedom is limited, and in India she finds enlightenment. Vance’s in-depth reflections on the critical points in her life show how each gave her more freedom to love, live and express herself honestly.

Her journey begins in the early 1970s when Stella moves from a small town to a larger city and begins to learn how choice and karma affect all our lives. Her exploration of Christianity boosts her self-esteem grows and her spiritual awareness releasing her from the shackles of spiritual dogma. Throughout her courageous journey, Stella survives heartbreak, an eating disorders, addiction, abortion and involvement with a cult. Her experiences awaken her to the illusion of duality. Now she is truly free, she realizes that death is merely a dimension of life and there is nothing in this world that can truly hurt her soul.


Vance’s personal story is painted in rich colors and she describes her travels, her lovers and her growing spirituality with a rare honesty. Every page is full of vitality drawn from the vastly different cultures she has explored and her own increasing awareness of their beliefs and practices. By the end of the book you will feel as though you have taken the journey with her.

There are many programs that guide readers in creating an abundant and beautiful life, but those that I have studied pale in comparison to what is offered in The Lotus and The Lily. Author Janet Conner (Writing Down Your Soul) is truly a spiritual teacher, and she has designed a profound 30-day soul program that will not only get to the heart of what your soul’s longing for in this life, but will also gently guide you along your unique path to manifestation by tapping into the true power within. According to Conner, it is not from outside sources that we experience the true essence of our soul's desire, it is through examining our internal landscape that we find and harness our true power of manifesting the life our soul wants us to live.

The Lotus and The Lily takes readers on a journey of discovery through 30 days of insightful commentary, reflection, and deep soul writing exercises that create the fertile ground from which dreams and desires grow. Exercises such as writing a personal prayer, practicing gratitude, offering forgiveness, naming your life movie, and so many more, set the stage for the ultimate "soul day" where a personal spiritual practice and mandala are born. According to the author, this unique spiritual practice, if used daily, will help cultivate the circumstances needed to attract an abundant and beautiful life.

This book goes far beyond the concept of the Law of Attraction as it is a process that methodically helps to remove roadblocks that keep us from our soul's desires, and Janet Conner does a magnificent job of gently guiding readers through this process. Through her wise words and beautiful writing, she inspires, informs, and motivates us to not only believe in ourselves, but also to listen to the divine voice within that is guiding us each day. This program is meant to be enjoyed and savored for all of the delicious epiphanies it produces even before the spiritual practice is complete. This is one book I will treasure for years to come and will return to many times to tweak my own spiritual practice for manifesting my soul's desires.

Loved this interview! Thank you for introducing me to Dain Heer.

Author Annie Kagan and her “bad-boy brother” had been somewhat estranged their entire life, largely due to his lifelong addictions and sometimes shady lifestyle. A call from the police department announcing her brother’s death may have been unexpected, but his death was not so surprising given that his was a life lived life on the edge. But when Billy suddenly began to communicate with his sister from the afterlife, Annie was surprised, disbelieving, and reluctant to share this news with others.

Through a series of cryptic messages from Billy that materialize in Annie’s life (and others), along with the support of a writing group, Billy convinces Annie that she must write this book. The result is this fascinating preview of what happens when we die, one that is both quirky and uplifting. In the genre of afterlife communications this book stands out for many reasons. But in particular, the detailed descriptions Billy offers of his afterlife experiences are ‘refreshing,’ in that they transcend the culturally filtered images we have become somewhat accustomed to, and reveal glorious galaxies of universal awareness and experience. For example:

“After our last visit, I was drifting through the Universe, taking in the sights, when a cosmic wind began to circle me like a slow tornado…Then it was like someone pressed the start button on a cosmic projector and the ring became a circular movie that’s still playing all around me. What I’m looking at is very different from any film I’ve seen in a theater, though. First of all, I’m suspended in the middle of the Universe, and second the entire move is playing all at once and the images are holographic…What’s really great is that this hologram has a very special feature…My hologram is expandable. I can follow all the different paths I didn’t take when I was alive and see how they would have turned out. What’s surprising, though, is that it doesn’t seem like one way is more valuable than any others. I don’t have a preference. It’s all fascinating, and I have no regrets.”

…“Here, our telepathic communications fill each other with beauty. Speaking of telepathy, I know you’ve sometimes wondered if there’s any music here. There are so many clichés about angels singing and harps playing…well, once again I can only speak for myself. There aren’t exactly any of those things where I am. Here the atmosphere is filled with a soft, ambient sound…There’s a constant background haze that reminds me of earth’s natural sounds, like wind or rain or ocean waves…Recently, I began to notice that sometimes this haze bursts into a little melody and then that melody quickly disappears. This melody phenomenon is happening more and more, and I really can’t say if it’s the sound that’s changed, or my ability to hear it.”

Through Billy’s communications and the author’s insightful retrospective, readers are taken on an afterlife journey that is vivid and inspiring. Billy opens powerful vistas of the after-life, which in turn invite deep contemplation and wisdom for the living. And while this is also an intimate (but not maudlin) look at how a brother and sister learn to navigate a connection through the veils, we also come to understand that each, in their own way, becomes spiritually liberated as a result of what might at first glance, seem to be a tragedy. Highly recommended reading.

So many people suffer from sleep disorders that it might well be considered an epidemic in our country. While physical ailments may account for some of the problem, our multi-tasking lives surely play a part for the majority of us. When we collapse into bed at the end of the day, our minds continue their roller-coaster activity with thoughts of unfinished work, fraying relationships, dwindling money reserves, and generalized anxiety, fear, and anger.

Of course, there are various drugs available to address the symptom — an inability to fall asleep and/or to stay asleep—but these drugs all come with alarming side effects. BUDDHA’S BOOK OF SLEEP suggests a method for rooting out and controlling the CAUSE of problem, and its only side effects are improved clarity and a greater sense of well-being.

Built on the techniques of mindfulness meditation, BUDDHA’S BOOK OF SLEEP teaches the sleep-deprived among us to take control of our minds and tame those stimulating thoughts. “It is the unconscious mind that does sleep,” says author Joseph Emet. “The conscious mind prepares us for sleep…. With mindfulness meditation, we learn to create the mental conditions. We can prepare the mind for sleep.”

Emet provides an explanation for mindfulness meditation and its effectiveness for dealing with sleep problems in the first half of this small but potent book. Within this introductory material, however, he includes simple but surprisingly effective practices that anyone can incorporate into the busy daytime world. In the second half of BUDDHA’S BOOK OF SLEEP, Emet teaches seven meditation techniques, suggesting (but not requiring) that each technique be used for one full week. Each of these is introduced with a short text to be read before meditation and used as a foundation for the meditation practice. The instructions for the techniques are written simply and are easy to remember and implement.

The guided meditation practices taught here are also proven methods for alleviating feelings of stress, depression, and even some psycho-physical disturbances, so those who already sleep soundly but struggle with the waking hours will find it a useful and healing practice, as well. Claiming to be “the first book to address sleep disturbances with techniques adapted from mindfulness meditation,” BUDDHA’S BOOK OF SLEEP could be just what it takes to finally calm the nightmare of monkey mind that keeps us awake at night.

A Unified Theory of Happiness is an in-depth look at how true happiness is a unification of Eastern and Western thought. Zen psychologist, Andrea Polard, has researched a wealth of information on happiness over 20 years and shares her theories with us in this book.

She begins by asking us how we view happiness. What does being happy really mean? There are as many answers to this as there are people. We all uniquely define happiness but Andrea arrives at a definition that balances our active participation in life, what she terms the Basic Mode and our non-active participation in life, the Supreme Mode. These both marry Eastern and Western thought to create a balance in our lives from which happiness stems.

There is a happiness questionnaire in chapter two that helps you to see where your balance lies. The Basic Mode is scored on answers to questions concerning ambition, competence, connection, and confidence. The Supreme Mode asks you to score yourself in the areas of receptivity, tranquillity, reliance, and lightheartedness. Each area has its own chapter and you are encouraged to assess where you have low scores and to read the appropriate section of the book.

Each chapter contains exercises and things to do so that you can work on increasing your scores and achieving happiness. Andrea ends her book by explaining the Theory of Elastic Consciousness - the balance we can find that is in accordance with the whole of life and a synthesis of Western and Eastern thought.

A truly comprehensive book filled with practical ways in which to achieve happiness. It contains many thought-provoking passages which will have you thinking long after you have put this book down.

Let yourself be transported by Annette's exquisite voice as you are wrapped in an enchanting veil of sound and grace. Deuter's instrumental accompaniment is the perfect complement to the purity and power of the vocal improvisations.

This album would make a beautiful backdrop for any meditation or healing work.

This is a little gem of a book that does three things very well and very succinctly. First, it provides a clear overview of the development of chemistry from Leucippus and Democritus in the 5th century BCE through Isaac Newton and the alchemists of the Middle Ages, up to the Laws of Thermodynamics modern times and the development of quantum physics and quantum chemistry. The book explains in simple but never simplistic terms the key discoveries and turning points in science that led to our current understanding of atoms, molecules and chemical reactions. Supported with charming illustrations and interesting anecdotes, anyone with even a modicum of interest in science should find it fascinating.
Interestingly, the study of alchemy – the forerunner of modern chemistry and physics – and philosophy went hand in hand, and intuition and inspiration were supplanted by the Scientific Method, and results were accepted as “truth” only if they could be replicated in a laboratory. Coming full circle, in the second part of the book Dr. Tibika makes a compelling case for the causal interaction between the observer and that which is observed, or if you will, mind and matter. She guides us to an understanding of the dual nature of matter, which is both infinite potential and holographic collapsed wave patterns, depending on whether there is an observer. The third part suggests a mechanism for the communication between mind and matter, namely emotion. In my understanding of the book, emotion is the subjective reaction of the conscious mind to the environment – which can be both external and internal, as in stored memories and associations.
There was a lot of food for thought in this little book, especially when you consider the Hermetic principle of “as above, so below.” For example, the law of entropy (2nd Law of Thermodynamics) suggests that living systems are always either moving toward unity and coherence (life), or toward chaos and disintegration, (death). Tibika describes physical and biochemical processes, but this could equally be applied to our emotional lives and whether our actions and thoughts are life enhancing or destructive. Furthermore, her persuasive case for the connection between mind and matter suggests the mechanism by which our thoughts literally change our physical bodies, and by extension the whole universe of which we are an interconnected part. Heady stuff.

The body is an amazing, self-healing entity that is constantly working to re-balance itself to a natural state of being while repairing the dis-ease it experiences on both the physical and energetic levels and Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson demystifies this process in her book Energy Healing. This book goes beyond simply describing the subtle energy body and instead provides deep insight into various energy practices utilizing the chakras, meridians, and dan tiens from TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).

After a basic overview of the various energy centers in the body and our connection to the unified energy and shamanic fields, Dr. Chiasson takes readers through a process of learning to sense, move, and balance energy through various exercises. Exercises such as toe-tapping, sacred touch, soft sight, and many others provide opportunities to practice clearing energy blocks in order to maintain a balanced and more grounded energy body. Dr. Chiasson also provides a chapter on specific energy techniques that can be used for certain symptoms and diagnoses and is a great reference for common ailments such as pain, fatigue, depression etc.

Energy work has always been a concept that I thought was far too complicated to understand and utilize without studying for a long time, but Dr. Chiasson has done a magnificent job of sharing her knowledge in a way that is not only easy to understand, but also easy to practice. While I have not tried all of the exercises included, those I have tried are surprisingly simple to do and I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in whole body healing and energy work as a compliment to other self-care practices.

The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women is a truly inspirational book that will motivate its readers to set their creativity free. Now in its 10th anniversary edition, Gail McMeekin shares the stories of 45 successful authors, artists, and businesswomen in this portable mentoring guide. The ups and downs of a creative life are examined with wisdom and clarity providing inspiration to women who know they can be truly creative.

Being a career coach herself, Gail has defined three areas or 'Gateways' through which every creative woman travels. The first gateway, Engaging your Creativity, asks us to acknowledge our creative selves and to honor our inspirations and fascinations. The second gateway, Mastering your Challenges as a Creative Woman, helps us by looking at the ways in which we can conquer our saboteurs, transcend rejections and build empowering alliances. Moving on to the third gateway, Actualising Creative Results: The Power of Positive Priorities, Gail shares stories that will help you to achieve your creative goals.

Gail writes from the heart when she explores how women are vulnerable to internal voices. In her chapter on Conquering Saboteurs, she says "Self-doubt looms ominously for women. Creative people often work outside a supportive structure, so maintaining confidence in our selves and our work requires vigilance". This book helps to boost your confidence and unleash your creative potential.

Packed full of tips and advice from a world of creative women, this book also includes inspirational quotes that will make you think, laugh and nod your head in agreement. Any woman who wishes to be more creative or is struggling with their creativity should read this book.

Mind, body, emotions, and spirit frame our experience of reality. Each influences and interacts with the other. Health is not just about physical vitality or emotional equanimity, it’s “a deep emotional connectedness to who we are and our place in the universe,” says Barbara Wren. “When mind truly connects with the body, it is like a light goes off in every cell.” Both our mental and physical foundations must be robust. By bringing the body back to harmony and full potential we simultaneously awaken our cellular vibrancy and illumination.

Using plain language, Wren explains the microcosmic and macrocosmic principles guiding how to heal from any condition—and their connection. She begins by showing us how the body works, from the cellular level outward. Wren explains that light connects everything in the universe, including every cell in our body. And our watery nature records the messages of the universe in our bodies. Any kind of external stress registers in the water component of the body as dehydration. And did you know that the colon is the organ that registers whether the body—the cells in particular—is hydrated?

Awakening an illuminated consciousness, either cellular or universal, begins with five fundamental building blocks at the physical level: light, hydration, PH, temperature, and mineral balance, and these are the core focus for healing treatments in this book. And although the emotions and mind are not the primary focus for this book, Wren speaks to how they play an equally important role in achieving cellular and life integrity.

If you’re thinking you’ve heard this before, or that this is just another car on the new age train, it’s not. Some of the less familiar aspects Cellular Awakening covers has to do with the endocrine glands behind the chakras, universal cycles, unresolved emotions and stress at the cellular level, the five element theory, the suppression principle of drugs and vaccines, and Herring’s Law. The book concludes with a comprehensive guideline for self-generated, step-by-step healing treatments.

Not knowing some of the science behind some of the claims, I have unanswered questions. Still, this is a practical and inspirational book, definitely worth reading, that seems to impart a deeply felt-wisdom. Which may just be the stirrings of cellular awakening.

Like earth, air, and water, the media is everywhere, and significantly affects the development of our culture. The state of our physical environment has long been exploited by corporations without regard to the consequences to either the planet or its inhabitants. So, too, has media in all its forms been conscripted by commercial interests.

Radio, television, billboards, smartphones, tee shirts, websites, blogs, social media – information bombards us at every turn. The Internet, in particular, holds the potential for grassroots organizing and allows small groups of activists the ability to effect tremendous change. Alas, it has also become the world’s leading source of propaganda, ‘colonized,’ according to author Antonio Lopez, and transformed into a ‘buyosphere’ for the purpose of harvesting that most valuable of resources – human consciousness.

Marketing is as old as the first business endeavor. Over time, marketing techniques have grown more and more sophisticated but humans, in general, have not. Persuasive marketing, in fact, is so neatly packaged that we are largely unaware that we are being targeted and we are nearly incapable of cutting through the illusion presented. How often have we purchased the ‘green’ products that, advertisers assure us, are good for the planet? And how often do we question those commercialized assertions and realize that purchasing such products contributes to toxic production processes, material consumption, and waste?

More importantly, if we attempted to research the claims that some ‘green’ product is good for the environment, where would we go for the facts? Where can we find a source of reliable information that is neither owned by global corporate interests nor supported by self-proclaimed environmentally-friendly commercial endeavors?

THE MEDIA ECOSYSTEM makes a clear and coherent comparison of environmental destruction for profit and media-channeled efforts to convince us that we not only accept but are happy to PAY FOR that destruction. By bringing our attention to the subtle and insidious propaganda machine, Lopez makes it possible for us to recognize what really motivates us as individuals and as cultures. His well-crafted argument is followed by simple and sensible actions for bringing media to the people FROM the people: be subversive where it counts, think within your landscape, and become aware of how your attention is hooked.

THE MEDIA ECOSYSTEM is an important book with the potential to cause a paradigm shift--a la Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

Meg Blackburn, Ph.D., author of several books including The Children of Now, Pyramids of Light, Awakening to Multi-dimensional Reality and the Online Messages, also hosts the Internet radio show Cosmic Particles. “Dr. Meg,” as she is affectionately known by her fans has been visiting the world’s spiritual sites for decades. Guided by masters of higher dimensions, she shares her spiritual experiences and insights with the world through her books, lecture and radio.

Dr. Meg’s previous books are renowned for taking the reader on a fascinating and unique journey through the world we live in and the world that lives within us all. Touching The Light does not fail to deliver. Each illumination invokes a strengthening calm and an invitation to delve deeper into its philosophical and spiritual depths.

“147. The immensity of reality can always be refined to the simplicity of the moment.
This day I will find my passion, realizing that it is nothing more than my own love in action,” is just one enlightening example.

Whether you read this book from cover to cover, read one illumination each day, or dip into its pages at random for an inspirational meditation, you will have found a precious gem to carry with you through your daily activities.

First impressions are highly accurate. And, we can be deceived—both by the person we are sizing up and by our own biases. Patti Wood, coach and corporate “body language expert” has comprehensively studied and mapped the way our physiology both communicates and perceives first impressions. Citing brain research, Wood says that when we first meet someone we are non-verbally sorting for likeability, trustworthiness, competence, and aggressiveness, and we do this so quickly that we size someone up in about 1/10th of a second—in a snap! Without even realizing it, we are taking stock of their eye contact, facial expressions, body language, gestures, greetings, and can even do this to some degree virtually, via online and electronic introductions. The good news is that we can change the first impression we make on others; the not-so-good news is that it can take up to six months of constant interaction to shift an incorrect opninion or perception. She calls this the “primacy effect:” that first impressions affect all future thoughts about the person—and are inexorably linked to survival instincts.

Although the context for her research and observations is primarily the workplace, Wood’s insights of human behavior are relevant to most socially interactive situations. What works well in this book is the depth of study and range of tips offered for understanding and improving the first impression we have on others. For example, she devotes an entire section to the handshake, including its history, cultural differences, body language, alternatives greetings, appropriateness in different situations, and so forth. At the same time, the tips for a best first impression handshake seem self-evident: smile briefly, make eye contact, make sure your hands are clean and dry, make sure your whole arm reaches out, make palm to palm contact, etcetera. While there are certainly some interesting tidbits in this book about human behavior, overall the first and lasting impression of Snap seems to be one of being aware of yourself and always bringing your best gameface to a situation.

It seems obvious that if one is authentically a cheerful, self-confident person, then this is what others will perceive. If one is by nature disgruntled or perhaps fearful, changing one’s handshake may deliver a different first impression, but it doesn’t change one’s disposition. And while there may be valuable clues to a person’s inner nature that body language expertise can provide, there is a fine line between identifying human behavior and pigeon-holing people based on how they cross their arms, or how frequently they blink. There is enough substance in this book that it goes beyond this type of superficiality, and yet the human proclivity to reduce insights to sound bites that make us feel self-important is also a non-verbal language that warrants attentiveness.