Latest Reviews

Animals live according to their innate patterns, doing what they do without question. But we humans try to find our way through trial and error. What if we had a map of our unique purpose and plan to act as a guide for living each day as we were designed to do, one that drew on our strengths, recognized our challenges, and uncovered the patterns that limit us? Your Hidden Symmetry reveals that map. Based on the ancient Chinese principles of balance and health, this book helps you: discover who you are, understand why you are attracting certain experiences, and navigate the waters so you're riding the waves instead of fighting the current. Affirmations by Louise Hay help you to align your energy to your current cycle of time. Jean Haner is also the author of The Wisdom of Your Face.

This is a fascinating book about one woman’s personal journey in her bid to uncover the presence of the Divine Feminine. From the time Watterson walked out of her Sunday school class, she began searching for the spiritual voices of women so that she could find meaning and the source of love within herself. She knew that something was missing from traditional religion - these voices of women - and so began her personal quest.

Watterson brings her quest alive with tales of the Tara Tantra, the Hindu Goddess, Kali, and Mary Magdalene. She reveals her own stories of revelation such as when she visited the Black Madonna in Europe and shares her experiences of how this journey enabled her to embrace the sacred connection between body and soul.

The author, Meggan Watterson, is a scholar and devotee of the Divine Feminine. She has spent more than two decades studying holy texts from around the world and is a Harvard trained theologian. Her journey has led her to seven major shifts in her beliefs that she describes as “lifting the veils”. Each of these seven veils are explored in closer detail within the book. Chapters include how to reveal your soul story, your sacred body, your divine worth and more.

This is a book for women that will help them to reconnect to love within themselves and provide interesting and thought-provoking ways of looking at religion and how it has portrayed women. It is recommended for all those that also have felt something is missing and wish to embrace the Divine Feminine and themselves.

Life is busy, but life with kids can feel like an overwhelming cyclone of activity that never seems to end, often leaving parents feeling drained, disconnected, and just plain unhappy. Life balance coach and author Renée Peterson Trudeau has written a guidebook for parents that will help tame the chaos and create a family life full of balance, harmony, and joy.

In her book, Nurturing the Soul of Your Family, Trudeau offers a new way of living through 10 intentional principles that include parental self-care and healing, reconnecting in nature, spiritual renewal, and many more that if implemented, promise to foster more connection, peace, and flow in family life. She also includes insightful questions, journal exercises, and personal experiences that help readers identify what is working in their lives and what changes are needed to create a more nourished life. In a world that stresses gadgets and packed schedules as a precursor to happiness, Trudeau suggests unscheduled and “unplugged” time as a way to bond and reconnect with one another.

Nurturing the Soul of Your Family is not just a book about how to create balance in your life. It also serves as a reminder that when we slow down and become mindful of the moment while loosening our grip on the technology, responsibilities, and other “stuff” that clutters our lives, only then are we able to truly enjoy and embrace time together as a family.

This is a beautifully written and inspiring book that reminds us to set a good example for our children by slowing down and enjoying the wonderful journey of parenting.

Much More than Déjà vu

The Déjà vu Enigma delves into a number of fascinating metaphysical topics that weave together with a central, recurring theme of déjà vu--that eerie sensation of 'remembering' an experience or situation before it occurs. Wherever possible, authors Marie D. Jones and Larry Flaxman reference current scientific studies and research, providing additional insights into what might be going on behind the scenes in our mysterious world.

In addition to déjà vu, some of the related areas covered include: out of body experiences (OBE), astral travel, prodigies and savants, fugues, blackouts, amnesia, schizophrenia, confabulation, ghosts, talking with the dead, and mass hysteria.

While no specific cause of déjà vu is provided as generally agreed upon, many possible explanations are provided, such as the Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, malfunctions of the brain, ego defense mechanisms or forgotten dreams.

This book is organized more in the form of a buffet table than a many course-meal, presenting ideas to readers in such a way that they can pick and choose from a rather wide variety of scientific expert opinions, experiential reports and theories.

I particularly enjoyed the question and answer section featuring responses from Michael Schmicker, Pamela Heath, Stanley Krippner, Nick Redfern, Loyd Auerbach, Jay Alfred, Meghan Shannon, and Dale E. Graff to such questions as, "What role do you think belief plays in the manifestation of paranormal phenomenon?"

Highly recommended!

The dishwasher breaks, the dog goes missing, a child become ill, we're stuck in traffic, a loved one dies. Stuff happens, and our early conditioning determines how we react. Do we fall apart or bounce back? Our ability to be resilient when faced with everyday challenges is a powerful coping strategy, and psychotherapist Linda Graham offers the tools and techniques to react in healthy ways when stressors hit. You'll learn to remain calm, see clearly, ask for help, call on your competencies, and find the courage to persevere. She leads you through a series of exercises to help you reclaim your balance in the short term when disaster strikes, and overwrite old patterns of reacting for the long term, based on the practices of mindfulness and psychology. An informative and highly readable book, Graham offers a nice balance between the scientific explanation of what's happening in our brains, and stories of actual clients who have learned to rewire theirs for the better.

When DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA was originally published, readers were horrified and disgusted by the truths it exposed about America’s factory farm system. Now the 25th anniversary edition of John Robbins’ classic reminds us that, despite pockets of resistance, we are still largely ignorant of the origin of the food we eat. In fact, we remain oblivious not only to the suffering of ‘food animals,’ but also to the irreparable damage to our health that results from the plethora of hormones, steroids, and antibiotics used to increase profits for the meat industry.

“You don’t have to forgo animal products to derive great benefit from this book,” Robbins writes, and he asserts that he is not trying to turn everyone into vegetarians. We all have to take responsibility for our own health, however, and the first step toward building healthy bodies is learning all we can about nutritional needs and sources.

In the first part of DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA, Robbins gives us a no-holds-barred look at the system that disposes of animals efficiently and ‘humanely’ for eventual human consumption. The torture these animals endure before being dispatched is not easy to read about. In fact, the least disturbing method of slaughter applies only to the male chicks who are useless for manufacturing eggs: “They are, literally, thrown away…. ‘We put them in a bag and let them suffocate.’”

Readers who choose to skip that section of the book will find even more horrific information in the second section, which uses data and case studies to reveal the negative effects of meat and dairy products on human health. Most of us have been trained to believe in the food pyramid and the magic of protein consumption. DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA’s greatest eye-opener may be the truth behind the myth that we need meat or dairy products to get our quota of protein. “If we ate nothing but cabbage … we’d have over double the maximum [protein] we might need.” If you’re thinking that you need those dairy products in order to prevent osteoporosis, think again. “Osteoporosis is, in fact, a disease caused by a number of things, the most important of which is excess dietary protein.” You’ll find here the results of numerous studies that validate this claim, with full citation in case you want to do your own research.

The current state of the food industry does not affect only animals and humans, however. Our food choices have a global effect, and section three of DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA spells out the danger. Pesticides used on plant crops do not simply disappear once they’ve killed the insects; these poisons stick around and are ingested by animals where they remain in the fatty tissue. “With each inevitable step up the food chain, animals become ever more concentrated carriers of the most deadly chemicals ever known. Man, of course, sits at the very top of the chain whenever he east fish, meats, eggs, or dairy products.”

DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA should be required reading in every classroom and every household. For those who want to make wise choices about food and lifestyle, it is absolutely invaluable.

Got this book as a gift! Love it!

Splendid Summary of Psychokinetic Research

Written by a medical doctor, Mind Matter Interaction tackles a subject of psychokinesis with scientific rigor perfectly balanced with the human desire to understand our mysterious universe.

Carefully organized into historical and scientific research sections, Mind Matter Interaction first takes readers on a historical and cross-cultural tour through religious and spiritual accounts of such things as: levitation, stigmata, teleportation, bilocation, poltergeists, inedia, luminosity, mediumship, fire-immunity, hemography, and materialization and transformation of matter. After reading fascinating real-life examples of such a wide variety of mind matter interaction, the second major section of this book covers research and theory. Containing one of the most thorough reviews of current scientific study into the field of psychokinetic mind-matter interaction, some of the areas covered include: metal-bending, anomalous photography, random number generators, and poltergeists. The third major section of the book covers experiential research and tips for achieving a conducive atmosphere through altered states of consciousness, dissociation from ego identity, suspension of intellect, playfulness, peak emotion, focused awareness, trust in the process, and openness to the experience.

Designed to stimulate curiosity and motivation for further study, Mind Matter Interaction opens a series of doors to experiencing the world in new ways. I love the way this book contains just the right amount of information to whet the reader's appetite for learning more. Pamela Rae Heath has created a first-rate psychokinetic primer which should be required reading for every high school and college general studies program. Kudos to McFarland Pub dot com for publishing such a valuable work of historical and scientific significance. Highly recommended!

Making your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving your Artistic Goals is another great book on creativity from Eric Maisel, America's foremost creativity coach. Following on from other titles such as Coaching the Artist Within and Mastering Creative Anxiety, Maisel shares more of his knowledge and wisdom gained from 30 years of experience coaching creative individuals.

Written with great insight and perception, Maisel reaches into the souls of creative people and inspires them to get past any blocks or issues to fulfil their true creative potential. Throughout the book, Maisel uses stories from his own practice to illuminate how challenges to the creative life can be met head on.

Maisel identifies nine keys to success, including passion, confidence, freedom, identity, and stress. Each key contains food for thought, and practical tips and suggestions to help you achieve your creative goals. For instance, the chapter about passion will help artists to regain their sense of purpose and motivate them on to create great works of art despite the challenges that they face.

Whether you are a writer, painter, sculptor, actor, or singer, this book will speak to you and aid your quest for creativity. This is a highly recommended book and something that will stay on for my shelf for a very long time.

Cindy Griffith-Bennett in Soul Soothers has brought us a short easy to use method that enhance our ability to achieve our goals of calmness, peace and clarity. She gives us many ways to instill a meditation practice into our daily activities. Who knew we had so many opportunities to be more focused and mindful and who among us does't want to better our wellbeing?

This is not just a portrait of one American city on the skids; the same downward spiral caused by the collapse of the local economy, flight of the middle class, crime, corruption,fear, greed, cynical indifference and incompetence is playing out in too many cities across the country. LeDuff says that only a holistic approach has any hope of turning the tide, and that the citizens deserve no less.

If you have become used to living a lifestyle with anxiety and stress as your constant companions, Tristan’s book will help you find the relief you need to stop worrying and start truly living again. This reader-friendly text is based on four core concepts: making choices, changing your outlook, taking risks on the road to recovery, and embracing your true spirit. Each concept is covered in one or more chapters which offer guidelines to maneuvering within the core ideals and booting unhealthy stress and anxiety from your life for good.
Once you have woken up your hidden powers and become aware of the many options your life offers, says Tristan, “the key to making worry work for you instead of against you is a matter of focus knowledge and willingness to change unproductive habits.” Even for readers who find it hard to shake of their anxieties and use worries in their favor, this book is a wonderful tool, not only because of its wealth of tips and guidelines for life improvement, but also because of its real life examples of how people have used these techniques to change their lives for the better.
Read this book if you wake up each morning with a familiar knot in your stomach and feeling of dread in your heart, it will help you sleep better at night and wake up each morning smiling and confident.

Marc Lesser is the CEO and cofounder of the nonprofit Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. He has created Know Yourself, Forget Yourself to empower readers who wish to break free from the confusion and distractions that too often cause obstacles in our daily lives.
This is a fascinating, semi-autobiographical account that presents creative methods to help readers evaluate their emotional and intellectual skills, focus on important areas of their lives without being distracted by the multitude of demands at home and in the workplace, and improve personal and work-related relationships.
Lesser has developed a wide range of practical tool, some of them are so simple you’ll find it hard to believe you hadn’t thought of them yourself, while others will astound with their subtle complexity. Lesser’s route to overcoming personal paradoxes, is based on the Buddhist notion of “the middle way.” His five truths incorporate knowing and forgetting yourself, maintaining self-confidence while questioning everything, embracing change while accepting that which is immutable, accepting emotions and simultaneously finding peace, and benefiting the self through acts of kindness to others.
What makes this book stand out above many others in the genre of personal growth is its interweaving of poetic tone, poignant testimonials, and graceful practice.

A direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, Reverend John Laurence was a modern mystic, world teacher, and founder of the Metaphysical Design for Living Church in San Francisco. His joyful spirit, humor and compassion are evident in every page of this book, a treasure trove of his talks compiled and edited by Elana Joan Cara. Based on the Psalms, these uplifting messages are universal and non-denominational. As a young man Reverend Laurence studied the lives of the saints, fascinated by their special powers. He reminds us that we are all a spark of the Infinite, capable of living like spiritual giants. In a straightforward and lively manner he offers guidance on how to return to our natural state of joyous light. This inspiring collection includes stories from the lives of saints East and West, and compelling discussions about life after death.

There’s nothing more enticing than “the story behind the story.” Gary Lachman has written a well-researched investigation into Jung’s life, from childhood on, that delves into the events, inclinations, and influences that shaped the more esoteric aspects of Jung’s life and work—many of which Jung was reluctant to admit to or share until years past their emergence. While I commend the effort, and there is much interesting reading here, I found that tracking the inner-outer butterfly effect of a man surely possessed by “creative illness” at times made my head spin. This is not a value judgement of Jung or his work, but if I’m going to wade through a book, I’d much rather wade through Jung’s writings themselves than through the filters of someone else’s interest in Jung. So, while I appreciated having a closer look at aspects of Jung’s life in Jung the Mystic, overall for this reviewer, it was just “too much information.”