Reviews written by Julie Clayton

“Our bodies model the teachings [of our beliefs],” says author Joan King. Blending science and spirituality, stories and exercises, directions and messages, Cellular Wisdom for Women is a masterful and poetic workbook for self-transformation. Using the inter-relationships of the cellular workings of the body as astute analogies, we are gently taken through the inner workings of our experience to discover the life of vitality and wholeness that is so often compromised and denied in our role as caregivers to others. Both profound and practical, Cellular Wisdom for Women is like having a wise and heart-based mentor to witness our unfolding and return to Self.

Update: Code for Authentic Living by Joan King has just won the 2010 Silver Nautilus Award!

I didn’t think I’d enjoy this book; I was resigned to give it a perfunctory glance and then move on. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the author has delivered a considered analysis of how social media technology can be used to effect authentic social (political) change. Not only has this author thoughtfully tackled some of the larger social issues of inclusion/exclusion and systems of power in relation to network-building, but she has managed to keep the language straightforward, the ideas relevant, and has sprinkled it all with humor, candor, and practical advice and resources for managing and utilizing the medium. You will be entertained, informed, and hopefully inspired to use your voice and digital influence to authentically change the hierarchies that (still) permeate our culture, even online!

This film and its enthusiastic reception is a testimony to the evolutionary arc in humanity that is occurring, as human consciousness evolves from being predominantly aware through the physical senses and emotional body, to being attuned to energetic senses and the etheric channels. In truth, each of us is inherently able to attune to higher energetic frequencies; we have simply dulled down these capacities (for thousands of years) in order to gain mastery within our physical and emotional worlds. As humanity awakens and expands into greater levels of conscious awareness, increasing numbers of people will discover that they too can hear, feel, or see energies that are of a higher vibration. And since all energy is simply packets of information of one sort or another, channeling higher wisdom will no doubt be one “packet” of information that becomes quite accessible.

Of course, the entity or origin of information is significant to the channelers, but for me as the recipient (reader/viewer) I am mostly interested in the information that is being channeled, and in the integrity of the channeler. The underlying intention of most channeled messages, and this film proves no exception, is one of uplifting humanity toward our evolutionary unfolding and into greater creativity and harmony with the divine nature of being. The common message is to become conscious of our personal unfolding, and from such a realization, quickening our ability to co-create with the forces of nature for the progress and unification of the collective. (Any message, channeled or otherwise, which does not inspire people toward their greater potential individually and collectively is a distortion of truth and should be avoided.)

Having read numerous books of channeled material, I found it intriguing to “watch” the channeling actually taking place—to observe the physiological nuances and thus enjoy a deeper experience of both the channeler and the “entity” being channeled. Some of the vidoegraphy didn’t appeal to me, but this inspirational film is definitely worth watching (many times) and the messages worth sharing; I hope that there will be many more to come.

“Conversations with Jerry…” speaks to our fascination of the “afterlife” and perhaps our hopefulness that although we may lose our physical bodies, our essence lives on: that we really are spiritual beings (a.k.a. energetic beings) having a physical experience. The author has, through a medium, engaged in ongoing dialogues with seven people she has known and who have transitioned—or refocused—as Jerry describes the process. She begins with the same question for each: “What did you experience when you released your last breath on earth…?”

Truly a dialogue, the ensuing conversations follow an organic path of questions and responses that illuminate the experience not only of death and afterlife, but also of being alive. And although very different people, each offers essentially the same message to those of us reading this book: live life fully, with great love and compassion. Do whatever you can to let go of fears and ways of being small, especially those that create behavior or thoughts of separateness. Let go of judgment about yourself or others, for this is the breeding ground for a false sense of separation; we’re all family in spirit. When we release our physical bodies, we come home.

For me, reading this book was a homecoming—a reminder and confirmation of what I know and feel in my heart and soul to be true about the human experience of life, death, and afterlife. And for skeptics I offer this: if it isn’t “true” that our essence lives on, if my felt-sense of human spirituality is simply a product of persuasion and hopefulness, and life actually “ends” when we die, then I’m still a better person for living my life as if love and compassion is what matters most.

“Conversations…” affirms the most ancient and elemental of spiritual truths that anyone on this planet can each benefit from now, regardless of what beliefs you may hold dear about life after death. It is an inspiring reminder to live life joyfully. Fair warning: you may have a hard time putting it down!

“Most modern Christians, Jews and Muslims would be quite surprised to learn that the Yaweh worshipped by Abraham (also called El, Elohim, and Jehovah) was quite different than the almighty God we worship today…The loving omnipotent, fatherly God we learn about today is the result of the longest and best ‘marketing makeover’ in history—four thousand years of changes and improvements to Yaweh’s image.” So begins the first chapter of The Religion Virus, a thought-provoking, convincing, and considered narrative of how man has shaped God’s image, through the cultural evolution of the meme of religion.

What do the world religions have in common with a virus? Ideas, like biological life, evolve. Religion acts like a virus, says author Craig James, because it has a code of information within it (a DNA) whose primary purpose is to make more copies of itself: to self-replicate. The historical evolution of world religions demonstrates analogous properties to biological life: reproduction, mutation and adaptation, and competition in the ongoing battle for survival (of the fittest). An interesting note is that memes don’t have to be true to survive; we just have to believe them.

The Religion Virus will open your mind, offering a perspective on religion and social evolution that few have presented, and none with such delightfully reasoned enthusiasm and varying analogies. As someone who tends to become semi-conscious whenever a book delves into religious history, I can assure you this book will keep you awake and engaged. I learned something new on so many levels that it was truly enjoyable and informative reading, and the ideas presented reverberated in my mind for days after each chapter. So much so, that as I sat down to write this review, I decided to read it all over again, just for the sheer joy of it.

This is a slim, stylish (award-winning design) hardcover coffee-table book with a heartfelt message of self-reflection and self-discovery. “The World is a Safe Place” is a true story, a distilled autobiography combined with astute observations of the world, and culled from years of the author’s journal entries.

My first impression of this book was to admire its design (embossed white hardcover, glossy pages, artistic and mostly abstract color photos) but also to question the stylized format and obvious investment of artistic intention. Admittedly this made me a little skeptical—and wondering if the abundance of “slick” was to compensate for a lack of substance. I was pleasantly surprised then to discover that “The World is a Safe Place” is also well-written, timely, relevant, and inspiring.

The design layout is perhaps less surprising when you read the author’s biography and discover that he is currently Vice President of Paramount Studios and has held senior executive positions for various media industry giants during his career. However, his livelihood also makes the content seem more surprising, since I suspect that most people who are not connected to the entertainment industry tend to stereotype studio executives as being cool and self-serving, and unlikely candidates for spreading hopeful messages of peace, love, or transformation. (Not that I would have such a prejudice, of course.) It seems that author Jim White is truly a model for the global citizen and has spent his life giving back to the community in numerous ways.

This is the first book in a trilogy and I look forward to the next publication. In fact, I was a little disappointed that the author’s story did not go on longer in this first book: the author gently draws us in to his unique experience of universal philosophies that celebrate the triumphs of the human spirit—and I wasn’t quite ready to depart from that world. I particularly appreciate the message that the world IS a safe place, to counter-balance the overwhelming contrary messages that society is saturated with on a daily basis. Although I had only intended to skim through the book, assuming that with all the photographs this was a book one could dip into, I found that as a story I had to begin at the beginning and read through to the ending. Fortunately, this book captivated my interest from start to finish, so I recommend you give yourself the same opportunity.

The first third of this book offers instruction for using the second third, which is a symptom-based alphabetical directory of stones and crystals that can be used to treat over 1200 maladies. A useful and handy reference guide.

Great book -- quirky, witty, and interesting. I like to keep it near the dining table and we take turns reading it out loud during dinner. Not really about consciousness except indirectly, since it is about language and the etymological adventure of words. Anyone with an interest in words, history, culture, societal connections, or just learning something new, will enjoy this book.

Three authors channel three different entities, two of whom we are familiar with (Kyron and The Sirian High Council) in this continuing dialogue on the great transformation of human consciousness. The rapid changes that are occurring now in our world demand applied self-discovery, and each author brings messages of hope, inspiration, and common sense toward global engagement and finding our common destiny as conscious beings. I found some of the editor’s questions to the authors/channels a little disjointed, as if I had come into a conversation that had been long underway before my arrival. Still, I feel grateful to Martine Valee for being an agent for this repository of science, spirituality, consciousness, and compassionate guidance, reminiscent of the intelligent wisdom channeled by Jane Roberts more than thirty years ago through “Seth.”

I’ve read many books about sacred geometry, conspiracy theories, secret orders, crop circles, extraterrestrials, arcane history, breathwork, dimensions of consciousness, esoteric wisdom traditions, Atlantis, et al. Reading this book I found myself alternating between skepticism, scorn for perceived inaccuracies, and intrigue for the possibility that aliens have been and still are an integral feature of human evolution. I suspect that as with many books of this ilk, it holds both fictional and non-fictional elements, and it is up to each of us to discern what rings true. What left a more lasting impression on me was a curiosity about the rebirthing practice that Frissell teaches, and a sparked imagination for the story of human evolution.

Certainly, Frissell has covered a lot of esoteric material and for the most part, made it quite understandable. He stresses that ascension and breathing are the keys to higher consciousness; I agree that breathing is a gateway to higher states of consciousness, however, the term and concept of “ascension” in modern usage often teeters on the edge of spiritual cultism and I advise that people use good judgement when dipping into that well. He was introduced to the “ascended master,” Drunvalo, from whom much of his information comes, through a series of “breath of life” workshop videos that someone gave him…and from Drunvalo’s ascended master Thoth. Hmmm…this part doesn’t quite gel for me.

Other readers have raved about how this book changed their lives and filled in gaps in understanding; this was far from my experience, however, I appreciated reading it and having the opportunity to adventure outside of my usual range of thinking and envisioning of the human story.

This is the15th Anniversary edition of author Bob Frissell’s 1994 book by the same name, with a different subtitle. The current trend of re-publishing older titles is no doubt in response to the swelling numbers of self-published books and ebooks; publishers are stretching their creative muscles to stay competitive. Fifteen years is a longer span than most reprints, so I think that this revised edition, which includes new material, is probably well justified.

I have to disclose up front that I get excited about all things consciousness, so having this 3 DVD-set of interviews with presenters from the Science and Nonduality Conference in 2009 is a little like having Christmas in Springtime. In addition to the content, which I’ll get to in a moment, what I absolutely love about this DVD set is the way it is formatted.

Each DVD is over three hours long and features seven speakers from various disciplines and backgrounds. On the main menu you can click on each speaker’s name and get a submenu with the specific questions asked of that speaker. You can then click on that question and go straight to the presenter’s response, which is usually relatively brief—five minutes or so. How cool is that! So, you can pick and choose who and what piques your interest without having to sit through an entire film to get to whatever you might consider the juicy bits to be. For that simple stroke of genius alone, I give top marks to this set.

As for the content, the twenty-one leading spiritual teachers and scientists interviewed offer a compelling collection of perspectives about the nature of science and its relationship to nonduality—which is, actually, the scientific euphemism for the divine, or god, or the source of oneness. The convergence of science and spirituality is cutting edge consciousness—an emerging paradigm that is shaping humanity’s future. For me, this anthology is like being able to attend the finest university lectures on the deep mysteries of reality, life, and human existence, in the comfort of your own home and at a fraction of the cost.

I have only one lament, which isn’t exclusively directed at this fabulous archive: we need more equal representation of women in these conversations about human experience. Just as we recognize that the separation of science and spirit has perpetuated undesirable and dualistic thinking, we also know that the co-creative partnership of men and women is essential for the cooperative synergy inherent in evolutionary leaps. I’m looking forward Volume II!

I could tell you how beautiful this music is, how gifted the artist obviously is, how the blend of instruments creates harmonic melodies that transport you to evocative worlds of the imagination, and it would all be true. But I think the greatest testimonial comes from my 87-year-old mother. As she listened with me to Radiant Sky she became serene and her gaze softened. “Riparian,” she said pensively. Then silence. A few moments later she said, “flowing, like a river.” As the tempo shifted she took me further along on her meditative reverie, “ a few rocks…and then the sunlight…” I was right there with her.
Your experience may be quite different; you may be dreaming amongst the stars, or dancing in the wind, but that is the gift of this music: the sacred spaces in your soul will stir, like the night sky greeting the dawn.

This book is a beautifully illustrated collection of diverse, environmentally conscious projects within eight areas of innovation: lighting, homeware, furniture, textiles and materials, products, transportation, interiors and architecture. High-tech and low-tech, serious and whimsical, reused materials or energy conserving, each offers a glimpse into the creative cauldron that is arising in response to the overload of human-induced degradation. The author also gives comprehensive insight into the artist, the materials or methods used, and often an overview or background to the relevant industry, which is rich and informative. I personally love books like this that showcase the best of human ingenuity and have only one criticism: the font size is so small (and I obviously need stronger glasses—but it IS small), that I had to really struggle to read it.

This is the second film of a three-part documentary series called “Humanity Ascending,” produced by the Foundation for Conscious Evolution’s founder and futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard. Featuring some fascinating guest speakers, it is a compelling sequel that explores how the evolution of human consciousness is not only inevitable, but is already in progress, and is leading us toward becoming a species of “universal humans.”

Hubbard’s core message is what many who are involved in spiritual and scientific endeavors already understand and intuit: that the escalating conditions of social, environmental and economic imbalance are creating a devolution tipping point, and nothing less than a radical transformation of our consciousness will lead humanity into a sustainable future. However, to deliver this message in the context of conscious evolution is one that few people attempt or even understand, and neither Barbara, nor the guest speakers, nor this film are taking a free ride on any wave of popularity—unlike so many of the current spiritual/ self-improvement books and films available. Barbara Marx Hubbard has been spreading this message in various iterations for forty years and is truly a futurist pioneer.

As with anything that attempts to describe the ineffable, this film and the concepts offered may not be the “ultimate truth,” since so much of what we think we “know” about reality is reasoned conjecture or subjective—and subject to revision as we continue to evolve and learn. But as far as I’m concerned, conscious evolution as a commonly shared vision and agenda is the best story humanity has right now, and the only one that can truly move us toward a positive future. “Visions” is not only a message for our times, but also an evolutionary strategy for applying the vision in all sectors of society.

If it were up to me, I would mandate that every adult on the planet watch this film. It is concise, inspiring, practical, and perhaps most of all it is an urgent reminder that now is the time to wake up to our potential and co-create our evolutionary destiny!

“One of the chief reasons we have so much anguish and difficulty facing death is that we ignore the truth of impermanence…” Sogyal Rinpoche

This is the most genuine, information-rich, readable, and hopeful treasury of reflections on living and dying I have had the pleasure of reading, written by a seasoned hospice counselor with the melodic name of Maria Dancing Heart, whom I suspect is actually two parts angel and one part spiritual counselor/hospice worker. Like the author’s moniker, the poetry, stories, prayers, meditations, resources, sample teachings, inspirational readings, and support for the “last adventure of life” in these pages dance with love and compassion—and always reframing the experience of death to one of transformation.

Although the author considers herself a Christian, her religion is a broad and inclusive spirituality. In the introduction she describes how she came to write this book saying, “I am learning that the spiritual journey is about opening up to love and to our inner guidance. Some religions and denominations seem to be better able to help people awaken to their spiritual nature. However, in the end, it is not our religion, but the full understanding and acceptance of our true essence that will save or heal us. It is through the way we live our lives every day—through our love and service, our joy and understanding—that we will heal ourselves and the world.”

If there were a master manual for living, this book would be first on the required reading list.

This is a beautiful and moving collection of sacred poetry, each a bejeweled doorway into the divine spaces of the heart.

I’m sure I am showing my age when I say that I have an aversion to e-books; I spend enough time sitting in front of a computer screen without wanting to do my “pleasure reading” there as well. However, The Seven Symphonies of Extraordinary Love has given me a change of heart (and this speaks to the content as well as the format): it is just the right length (only 49 pages), the visuals are truly beautiful, and it offers lovely parables of Eastern origin that are followed by insightful and succinct narrative.

More so, author Kaushal Aras is offering this e-book for free, as a testimony to his commitment to inspiring greater personal love and peace, so that we may raise the vibration of collective peace. Naturally, the author may well benefit monetarily from people reading his book and then using his coaching services, but frankly I see nothing deceptive or misleading about that. We all have to support ourselves and if we can do so with a gesture of an open hand and loving heart, then everyone wins.

Not only does reading this book inspire you, the author clearly understands something that few authors speak to. And that is, that spirituality in any form, is a way to access consciousness. And it is by increasing our awareness of, and relationship to, our consciousness that we shall co-create the universal human, whose only religion is love.

“[The Tao] is the Mystery behind mysteries, the God behind all the gods, the Unnamable behind all names. We can speak about it but…the words are mere imperfect pointers and are not the Tao itself… If we find the Tao in any situation, we will find forgiveness to be a natural consequence.”

In The Tao of Forgiveness, twenty-three short stories based on classic tales from Taoist and Buddhist teachers, and spun from the author’s own existence, open windows into the human struggle for forgiveness. Each story is followed by “Questions For Your Tao Mind,” “A Tao Mind Exercise,” and “A Tao Mind Meditation.” But this is not a self-help or how-to book; the tao of forgiveness blooms from the fertile soil of our triumphs, disappointments, and mistakes, and lives within us even if we have forgotten what if feels like.

I love these stories and this book: the profound simplicity invisibly slips into our soft, vulnerable places, and effortlessly awakens within us the grace of forgiveness. The sections that follow each story deepen the movement, offering heartfelt reflections and meditations on being human and the wondrous adventure of life. Like the Tao itself, this book points us to that a practice that cannot be named, but transmutes the constrictions of our mind and heart and liberates the forgiveness we seek.

Have you ever strolled on a beach or on trail, and a stone or pebble on the ground catches your eye? Or perhaps you were in a shop and were drawn to a large amethyst that's been cut in half, with all of its crystalline facets sparkling under the lights? What is it about gems that we are drawn to? Is it their beauty, their color, their shape? Author Robert Simmons suggests that beyond their initial appearance, there is something much more powerful in stones that we resonate with—and something within stones that resonates with us: “the silent spiritual world of matter.”

One definition he cites of crystals is: “‘The regular form, which a substance tends to assume in solidifying, through the inherent power of cohesive attraction…” He explains, “The power of cohesive attraction is not explained, though it sounds rather like the organizing intelligence that calls together and animates the substance of our own bodies....” And so, Stones of the New Consciousness begins to spelunk the solidity of stones, taking us to the edge of consciousness and matter, and into the realm of co-creative evolution, fields of heart-intelligence, the crystalline nature of humans, the Soul of the world, myths and legends, shamanism, poets and prophets, and myriad ways that we can wrap our intelligence around the parallels and possibilities that working with stones offers.

This journey into the mysterious realm of stones, along with meditations and practices with stones for achieving specific states of conscious awareness, comprises the first half of the book. It is not light reading; it is, however, authoritatively original and inspiring, and weaves a fascinating tapestry of science and spirit that itself exemplifies the new consciousness the author strives to make more understandable and accessible.

The latter half of the book explores sixty-two crystals that the author has meditated with or had personal experience with, and which he suggests are important stones for awakening the birth of a new planetary consciousness: a co-creative consciousness. Photos, background information, how each stone relates to the “new attunement,” and a “message” from the stone completes the entry.

Then new consciousness Simmons refers to is not, he says, a new age “add-on;” it is a place where we have not yet shed our light of awareness. Paying attention to our awareness, and particularly our body awareness in relation to stones, develops our capacity for awareness. And, greater capacity for awareness offers the potential for greater resonance with “cosmic and earthly illuminations.” This book is going on my top shelf!

Just as the subtitle describes, this is a book of prompts, quotes, and exercises to jumpstart your [writing] creativity. If you’ve ever read any of Bennet’s other books, you already know what a fine writer he is, and this book is no exception. Compact and designed to be used randomly, each creative exercise averages five pages (some are only one or two pages); long enough to get under your creative skin, but not enough to distract the writer from her job of writing.
There is something for everyone here: fifty exercises that will get your juices flowing, ranging from exploring the creative process, to writing from an animal’s perspective, to using tarot cards, to creating alternate realities, to suspending disbelief, developing characters, and so forth. As a successful working writer for thirty years, the author has developed a pleasing flow and cadence to his writing, which shines through even in a book such as this. The book concludes with an annotated bibliography and a list of Internet resources for writers.
Practical and poignant, any writer will be able to find herself—or her muse— somewhere within these pages.

This book provides an in-depth look at relationships from a psycho-spiritual perspective. Both profound and practical, the author delves into the myriad masks that ego wears in relationships, and what she calls “conditioning,” the habitual thoughts and ideas that ego operates from. She contrasts this to Essence,” the unchanging, present moment, and loving nature that transcends ego and is our true nature.
Relating through the Ego is a well-worn path for most of us, and the landscape is remarkably consistent as one of separation and relational interference. It is a spiritual paradox that we both need love and resist love; that we are both singular and whole; that we are both Essence and persona. The lessons of life and love are revealed through paradox, and choosing spiritual values, choosing to drop into our Essence, allows us to become the ideal partner—or to borrow a familiar phrase, “we become the change we wish to see…” Essence is that state of being where duality becomes Oneness, where we perceive first and foremost the divine in others, and our thoughts and actions naturally sustain meaningful relationships.
Although there are exercises and real life examples that encourage readers to move beyond ego and conditioning, this is not a “how-to” book. More so, it is a thorough exploration of the nature of being human, providing a rich deposit of understanding from which we can extract wise, loving, and conscious choices about ourselves and about being in relationship.

Something ancient stirred within me the moment I saw the cover of this book. Not surprising really, since sacred geometry is a nature-made creation story that predates language, homo sapiens, or even the world itself. According to Galileo, “the ‘grand book’ of the universe was written in the language of mathematics and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is impossible to understand a single word of it.”
What makes sacred geometry sacred, is that it connects us with the only world order “in which human nature can happily exist…the cosmological expression of ideal harmony and proportion which constituted the base behind every ancient lasting civilization.”
This book is beautifully written and contains over 300 color drawings that illustrate the archetypal patterns that numbers and shapes represent, and how they illuminate social and spiritual development, both in contemporary and historical worlds.
As someone who is mathematically functional, but not sophisticated, there is perhaps more “mathematics” explained in this book than I enjoy or appreciate. But this is a personal bias and in no way reflects the quality of information, knowledge, and wisdom offered in this fascinating and compelling look at sacred universal order.

Author and medical intuitive Carolyn Myss continues to shed thought-provoking and profound light on the mystery of healing—both physical and non-physical in Defy Gravity. She states some evident truths with startling originality and a fierce passion.

The central theme of this book is a discourse on the ways that reason alone cannot deliver us from the dis-ease in our psycho-spiritual or physical being, and the myriad ways that we humans wrestle with this internally. The author addresses mysticism—the missing element from reason—in modern garb, and makes it relevant through real life narratives and personal disclosure. She penetrates numerous habits of thought that keep us locked into our less-than-ness, and illuminates pervading questions of meaning and purpose with revealing insight. She writes with depth and eloquence, and her prose carries us along a winding river of self-revelation.

And yet…I found myself taking exception to some of her philosophical “truths,” on guard that there might be an overabundance of religiosity, and losing interest as she seemed to belabor the many salient points being made.

There are gems of wisdom and heart within the covers of this book and I certainly would recommend it; I suspect that my view may not be the popular response. However, for this reviewer, there was too much wading through muddy waters in order to retrieve the treasure, to sustain my single-minded attention.

This book is remarkable in its depth and compassionate understanding of how to create loving, healthy, and intimate relationships. Author Debra Reble’s starting point is evident and yet often overlooked or brushed over in many relationship books: only when we have cultivated a soul partnership with ourselves can we enter into an authentic soul partnership with others. This aspect of self-discovery is what I find missing from so many “relationship” books these days—even those that speak to it often seem to do so only as an obligatory stepping stone toward the more “sexy” tabloid selling point of attracting a romantic partner.

The first part of this book is a roadmap for attaining a personal experience of a soul-hearted partnership. “Partnership as a vehicle for spiritual development is an idea whose time has come,” Debra says, and we begin our partnership by delving deep inside our own being. There we unlock and release the energies that block and limit us from being achieving intimacy within; simultaneously, we cultivate and draw from our faith in, and awareness of, a divine energy source. Trusting our connection to this source and bringing that energy into our hearts lays a foundation for taking proactive responsibility, for creating the life and relationships we desire. These two psycho-spiritual elements of inner work, transmuting and connecting, pave the path for part two of the book: co-creating and sustaining a soul-hearted partnership with another, through unconditional love.

Soul-Hearted Partnership is a powerful, wise, and loving guide for self-realization and intimacy with others—for taking charge of our destiny. Each chapter concludes with a “practicing principles” section—a way to apply the insights and resources offered within the chapter. The author offers spiritual principles, not only from her years as a psychologist and counselor, but also from personal experience. I appreciate too that the author is not famous or a “celebrity,” but is a Cleveland-based psychologist, who has discerned a model for extraordinary relationships and spiritual awakening as everyday experience.

Negative energy and unconscious thinking equals a profound, undesirable impact on our planet. For author Jackie Lapin, this isn’t just theory, and she offers facts and research that substantiates these detrimental effects, as well as the benefits that positive energy and conscious thinking brings. Her energetic “balance sheet” is intended to invigorate and empower us personally and collectively to make a commitment to positive energy and conscious thinking—and action. One of the powerful ways that Lapin puts her words into action is through her international organization that unites millions of people around the globe in “daily acts of conscious creation.”

The Art of Conscious Creation is a well-rounded manual for personal transformation, but always set within the greater context of creating positive global change. Each chapter builds on the previous one, deftly guiding us through a practical vision for understanding and managing energy: transforming negative thoughts and emotions into high frequency, positive thinking. Taking the first step toward a vision of a better future is just one act of conscious creation away.

This is a good starter book for anyone interested in channeling or channeled writing. In fact, for me personally, I found it a little too rudimentary, but if you are curious to understand what channeling is, or what to expect from channeling, or how to access divine guidance, this is a great book, written with an open heart and mind. Author Sara Wiseman, a relative newbe herself to the world of channeled writing, describes her experiences and insights about the practice of accessing divine guidance, offering signposts and instructions for others to do the same. Most significant is her belief that each of us has access to and a direct connection with our spirit guides, and to channeling the wisdom and guidance they have for us. The second half of the book contains “33 Lessons”—life lessons channeled through the author from spirit guides, which I found most compelling, uplifting, and affirming.

This film is a documentary about Dr Guo, a Chinese master healer and his disciple, Dr. Sha, who brings his healing techniques to the Western world. Dr. Guo seems to have an extraordinary gift that he has intuitively and systematically developed over the years to cure the incurable, using a combination of energy work, massage, herbal remedies, and whole living. Thousands of people from all over the world go to his clinic, the Xiuyang Institute, many of them as a last resort. The clinic is more like a convalescent center where people can stay for long periods while healing from their illness; many are cancer patients. The people who work in the clinic also live there as a community, including Dr. Guo, his wife and their five daughters, and their spouses; their work is not just a living, it is a spiritual path.

That’s the linear synopsis of this film. Spiritually, Soul Masters is a documentary of hope. Hope for anyone seeking relief from their physical dis-ease, but even more so, hope for anyone to learn to tap into our innate healing capacities and ease suffering in our families and communities. As he says, and as we know, the body heals and restores itself. Dr. Guo’s doctoring emphasizes over and again that his desire to heal comes from the heart: “Everything we do is based on love,” he says. His vision and intention is to heal and to teach others how to heal “heart to heart,” and “soul to soul.”

The energy that moves through Dr. Guo is Divine spirit. He explains that when we act on matter, we implicitly act upon the “message” in matter. By altering the message (i.e. energy work) we can bring about change in body and mind. His technique, which is called Body Space Medicine, is based on vibrations (the messages). By regulating the fluids in the body through vibration, illness dissipates and the body’s natural energy circulates and completes the healing process.

A day in the clinic begins with meditation and exercise, and concludes with dance—all part of the healing. I found it fascinating that Dr. Guo begins by examining the patient’s tongue, which he says shows all of the organs, and the coating on the tongue that shows the energy between the organs. He puts a photo of the tongue on his computer and examining it he makes an assessment of the person’s health, then diagnoses an herbal combination remedy that the patient drinks twice a day. He only uses ten herbs and his herbal remedies contain four herbs from those ten. Add in daily massage (unlike we usually think of it) and a few other unconventional treatments, and that is the entire healing—that we can point to and explain. We have to go on faith that the soul healing also occurs; although the number of people who have been “miraculously” cured—transformed, actually— is its own witness.

How refreshing to see not only a humble healer, but a culture that acknowledges the spiritual aspects of being human, our spirit and soul, as readily as we Westerners would refer to our eyes or legs. By the end of the film I was ready to take the next flight to China and devote the rest of my life to his healing teachings. Dr. Sha, as his disciple, teaches the same heart-based self-healing, and has focused his gifts on soul healing—the divine energy that is within every aspect of our body and mind. As he says, “I am a divine servant.” Watch this film and your framework for healing will be delightfully dismantled: your soul will be liberated and your heart moved.

This book about women stepping up to our leadership roles in social and economic power activated many conflicting emotions in me. It is, primarily, directed toward women in business that are already in a position to make a significant difference in decision-making processes. This leaves me out, I felt, since my lifestyle and contributions are more right-brained than left. And yet in all fairness, the author makes it clear that she is speaking to all women, and gives numerous practical examples of how women not in the business world can support and participate in women’s leadership.

Ninety years after achieving the right to vote, women in the United States still only account for about 15% of the key positions of political and economic power in this country. And yet, women hold more higher education degrees, account for 80% of consumer decisions, and the sales generated by women-owned businesses equals the GDP of China. This and all that it represents in terms of the continuing inequality of pay, dismissing of women’s concerns, and dogmatic attachment to a hierarchical status quo, aroused a deep, cellular rage of injustice within me, which was quickly followed by shame that I have allowed myself to be so passive about using my own voice and power to enact change. But Tarr-Whelan is not rabble rousing and wisely advises women to move beyond divisive thinking and look for how women’s issues are also collective issues. She also acknowledges that both men and women are involved in, and benefit from, women achieving a critical mass at decision-making tables.

Women Lead the Way presents a clear road map for organizational, economic, and political change, with a vision toward quickly achieving the 30% solution: all organizations/entities must have at least 30% of positions of power filled by women. In many countries where women are already powerful leaders and already have greater balance in leadership, studies have demonstrated that this shift has yielded higher profits, greater efficiency and workplace satisfaction, and long-ranged collaborative values, among many other assets. Again, I was rankled by the need to “justify” or “prove” that women’s rights and our concerns require empirical research to ratify. It’s quite obvious women deserve equality: as Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says, “women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights.” On reflection I realized that while this is true in and of itself, vision without action is impotent and lacks integrity. If we say something is true and don’t follow through by our actions, then how can we expect anything other than what we already have?

Consequently, this book offers an exciting manifesto and is an impassioned clarion call for closing the leadership gap. I recommend that all women (and men too) read this book: we are without question the key players in being agents of change for a sustainable recovery, and we will pass along the consequences of our efforts to our children. If you, like me, are aroused to make one small leadership effort toward making the world a better place from reading this book, each power of one will create a chain-reaction that can and will make a difference.

Middle-aged and silver-streaked hippies definitely notice this title and I can state from personal experience that it arouses curiosity. (It's true that the more things change, the more they remain the same.) The cover jacket describes Get High Now as containing “over 175 sensory trips and tricks for visual stimulation, compressing time, lucid dreaming, meditation, and more.” And indeed it does. Some of them are more mundane, such as self-hypnosis and some are quite bizarre, such as sungazing; many are quick and simple and can be done almost anywhere. The author has compiled these methods from many eras and sources around the world, and with a group of volunteers, tested all of those that have no undesired effects, which the majority of these entries are. There are a few methods that the author does not recommend but has included for their intrigue—anthropological oddities, he calls them.

Although it is unlikely that I would sit down and “read” this book, it makes a great travel book, bathroom book, or for reading any time you have a few minutes to spare. It could also be fun to experiment with some of these methods in groups. Get High Now also offers an audio-visual web component if you want to expand your repertoire. I love this book just because it stimulates perception and thought processes—like having a portable jungle gym for your mind on hand. Groovy.

Author Dan Millman and editor Doug Childers have gathered almost 40 true-life stories of dramatic and miraculous events that forever changed the lives of their authors. Many of the better-known author’s stories (such as Carl Jung, Bucky Fuller, Bill Wilson AA Founder) have been published before and are well documented; even so, I found details of these stories within Bridge Between Worlds that I hadn’t been aware of previously. And the lesser-known author’s stories are equally provocative and engaging, such as Valerie Vener, whose worst fear was death by fire and who survived forty-five minutes in a burning inferno with minimal injury. Her transformation occurred within that fire, when she finally surrendered to her own demise and in that very instant felt nothing but awe and wonder for the beauty of the fire. Her trust in the power of surrender and memory of the freedom she experienced in the flames have enduringly shaped her life.

Each story invokes the mysterious and the miraculous—often healing miracles—and one cannot help but be inspired and moved by reading them. The stories offer an expanded vision of reality that opens us to the possibility of something beyond the ordinary. Since I missed the original version of this book published in 1999 as Divine Interventions, I thoroughly savored reading this for the first time. However, some things are worth reading (and publishing) over and again. This book is a keeper.