Soul Visioning: Clear the Past, Create Your Future
Susan Wisehart
$17.95 HC, 9780738714080, 336 pages, 6" x 9", Llewellyn Publications,
800/843-6666, www.llewellyn.com

Soul Visioning is a combination workbook and instruction manual for spiritual healing. It is written for those who are ready to pursue a serious course of psychological self-study in search of a more balanced and constructive life. While Susan Wisehart is writing about the world of emotions and enlightenment, there is nothing ethereal about the product she offers us. The book is filled with practical information which is then made personal and relevant by the use of numerous case histories.

Part One gives us an overview of the soul’s relationship to the personality and takes us through the author’s seven-step workshop entitled Soul Visioning. (You can find out more about the workshop and related materials at www.soulvisioning.com.) It also contains an excellent section about how to write an effective affirmation, as well as one of the best discussions of forgiveness which I have ever read.

Part Two describes the role of regression therapy in psychological and spiritual healing. The most unique thing about the book is the concise review of energy psychology and its effectiveness in reducing negative emotions to allow healing to manifest more quickly than is sometimes possible with traditional therapeutic techniques.

Keep your eye out for new books about energy psychology. This is going to be a hot topic going forward. — Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y.

Jewelry & Gems for Self-Discovery: Choosing Gemstones That Delight the Eye and Strengthen the Soul
Shakti Carola Navran
$16.95 QP, 9780738714431, 216 pages, 6" x 9", Llewellyn Publications,  800/843-6666, www.llewellyn.com

Shakti Carola Navran combined three complementary arts together to create Jewelry and Gems for Self-Discovery. She is a jeweler, an astrologer, and is also knowledgeable about the attributes of gemstones.

Navran explains about using the chakras with gemstones to tap into the energy of the stone and send healing energy to the chakras. She includes a cross-reference guide to gemstones, signs, and planetary principles. The chapter on metaphysical properties of stones also includes the correlations of each stone with the planetary aspects. The 24-page color insert shows what various gemstones look like and includes photos of pieces of jewelry made by Navran.

Jewelry and Gems for Self-Discovery teaches how to read a horoscope and about various gemstones.  Using this information, the reader is equipped with the knowledge to choose jewelry that will be for their highest good. —Susan LosCalzo, Lofty Notions, Rutherfordton, N.C.

The Only 127 Things You Need: A Guide to Life’s Essentials
Donna Wilkinson
$14.95 QP, 9781585426812, 400 pages, 5" x 7", Tarcher/Penguin, 800/847-5515, www.penguin.com

Donna Wilkinson says it all in The Only 127 Things You Need. After reading this book I did not come up with anything else that should have been included.
Wilkinson divides the book into three broad categories of mind, body, and spirit. Within these sections she provides lists, stories, creative ideas, and comments from experts such as Drs. Andrew Weil and Christiane Northrup that can help one have a full but more simplified life.

Much information is packed into these 400 pages, and Wilkinson explains her ideas in a clear and concise manner thus making this book enjoyable to read with easy to follow suggestions.—  Susan LosCalzo, Lofty Notions, Rutherfordton, NC



The Hero With a Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell
$21.95 HC, 9781577315933, 440 pages, 8.6" x 5.9", New World Library,
800/972-6657, www.newworldlibrary.com

The premiere source for analyzing the figure of the hero in mythology, The Hero with a Thousand Faces offers a scholarly, cross-cultural view of the hero’s journey. Dissecting the progression toward heroism into distinct stages and motifs, Joseph Campbell details the universal characteristics of literary figures and the trials they must endure.

The main analysis of the hero’s adventure focuses on an ordinary character’s call to action, the perils and obstacles that must be faced, and the return of an enlightened character in possession of newfound knowledge or powers. Additional attention is paid to guide figures and settings, supernatural aids, and types of rewards gained by completing the adventure. Sixty new illustrations complement the expanded entries to allow for in-depth analysis of symbols and themes.

Cited by George Lucas as being heavily influential in the creation of the Star Wars series, Campbell’s work is an invaluable resource for students, academics, and anyone seeking a more thorough understanding of heroic characters in mythology, religion, literature and modern film. — Sam E. Robinson, Bloody Irish Press, Bellingham, Wash.


Shamans of the World: Extraordinary First-Person Accounts of Healings, Mysteries, and Miracles
Nancy Connor and Bradford Keeney, Ph.D., editors
$22.95 HC, 9781591799573, 286 pages, 9.2" x 6.2", Sounds True, 888/303-9185, www.soundstrue.com

Shamans of the World gives the reader an inside view of traditional Shamanism as it is practiced today around the world. Editor Nancy Connor has selected chapters from Bradford Keeney’s series Profiles in Healing, published by Connor’s Ringing Rocks Foundation between 1999 and 2004. The Foundation’s mission is “to explore the world, documenting and conserving healing practices and spiritual traditions.” Each chapter of the present book begins with a brief orientation to the culture and its healers and then lets the healers speak for themselves.

The nine healing traditions examined progress from those using traditional or herbal medicine (a Dine Medicine Woman from New Mexico, healers of Brazil, a Lakota Yuwipi man), those that combine traditional medicines with mild trance states (Guarani Shamans of the Forest of Paraguay and Brazil, a Zulu High Sanusi, traditional healers of Bali), and those primarily using trance states and dances (a Japanese master of Seiki Jutsu, the Shakers of St. Vincent in the Caribbean, Kalahari Bushman Healers). Despite cultural differences, all the healers work from a spiritual focus.

Shamans of the World offers a basic introduction to the spiritual focus at the core of all Shamanic healing techniques. It will appeal to readers curious about the present-day appeal of Shamanism as well as those already familiar with its practices. — Richard D. Wright, Tranquil Things, Derby Line, Vt.


Nurturing Spirituality in Children: Simple Hands-On Activities
Peggy Joy Jenkins
$15 QP, 9781582702117, 192 pages, 8.4" x 5.1", Atria/Beyond Words Publishing, 503/531-8700, www.beyondword.com

Nurturing Spirituality in Children is a revision of one Peggy Joe Jenkins’ earlier works, A Child of God. In a book filled with simple hands on activities to build self-esteem and a balanced life in children, she combines two favorite teaching tools, visual aides and analogies.

Jenkins teaches adults how to teach children to work with the spiritual as well as physical laws that brings them gifts of peace, confidence, and joy. In each lesson the concrete supports the abstract and can be completed in 10 minutes while teaching children higher principles to help them weather the storms of life.

The author uses all encompasing words such as God, Spirit, Source, Creator, and Inner Teacher. She encourages readers to suit their own beliefs and keep their lights shining brightly as they teach their children unconditional love and service to others.

Nurturing Spirituality in Children includes 62 simple, 10 minute lessons that are easy to prepare using commonly available materials. Even children of diverse age groups who are taught lessons together will “get it” at their own level of understanding. — Lois A. Rogalski, Miss Lois’ Curiosity Shoppe, Benton, Ky.