Something Unknown Is Doing We Don’t Know What
Renée Scheltema
$24.95, one DVD, 105 minutes, Telekan, www.somethingunknown.com

Despite broad popular acceptance of psychic phenomena in recent years (a 2005 Gallup poll showed 73% of Americans believe in some form of the paranormal), the scientific community largely continues to ignore it as a field of study … with a few notable exceptions. Enter Dutch filmmaker Renée Scheltema, who was inspired by her daughter’s precognitive dream to seek out the foremost researchers in the fields of telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis, healing, and remote viewing to try to better understand the tangible evidence for these phenomena. Scheltema—whom we hear from through narration but see only glimpses of since she’s behind the camera—interviews such preeminent researchers as Dr. Dean Radin, senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Dr. Gary Schwartz with the VERITAS program at the University of Arizona. What she finds is substantial scientific evidence for the existence of psychic capabilities among humans. Among the fascinating topics covered are a secret CIA program employing remote viewers to spy on Soviet sites during the Cold War, a worldwide random-number generator project in which major events such as the death of Princess Diana and Sept. 11th create spikes of anomalous data for no other reason than many people are focused on the same thing at the same time, and a Brazilian healer known as John of God who performs what some see as miraculous healings of incurable or untreatable conditions. This well-made, fascinating film should connect strongly with viewers curious about the intersection of science and the paranormal.

Infinity: The Ultimate Trip
Jay Weidner
$24.95, one DVD, 90 minutes, Sacred Mysteries Productions, www.sacredmysteries.com

The beauty of this film lies not so much in its imagery—though the swirling fractals and beaming faces from around the globe are visually gorgeous—but in its message: Earth is a school, and birth and death are merely doorways into and out of that school; beyond that, existence is an incredibly elegant system in which we are all a part of God. This message is delivered eloquently and effectively by experts on life and death and the nature of existence, including Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations With God), Dannion Brinkley (Saved by the Light), and Dr. Brian Weiss (Many Lives, Many Masters). A highlight of the movie is the engaging interview with Renate Dollinger, an artist and German holocaust survivor who delightfully recounts her extraordinary experiences as a young woman with a guardian angel that informed her of her family’s deaths and guided her to her current life in California. Their insights and personal experiences give the viewer an incandescent vision of life as an ever-evolving soul’s journey. The purpose of the film is clearly to convey peace and joy about the sometimes-scary subject of death, to move beyond the fear to greater understanding of what life really is. On that score, it is wildly successful.

Living Luminaries on the Serious Business of Happiness
Sean Mulvihill and Larry Kurnarsky
$24.95, one DVD, 90 minutes, Grace Point Films/Beyond Distribution, www.beyondword.com

Loosely structured inside a fictional narrative about a twenty-something actor, Sean Mulvihill, struggling to find true happiness and inner peace is a group of real interviews with some of today’s foremost spiritual authors and leaders. The film begins as Mulvihill, the wisdom seeker and interviewer, receives profound advice from Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements: Don’t believe. Just listen. The truth will sink in while all the rest floats away. This plays out noticeably throughout the movie as Mulvihill interviews everyone from Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist leaders such as Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein of Loyola University, Rev. Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral, and the Venerable Tibetan Lama Chodak Gyatso Nubpa to prominent New Age authors Michael Bernard Beckwith, Marianne Williamson, and Eckhart Tolle. The sheer breadth of personalities (including a surfing rabbi and a voodoo princess), not to mention the depth of powerful insights about how to find one’s own inner peace in the face of life’s challenges, make Living Luminaries a treasure trove of spiritual wisdom. Consider displaying or cross-referencing with the books of Tolle, Beckwith, Ruiz, and others.  


2012: An Awakening
Winterhill Productions
$24.95, one DVD, 60 minutes, Reality Films, www.reality-entertainment.com

Filmed over the course of 18 months, 2012: An Awakening features interviews with such noted 2012 authors as Geoff Stray, Gregg Braden, Patrick Geryl, and John Major Jenkins. The film begins with an examination of global warming, which several of the interviewees conclude is not the result of CO2 emissions, but rather caused by a natural shift in the activity of the sun. This, they say, is one of the symptoms to be expected as the sun’s alignment with the dark rift at the center of the Milky Way galaxy—which some think was predicted by the Mayan calendar—approaches. This alignment occurs every 26,000 years and we are about to experience it in December 2012. The film delves into forecasting as the authors each discuss their various views on what the alignment could mean for humanity—solar flares knocking out electric grids, a massive change in the Earth’s magnetic field, or even a polar reversal. While these things could all add up to cataclysm for humans, the film is ultimately hopeful as it seeks to shed light and understanding on this popular subject.

 

The Language of Emotions
Karla McLaren
$69.95, 6 CDs, 435 minutes, Sounds True, www.SoundsTrue.com

Emotions are nothing to be afraid of and nothing to ignore or meditate away, says empathic counselor and author Karla McLaren. In fact, emotions are gifts—messengers that can help guide, energize, teach, and balance us. In her new audio course, McLaren defines emotions not as “good” or “bad,” but instead as tools that, if understood and utilized effectively, are one of the greatest assets we have as human beings. She begins her instruction by dividing one’s reality and perceptions into four realms she calls the quaternity: Fire (intuition), Water (emotions), Earth (physical body), and Air (intellect). She says that by getting grounded and using the other “elements” to understand and digest our emotions—be they anger, rage, guilt, joy, fear, happiness, or sadness—we will move through traumas (and everyday life, for that matter) much more smoothly and completely to become whole and balanced. McLaren provides exercises to help the listener with this process, along with in-depth discussion of the gifts that so-called negative emotions give us. For example, she describes how anger helps us establish boundaries and fear puts us in touch with our instincts. This is an extensive course that takes a fresh look at the emotions we all struggle with—it’s a strong recommendation for customers dealing with trauma (past or present) and for those who want an alternative to practices that emphasize detachment.

Meditations 2 Go
Rob Brookler
$14.99, one CD, 68 minutes, Planetwide Publishing, www.Meditations2Go.com

Part of a series of five CD sets, Meditations 2 Go are designed to appeal to a broad audience and address everyday stresses of modern life. Narrated by Rob Brookler, they are based on his 27 years of teaching meditation in the Los Angeles area. All the CDs are well-done and effective—each has two full-length audio meditations on one CD—but my favorite is CD Set 2: Awakening Your Worthiness and Freedom and Releasing Fear. These two topics seem especially timely and, I believe, will resonate with a wide array of customers, given the times we live in. Customers who have been hit hard by the economy, or simply are experiencing chaos or difficulty in their lives will find these half-hour meditations soothing, calming, and liberating. The company also sells the meditations individually online as MP3 downloads, but many customers still aren’t comfortable downloading and listening to audio from the internet, making the CDs a viable option for retailers.

Mother Night
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.
$79.95, eight CDs, 585 minutes, Sounds True, www.soundstrue.com

One of the most beautiful and profound works I’ve ever heard, Mother Night is like a balm to the lost and weary soul. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, a Jungian psychoanalyst, scholar, poet, and author of the bestseller Women Who Run With the Wolves, weaves psychology, poetry, spirituality, and storytelling into a loving tapestry that wraps around the listener, comforting and soothing and inspiring. Her premise is that many people have become distanced or even disconnected from their true creative souls because demands from society call for conformity rather than individuality. That individuality, the uniqueness and special gifts that each person has inside, lie buried in the dark, she says. It’s an insidious problem that often goes unrecognized. With the gentleness and wisdom of a sage mother, her soft voice invites the listener to explore the darkness she calls “Mother Night,” and bring forth those gifts to the world with courage and resolve. Sharing stories from her own life, folklore from both her Latina and European heritage, and poetic insights and blessing prayers, Estés speaks directly to the imaginative soul, uplifting and supporting the listener through nearly 10 hours of audio. A rare masterwork, Mother Night is an investment your customers will be overjoyed to have made.  


Chakra Meditation
Layne Redmond
$14.95, one QP book and one CD, 76 minutes, Sounds True, www.soundstrue.com

Described as “a traditional yogic practice to purify your body’s seven vital energy centers,” Chakra Meditation is a paperback version of a 2006 release. The book/CD set was designed to work in tandem to help cleanse the user’s chakras and facilitate the rise of kundalini energy. The book is packed with information, including a thorough introduction to each of the seven chakras, yet author Layne Redmond, a 35-year practitioner, never talks down to her audience, never assumes the reader cannot grasp the complex spiritual theory behind yogic practice. The book also includes full-color plates of each chakra’s yantra (symbol) for use in the visual exercises. On the CD, Redmond walks the listener through essential practices such as the full yogic breath, breath of fire, and fixed gazing. She ends with the final track, a half-hour-long full meditation for purifying the chakras, designed for daily use. This set contains a wealth of sound information in a tidy and affordable package, so recommend it with confidence to customers interested in yoga, chakras, and energy clearing.    

6/1/10  

Shamanic Meditations: Guided Journeys for Insight, Vision, and Healing
Sandra Ingerman
$19.95, two CDs, 120 minutes, Sounds True, www.soundstrue.com

Sandra Ingerman leads listeners through an essential introduction to shamanism and guides them on meditative journeys on this spoken-audio companion to the book she co-authored with Hank Wesselman, Ph.D., Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation. The two-CD set stands on its own as an excellent introduction to the principles of shamanism—reverence for nature, the oneness of all things—as well as its history. Ingerman’s 18-minute “Welcoming in the Spirits” ritual is a powerful and engrossing initiation punctuated by rattle, drum, and whistle. But perhaps the greatest value is in the guided journeys, which lead the listener into the lower world and upper world, for example, to meet a guardian spirit or animal guide and a “teacher in human form.” In each of these journeys, Ingerman allows moments to request healing from the spirits you meet and opportunities to ask questions and receive visions. For those unfamiliar with shamanism, these rituals and journeys may feel like foreign territory but Ingerman’s down-to-earth style makes them invaluable tools for learning about and, indeed, experiencing the benefits of those ancient beliefs and practices.



Janine DePaulo is associate editor of New Age Retailer.