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REVIEWS:

New Age Books 6

Reel Spirit - Sophia's Web - The Clueless Vegetarian - The Zen of Eating - The Soul as Healer

by Annalisa & Giampiero Cara, Staci Backauskas

The premise of this useful and original guide to spirituality in cinema is that "in this age of increased spiritual exploration and renewal, the movies have become our cultural storyboard for a great awakening." According to the author, the award-winning journalist and movie critic Raymond Teague (who is also a regular contributor of our column Beyond the Movie), spirit is soaring in cinema. To prove it, he has found a prominent spiritual meaning in about 400 movies, divided thematically in 10 chapters, with titles like "Angels (and other messengers) in our midst" or "The Force is with and Within Us". Among the movies presented in this book there are recent productions like Pleasantville and Forrest Gump, but also unforgettable classics like It's a Wonderful Life and The Wizard of Oz. The spiritual angle from which Teague looks at the movies in question is sometimes surprising and other times more obvious, but the author's comments are always acute and his style clear, simple and enjoyable, often tinted by a subtle and healthy sense of humor. He also did a very good job in classifying the "Main Attraction" movies, with references to other movies in the same spirit. Maybe a guide of this kind would have been better off as an "illustrated guide", with more color images from the movies, in addition to the few b/w photos it contains. But it's only a minor shortcoming in an otherwise excellent book. (A.&G. C.)

Raymond Teague

Reel Spirit: A Guide to Movies that Inspire, Explore and Empower

Unity House

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Reel Spirit: A Guide to Spiritual Movies

 
 

It's not easy for a book like this one, so full of cultural references, so detailed in its analysis of the unity of "esoteric" principles underlying various religious traditions and quantum physics, to be also a page-turner. Burl B. Hall, who defines himself "a mental health therapist with a life-long deep love and awe for the Goddess," achieves that by wrapping in this relatively brief but very rich treatise his great passion for a mystical interpretation of reality, in which Divine Sophia is nothing less than primordial wisdom, from which everything descends, as Wisdom's thoughts (words) made flesh. And in this wonderful, exalting vision everything mirrors everything else (like in David Bohm's holographic model of the Universe, to which Hall devotes an illuminating chapter), and everything is "but a Dream, a Thought, or a Word arising from the Infinite." Another of this book's merits is that it is, at the same time, the work of a scholar, a therapist (since sometimes, in order to illustrate his theories, Hall interprets in an unusual and fascinating way some of his patients' cases), and a mystic. Therefore, its style is cultivated and analytical, but also passionate and visionary. We recommend Sophia's Web to anybody interested in developing a mystical, unitary vision of life, in understanding the principles of manifestation, in acknowledging female energy as the first principle of all that is, and in finding unity not only among various religious traditions, but also between spirituality and modern science. (A.&G. C.)

Burl B. Hall

Sophia's Web: Understanding the Unity and Diversity of Religion, Science and Ourselves

1st Books

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Sophia's Web
 

This is a cookbook for the aspiring vegetarian that, according to its author, "is designed for vegetarians who love good food, but who also want to have a life." Above all, the book is a light-hearted guide to the vegetarian world, for people who approach it for the first time and with a little (or much) concern. Written in a humorous and witty style, with lots of funny little drawings, it appeals also to a very young audience, and offers so much information about vegetarianism (not just recipes) that will give the beginner a good start in vegetarian cooking. Besides a brief section on nutrition, there are a lots of simple and practical advice on a variety of subjects: split cooking (without going mad), how to vegetarianize a recipe, eating out, how to grow sprouts, and many more. The book provides also clear information about many vegetarian ingredients, even the most exotic ones, like tofu, tempeh and seitan. And of course there are lots of very good and simple recipes, from appetizers to desserts. They're so good, in fact, that even "seasoned" vegetarians will find them irresistible. Moreover, this book can be a useful and nice gift for both new and "old" vegetarians, but also for people who live with and/or cook for them. (A.&G. C.)

Evelyn Raab

The Clueless Vegetarian

Firefly Books

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The Clueless Vegetarian
 

What a joy it is to be reminded of the principles of Buddhism! And what an amazing concept Dr. Kabatznick employs by using those principles to help anyone who has issues with food and eating. Using the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path tenets of Buddhism, Dr. Kabatznick reminds us that it is never "desire" that causes suffering, but rather our "attachment" to that desire. Practicing the concepts, as outlined in her book, allow a detachment from food that can only be described as peaceful. Among the teachings in the book is the principle that if we take time to acknowledge gratitude for everyone involved in providing a meal before we enjoy it, we are swept out of our emotional vortex, allowing for the development of a healthy relationship with food. Dr. Kabatznick, the former psychological consultant for Weight Watchers, also uses snippets of real life stories to reinforce the benefits of mindfulness, right action, right speech and other Buddhist concepts. If you struggle with maintaining a healthy relationship with food and eating, this book has the power to create an internal shift if you're open to it. (S.B.)

Ronna Kabatznick, Ph.D.

The Zen of Eating

Perigee Publishing.

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The Zen of Eating
 

The author of this book is a researcher and practitioner with a 25 year experience in the fascinating field of spiritual healing. One of the basic assumptions of his book is that to heal is to make whole, understanding the life lessons the Soul wants us to learn, and that health is the reflection of our life path and of the way we handle life's challenges. According to this view, real healing can only proceed from attunement to one's Higher Self, or Soul, and its divine plan. To achieve that, Nichols provides us with many techniques and meditations not only for healing ourselves and others, but also for healing situations (past ones included), personal and working relationships, or even areas of the Earth. There is also a chapter dedicated to the principles and techniques of a relatively new and powerful form of hands-on healing called Chironic Healing, which allows the body to heal itself by reharmonizing the aura. The principles and practices illustrated in this insightful and fascinating book seem very powerful and interesting, not just for professional healers, but also for anyone who feels the need to be in harmony with their Soul's purpose and energy. (A.& G. C.)

L. Joseph Nichols

The Soul as Healer

Llewellyn Publications

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The Soul As Healer

 

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