December 2004 Books
Altars of Power and Grace; Death of the Mythic God;
All Over Creation
Altars of Power and Grace, Create the Life You Desire
Altars of Power and Grace caught my eye with its sumptuous visual feast of personal altars for all purposes. Delving into it, I found it a unique balance of Whole Systems Design and the ancient principles of Indian Vastu Shastra (the likely forerunner of Feng Shui).
The book offers clear instructions for creating altars in home or office to focus energy and thereby attract the support of Universal forces. Concise instructions are offered for creating and using altars to fulfill your desires in eight major areas: Abundance and Prosperity, Spirituality, Health and Well Being, Life Changes and Transformation, Career and Recognition, Helpful People and Universal Support, Creativity and Knowledge, and Relationships and Marriage.
Placement of an altar in a room is determined by the cardinal direction associated with your area of desire. Each direction is associated with a particular color and element, but we are reminded that our own emotion is the most important element; to activate the power of intention, our altar must touch our heart. Yantras and mantras to activate and empower our altars are available on the authors' web site.
Altars of Power and Grace is beautiful and elegant, a thoughtful gift for the spiritually inclined person who appreciates the importance of beauty as a focus for creative energies.
—Chiwah
The Death of the Mythic God; The Rise of Evolutionary Spirituality
The Death of the Mythic God is a book for readers interested in gaining a better understanding of the profound spiritual crisis facing the world today. Is God dead? Church attendance is dwindling, but still we seek a path to something greater than our little selves.
If you're reading this, it's probably a safe bet that you consider yourself more spiritual than religious. Most of us were raised more or less in tune with one traditional religion or another, but over the years we have evolved a belief system that better suits our times.
Marion's answer is that God isn't dead, but our old concept of God is. Even if this is not news to you, you may find it interesting to read his detailed analysis of the many layers of evolution spirituality is going through right now on the planet.
Marion opens by considering those (in our society and in the world) still caught up in a mythical (or even pre-mythic) religious system that hasn't caught up with modern science. He then moves on to forays into Darwinian evolution, relativity theory, quantum physics, Ken Wilber, the ecology movement, and much more. Using the metaphor of color, he explores the spiritual progress being made in our non-homogenous collective journey toward ever-greater inner direction.
This is a scholarly work, reflective of an eclectic mind with a bibliography to suit the most investigative mind.
—Chiwah
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All Over Creation
All Over Creation ranks as the most entertaining novels I've read in a long time. What a romp!
In her own unmistakable brand of playful, sexy, humorous human drama, Ozeki grabs your emotions and pulls you through one plot twist after another as she lifts the curtain on the stage of the politics of genetic engineering. Surreal encounters bring Idaho potato farmers face-to-face with traveling latter-day hippie political activists-each character real and true, etching his or her way into the indelible pathways of your brain. Perhaps best of all, the book is as instructive as it is captivating.
Yumi Fuller hasn't set foot in Idaho since she ran away at the tender age of 15. Twenty-five years later, she leaves her job in Hawaii to confront her dying parents and her childhood best friend. Her conflicted past begins to catch up with her- just in time to collide with the Spudniks, an engaging crew of young men and women traveling the countryside in their camper (bio-fueled by fast-food-joint french-fry grease) engaging audiences with their own brand of guerrilla theater. And that's not all! You'll laugh out loud and be moved to tears as you travel the bumpy landscape of love old and new, birth, death, creation and destruction galore, and red-neck minds and hearts facing hard decisions about what to do with these strange people and how to distinguish what's right from what's profitable.
This is Ozeki's second novel. Her first, My Year of Meats, won awards, and her documentary and dramatic films have been shown on PBS, at the Sundance Film Festival, and at colleges and universities across the country. She is a stellar talent.
- Chiwah
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