by JumeRouse

O Lanoo! -- a title that will either put potential readers off or engage their curiosity. A word to the wise: be among the latter and you'll discover a marvel of a book with an apt name. The author, Harvey Tordoff, has used O Lanoo as a vehicle for explanation of the much longer and not-so-easy-to-read The Secret Doctrine by Madame Helena Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy. The first words of The Secret Doctrine are "An Archaic Manuscript -- a collection of palm leaves made impermeable to water, fire, and air -- is before the writer's eye." "This manuscript is the Book of Dzyan, and H.P.B. translates a few hundred words, which by themselves reveal very little. She then writes fifteen hundred pages of explanation, interpretation, extrapolation and asides, and the story of Dzyan is all but lost." Paring the essence of Blavatsky's 750,000 words to a mere 10,000 is a feat handled extraordinarily by Mr. Tordoff, who has chosen a poetic format for the two parts of his book. In the first half of O Lanoo!, this style mirrors the pattern of the creation of the Universe. (Tordoff reminds us, in his fine Introduction, that this process is lyrically described by the Hindus as breathing out and breathing in). The second half is about the evolution of Man, and adds to information that across untrackable millennia has emerged as accounts that, "enhanced and enriched, twisted and distorted," became "the sacred words of God engraved in stone in the religions of today." The translation of lanoo, from Sanskrit, means "a student or seeker after truth" and reflects The Book of Dzyan, which is written as from a teacher to a student, as well as the discourse with which Tordoff has gifted us. (126 pages, $14.95, Findhorn Press.)

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For the folks whose backs are giving them grief, Marcia Schmidt's Nuts and Bolts & Greens of a Healthy Back is right on time. In easy to read style, Nuts and Bolts... is a personal account of how this alternative healer uses minerals along with ancient Chinese theory to relieve back, neck and shoulder pain as well as headaches, menstrual cramps and TMJ, etc. for her patients.

The doctor reveals startling information such as: soda pop and beef steal vast amounts of calcium and magnesium from the body, causing much of the back pain and hadache tension that people suffer from. How to repair the damage, what foods will heal you and which will drop you to your knees, are addressed along with what nutrition strengthens nerve problems.

Add a touch of metaphysical wisdom that your disease is somehow your special gift, and you will benefit from Dr. Marcia Schmidt's loving and down-to-earth approach to recovering your health. Marcia, who holds naprapathic and chiropractic degrees, does readers the favor of explaining just what it is that a naprapath -- a physican who puts one's muscular, skeletal and organic structures into balance -- does to alleviate pain, why naprapathy works so effectively, and the important difference between naprapathy and chiropractic.

You'll find Dr. Schmidt's book at Barnes & Noble bookstores and amazon.com; or you can order it by calling this toll-free number: 877-381-8459. (171 pages, $16.95, PERQ Publications.)

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by Diana Chiropolos

For those who are having trouble accepting who they are, their lack of self esteem shows up in relationship difficulties. That's the double-edged theme of The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz, a master of the Toltec mystery school traditiion. Ruiz offers some important points to ponder -- and work with.

Ruiz points out that the norm is to relate to a partner based on seeking love and validation from outside one's own self. He sees this lack of self love as universal, in every culture and beyond the current day and age, and tells us that thanks to early conditioning, people take on a false sense of who they are. They are trained to adopt a vision of what they're supposed to be like, setting themselves up to criticize themselves for not being what they believe they should be. The end result, he says, is that people grow up with two senses of self: of who they are within, and the desire to convince the world that what they believe is acceptable is who they are -- even though it is not.

Ruiz further explains that relationships fail because when people interact, they must deal with their false beliefs about their inner selves as well as how they believe the partner want them to act. If this sounds all too familiar and you've had it up to here with suffering and negative drama, Ruiz's insights can give you a way out.

In the second section of Mastery of Love, Ruiz discusses how to achieve relationship with self and others based on rediscovering trust in yourself. His words about the creation of self esteem will create a new vision for those who are courageously looking for a way to heal their emotional body and grow in love. (210 pages, $14, Amber-Allen Publishing.)

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by
Rick Broniec

As a facilitator presenting wild dolphin swims for many years, I have a very deep interest in books and other resources about dolphins and have quite a few in my collection. Of these, certainly the most unusual and beautiful is Angels of the Sea by Michele Gold. This coffee table sized book is brimming with exotic paintings by Ms. Gold and wistful poetry written by her partner, Scott Huckaby. Both have experienced profound and powerful experiences with wild dolphins, which have been translated into magnificent paintings and moving poetry.

Michele Gold's unique paintings come from her lucid dreams where she experiences dolphins as "angels of the sea." As she states in her introduction, "The most vital thing to understand is that dolphins exist like angels, everywhere. You can contact them in your dreams, in your days and nights, by land or by sea. They will hear you, and you will feel their love in your heart." This explains the dream-like quality of her art. For me, her paintings evoke emotional images of connection to the mystical energy dolphins carry -- a connection to pure Spirit!

In the Foreword, Joan Borysenko states, "Michele Gold is a true artist of Spirit, an awakener. Her paintings and stories will carry you to a blissful realm that ignites remembrance of the Light from which we came, the love from which the cosmos is spun, and the reality of the angelic hosts that aids in our evolution." Borysenko adds, "Michele's miraculous gift of communication with dolphins...is handed to you through this book." Gold's prose is straightforward and filled with facts about dolphin life, as well as her musings about the spiritual connection with dolphins and the creator.

The book's ethereal paintings and prose are enhanced by the poetry of Scott Huckaby, a song writer and performer as well as a poet, who is well known for his award-winning music which captures the sounds of dolphins in the wild. His poems, like One True Soul and Prodigy Spirit, seem to come from his soul. Together, Gold and Huckaby have created a wonderful and worthwhile book you will enjoy looking at and reading over and over again. This book will be a valuable acquisition for anyone intrigued with the mystical connection between wild dolphins and humans. I believe Angels of the Sea is a useful and beautiful addition to the literature about these marvelous "angels of the sea." (112 pages, $37, Hay House.)

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by John "Bear" Wright

Sometimes in my readings I come across a book which stirs powerfull emotions and gives a clear vision into what might be considered a dificult and painful subject. I give these books, their authors and their publishers a great deal of credit since it would have been easier and perhaps more profitable to write and produce a more "friendly" book or a "nicer" subject matter.

Fortunately for all of us some choose to make a book that will bravely talk about the truth and give everyone a clearer vision.The strategy fo Native American displacement at the hands of pioneer settlers is one of our countries most undealt with dilemmas. Due to a wide range of hurtful feelings about the problems of those days (and their current results) many people have missed the important lessons that come from that era. An incredible gathering of such lessons can be found in The Wisdom of the Native Ameicans, in the form outstanding Native American persons of the pioneering era.

Editor Kent Nerburn has selected a treasure trove of stories and speeches, each one a moving piece of work. The time line explored is exellent with representations from the earliest contacts between the Native American people and the European settlers, full of excitement, hope and brotherly affection - to the tragic appeals of these same people at the White House demanding respect, equality and the halting of wide spread genocide. Each one of these entries holds lessons of civility, open morality, and social attunement that the Old Ways held......lessons we still can gain from this day.(217 pages, $16.95, New World Library.)

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