by June Rouse
For those times when we just have to settle back with a book of pure and easy entertainment, titles on the childrens' shelves can fill the bill nicely. To my delight, the name Jane Roberts has reentered the scene with EMIR'S EDUCATION IN THE PROPER USE OF MAGICAL POWERS, the only children's book she wrote. (Jane's '70s-'80s Seth books were enthralling spiritual primers; for millions of people worldwide who read one or more of those books, her name is remembered with gratitude. Withstanding the test of time, the Seth books remain as relevant today as when they were first published. Her Oversoul Seven series of three spiritual novels are all-time favs in my personal collection.)
I read Emir's Education in before-sleep snippets: sweet induction into dreamland. "In this delightful allegory, Roberts takes us on a magical journey into the world of Emir, a young prince in a brand-new kingdom, with some serious problems to solve. It was a terrific kingdom, with people, plants and creatures; a kingdom where nothing grows old, but always remains the same. But it was getting to be too much of a good thing.
"At his father's request Emir, a rather self-important young prince, reluctantly undertakes two journeys into lands far beyond his experience. The first journey is a voyage to the Land of the Gods to invent the names of all the creatures and plants in the brand-new kingdom. Gaining knowledge and confidence in his own powers on his first voyage, he then goes in search of the God of All Life for help with the kingdom's growing population problem. Emir returns a false hero; failing to have obtained the answer from the God of All Life, he quickly makes one up, inventing the first lie. Aided by Conscience and Inspiration, who show him the true answer he needs to help his people, Emir finally understands that every living thing should have its own season of birth, growth and returning to the earth."
From the pen of Jane Roberts yet another classic, reissued complete with seven new pen-and-ink illustrations. Emir's Education, whimsical and charming, is a read-aloud as well as a delightful entertainment for you alone. (117 pages, $12.95, Hampton Roads Publishing Company.)
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The pen name Sark is certainly a memorable one, and once you get a gander at TRANSFORMATION SOUP: Healing for the Splendidly Imperfect, I think you'll become a loyal fan and reader of her books. This one came to me during a crisis as a present from a caring friend, and he couldn't have chosen a more appropriate, uplifting, fun and inspirational one. Each eccentrically illustrated page (many in full color) is hand lettered, bearing gifts of healing for about any situation I can think of. If you're looking for a special, lasting something to say I love you, I care, or thanks for being you, don't wait until it's needed; perhaps the sweetest gifts are those that aren't expected. Matter of fact, you and your friends will no doubt discover you've been waiting for Sark's wisdom to give you ease, no matter what the case. (198 pages, $16, A Fireside Book from Simon & Schuster.)
It's just as well that SIGNALS, by Joel Rothschild is a short book . . . I read it in an afternoon simply because I couldn't put it down. By the time I turned the last memorable page, it was easy to see why it is recommended by a surprisingly long list of venerated folks you'll recognize from the new age - New Thought movement, including a foreword by Neale Douglas Walsch (author of Conversations with God). Signals is a memoir from the heart by a man who discovered that the dear friend and lover he at first believed had abandoned him in suicide, continued to be in communication with him. Further, he discovers why this tragedy became part of his experience. The signals his friend sends him from beyond the veil, the manner in which the author finally emerges from grief, his own recovery from the symptoms of AIDS and his emerging intuitive abilities will add to your insights about life, death and the impressive challenges of mortality. (160 pages, $17.95, New World Library.)
When internationally recognized spiritual regressionist Michael Newton's best-selling first volume, Journey of Souls was released a few years ago, it filled a niche that had been wanting regarding a meaningful soul existence between lives. Now, Dr. Newton offers us DESTINY OF SOULS: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives, further insights garnered from people willing to be interviewed, under hypnosis, on the subject. Just as with the breakthrough research carried out in the last quarter century by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (who pioneered dialogue with dying patients and those who had had experiences with "after-death" realities) there is an abundance of common denominators among the reports. A few of the subjects covered extensively in Destiny of Souls are why we are here on Earth; spiritual settings where souls go after death; ways spirits connect with and comfort the living; who is a soulmate; and links between soul groups and human families. Consider the authoritatively archived information in this book along with that which is increasingly being reported elsewhere, and you will have a clear idea of the spiritual wisdom that one day, I suspect, will be widely taken for granted here in the West. (401 pages, $14.95, Llewellyn.)
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