 MAY, 2001 |
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Currently, many of the books being distributed have to do with the change of perception conferred by a near-death experience (NDE). Beyond the fact that Boomers have achieved over fifty years and may be looking at mortality in a new light, could it be that there is a current of awareness that as the "new consciousness" becomes taken for granted, once-comfortable perceptions are surely dying? Whatever the reason for this trend, publishers are most certainly aware of the reading public's interest in buying books that offer comfort from stories of Near-Death Experiences. Often, an NDE can spur one who has had this view of the afterlife to bring about a great work or be inspired to completely turn their life around -- no small feat. A great many books have been written from highly varied positions, but all contain a similar message. Here are just two offerings which, while being representative of the genre, in my opinion are also worthy of the title, Breakthrough Books.
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You may be familiar with the often-quoted words of healer Edgar Cayce, "The spirit is the life, the mind is the builder, the physical is the result." Gladys McGarey, M.D., M.D.(H.) (the venerated mother of homeopathy in the United States) writes in her Foreword to INTUITIVE WELLNESS by Laura Alden Kamm, "I truly believe that we are in the time when all of us, if we so choose, can access the healing power that is in our bodies, our minds and our spirits." Laura Kamm is the founder of Intuitive TherapeuticsTM, an intuitively-based healing system. (You'll find her webpage at www.energymedicine.org.) Laypersons and physicians from across the U.S. request her skills as a medical intuitive. This remarkably well-written book doesn't pull any punches about a part of life which begs to be better understood by our newly evolving race of beings.
Kamm has given it a long title: A Step-by-Step Guide to INTUITIVE WELLNESS: Create Wellness in Your Body, Mind and Soul by Utilizing Your Intuitive Power. She doesn't let you down. Beginning with a blow-by-blow chronicle of her near death experience, it continues with the eye-opening discovery that somehow, she now has the ability to sense what others need, and to heal them. Kamm's respect for the phenomenon leads her to find out what's at work here, and she shares the findings with us.
Although written as an inclusively detailed how-to, the book is a how-to from the heart. As such, it not only includes proven systems from ancient wisdom but sustained my enthusiasm with stories from her intuitive healing practice that kept me glued to it as if it were an unfolding mystery story.
The back cover describes the book as "Beyond the theories of intuition and medical intuition, moving right into the application of it within the context of everyday life." For instance, a chapter on the chakras makes the point that as you are guided throughout this book, to get acquainted with your own energy systems through experiential exercises, you will learn to see, feel, hear, smell and/or know how to open, balance and cleanse your chakras.
A sampling of sections are The Power and Use of Intuition; Disciplines that Develop and Nourish Your Intuition; The Mind (understanding thought forms, developing discipline and patience, trust, faith and power); the Universal Support System; Approaches that Support and Clear the Mind; Practices that Nurture the Body; Creating Intuitive Wellness.
The book's tone is similar to the empowering books and tapes of healing practitioners such as Christiane Northrup, M.D. and Mona Lisa Schultz, M.D., Ph.D. Is it time to face your fears and reclaim your power? Here is what you should know, why you need to know it, and what knowing it can do for you. Use Kamm's book as an advanced refresher course in remembering who you are, and you'll never be sorry you did. (Softcover, 270 pages, Intuitive Therapeutics Publications - a Division of Mayflower Press, Scottsdale, AZ, $17.95.)
*****
Next in line is the autobiography of Ned Dougherty, FAST LANE TO HEAVEN. The "fast lane" was one he was propelled into thanks to a profound heart attack that left him seemingly dead in middle age; his return to consciousness was marked by having to come to terms with greatly changed perceptions. He writes of having been a highly successful real estate entrepreneur and gives us the inside story of his life as the owner and operator of two high-visibility, successful nightclubs, Club Marakesh in The Hamptons, Long Island's playground for the rich and famous, and another in Palm Beach. As such, his nights and days were marked with the trappings of a selfish, pleasure-seeking lifestyle that included alcohol addiction, women and cocaine, and having to deal with surveillance related to a rumor that he was involved with the Mafia.
When Dougherty returned with startling information about some of the possibilities for mankind's future history (some of which have already come about), his own cynicism and doubt held him prisoner. However, while he was clinically dead, he writes, he met the Supreme Being, heard messages from the Archangel Michael, had guidance from a deceased friend, and, most importantly, witnessed apparitions of an enigmatic Lady of Light...Finally, he understood the messages he had received (and was continuing to receive) and accepted their source. To Dougherty and others who have experienced the Lady's presence, she is both guide and teacher, fostering spiritual advancement...This is a story of one man's personal crisis and eventual salvation when he finally understood the identity of the Lady of Light and her urgent message to the world. (Hardcover, 278 pages with index, Hampton Roads Publishing Company, $21.95.)
June Rouse is a published author and poet, free lance editor and rewriter, writing class and workshop facilitator, and the editor of The Monthly Aspectarian.
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