Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism by Stephen Harrod Buhner. (Bear & Co., $16.00, Paperback.)

As humans evolved on Earth, they used pants for everything imaginable—food, weapons, baskets, clothes, shelter, and medicine. Indigenous peoples the world over have been able to gather knowledge of plant uses by communicating directly with plants and honoring the sacred relationship between themselves and the plant world.

Stephen Harrod Buhner’s Sacred Plant Medicine explores the long-standing relationship between indigenous peoples and plants and examines the techniques and states of mind these cultures use to communicate with the plant world. This in-depth study is the first to examine the sacred underpinnings of the world of Native American medicinal herbalism.

Buhner shows how shamans and healers enter the sacred dimension of plant and human interactions, a territory where plants are an expression of Spirit. By using prayers and medicine songs associated with a type of plant, they are able to coax the plants themselves into revealing their medicinal properties. For each of the healing plants Buhner describes here, he presents its medicinal uses, its preparatory guidelines, and the ceremonial elements associated with its use.

Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen by Anna Lappé and Bryant Terry. (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, $18.95, Paperback.)

In the past few decades, organic food has moved out of the patchouli-scented aisles of food co-ops and into more than three-quarters of conventional grocery stores. More and more of us are becoming aware of the social, environmental, and health benefits of organic eating, independent farming, and “fair food.”

Combining a straight-to-the-point exposé about the fake food filling our supermarkets and compelling reasons for choosing organic, local, fair food, Grub helps all of us become a part of one of the most hopeful movements of the new century; a revolution in food and farming that is best for our bodies and the earth.

With spirited and practical how-tos for creating an affordable, easy-to-use organic kitchen and dozens of recipes, Grub also offers the millions of people who buy organics fresh ideas and easy ways to cook with them. From the Valentine’s Day Decadence Dinner to the Straight-Edge Punk Brunch Buffet, Grub includes more than a dozen menus paired with soundtracks to cook by (and party by) as well as artwork and poetry.

St. Mary Magdalene: The Gnostic Tradition of the Holy Bride by Tau Malachi. (Llewellyn Worldwide, $12.95, Paperback.)

In the gospels of the Bible there are a few comments about Mary Magdalene here and there. But in the Gnostic scriptures that have been discovered, there are tantalizing hints that both her relationship to Jesus and her role among Jesus’ disciples may have been profoundly important. Among several schools of Gnostic Christianity, Mary plays an essential role in the revelation of the gospel.

Here, for the first time in print is a Sophian Gospel of St. Mary Magdalene—250 powerful and illuminating wisdom sayings that can be used in daily contemplation and spiritual growth. No secret oral tradition as extensive as this has ever been recorded, and none has ever presented a Gnostic view of May Magdalene as she is portrayed in this groundbreaking work, as a powerful holy woman, the innermost disciple and beloved wife of Jesus, and the female embodiment of the Christ revelation.

Playing the Quantum Field: How Changing Your Choices Can Change Your Life by Brenda Anderson. (New World Library, $14.95, Paperback.)

Our 21st century lives are set to the dubious music of cell phone ring tones and the jarring sound of arriving emails. Forget American Express: We can’t leave home without our BlackBerries and iPods. We all see the irony: the tools meant to bring society together are actually keeping us disconnected. Brenda Anderson says that living in a techno trance doesn’t just keep us stressed and distracted; it keeps us tuned out, and that keeps us from making the choices that create lives of success and joy.

“When you’re tuned out, you literally give up your power,” says Anderson. “Being tuned out means daydreaming, worrying, and drifting into low-energy choices. You’re living by default. On the other hand, when you Tune In you open yourself up to a whole universe of optimal, life-affirming opportunities.”

Tuning In allows you to stop the chattering distractions that physically and mentally surround you so you can truly pay attention to what is happening right now. It’s just one of ten choices she details in her book, choices you make every day that directly shape your life.

Simple Gifts: Great Hymns: One Man’s Search for Grace by Bill Henderson. (Free Press, $22.00, Hardcover.)

Spiritual hymns have guided millions of lost souls, devoted followers, passionate believers, and even skeptics for centuries. Bill Henderson chronicles the personal impact and individual histories of a wide variety of inspirational hymns in Simple Gifts.

Divided into three categories, Simplicity, Wonder, and Love, Simple Gifts is about the music that instills the hope of religious continuity. It seeks to answer the question of what makes a great hymn? And why do the great ones continue to move us and remind us of who we are? It crosses centuries, from Plain Chant to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” from the universal giant “Amazing Grace” to the simple prayer of St. Francis. Detailing the backgrounds of Martin Luther’s advocacy of hymns in the sixteenth century to the Christmas carols that everyone knows and loves, this memoir reminds us that music can revolutionize the heart and soul. It will appeal to people of all persuasions, especially as Henderson focuses on the universal power of love, grace, and joy rather than specific dogma.

2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck. (Jeremy Tarcher/Penguin, $26.95, Hardcover.)

2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl unifies the inquiry into cosmological phenomena, including crop circles, quantum physics, and the worldwide resurgence of shamanism, in support of the Mayan prophecy that the year 2012 will bring an unprecedented global shift in human consciousness. Appearing forty years after the pivotal years of the 1960s, 2012 also argues for the legitimacy of the decade’s spiritual and intellectual legacy.

A profound spiritual crisis led Daniel Pinchbeck to the study of shamanism. He became convinced of the legitimacy of the shamanic and mystical worldview held by indigenous peoples around the world. If the modern West, in its pursuit of rational science and materialism had rejected crucially important aspects of reality, what did this say about our society, and its immediate future?

In 2012, Pinchbeck recounts his personal experiences as he follows the traces of prophetic and occult knowledge. He unifies the ideas of a large number of writers, philosophers, and physicists to create a new cultural context for understanding the many aspects of being that to date have been ignored and suppressed by mainstream culture and academics.

The Power of I Am: Creating a New World of Enlightened Personal Interaction by John Maxwell Taylor. (Frog, Ltd., $15.95, Paperback.)

Fear, anger, anxiety, negativity, rudeness, information overload; all the stressors of modern life can make just getting through the day a daunting task. John Maxwell Taylor has learned to move through the collective madness of life with confidence, calm, peace of mind, strength, and joy. He invites you to join him on this journey and to cultivate the ultimate state of “I am.”

Combining principles from mindfulness, body-centered awareness, martial arts, and a range of scientific and spiritual disciplines, this mix of practical tools, stories, and life lessons teaches personal empowerment through gaining inner strength in social situations and dealing effectively with negative people.

From relationship dynamics to workplace encounters, and from uncomfortable social situations to anxiety-ridden power plays, the Power of I Am covers a multitude of social interactions and personality types that confront us all. This accessible guide offers tips and insights for personal empowerment by tapping into your own spiritual and mental resources.

Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide by Pamela Miles. (Jeremy Tarcher/Penguin. $26.95, Hardcover.)

More and more people are turning to complementary and alternative medicines because these techniques provide balance, promote healing, and enable patients to take an active role in their own healthcare. In the past few years, Reiki has become on of the most popular and respected alternative healing therapies in the country. Hospitals, once allergic to any kind of complementary and alternative therapy, are now finding that Reiki meshes well with conventional care. It is being taken so seriously that the National Institutes for Health is currently funding four Reiki studies.

Reiki is a gentle healing art that was developed in Japan in the twentieth century. Reiki healing is facilitated by very light touch that starts the flow of subtle healing energy that restores balance. It is the least intrusive and most relaxing of the energy therapies.

Reiki traces the origins of the technique, detailing how and why it restores and renews the human body in ways we’ve only begun to measure, and provides step-by-step guidance for the aspiring practitioner. It empowers readers by showing them how simple it is to take an active role in your own health care. It is a guide for anyone ready to begin a journey toward healing.