Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

The Mythic Bestiary: The Illustrated Guide to the World’s Most Fantastical Creatures by Tony Allan. (Duncan Baird Publishers, $29.95, Hardcover.)

From the beginning, people have believed in the mysterious and the supernatural. mythologies from around the world, stories of strange and terrifying creatures including the unicorn, the wendigo of the Algonquin people, the Celtic banshee, trolls, ogres, and the fantastic dragons revered and feared by both Western and Eastern cultures. With stunning artwork and a wealth of enchanting tales, The Mythic Bestiary casts light on these shadowy creatures, displaying them in all their beauty and ferocity.

Only a century or two ago, belief in monsters was commonplace. Today most of us view these beings as fictitious, but it is estimated that nineteen percent of us believe in the existence of otherworldly beings. Sightings of monsters are commonplace and celebrated in our popular culture.

The Mythic Bestiary is organized into three parts—the beasts of the air, those of the earth and those of the aquatic realms. Coverage includes the monsters and hybrids of the classical world, the myriad serpents and dragons of both East and West, the malevolent ogre and trolls of Scandinavia, the elusive cannibals, shape-shifters and ape-people of the dense forests of North America and Eurasia, and many more. As well as describing the classic appearance of each beast, there are numerous references to contemporary incarnations in film and literature. Indispensable for all those drawn to the beasts of myth and legend, The Mythic Bestiary brings these compelling creatures to life.

The Green Bible (Green-Letter Edition of the New Revised Standard Version), forward by Desmond Tutu. (Harper One, $29.95, Cotton/Linen Cover.)

This publishing first is a Bible for the growing creation care movement. It highlights in green more than 1,000 passages that speak to God’s love for creation and the scriptural mandate for humans to care for, protect, and heal the earth.

Produced in an eco-friendly printing process with soy-based inks, recycled paper, and a cotton/linen cover, The Green Bible is packed with features tracing environmental themes woven through Scripture. Essays by a range of voices offer an ecumenical perspective including Brian McLaren on the theological shift toward creation care, Barbara Brown Taylor on our responsibility to care for what God loves, Pope John Paul II on the ecological crisis as a moral problem, Jewish environmentalist Ellen Bernstein on ten principle of creation theology, and Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright on how we must be agents in bringing forth environmental renewal today.

The Green Bible also has these unique features: An introduction to reading Scripture through a green lens, including what Jesus had to say about the environment; a historical overview of Christian teachings on creation from St. Augustine to C.S. Lewis showing how these themes have been present throughout church history; Green Bible Trail study guides, which lead through Bible passages that touch on six green themes found in scriptures; a green subject index that includes listings of Bible passages that cover such topics as animals, caring for your neighbor, land, and water; and a resource guide with suggestions for how to get involved in the green movement, how to start a group in your church, and practical tips to incorporate in your everyday life.

Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton edited by Morgan C. Atkinson with Jonathan Montaldo. (Liturgical Press, $39.95, Hardcover with DVD, $19.95, Paperback.)

The legacy of Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and one of the most important spiritual voices of the 20th century, is celebrated in a new PBS documentary by filmmaker Morgan Atkinson. Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton will air on December 14, a few days after the fortieth anniversary of Merton’s death on December 10. The film contemplates the life and work of the ‘believing beatnik’ who influenced generations of seekers through his writing, particularly his memoir The Seven Story Mountain. A companion book to the documentary, also entitled Soul Searching, adds to the portrait of Merton with rich material not used in the film.

Atkinson devoted two years to this project. He interviewed thirty Merton friends and scholars and distilled more than sixty hours of interviews into a one hour film, leaving a trove of material that’s included in the book. Interviewees assess Merton’s legacy as a comtemplative culture critic, a Thoreau for the twentieth century, a literary critic and poet, a social justice activist and peacemaker, a spiritual theologian, and a contemporary father of the church.

Merton lived at the Abbey of Gethsemani in rural Kentucky for 27 years, but remained fully engaged with the world. Soul Searching examines his life in community, his deep spirituality, his prolific writing and correspondence, his commitment to peace and social justice, the solace he found in nature, his decision to become a hermit, and his interest in Zen Buddhism. It is the story of a privileged young intellectual, a hedonist, drinker, and womanizer, who converts to Catholicism and becomes a monk in one of its most austere orders.

Soul Searching captures the essence of Merton’s search for a deeper experience of God and of what it might mean to be a more complete human being. It draws heavily on his journals, and along with his books, letters, poetry, and photos offers a glimpse beneath the surface of Merton’s public image.

Dog Blessings: Poems, Prose, and Prayers Celebrating Our Relationship with Dogs edited by June Cotner. (New World Library, $16.00, Hardcover)

Dogs bring untold blessings to many lives. They walk with us, protect us, play with our kids, and show us what unconditional love looks like. The magical bond that exists between humans and our canine friends is so unique and special that it deserves to be treasured and deeply honored.

Dog Blessings offers an inspiring collection of poems, prose, and prayers that speak to the profound experience so many humans share in their special relationships with dogs. It reflects every phase of a dog’s life, from the fun of watching a young puppy at play to our compassion in caring for an elderly dog. These carefully selected poems eloquently show how dogs bring blessings into our lives in countless ways: from their loyalty and faithfulness to their help in raising kids, from watching them feel everything full blast to laughing over their many quirks, from their unconditional love to their steadfast devotion.

Chapters range from the exuberant delight of “A Dog’s World” to the heartfelt prayers offered in “Partings.” Contributors include both famous and lesser-known writers such as Ellen Bass, Rudyard Kipling, Bernie Siegel, Samuel Butler and Kelly Cherry.

Feminine Mysteries in the Bible: The Soul Teachings of The Daughters of the Goddess by Ruth Rusca. (Bear & Company, $15.00, Paperback.)

In Feminine Mysteries in the Bible, Ruth Rusca unveils sacred mysteries of the feminine and the alchemical relationship of the male and female forces at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Drawing on over thirty years of research, she explores four archetypal women in the Bible: Tamar the sacred prostitute, Rahab the meretrix, Ruth who redeems the soul, and Bathsheba, daughter of the Goddess. These women, sacred prostitutes one and all, represent the indestructible feminine life force, the wisdom of the Goddess, and the transformative power of the soul. They also symbolize the four states of the development of soul consciousness.

Mary, mother of Jesus, is the quintessence of these four women, but Rusca shows that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception has repressed her significance and subverted the divine feminine in Christianity due to the church’s fear of women and their life giving energy. These women pass an imperishable feminine life force from generation to generation, and understanding their lives creates a path to overcoming the destructive tendencies of dualistic male-female thinking, a duality that profanes feminine sexuality and mysteries rather than revering and celebrating them.

Thomas Moore writes of this book, “Ruth Rusca focuses on two neglected dimensions of the Bible: its depth and its rich representation of feminine mysteries. Imagine how culture itself could change for the better if people read the Bible for depth of insight rather than proof of their prejudices and for a theology of the feminine rather than the usual lopsided emphasis on men.”

Creative Visualization: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition by Shakti Gawain. (New World Library, $25.00, Hardcover with CD.)

Just over thirty years ago, in the kitchen of a small apartment in Oakland, California, Shakti Gawain and Mark Allen had an inspired vision. They decided to start a publishing company to get the books and pamphlets they were writing out into the world. It was a shoestring operation with total sales in 1977 of $800. Things changed very quickly the next year with the publication of Creative Visualization. Right from the start, the book experienced strong word of mouth sales, and in the early 1980s, Oprah invited Shakti to be a guest on her yet to be syndicated television show.

When The Oprah Winfrey Show went national in 1986 and re-aired Shakti’s interview, Creative Visualization was on its way to the international bestseller status it enjoys today. It has sold over six million copies worldwide. Marc and Shakti’s small publishing company became New World Library.

Creative visualization is the technique of using mental imagery and affirmation to create positive change in our lives. It involves and engages the natural power of our imagination, the basic creative energy of the universe, which we use constantly, whether we realize it or not. Most of us use this power in a relatively unconscious way. Because of deep-seated negative beliefs about life, we automatically and unconsciously expect and imagine lack, limitation, difficulties, and problems to be our lot in life. So, to one degree or another, that is what we continue to create for ourselves.

In Creative Visualization, Shakti Gawain explains how we can use our natural creative imagination in a more conscious way to create what we truly want. Filled with meditations, exercises, and imaginative techniques for self improvement, this full color gift edition is beautifully designed and packaged with a slipcase and ribbon page marker. It also includes the Creative Visualizaiton Meditations CD narrated by Shakti with guided meditations based on the book.

Richard Bandler’s Guide to Personal Trance-Formation: How to Harness the Power of Hypnosis to Ignite Effortless and Lasting Change by Richard Bandler. (Health Communications, Inc., $15.95, Paperback.)

Widely regarded as the world’s greatest hypnotist and known worldwide as the cocreator of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Richard Bandler revolutionized the field of personal change, freeing thousands of people of “incurable” phobias, anxieties, and destructive habits when conventional therapies failed.

Bandler believes in the human learning process. He believes that we learn automatically. Just as we are wired to learn language to communicate, he thinks we are also behavior-learning machines. Although some of these turn into bad habits and others into good ones, by making clear choices, we can change. We don’t have to be lost, or broken, or stuck for the rest of our lives.

In Richard Bandler’s Guide to Trance-formation, he returns to his roots: hypnotic phenomena, trancework, and altered states to provide a highly compelling prescription for personal change. According to Bandler, “trance” is at the very foundation of human experience. We are not simply in or out of trance, but are moving from one trance to another. Some of these states are useful and appropriate; others are not. With wit and a contrarian approach to therapy, he shows us how anyone can reset or reprogram problem behaviors to desired alternatives, quickly and effortlessly, with lasting and life altering results.

Above Top Secret: Uncover the Mysteries of the Digital Age by Jim Marrs. (The Disinformation Company, $19.95, Paperback.)

Was 9/11 and inside job? Is the supply of oil peaking? Why did the Air Force change its story on Stephenville? Is free/alternative energy being kept from the public? Is the Federal Reserve a scam? Who killed JFK? What flew over Phoenix? What will happen in 2012?

In his new book, Jim Marrs presents us with the most controversial conspiracy theories and of recent years. Many of the government, finance, paranormal and terrorist cover-ups we’ve been wondering about are explored and vetted in his highly researched and entertaining style. Some of these questions deal with mysteries, which may involve science of which we are not yet aware. In the primitive past, such things would have been called magic. Today they are more likely to be called extraterrestrial. Some are concerned with conspiracy, a term often disparaged by the mass media.

As readers of Above Top Secret, we are invited to study all sides of an issue. For example, in the case of the JFK assassination, do we believe a politically motivated commission that concluded Kennedy was shot through the neck or do we believe the official autopsy report and doctors (supported by the hole in his coat and shirt) which indicated he was struck in the back below the shoulder blade? Do we trust government pronouncements on the 1947 Roswell crash that have been changed four times or do we believe more than six hundred fellow citizens who tell a different story?

Marrs tackles controversial issues by asking the fundamental questions that were once taught to beginning journalism students Who, What, When, Where and Why. Armed with these basics and a dash of deductive reasoning, we will be prepared to take on the world of mystery and conspiracy.