Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

The Mythic Dimension: Selected Essays 1959–1987 by Joseph Campbell. (New World Library, $22.95, Hardcover.)

Joseph Campbell’s works rank among the classics in mythology and literature and are perhaps most responsible for bringing mythology to a mass audience. In The Mythic Dimension, he examines myth and its fascinating context in both the human imagination and our daily lives.

Gathered together here are twelve eclectic, far-ranging, and brilliant essays that explore myth in all its dimensions: its history, its influence on art, literature, and culture, and its role in everyday life. Written independently of each other, they can be read separately and in any order. The essays fall naturally into two categories. In Mythology and History, Campbell writes about mythology from a historical perspective; its development, its uses in the past, and the mythological themes dating from early times, that inform our lives today. Mythology and the Arts contains the essays in which he addresses his lifelong interest in how mythology is used in art to address the universal concerns of human consciousness.

The first essay in the book is Comparative Mythology as an Introduction to the Cross-cultural Studies, Campbell’s informal look at his teaching method for the hugely popular course on mythology he gave for thirty-five years at Sarah Lawrence College. Readers who wish they had been present for those invigorating lectures can consult the appendix for a list of books Campbell regularly assigned to his class.

The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe by Lynne McTaggart. (Harper, $13.95, Paperback.)

We are poised on the brink of a revolution in science—a revolution as daring and profound as Einstein’s theory of relativity. At the very frontier of science, new ideas are emerging that challenge everything we believe about how our world works and how we define ourselves. The Field, originally published in 2001, represents one of the first attempts to synthesize the disparate frontier research from many branches of science into one cohesive theory. Lynne McTaggart demonstrates that the Zero Point Field—a field of unimaginable large quantum energy in so-called empty space—unites us with our universe like an invisible web and holds the key to many areas that have bedeviled scientists for centuries.

Leading frontier physicists around the globe have made discoveries that counter some of the most basic laws of science—that humans are powered by chemicals and genetic coding, time and space are finite universal orders, and nothing travels faster than the speed of light. Through scientific experimentation they have proven that there may be such a thing as a life force flowing through the universe. Researchers have discovered that human beings and all living things, at their most fundamental, are packets of quantum energy constantly exchanging information with this pulsating energy field.

One area The Field explores in depth is the power of the human mind and the possibility that a collective consciousness exists. Exhaustive studies at Princeton University have shown that the human mind can influence Random Event Generator machines built to perform a random electronic coin toss. A person or group can influence the machine into producing more heads or tails—results that conventional science cannot explain. The ordinary patterns of these REG machines have also been dramatically affected by major world events that attract the attention of large groups of people, such as the funeral for Princess Diana and the moment of the O.J. Simpson verdict. One of the most profound effects was recorded at the exact moment of the terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center.

In addition to providing an explanation for many scientific mysteries, the existence of the Zero Point Field has enormous implications for our health, for biology, for explaining so-called paranormal phenomenon, and even for answering some of the big questions, such as what is human consciousness and what happens when we die.

Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America’s Founding Fathers by Gary Kowalski. (BlueBridge, $22.00, Hardcover.)

Many Americans believe that the founders of the United States were devout Christians of a primarily Protestant background. In Revolutionary Spirits, Gary Kowalski argues that the faith of our founders was in fact much more diverse and complex.

Kowalski shows that the founding fathers were neither the fundamentalists nor the atheists that they are often portrayed as in today’s culture wars. Instead, they were imbued with the spirit of the Enlightenment, a philosophy grounded in scientific inquiry and reason that allowed for personal understanding of faith and a higher power. He portrays them as unorthodox men of faith and thought, political rebels, and religious reformers. They would easily share the convictions of those who seek spirituality in nature and ecological awareness today.

Here you will learn that Thomas Jefferson used mathematics to show that the great flood could not have happened; James Madison developed a theory of evolution; John Adams and Thomas Paine pondered the existence of life on other planets; George Washington avoided the word “God”; and Benjamin Franklin invented his own unique and personal liturgy. Revolutionary Spirits tells the illuminating story of these unorthodox men, and reclaims their spiritual inheritance for all of us.

The Lost Teachings of Lama Govinda: Living Wisdom from a Modern Tibetan Master edited by Richard Power, foreword by Lama Surya Das. (Quest Books, $19.95, Paperback.)

The Lost Teachings of Lama Govinda offers a glimpse into the consciousness of an extraordinary scholar and mystic, shedding new light on Govinda’s legendary role as both a pioneer and a prophet. Born in Germany, Lama Govinda was one of the first Westerners to introduce Tibetan Buddhism as an initiate in the tradition.

In this collection of essays and dialogues, Govinda delivers insights that are both timely and timeless. Ranging in issues and themes, including transpersonal psychology, drugs and meditation, Christianity, Theravada and Zen Buddhism, and the I Ching, editor Richard Power brings together Lama Govinda’s rarest material—some never before published, some long out of circulation.

Power starts off with a comprehensive introduction to Govinda’s life and work. Included are a biography of Lama Govinda, a perspective on his role in bringing Dharma to the West and his legacy for the 21st Century, and an exploration of the major themes and insights in his writings.

Each chapter of the book is one of Govinda’s essays, standing on its own while also fitting together with the others to form a multi-dimensional look at practical Buddha Dharma in relation to Western psychology, mystical Christianity, Chinese Taoist philosophy, and scientific explorations in consciousness. Beginners of Tibetan Buddhism as well as those interested in expanding their knowledge of the basic tenets of the tradition will find this book of interest.

The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person’s Path through Depression by Eric Maisel, Ph.D. (New World Library, $14.95, Paperback.)

In The Van Gogh Blues, creativity coach and psychotherapist Eric Maisel examines what he sees as the creative individual’s tendency toward depression and describes a plan for understanding and managing it.

He says that creators don’t necessarily suffer from psychological disorders that cause them to experience depression, rather they experience it because they are caught up in a struggle to make life seem meaningful. He says those to whom meaning is not a problem are less subject to this depression, but for creators, loss of meaning and doubts about life’s meaningfulness are persistent problems, sometimes leading to depression.

The source of the creative person’s depression is embedded in the creative process itself. Creative people often get depressed when they are unable to create or when their creative efforts fall short of their hopes. Even when they create successfully, they can get depressed due to a lingering sense that their work only temporarily disguises life’s apparent meaninglessness.

To counter this kind of depression, Maisell says creators must become meaning experts. They must engage in a conversation with themselves about what is meaningful and then work a plan to create that meaning. He provides the information needed to have this conversation and crate a personalized meaning plan.

Practicing Conscious Living and Dying by Annamaria Hemingway. (O Books, $24.95, Paperback.)

Modern medical advances have resulted in death and dying becoming a taboo, which leaves us feeling isolated when the inescapability of death touches our lives. Practicing Conscious Living and Dying is an uplifting collection of spiritually illuminating texts and thought provoking real life stories, showing death as an integral part of life. These touching observations of closeness to someone else who is dying, and personal accounts of near death experiences and after-death communication, illustrate how coming to terms with the inevitability of death is actually a life-affirming experience.

These emotionally powerful and inspirational experiences address timeless questions and help expand our limited awareness of the nature of consciousness. They show how each of the individuals concerned has come to understand that death teaches us that the preciousness of life must be lived with a sense of purpose and meaning, as a celebration of our existence. They offer hope and strength to the dying and the bereaved and offer compelling evidence for the continuum of consciousness after the death of our physical body.

The Druid Magic Handbook: Ritual Magic Rooted in the Living Earth by John Michael Greer. (Weiser Books, $19.95, Paperback.)

The Druid Magic Handbook breaks new ground as the first complete manual of Druidic ceremonial magic. John Michael Greer uses Welsh Druid deities and symbols as a template to show you how to adapt each of the exercises and rituals to whatever tradition calls most strongly to you. This makes its magic usable by every branch of Pagan spirituality and contemporary nature religion, as well as Druids of all traditions.

The Druid Magic Handbook is a complete system of magical training and practice, accessible to beginners and serious students alike, adaptable to the spiritual and magical needs of each reader, and founded on the wisdom of Druidry and the power of the living Earth. From the basic philosophy and practices of Druid magic to powerful rituals for spiritual development and environmental healing, it opens up a world of magic in harmony with nature. It is a system of ritual magic that can be used by Druids, Pagans, Christians, and Thelemites alike.