Chicken Soup

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: 'Chicken Soup for the Soul - Stories that restore your faith in human nature' By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen published by Vermillion in the  Books That Change Lives Series, this is one of the Chicken Soup series, a 300 pages paperback, 8 million copies sold from the self-help and inspirational category.

Druidry & Meditation

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Druidry and Meditation By Nimue Brown Paperback £11.99 172 pages

Nimue Brown is a Druid celebrant, a Pagan Federation volunteer and has completed her OBOD (Order of the Bards, Ovates and Druids) training. She has been involved with the Druid Network and is a founder member of the West Midlands’ Druid Gorsedd, Bards of the Lost Forest, has run a closed ritual group, a folk club and is an experienced workshop facilitator and meditation teacher. She facilitates meditation groups within the UK Druidry community and has written this insightful and stimulating book on the use of Western style meditation for group and individual Druid practise. She includes passive and active exercises to deepen experience and awareness, and provides philosophy to aid personal and spiritual development and an understanding of the sacred.

Hush Tarot

Mind, Body & Soul Ezine Card Deck Review: Hush Tarot by Jeremy Hush, published by US Games Systems Inc. £20 Boxed set of 78 cards and guidebook. Card size: 5” x 3.5”. 

Image: 4 of Wands: Celebration of accomplishment. A time of celebrating and remembering all those who have helped along the way. It has not been always smooth, but you handled the thorns and now reap the beauty.

I like this deck and its connection between animal and human life, portrayed by the pen and ink artworks of Jeremy Hush from Philadelphia where he is the curator of Convent Gallery where he has his studio. The only spread offered is a four-card ‘Self Binding Influence’ layout. In the booklet, both upright and reversed meanings are provided. The Majors have keywords, and 50 words of upright and 50 words of reversed meanings, the Minors have 30 words of each. I think that a beginner might struggle a little,  but an experienced reader will find the artworks have intrinsic meaning and are inspirational. 

Writing a Life Story - Sara-Beth Watkins

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Telling Life’s Tales – A Guide to Writing Life Stories for Print and Publication by Sara-Beth Watkins Published by Compass Books 134 pages paperback £9.99 

So many ordinary people want to write a memoir, an autobiography or life story but do not know where to start. The market is competitive so you must be well informed in order to give yourself a very good chance of writing a really readable, enjoyable and interesting book.  This primer provides the best start for a total beginner. The author is a tutor at the Open College and teaches creative writing. She has 20 years’ experience as a freelance writer, has written three fantasy e-books and two other books for

The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

Mind Body Soul Magazine Book Review - The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, Now available as a free download.

800 ancient Hebrew and Aramaic scrolls were hidden for 19 centuries and discovered in the 1940s. This led to a complex set of relationships and dynamics in the academic research and translation of the text. Absorbing and finely detailed examination of the uncovering of the information that they contained, the Roman Catholic Church appeared to be trying to stall publication incase they challenged the account of the earliest origins of the Christian message. The Scrolls are thought to reveal who Jesus was and the actions of Paul in the early years after his death to take a story to the Gentiles despite concerns from the early church in Jerusalem, led by James. The book explains about the Acts of the Apostles and the damage Paul - a Roman spy - caused to the message of Jesus. Michael Baigent a photographer with excellent equipment fails to take photos yet again of important documents described within the text. Using Robert Eisenman’s independent authority, the Scrolls are suggested as the work of Jewish Zealots. Defenders of Masada and the Qumran community are also included within the story. Was Jesus an Essenes, a Zealot, a Nazorene, or belong to a movement to overthrow the Roman rulers? Was Jesus the unique individual the Roman Church describes him as, or was he part of an established set of religious beliefs?

Communal Meditation

Building community is about more than just interacting with a few, like-minded people. Real communities span age groups, and have diversity as well as areas of commonality that enable connections. Shared meditation can be used to provide some common ground and bring otherwise disparate people together.

Coming together to share a specific interest creates a good foundation for a community. Performing a communal activity can build bridges because issues of wealth, class, race and also religion become secondary to the work in hand. So much of our life does not encourage us to mingle with people outside our normal sphere and so our communities readily reflect too much of what we already know and think rather than opening new doors.

Sacred Geometry - Francine Hart

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Card Deck Review: Sacred Geometry Cards For the Visionary Path By Francene Hart 64 colour cards and 146 page b/w book Published by Bear & Co Price: £33
Author's website: http://www.francenehart.com/

This deck can be used with the Sacred Geometry Oracle Deck by Francine Hart or alone. Each card bears an original water-colour painting by this visionary artist who specialises in geometry and mandalas and lives in Hawaii where a place of quiet retreat inspired the design on the reverse of the cards (an artwork entitled 'Sunset Activation'). The card images were inspired by Spirit, geometric, science and celestial patterns, shape and form, wave and vibration, crop circles and chakras. Many bear fairly abstract images of creatures of sea, land and sky, including the human form. The cards can be read in upright and upturned mode and the reading upturned is an amplification of the stated upright value. The intention of the cards is for guidance, balance and encouragement. 6 spreads are offered, including a 3 card titled 'Synergy', a 4 card titled 'Earth

Deep Equality

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Deep Equality - Living in the flow of natural rhythms By Jocelyn Chaplin  Paperback: £9.99 Author's blog: http://jocelynchaplin.wordpress.com

Feminist philosopher and psychotherapist, Jocelyn Chaplin, is a popular speaker and teacher and is the author of Love in an age of Uncertainly and Feminist Counselling in Action. In this latest book, she describes how we can only achieve fairness and justice in society by aiming for rhythmic rather than hierarchical behaviour.

Our earliest and most ancient memories are related to the rhythms of the planet, the flow of the tides, the patterns of the movements of the sun and moon and of our own heartbeat and other bodily rhythms. By increasing our awareness of these natural pulses we can improve our wellbeing. If we can flow in harmony with our energy levels and circumstances, we can be happier and healthier and experience more gentle and enjoyable relationships which offer true understanding and kindness.