A varied potpourri of metaphysical teachings.
Electrical engineer and self-described “energy facilitator” and “psychic warrior” Burford tells of how to maximize intuitiveness in this debut self-help-book.
The author says that he believes that everyone is born with metaphysical abilities that are suppressed by conventional wisdom and education: “In playing with my own children when they were young,” he writes, “I realized that children can see angels, energy fields, auras, and so on.” In this book, he seeks to help readers who wish to revive these natural abilities through simple exercises. He focuses heavily on the concept of one’s “energy field,” which he also calls an “energy egg.” Chapters such as “Energy Awareness,” “Energy Healing,” and “Energy Self-Defense” provide extensive background on the different roles that he believes one’s energy can play in one’s life, including explanations of the body’s chakras. Burford tells of how he has used his own energy field—expanding it as a barrier, for instance, or drawing it back to make it less vulnerable to others’ energies—to protect himself and others, both physically and psychologically. He frankly discusses the benefits and challenges of meditation, particularly when beginning the practice, but he stresses, above all, the importance of positivity, kindness, and self-love. Throughout this easy-to-read manual, Burford insists that anyone can learn to master the skills he describes, even astral projection. However, the most useful section is the “Exercises” portion of the appendix, in which he describes exactly how to develop the metaphysical skills that he claims everyone has. The glossary will also be helpful to newcomers, although many readers who are interested in the book’s subject matter will likely already know some of the terms. Obviously, this work isn’t for everyone; some, for instance, may scoff at the idea of astrally traveling to a family member’s funeral in Prague, as he says that he helped one client do. That said, the underpinnings of Burford’s philosophy—helpfulness, kindness, and so on—are ones that anyone can embrace.
A varied potpourri of metaphysical teachings.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5320-3196-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Turgid past-life regression story in which the author claims to find herself through exploring her former existence as King Arthur's queen and would-be successor in fifth century Britain. Phelan has worked as a past-life regression therapist for ten years in England and Canada. She believes that the doctrine of reincarnation and recall of past lives will lead the planet to universal love as we learn to activate the right hemisphere of our brains and realize that we have all been members of the opposite sex and of other religions and races. The scenario of her own regression as Queen Guinevere is the rear-guard action being fought by the Celts and Romanized Britons against invading Picts and Saxons. Phelan tells us how Guinevere was raised to be a warrior by her father, a brave Celtic chieftain, but soon finds that her zeal for battle does not go down well in her husband Arthur's sexist Briton world. In her struggle to escape gender stereotyping, Merlin, Arthur's counselor, turns out to be an unexpected ally, while her archenemy is Morgana, the king's jealous half-sister. When Guinevere has an abortion in order to avoid ruining her future as Arthur's second-in-command, Morgana uses sorcery to conceive a child by her half-brother. At Arthur's death, Guinevere fails to rally his men and continue the fight because she is a woman, and she commits suicide in the ruins of Arthur's castle. But our author finds healing when she hears Arthur's voice forgiving her. Phelan's melodramatic account of her fifth century world is dominated by very contemporary feminist issues and by the rejection of Christianity as an alienating, patriarchal creed in favor of a wistful vision of Celtic ways. Though no doubt quite sincere, this reads more like historical romance than a voyage of self-discovery.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-671-52611-1
Page Count: 275
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995
A credulity-straining account by a deeply grieved mother of her son's brief and troubled life on earth, his suicide, and his soul's happier existence in another dimension. Puryear, who with her husband runs a holistic center and church in Arizona called the Logos Center, is seriously into interpreting auras and channeling. She asserts that not only did her deceased 15-year-old son, Stephen, ask her to write this book, but he dictated a substantial portion of it. As she tells it, spirit guides conversed with her for years before her son's death; thus, her belief that Stephen carries on lengthy conversations with her is not surprising. As she describes her own unhappy life—she repeatedly married the wrong men, and she ignored the clues Stephen gave her that he was a boy in need of help—a picture emerges of a credulous, guilt-filled woman. The book's message, as expressed by Stephen ``from the other side,'' is that most suicides can be prevented if kids can be reached soon enough, relieved of peer pressure, helped to develop self- esteem, and put on the right diet. For a message from the spirit world, it sounds oddly mundane. An appendix contains excerpts from various sources on suicide prevention; a directory of resources for suicide survivors and those struggling with such problems as alcoholism, drug abuse, and eating disorders; and an extensive reading list on angels, reincarnation, suicide, love, diet, and allergies. The notion of communicating with one's deceased loved ones has long had appeal to many, and some bereaved parents may find this book persuasive and even helpful. Skeptics, however, are more likely to view it as the sad product of a New Age mother's remorse and unresolved grief.
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-671-53663-X
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
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