Laughable, but oddly chilling.
Fans of The Bible Code, read on.
Sixteenth-century prophet Nostradamus left behind a set of complicated and at times scary predictions. Here, Ovason (The Secret Architecture of Our Nation’s Capital, p. 863) untangles them for us, claiming that Nostradamus employed an elaborate code, the so-called Green Language. Nostradamus supposedly forecast a great many events that came to pass: the execution of Charles I in 1649, London’s Great Fire of 1666. Did he come out and say these things? Of course not. He used his code. Here, for example, is the quatrain that predicted the fire: “The blood of the just at London will be a mistake, Burned by thunderbolt the twenty three the sixes; The antique lady will fall from a high place, From among the same sect several will be killed.” The first line tells us we’re in London, declares Ovason, the second that there is a fire, and that somehow the number 666 is involved. (Incidentally, this is one of Nostradamus’ most lucid predictions.) The prophet also foresaw the London plague, the flight of James I, the election of William, Prince of Orange, to the English throne, and almost every detail of the French Revolution. Turning to the 19th century, Nostradamus predicted Napoleon and several earthquakes. In the 20th: Hitler, the decline of Islam in Turkey, the Spanish Civil War, the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Di (but apparently not the latter’s death) . . . and don’t forget the spate of UFOs that visited Earth. Perhaps wisely, when it comes to interpreting the verses concerning the 21st century and beyond, Ovason speaks only in generalities—none of which, by the way, include a great stock-market crash.
Laughable, but oddly chilling.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-019671-8
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
A simplistic but heartfelt how-to for self-helpers.
A true believer’s testimonial on the power of positive thinking.
In the vein of The Secret, but without its esoteric mumbo jumbo, Law of Attraction Handbook breaks down into easy steps the process by which one acquires wealth, success, power and the heart’s desire. Adherents to the Law of Attraction believe that the energy we emit into the universe determines what comes back to us. If we vibrate positive notions (I will lose weight, I will find love, I will be promoted to a managerial position), then we will attract what we desire. If we send out negative vibes, we run the risk of becoming magnets for unpleasantness. Al-Maimani explains the Law then devotes short chapters to its usual accoutrements: auras, affirmations and visualizations. The book focuses largely on a spiritual reading of the Law, and each chapter ends with a summation and a series of devotional exercises or instructions that teach ways to manifest the Law in the life of the practitioner. The Law has its roots in 19th-century spiritualism. In the 20th century it was co-opted by the New Agers and, when its money-making potential was realized, taken for a roller-coaster ride by motivational gurus like Tony Robbins. Thus, the path to happiness became as cluttered as the Las Vegas strip. Al-Maimani declares himself a disciple of Robbins and other flashy preachers of the Law, but while his book is filled with the jargon of his mentors, it is not ostentatious. It is billed as a handbook not for high-test dreamers and those who aspire to fame and riches, but for the everyman. The author’s writing is clear and concise, with a sincerity that is engaging–he is earnest, never glib, and so his message seems genuine.
A simplistic but heartfelt how-to for self-helpers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-595-71594-7
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A bittersweet mingling of previous life-changing events and present-moment illness by a skillful author.
The author’s journey “from the emotional storms…of widowhood to the astonishment of finding new love in my senior years, and on to the sudden cardiac crisis…that forced me, finally, to confront a past that I had never put wholly to rest.”
After Lear's (Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss, 2008, etc.) first husband died from a series of heart attacks, she detailed her struggle in her first book, the acclaimed Heartsounds (1980). What she didn't anticipate was that almost 30 years later, she would also experience a heart attack and wind up in the exact same hospital, in the same cardiac unit, with the same doctor, no less, as her husband. Lear provides rich, poignant details of her own attack, as well as her travels through the medical establishment from one test to another. The ghosts of those moments spent with her first husband in those same hospital hallways continually haunted her, and Lear leaned heavily on the past to help her cope with the often bewildering moments of the present. Her second husband was always by her side to assist in any way he could, and a host of nurses and doctors also helped out, attempting to understand why she had the attack and then contracted a serious staph infection, which caused her leg to become unbearably painful and unusable. However, as any patient knows, there is only so much a spouse, doctor or nurse can do, as sickness of any kind is a solitary journey. Lear maneuvers through the weeks she spent in the hospital with the adroitness of someone who's been down this road before.
A bittersweet mingling of previous life-changing events and present-moment illness by a skillful author.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4976-4615-5
Page Count: 127
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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