April 2023 MBR The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

Spirit Speaker: A Medium's Guide to Death and Dying
Salicrow
Destiny Books
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644117286, $16.99, PB, 128pp

https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Speaker-Mediums-Guide-Death/dp/1644117282

Synopsis: We are all curious about the mystery of death. Whether facing our own, assisting a loved one in their last days, or grieving the loss of someone dear to us, we all have questions about dying and what happens to our soul after we depart physical form.

With the publication of "Spirit Speaker: A Medium's Guide to Death and Dying", psychic medium Salicrow provides a compassionate and straightforward guide to the spiritual process of dying and what happens after death as she answers the most common questions asked by her clients over her decades of work as a spirit speaker.

Seeking to normalize the spiritual aspects of end-of-life care, Salicrow explains how active dying exists outside of normal reality, in a state in which the dying person and their caregivers often experience a heightened state of consciousness. Describing how the spirit is separate from the body and continues to exist after death, she shares thought-provoking stories of spirit contact and synchronicities that occurred for those actively involved in the dying process.

Salicrow also reveals how these encounters are common and act as guideposts along the journey into death, helping to ease the transition. She offers simple techniques for helping loved ones who are stuck or struggling to cross over and shares practices designed to help honor our beloved dead and develop living relationships with our ancestral spirits.

Presenting an outline of what may be experienced during the dying process and beyond, Salicrow explores the time when a soul is actively dying or recently departed. She explains the multiple ways spirits reach out to communicate with us and provides a deep understanding of the signs, symbols, and sensations that spirits use to contact us as well as ways to strengthen that connection. She also explores challenging situations such as suicide, murder, and healing unresolved issues with the dead.

Crafted through years of spirit communication sessions, this guide details how the spirit world works while revealing the beauty, healing, and love that exist in death.

Critique: A fascinating, informative, and thought-provoking read, "Spirit Speaker: A Medium's Guide to Death and Dying" is an extraordinary metaphysical treatise on the sensitive subject of death and dying from the perspective of a an experienced psychic medium. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Spirit Speaker" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections. It should be noted that "Spirit Speaker" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: Salicrow (https://www.salicrow.com) is a natural psychic medium who weaves the traditions of her Irish Traveler and Blackfoot heritage with modern magical techniques. For more than 30 years she has worked as a spirit channel, seer, and intuitive healer, offering readings and teaching workshops throughout the United States and internationally. She is also the author of The Path of Elemental Witchcraft.

Crystals: An In Focus Workbook
Regina M. Bresler
Wellfleet Press
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
100 Cummings Center, Suite 265D, Beverly, MA 01915
www.quartoknows.com
9781577153528, $16.99, PB, 160pp

https://www.amazon.com/Crystals-Focus-Workbook-Personal-Workbooks/dp/1577153529

Synopsis: To metaphysical students and practitioners, crystals are tangible energy stores that can help you navigate and master your body, mind, and spirit. For beginners to wielding crystal energies, "Crystals: An In Focus Workbook: A Personal Guide to the Power of Crystals" is hands-on workbook comprising a collection of accessible and enriching exercises that will teach you the basics of crystals and crystal healing.

This instruction manual explores: The meaning of colors; The basics of energy and spiritual healing; Tools for crystal healing, including meditation and chakra work; Methods for crystal grids and rituals.

With easy-to-follow exercises and meditations, journaling prompts, and activities, all accompanied by calming full-color illustrations, "Crystals: An In Focus Workbook" is an uplifting and inspiring introduction to energy healing.

Critique: An ideal DIY combination of instruction guide and 'how-to' manual this large (8.35 x 0.7 x 11 inches) paperback edition of "Regina Bresler's Crystals: An In Focus Workbook: A Personal Guide to the Power of Crystals" from Wellfleet Press is thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation -- making it an invaluable and highly recommended acquisition for both the novice crystal users and the non-professional 'crystal curious'.

Editorial Note #1: Regina M. Bresler is a writer and researcher, lifelong Brooklynite, and firm believer that, if you look hard enough, you can find magic in anything. An early interest in beading and jewelry has kept her carpets seeded in crystal chips and her curiosity for the elements alive and well.

Editorial Note #2: The In Focus Workbooks series from Wellfleet Press presents hands-on introductions to a wide range of mystical topics. The exercises in each book offer enlightening activities, guided journal prompts, and opportunities to practice newfound skills in disciplines such as tarot reading and chakra healing in the real world. With full-color interiors and beautiful illustrations, the In Focus Workbooks are attractive, practical, and fun guides for newcomers to the mystical arts.

Crystal Basics Pocket Encyclopedia
Nicholas Pearson
Destiny Books
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644115039, $19.99, PB, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Basics-Pocket-Encyclopedia-Energetic/dp/1644115034

Synopsis: With the publication of "Crystal Basics Pocket Encyclopedia: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 450 Gemstones", Nicholas Pearson offers a quick-start guide for working with crystals as well as a full-color A-to-Z compendium of the healing properties of 450 crystals, rocks, minerals, and fossils.

Covering the basics of crystal healing, Pearson explores why crystals work, how to select stones, safe and effective cleansing methods, and hands-on techniques and practices to harness the power of rocks and gems to transform your life. He also looks at how to charge crystals and program them for specific purposes, and he examines crystal correspondences with planetary, astrological, and elemental energies.

This encyclopedia of crystals includes familiar ones like agate, calcite, rose quartz, and hematite as well as rarer and more unusual crystals, such as phenakite, cavansite, and yooperlite -- as well as some of which have never before appeared before in print. Each entry features a beautiful color photo of the stone and defines its physical, psychological, and spiritual healing properties and its corresponding chakra, element, planet, and zodiac sign.

Pearson also looks at the geological nature of each stone, such as its hardness and crystal structure, enabling you to explore the connections between mineral science and the metaphysics of crystal healing.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, "Crystal Basics Pocket Encyclopedia: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 450 Gemstones" by crystal and gemstone expert Nicholas Pearson is profusely illustrated and enhanced with a full color photo and an informative commentary for each one of 450 different gemstones/crystals. The highly portable size (4.5 x 0.7 x 5.25 inches, 8.6 ounces) makes the "Crystal Basics Pocket Encyclopedia" from Destiny Books an especially useful and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies and Crystal Divination collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists and use that "Crystal Basics Pocket Encyclopedia" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99).

Editorial Note: Nicholas Pearson (https://theluminouspearl.com) has been immersed in all aspects of the mineral kingdom for nearly 30 years. As one of the leading voices in crystal healing today, he offers a unique blend of science and spirituality alongside a grounded, practical approach to working with crystals.

Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness & Light
Meister Eckhart, author
Jon M. Sweeney, author
Marks S. Burrows, author
Hampton Roads Publishing Company
65 Parker St., Ste. 7, Newburyport, MA 01950
www.hrpub.com
9781642970456, $16.95, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Meister-Eckharts-Book-Darkness-Light/dp/164297045X

Synopsis: Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328) was a priest, a mystic, and nearly a heretic (he died before the Church court's verdict). In recent centuries, the Roman Catholic establishment has rehabilitated him, and the late John Paul II spoke of his work with fondness.

Meister Eckhart has been a huge figure in spirituality for more than eight hundred years. Many spiritual leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Richard Rohr, and Matthew Fox have credited Eckhart as being an important influence on their thought.

"Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness & Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way" is comprised of Meister Eckhart meditations and especially commended to the attention of people seeking the "wayless way".

It is not for those looking for a simple path. These fresh, stunning renderings of Eckhart's writings in poetic form bring life to one of the great spiritual voices of any age. They reveal what it means to love God and find meaning in darkness. Not darkness in general, but your darkness, because it is the one thing you know something about -- without facing your darkness, you'll never know what it means to desire the light. Only when you are in the darkness, Meister says, do you have even the possibility of seeing the light.

Critique: Thanks to co-authors Jon M. Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows, "Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness & Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way" will prove to be of particular appeal to readers with an interest in Mysticism, Christian Theology, and Religious Poetry. While also readily available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness & Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way" is an outstanding and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections.

Editorial Note #1: Jon M. Sweeney (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_M._Sweeney) is an independent scholar, critic, and writer. Several of his books have become History Book Club, BOMC, and QPB selections. His book, The Pope Who Quit, was optioned by HBO. He served as an editor at Jewish Lights and Paraclete Press and is currently editor-at-large at Orbis Books. He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Editorial Note #2: Mark S. Burrows (http://www.msburrows.com/about-mark-burrows) is a poet, translator, and professor of religion and literature at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany. His poetry has appeared in Poetry, The Cortland Review, Southern Quarterly, Weavings, and a number of other periodicals.

Water Alchemy Oracle: A 40-Card Deck and Guidebook
Alexandra Wenman, author
Aveliya Savina, illustrator
Findhorn Press
www.findhornpress.com
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644117309, $25.00, Card Deck, 144pp,

https://www.amazon.com/Water-Alchemy-Oracle-40-Card-Guidebook/dp/1644117304

Synopsis: Water is the most sacred element on our planet. It is everywhere, within us and around us, and without it there can be no life. As a spiritual element, water is closely linked with our emotional world and the powers of intuition as well as being aligned with divine feminine wisdom. By working with the energies of water, we can discover healing, transformation, guidance, miracles, and the manifestation of our dreams.

With the publication of the 40-card deck and guide divinatory oracle book, "Water Alchemy Oracle: A 40-Card Deck and Guidebook" Alexandra Wenman takes you on an alchemical journey to work with the healing wisdom of water to enhance your intuition, bring more fluidity and flexibility into your daily life, and offer personal healing energies to the polluted and damaged waterways of our world.

The 40 high-vibration full-color cards by artist/illustrator Aveliya Savina focus on water elements from nature, such as waterfalls, lakes, mist, ice, and sacred water sites, each beautifully illustrated with a water scene featuring magical beings, such as nymphs, mermaids, undines, goddesses, devas, and other deities.

The accompanying guidebook offers a detailed interpretation of each card, explaining the healing and cleansing properties of each sacred body of water along with a channeled message and guidance from the water beings, Guardians, Angels, and Councils of Light.

"Water Alchemy Oracle" also provides engaging exercises, practical rituals, and manifesting techniques to explore the powerful practice of Sacred Water Alchemy, a spiritual process to help you understand the depth and range of your emotions, purify your lower self, reunite with your divine self, reveal your spiritual gifts, and create miracles.

Critique: Of special appeal to anyone with an interest in New Age Channeling, personal transformation, and angel/spirit guides, "Water Alchemy Oracle" is a unique, beautifully designed, thoroughly 'user friendly', effective, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal and professional Metaphysical Studies and Oracle Card collections.

Editorial Note #1: Alexandra Wenman (https://www.alexandrawenman.com) is a gifted angel communicator, spiritual alchemist, channel, healer, poet, and presenter. The author of Archangel Fire Oracle and Archangel Alchemy Healing, she is the creator of The Alexandra Wenman Show on YouTube. Alexandra lives in London.

Editorial Note #2: Aveliya Savina is an artist and illustrator whose inspiring graphic design compositions range from cartoons to realism. She lives in Santiago, Chile.

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