CHAKRAS Balance Your Body’s Energy for Health and Harmony by PATRICIA MERCIER Godsfield Press ($14.95, softcover) reviewed by Steve McCardell True to their usual style, Godsfield has produced another visual delight with Patricia Mercier’s Chakras. Appropriate to the topic, which has strong ties to color, the book is filled with pictures and diagrams that help more visually oriented readers. Meanwhile, there is plenty of text to introduce one to the subject of chakras. While this book does not purport to plumb the depths of chakra mysteries, its pages take us through definitions, histories, and different cultural approaches to the body’s energy system, known frequently as the chakras. Along the way, it gives exercises for sensing the subtle energies of the body and offers techniques that can enhance the health of individual chakras. The ideas here are no shock for those well-versed in spiritual exercises, but they can be fun for those starting along the path. Perhaps the book’s greatest strength comes in its more detailed look at the individual chakras. Here the reader finds reference lists (corresponding elements, symbols, colors, energy functions, life lessons, and much more) as well as appropriate meditative visualizations for each chakra. The book then continues with interesting discussions on colors and patterns, sounds, and even chakras and sacred stones. There are certainly books of greater depth and challenge for readers with backgrounds in any of these subjects, but for those just starting out, Chakras is an appropriate guide and a fun and easy read.