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PERFECT MADNESS reviewed by Madeline Weise
NO LESS THAN GREATNESS reviewed by Margaret Doyle
The subject of No Less than Greatness is how to achieve personal greatness through the life we all want: a life of love. Mary Morrissey starts with the unequivocal belief in a Higher Power, which she unabashedly calls God: a Loving Presence in which each person is alive in the greatness of total acceptance and love. Her words about happiness, forgiveness, change, love, and prayer all center on the awareness of God in our lives, not just at church on Sundays, or at baptisms, weddings, and funerals, but the unceasing practice of the presence of God. Thus, true greatness is the realization that God is within you; true greatness affirms the goodness that is the nature of life itself.
THE DOLL LADY reviewed by Ruthie Young
Most dolls that The Doll Lady makes are given to children. She says to each child to whom she gives a doll, "Take very special care of your doll, for dolls are just like people. They need to be well loved, held tenderly and always respected for their uniqueness." As she takes her daily walks, she tells the parents that she meets to give their children a doll, for if they had one, they would learn to be kind and to express love.
SHAMANS THROUGH TIME reviewed by Lauren Russel
Whether or not his accounts were real, Castaneda created interest and excitement in an entire generation about the path of the shaman and the "Yaqui way of knowing." This story and more than sixty others are described in a fascinating and comprehensive overview by editors Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley in the book Shamans through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge. In a clever juxtaposition of stories and history, they share with us the accumulated wisdom of centuries of exploration into the mysterious and mystical ways of the shaman.
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Most of us hoping to reach some degree of enlightenment probably experience it as a long, slow process occurring over many years. We may have our moments of insanity, which may manifest as depression, panic attacks, or an inability to think clearly lasting from minutes to weeks or months, or longer. Perfect Madness is Donna Lee Gorrell's story of her nine-month path from insanity to "enlightenment." Much like a woman who has a two-hour labor and delivery, Gorrell experienced one intense self-birthing experience.
I’ve started this review five times: factually, personally, analytically, poetically, and topically, and now I must say imperiously, "Read this book!"
This enchanting story, written for children four to eight years of age, is based on a true happening. The Doll Lady is very old. She has been making dolls her whole life. She takes care to make each doll as an individual. Each one is different from the next; no two are the same. The Doll Lady believes that their true beauty is in their differences.
Reading Carlos Castaneda was almost de rigueur as I was growing up. I can remember looking forward to each volume as it came out, serving my own "apprenticeship" with the Yaqui sorcerer don Juan at the same time as Castaneda. It was a great shock to discover later that it may not have actually happened; accusations were bandied about in the press that it was a great hoax perpetuated by Carlos Castaneda on the reading public.
Mount Rainier, Deception Pass, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, New York City: these are some places I consider "eye candy." Below are some Web sites that I'm sure you'll consider "eye candy" too.