Book Reviews

by Daniel J. Benor, MD (unless otherwise noted)

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Christine Page. 2012 and the Galactic Center: The Return of the Great Mother

Christine Page. 2012 and the Galactic Center: The Return of the Great Mother. Rochester, VT: Bear & Company 2008.

This is a wonderfully deep book that is still an easy and engaging read. Christine Page, a physician and homeopath from England, now lives in California and teaches people to develop and enhance their intuition.

Page has an excellent grasp on the multidimensional levels of reality of our existence, and on the ways in which we can connect with and deepen our awareness of them. She opens with a dialogue with an unidentified teacher, apparently from a distant time in a past life or in an altered state of consciousness. Here are a few quotes from this dialogue

As an expression of the One Mind, we are first and foremost creators and transformers of reality. Unfortunately, many fail to appreciate the realm of possibilities readily available to them, preferring to live within the illusionary state of security offered by a familiar experience that has been well tried and tested. Such individuals strive to rise above scarcity and into abundance without realizing that the poverty they wish to leave behind exists primarily within their own minds. (p. 2)

This is not a time to be limited by the fear of change or the unknown or by holding onto a belief that somehow we don’t deserve what the Great Mother has to offer. Why do you think there are so many souls on this planet at this time? For lifetimes, everybody has been working toward this moment, determined not to allow this unique opportunity for soul transformation to pass them by, forcing them to wait another twenty-six thousands years. (p. 3-4.)

Imagine a world where denial of our interrelatedness is no longer an option. Imagine how a decision to injure or abuse others, whether physically or emotionally, would alter if we knew that their pain would be our pain. When you and I are one, all feelings are shared, and instinctively we will select those actions that bring the greatest degree of harmony and joy. In essence, the fifth world of ether presents us with the possibility of a peace upon this planet that truly passes all our present-day understanding. (p. 7)

It suddenly dawns on me that an extremely clever plan has been set in place to be activated at this time. Each soul has been given a unique part of the jigsaw puzzle which, when brought together with all other parts, will create the fullness of our future. Yet in order for this to  happen, we as a species must learn to value and encourage the contributions of every individual; no one piece is more important than another. (p.17)

Her teacher continues,

When you have forgotten the sweet embrace of the immortal self, you will cling to your possessions – material, emotional, or mental – as lifelines, even though these attachments have long since failed to nurture your soul and they appease only the personality. (p. 18)

I very much resonate with Page's cosmology. She identifies the Deity as neither masculine nor feminine, but as embodying both. Out of the interplay of the duality between these different ways of perceiving and being in the universe come many awarenesses that contribute to our growth and development. At the same time, our experiences inform and enrich the universe.

Page points out that every aspect of our being, every relationship and other experience – whether perceived as positive of negative – is a potential teacher to us along our path of development. And, in fact, every aspect of our experience is a reflection of our inner self. In other words, we manifest into our lives those things and those interactions which our inner selves need to bring into consciousness, experience, respond to, and learn from. Page wryly observes that we tend to be more willing to own and take credit for our more pleasant experiences than for our troublesome or distressing ones. These lessons are often manifested in our relationships.

It is through our ability to master and embrace these opposing forces that spiritual growth occurs, where each aspect seeks not only its own fulfillment but also that of its partner, through a continuous process of give and take. This exquisite interplay of energies is reflected monthly by the cycles of the moon, and is etched into the messages, in myth and legend, left to us by our ancestors. (p. 39)

Page focuses more on the feminine side of this duality, and that is a contribution to our awarenesses of the Transcendent at this stage in Western transpersonal thinking – which has been altogether too dominated by masculine, thinking, rationalizing, dominating approaches. A lovely example of this is in Page's observations:

The archetype of the Virgin whose name, contrary to popular belief, connotes not an innocent, sexually unaware girl, but instead means “to be complete unto oneself without the need of another to make one whole.” (p. 84)

Now it is easier to understand why the archetype of the Virgin is often portrayed as being unmarried, for it is more accurate to say that she has no need of another to make her whole. Picture a world in which our relationships are not bound by the fear of rejection or the neediness of others in order to know completion. Imagine the joy of just being in the presence of another soul who knows and trusts his or her implicit wholeness. (p. 89)

Historical and astrological discussions of these topics further enrich this marvelous book. For instance:

Probably one of the greatest challenges we encounter during our spiritual evolution is mastery of our own power. The first time we meet this issue is in the sign of Gemini, as the hero takes on the strength of the twin powers. These powers are represented by the physical-masculine and the spiritual-feminine faces of the Divine, both of which must be acknowledged equally and mastered. In terms of consciousness, the masculine is seen to pertain to intellect while the feminine represents intuition. (p. 103)

Page has a gift for presenting and analyzing profound truths in enjoyable, engaging and enlightening ways. This book is warmly recommended for anyone on the path of self-healing and spiritual development.

(Book reviews by Daniel Benor, MD, Editor in Chief)

Eric Leskowitz. The Joy of Sox: Weird Science and the Power of Intention

Eric Leskowitz. The Joy of Sox: Weird Science and the Power of Intention. Boston, MA: Self-published. 2010. 291 pp  
$15 when ordered from http://www.thejoyofsoxmovie.com/

Eric Leskowitz, MD, a Harvard Psychiatrist, has written a highly unusual book – exploring and explaining how the wishes and intentions of fans may be able to influence the outcomes of sporting events. While he focuses largely on the Boston Red Sox baseball team, he also explores other situations in which a group of people may be able to collectively influence the outcome of other people's behaviors.

Leskowitz is pushing the leading edge of consciousness research in this book. Some might say he is way out beyond the leading edge or has possibly fallen over the edge into a virtual abyss of weird science they believe exists only in the fantasies of gullible believers in non-existent, pseudo-science. (I am certain I understate here the criticisms of skeptics and disbelievers in intuitive, psychic abilities.)

Leskowitz is tremendously enthusiastic about the Red Sox. His starting point is with their World Series victory in 2004, their first win in 86 years. He considers a range of factors that appear to have contributed to their success, starting with some of the usually accepted ‘team spirit’ types of explanations – including "The team’s sense of humor, their focus on the present moment, their affection for one another, and their ability to change the way they think about important events." (p. 12)  "Alongside humor, meditation and cognitive restructuring, the Sox used one other proven stress-buster: unconditional love." (p. 18) Leskowitz also details how these factors changed over the years following their unexpected success.

Leskowitz goes well beyond these conventional explanations, and here lies the wonderful contribution of this book. We are given a thorough discussion of holistic medicine, which addresses body, thoughts, emotions, relationships, subtle energies within and between people, and spirit. These detailed explanations provide a basis for understanding how a baseball team – as an example of any individual or group of people – can create its own reality.

In the major portion of this book, Leskowitz shares a diary of his path of working towards creating a film about the Sox’s success. I am certain that most baseball fans will greatly enjoy these details of interviewing Sox team members, seeking media and financial support, and exploring computerized measurements of baseball spectators’ levels of enthusiasm.

He then proposes and provides supports for his thesis that the enthusiasm of the Sox fans may have created an actual energy that boosted their success. This is a contribution to the study of collective consciousness in several ways. It suggests that groups of people, focusing their intentions together, may be able to alter the outcomes of other people's behaviors.

Leskowitz performed several experiments:

Our Joy of Sox fan mojo test. In March 2009, our team of 1100 website visitors (that was the total before we went viral) started a weekly baseball intentionality project. We invited fans to spend 5 minutes every week, just before the start of the regular Friday night game, sending positive intentions to the Boston Red Sox.

We tracked the results of those Friday night game during the 2009 and early 2010 season, and played a closer look at the team’s performance during the first inning of those games, to see what patterns emerged. (p. 101)

I won't spoil the ending by sharing the results. Those interested in the outcome of this study will have to read this book to see how this turned out.

I must admit I am personally unhappy with recommendations for using outcome-driven intent on one group of people (in this case the Sox) – particularly when this is at the expense of other groups of people (the opposing teams). Leskowitz does address this issue:

There’s a built-in challenge to this sports experiment: the best technique to elicit powerful heart energy (and thus enhance the player’s performance) requires that the intender give up thoughts of victory. The act of hoping that one team wins at the expense of another sets up an “Us vs. Them” vibe that actually dissipates the deep compassion that is needed to generate a strong energy field. This paradox actually requires rooters to evolve spiritually – to overcome their need to win by making victory a preference rather than a requirement, and by getting into a mode of goodwill rather than victor/victim. (p. 101)

I can only hope that most people invited to exert the influence of their intent for the victory of one team would be able to maintain the goodwill that Leskowitz suggests is appropriate in such endeavors, but I rather doubt this is possible for most sports enthusiasts to do.

A second series of experiments involved the use of a Random Number Generators (RNG). RNGs are electronic devices that randomly generate ones and zeros, many times a second. In the normal course of events, an RNG will produce 50% ones and 50% zeros, as it is designed to do. However, when RNGs are monitored over long periods of time, it has been noted that they deviate from their random distribution of numbers when there are events of major interest to large numbers of people around the world. Events that have been noted to cause such effects include a visit of a Pope to a foreign country and the OJ Simpson trial. These results have been reported simultaneously with RNGs observed in diverse locations around the world.

Heretofore, the RNG studies have focused on events involving the interest of many millions of people. Recently, a new variety of RNG has been developed that appears to be sensitive to events of more local interest, involving only thousands of people.

Leskowitz explored whether times of excitement in the Sox ballpark might correlate with deviations in one of these new RNG devices that he set up in the ballpark. He found that

Six of the seven highest peaks (or lowest valleys) occurred during emotionally key moments of the game. The odds against these correlations happening just by chance are nearly 10,000 to one.

The Wave, Big Papi at the bat, a hearty “Youk!” cheer, the last of the 9th, and most strikingly, the daily “Sweet Caroline” singalong – these events were the backdrop when the computer registered most strongly. Somehow or other, the focused attention of the 35,000 fans in attendence caused the machine to respond. It’s eerie because the computer wasn’t connected to anything – there was no microphone or electrodes or sensors. It just kept on spitting our its string of random number, and was somehow influence by the environment. (p. 197)

While this is just a pilot study, it suggests that further, controlled studies are warranted.

Leskowitz shares notes on several more explorations with group intent, such as "… using the power of positive intentionality to help restore the earth’s ecosystem to a thriving stare of health and vitality. Albuquerque psychiatrist Scott Walker has developed a multipronged program called “Thriving Earth” that includes this distant intentionality effort, called Eco-Prayer: http://www.eco-prayer.org/.)"  Another "…group is studying the effect of thoughts on lake water pollution, using shamanic techniques to cooperate with so-called nature spirits. Sandra Ingeman leads this effort, and their website is at www.ShamanicVisions.com/Ingerman (click on “Human web of light”)." (p. 258-9)

Leskowitz's explorations continue, with interesting results when the focus of his collaborating fans was shifted to explore their collective influence on individual players in 2010. His research gives us hope that good intentions might yet prevail on our planet.

So no matter how you slice it – in health, in sports, in families and in politics – the more you can stay in your own alignment, the more you can influence others. Positive emotions are contagious, and they are the emotions that are most powerful at triggering manifestation and creating the experiences you dream of.  (p. 286-7)
 
However, there is no guaranteeing that the negative intentions of those motivated by selfish interests will not prevail… So please, dear reader, add your positive intentions for the healing of our planet to the collective consciousness!

(Book reviews by Daniel Benor, MD, Editor in Chief)

Howard Vernon. Your Power to Say No

Howard, Vernon. Your Power to Say No. New Life Foundation 1981. 31 pp (3 ½ x 5 ½ inches)   http://www.anewlife.org/html/booklets.html

This is a delightful little booklet on the simple word, 'No.'

Millions of men and women suffer terribly simply because they can’t say NO. Few understand this strange situation. You can.

There are many powers on earth. You have heard of solar power, the great power of wealth and of public authority. There is the power of knowledge and propaganda and organization. You may have none of these, but it makes no difference. You can do a thousand times better. You can be the king of your own life with one overwhelming power.

NO!

That is the power. You possess the great power to say NO to people and events. It is a weak yes that lures people into trouble and it is a powerful NO that can keep you safe. But you must learn how to develop and use it.
You learn to say NO by understanding how and why a crafty world wants you to say yes. People want your yes as a first step toward getting whatever else they want from you. This is not cynicism. This is a plain fact and those who choose to ignore it will remain as victims. Of course cunning people will always mask their personal greeds with fancy phrases and pleasant smiles. Does the hungry wolf ever tell the little lamb his true motive?

This is most warmly recommended for anyone who is interested in social limits and boundaries. Howard's booklet is wonderfully wise and sensible, presented with warmth and humor.

(Book reviews by Daniel Benor, MD, Editor in Chief)

David Freud. The Healing Gift: Exploring The Remarkable World of a Medical Intuitive

Freud, David. The Healing Gift: Exploring The Remarkable World of a Medical Intuitive. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health 2010.  402 pp.  $22.95   Notes 20 pp.   Suggested reading 5 pp.

David Freud presents a very helpful, detailed description of the work of Linda Freud, his wife, who is a gifted medical intuitive. She is able to identify the parts and functions of the body that are out of order, and to suggest various remedies that can help people deal with their physical and psychological disorders.

Linda Freud uses detailed lists that have been methodically compiled to hone in on the issues that need attention. She may also pick up on various caregivers who could be of help in dealing with the identified problems. In addition, she can discern ancestral influences, past life residues, and obsessing or possessing spirits that may be involved in the presenting problems. She also calls upon various angels to help with healing.

I found the discussions of the intuitive assessments of psychological problems of modest interest. The causes identified were biological rather than psychological and the recommended remedies were nutritional and hormonal.

Despite its length, this book is well written and thoroughly engaging. It is supported with case reports (mostly composites) to illustrate how the intuitive readings have been helpful. One of the few personal reports details how a man with diagnosed cardiac insufficiency had been advised to have cardiac surgery. Linda Freud perceived that dental mercury amalgam fillings were the root of the man's problems. Removing these brought about a cure, without the recommended cardiac surgery.

Many pages are devoted to discussions between the spirits of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, channeled by Linda Freud. These are not relevant to the principal focus of the book and would have been better published separately.

(Book reviews by Daniel Benor, MD, Editor in Chief)

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