Book Reviews

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

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Belleruth Naparstek. Your Sixth Sense: Unlocking the Power of Your Inutition

New York: HarperSanFrancisco 1997 225 pp 20pp notes and resources $10.40

Belleruth Naparstek supplemented her own considerable experience and wisdom in intuitive assessments by surveying 43 other intuitives who are highly recommended by people who know their work. She carefully considers their individual and collective observations and recommendations, distilling common denominators in the development and use of intuitive assessment and counseling.

A composite picture might look like this: A woman with an advanced degree in one of the mental health professions who would say she was born with her psychic ability and could likely point to a parent or grandparent who displayed a lot of it, too.

Other typical features would be a tendency toward bilateral dominance (some degree of two-handedness or two-sidedness as opposed to leading strictly with the right or left sides); a stronger-than-average likelihood of being an only child; the presence of some talent and experience in the arts, often more than one modality (music, dance, art, theater, poetry, design, and so on); a tendency to be either a little dyslexic or else an exceptional student and sometimes both (with greater-than-usual chance of having a photographic memory, too); lots of experience as a meditator; a powerful need to spend time alone and time in nature on a regular basis; a higher-than-average likelihood of finding broken watches, light bulbs, and small appliances in her proximity; at least at certain periods in her life; a tendency to experience phases of temporary endocrine system dysfunction. . . to be a night owl and sleep very little, with frequent interruptions in sleep. . .

Belleruth discusses all of these factors and much more, explaining how intuitive counselors work, how they can help, and how people consulting them can benefit from their inputs. Cautions are also explored in selecting an intuitive and in utilizing their advice.

She distinguishes three levels of intuition:

1. "The knowledge that comes from experience. . . is the product of logical thinking that has simply become quick and automatic. It's cause-and-effect common sense, accelerated by repetition. . . "

2. "Intuition. . . has nothing to do with logic, although it can certainly work in harmony with it. Intuitive knowing brings through the normal, sensory channels information that by all accounts we aren't supposed to be getting because it's about someone or something other than us. It's as though our personal boundaries were extended over more territory than just our own skins, and so we pick up data from the environment as if it were about us. . . It's our same old senses, just stretched over a larger terrain."

3. [P]sychic information is a sudden, cognitive pop, an instantaneous awareness of a whole idea, sometimes a whole set of ideas or a complete conceptual system, that bypasses anything we would consider to be the normal process of thinking. These pops - sometimes instantly apprehended, sometimes first spoken aloud and later understood - will later strike us as odd, although at the time that they are popping, they feel perfectly normal and natural. They are the stuff that has us asking, 'Where on Earth did that come from?' "

This reviewer has a hard time distinguishing between types 2 and 3 in the same way as Belleruth does, as discussed in the editorial of this issue of IJHC.

Belleruth teaches how to develop your own intuition. Her approach is through opening your heart to resonate with the person you are reading. Several meditative instructions are provided for programming your mind to open to intuitive perceptions.

A list of recommended intuitives is provided.

Missing is a complete list of the intuitives who were surveyed, though many are mentioned as they are quoted in the book. An index would also have been a help.

This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more about intuitive counseling.

Karen Grace Kassy. Health Intuition: A Simple Guide to Greater Well-Being

Chicago, IL: Transitions/Center City, MN: Hazelden 2000 239pp 4pp refs $21.95

Karen Kassy had intuitive gifts in childhood that allowed her to predict winners in horse races. She tuned out her intuition in her teen years, and it wasn't until her thirties that she again tapped into this rich gift. She now uses her intuition for medical assessments.

Kassy can make contact for intuitive readings not only in person, but also over the phone or through written media. Her approach is wholistic, encompassing body, emotions, mind and spirit, including past, present and future in her intuitive readings.

Kassy also has gifts for clear thinking and clear writing. She presents the process of developing her own and others' intuition in a coherent and engaging manner. She enlivens and enriches her presentation with personal stories of developing her own gifts, reports of people she has read, and the processes of teaching others to develop their own intuitive gifts.

I particularly like her common-sense approach:

If my intuition is not there, and I am not meant to get a reading, I have enough faith and experience to know that overriding a "no-reading": impression is not to anyone's best interest. I have learned not to force my intuition. . . (p. 148)

The receiving part of the intuitive process is easy - it's the question part that takes the most practice. The better the questions, the better your answers. (p. 148)

Kassy also helps the reader appreciate the many ways in which intuition can express itself.

Everyone's intuitive hits will have a unique quality. Learn to recognize how your intuition feels, and you will increase your accuracy. Your special feeling of correct intuition will be different from mine, your neighbor's, or your best friend's. It will be uniquely your own. Recognizing that feeling - and learning to act on it - is the key to using intuition. . . (p. 154)

Highly recommended to anyone interested in understanding intuition.

Caroline Myss, PhD. Why People Don't Heal - and How They Can

New York: Random House 1997 262pp $14

Caroline Myss is probably the first name most people associate with intuitive assessments. She has been writing and lecturing on this subject for several decades. She is also one of the few medical intuitives who have participated in research. C. Norman Shealy, MD found that Myss had a 93% congruence of her diagnoses with his own (Shealy 1975/1978).

Many intuitives perceive energies and their assessments may be difficult to match with those of conventional medical diagnosis. While they may have abilities to identify medical problems, it is difficult to label their intuitive impressions as medical diagnoses. Medical intuitive assessments is generally a more accurate term. Myss is an exception to this caveat, as witnessed by Shealy's confirmation of her accuracy.

Myss is enormously popular on the lecture and workshop circuits, with a bitingly witty presentation. While her trenchant wit has made her a much sought presenter, it has also limited the depth to which participants would open in her workshops. On the one hand, this makes it safer for participants - knowing their deeper shadow issues will not be touched. On the other hand, this approach keeps people from dealing with their shadow issues, perhaps even from becoming aware of them.

In this book, which was on the New York Times best seller list, Myss presents a good, basic review of the ways in which the body can speak about the tensions and conflicts its owner is carrying - often buried beneath conscious awareness. The bioenergy body is discussed, with focus on the charkas (major bioenergy centers). In a light but stimulating analysis, Myss explores overlaps between astrological ages, the Christian sacraments, and the Kabbalistic tree of life - related to the chakra energy system.

Myss has many practical, helpful suggestions. For instance,

The perception that time and life are linear experiences handicaps the healing process. Examples: "If this treatment does not help within a month, it's not working and I must not be healing," and "At my age, what can you expect?" Your focus should be not on "time" but on the cycles of nature, which are mirrored in many other processes. In the natural world, seasons of warmth and ease and productivity are inevitably followed by periods of cold, difficulty, and retrenchment, but these difficult periods are themselves followed by a recurrence of warmth and pleasure. Few traditions understand this cyclic principle and flow better than the Chinese, whose spirituality, like that of Native Americans, is closely tied ot the earth. As the Tao Te Ching puts it:

The Way of Heaven is like the flexing of a bow.
The high it presses down; the low it presses up.
From those with a surplus it takes away: to those without enough it adds on.
Therefore the Way of Heaven -
Is to reduce the excessive and increase the insufficient.

(p. 170-171)

This book is well worth the read.


Reference:
Shealy, C. Norman, The role of psychics in medical diagnosis, In: Carlson, Rick (Ed), Frontiers of Science and Medicine, Chicago, IL: Contemporary 1975; also in: Shealy, C. Norman, Clairvoyant diagnosis, In: Srinivasan, T. M. Energy Medicine Around the World, Phoenix, AZ: Gabriel 1988, 291-303.

Mona Lisa Schulz, MD, PhD. Awakening Intuition: Using Your Mind-Body Network for Insight and Healing

New York: Harmony/Crown 1998 397pp $25 (hb) 30pp of notes and refs

Mona Lisa Schulz is a neuropsychiatrist and a highly gifted medical intuitive. She shares how difficult it was growing up very intuitive, because she would know things without sensory inputs or any ordinary way of having acquired the knowledge. For instance, at the age of five, she was able to come up with answers her older sister's math homework problems - not knowing where the answers came from. Her family was very uncomfortable with this, and Schulz learned to equate intuition with disapproval and therefore blocked the expression and development of much of her natural ability. Though she continued to use her intuition to good advantage in her studies, and won football pools so often that she was barred from participating in them (even though she knew nothing about football !), she still blocked much of her intuition.

As often happens with intuitives and healers who shut off their gifts, Schulz developed problems that challenged her to examine herself. She suffered from excessive sleepiness and had severe injuries. A medical intuitive advised her that she could learn to stop her sleeping spells with her mind. She also predicted that if Schulz did not get her mind and body "in sync," she would never heal.

Schulz was skeptical, and asked for more detailed intuitive impressions. When she was told of a specific childhood incident involving a closed, with minute details of the closet, she was more convinced. Using self-healing methods, she healed herself.

As Schulz developed her intuitive gifts, she found herself attuned to unexpressed emotions that contributed to the diseases of people she helped.

As a physician, Schulz is able to offer a variety of explanations for how various problems manifest from mental and emotional problems into physical dysfunctions and diseases. Likewise, she has helpful suggestions for how to deal with problems - some from her own intuitive awareness and some from relevant studies.

For instance, Schulz notes that

. . . the left brain is primed for mostly positive words such as "joy," "happiness," "love," and "cheer," while the right hemisphere picks up negative-toned words. It's been found that before ovulation, most women's ability to hear words occurs chiefly in the left hemisphere, or the right ear. After ovulation, however, the right brain picks up the tempo. Now the women hear more words such as "grief," "anger," and "depression." This is more than an explanation for PMS. What's happening is that the brain is allowing women to hear things they don't usually want to hear. As they turn inward premenstrually, they may actually be getting more access to matters they need to hear about but ignore during the rest of their cycle. Might this be a part of intuition? . . . "

This book is full of intuitive observations on medical problems. Highly recommended, especially to those with medical backgrounds.

Judith Orloff, MD,. Second Sight: The Personal Story of a Psychiatrist Clairvoyant

New York: Warner 1995 361pp 1 p. suggested reading $22.95

Judith Orloff's parents were uncomfortable with her intuitions when she was a child. Unable to find herself, she resorted in her teen years to drugs. Through a series of life's lessons, including a miraculous escape - unscathed from a tumble down a mountainside in a car, with a near-death experience - through working on herself in psychotherapy, and through deliberately developing her psychic gifts, she slowly came to appreciate and accept her gifts. Completing her psychiatric training, she found herself using her telepathic and precognitive abilities in psychotherapy with clients.

This book is an excellent presentation of how intuitive gifts can blossom into instruments for healing. It also extends into the spiritual.

Spirituality is not an abstract concept from a psychic perspective. It's always right before you - manifested through dreams, visions, and intuition - but you must make it come alive. Live it, breathe it, recognize it even in the minutia of your life. As you do, you discover we're not just two dimensional beings bounded by our skin. Indians recognize this in the sweetness of their greeting to each other, saying, "Namaste," "I respect the spirit within you," instead of "Hello." This spirit is in us all,psychically unimistakable and vast. The poet Kabir describes it so well:

There is a Secret One inside us;
the plants and all the galaxies
pass through his hands like beads.
This is a string of beads one should look at with luminous eyes.

- Trans. by Robert Bly

Rowena Pattee Kryder, PhD,. Sophia's Body: Seeing Primal Patterns in Nature

Crestone, CO: Golden Point Productions 2000 120pp $35.95 Very richly illustrated

Rowena Kryder has given us a wonderfully rich exploration of many forms that recur in various aspects of nature (Sophia's body).

This book is one example of Creative Harmonics, a method of understanding life as inherent harmony and a way of co-creatively participating in the evolution of the universe. Creative Harmonics implies that every being in every species and type is designed by means of the harmonic laws of the universe - which are both mathematical and musical, and can be translated into form and color.

This particular book approaches Creative Harmonics through the archetypal language of form. It is a stunning visual book showing the functions of sixteen basic forms: Point, Step. Branch, Spiral, Radial, Loop or Knot, Column, Wave, Triangle, Circle, Grid, Laminar Flow, Hexagon, Cup, Square and Pentagon. These forms are demonstrated in celestial phenomena, minerals, plants, animals, organs, art and aspects of civilization in our three dimensional world. The Harmonic Laws themselves exist in higher dimensions and are codes in an archetypal language, codes which are demonstrated in the everyday forms we know.

Sophia is a goddess of wisdom who is also a creatrix within Nature herself. The wisdom of Sophia is the archetypal Language of Nature and Spirit introduced in this book. . . (copyright page)

Jesse Wolf Hardin. Kindred Spirits: Sacred Earth Wisdom

Columbus, NC: Swan Raven 2001 229pp $20

Jesse Wolf Hardin presents an outstanding description of inner guidance through animal guides, with awarenesses of oneness with all of creation through Native American traditions. His style is cogent, clear, and redolent with imagery from nature. Poems and quotes introduce each section and counterpoint portions of the text.

Hardin suggests that we, as humans, have forgotten that we are part of the animal world. All living things participate in the collective consciousness that interacts on this planet as a unity that is one with Gaia, our planet.

The animals are reaching out to us, if we but listen for their messages.

They're seeking us out, offering themselves up as role models, promising to lead us through dreams and visions back to our true selves. And something deep within us - something deeper than our fears, far deeper than our disbelief, as deep as out bones - likewise draws them unto us.

They are not of our species. They are the terrestrial "others," spirits of the winged and the furred, bearers of talon and claw. They've served humanity for millennia as personal totems, teachers and allies. They're our kindred spirits, fellow dancers in a choreographed universe, coparticipants in the unfolding of magic and miracle, sister manifestations of an indivisible living Earth. They're playful creature reminders of our own innate animalness, our suppressed instincts and as yet unlived dreams. By embracing rather than denying our animus, every sense is heightened, every skill sharpened, every act empowered with the strength and grace of our particular totem spirits. (p. 10)

He points out that our current despoiling of nature cannot continue without dire consequences.

Without a doubt, we ignore the attentions of the animal world at our own peril. One by one the shrinking ponds cease to ring out with the glad-croaking songs. One by one they are hushed by the weight of our presence - and by what we, as lovers of this Earth - have yet failed to do. The moonless nights may soon be as still as stone. In the face of such a final silence, we should be "all ears:" attentive, concerned, and vigorously responsive. (p. 33)

A mountain without eagles is discounted, cheapened, thinned. A desert is incomplete without cactus, even though we must reconcile ourselves to the presence of their prickly spines. Bear country without the big bruins is no longer truly wilderness. Coming to terms with the bear implies recognition of our potential as food as well as food-gatherer. With this primary understanding comes a humility that could - combined with love - redeem us, restore us to our natural and joyous place within this wonderful biomass: Earth. (p. 175)

By reconnecting with our awareness of nature we may be able to avert the inevitable apocalypse of overpopulation by the "two legged" - should we continue to ignore the clear and present danger signals of depleted animal and plant resources due to lack of conservation, extinction of numerous species, and unregulated pollution.

Through Native American traditions of the medicine wheel we may understand our personality and the challenges we face in dealing with our strengths and weaknesses. Through our animal guides we may find inspiration and direction in our lives.

Highly recommended for novice and experienced seekers on spiritual paths.

C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant. Occult Chemistry: Investigations by Clairvoyant Magnification into the Structure of the Atoms of the Periodic Table and Some Compounds

Montana: Kessinger Orig. 1909; 3rd ed. 1932, 396pp

C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant were highly gifted clairvoyants who were among the founders of the Theosophical Society at the end of the 19th Century. They wrote detailed descriptions of their intuitive impressions of many elements of the chemistry periodic table. They recorded their impressions of details of the atomic components of elements available to them as mineral samples.

While correlations between their impressions and the diagrams of nuclear physicists have not been delineated, these intuitive explorations of nature open unusual doors into avenues for comprehending our universe. Western science presumes that linear analyses are the only legitimate avenues for investigating the world. The studies in this book suggest otherwise.

Linear explorations produce data that help us understand and manipulate the outer, physical world. Intuitive explorations or the outer world may have their greatest value in promoting our awarenesses of inner knowing - which contribute in so many ways to healing.

Scott Shannon, MD (ed). Handbook of Complemeentary and Alternative Therapies in Mental Health

San Diego, CA: Academic/Harcourt 2001 574pp $99.95

This is an excellent collection of discussions on a variety of CAM approaches for mental health.

Shannon opens with two chapters that succinctly summarize the emerging paradigm of working with body, mind and spirit, and provide an excellent overview of the holistic/integrative approach.

Modalities covered include
Physical interventions - Cranial Osteopathy, Aromatherapy, Diet and Essential Fatty Acids, Nutritional Supplements
Mind-body approaches - Biofeedback, Meditation, Qigong, Breathwork
Spiritual approaches - Therapeutic Touch, Spiritual Healing, Medical Intuition, Spiritual Psychotherapy
Innovations - EMDR, Hakomi and Body-Centered Psychotherapies, Process Work (Mindell)
Traditional medical system - Herbals, Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Ayurveda
Other approaches - Creative Arts, Environmental medicine, and Music.

Notable omissions: Applied kinesiology (covered very briefly), relaxation; flower essences, meridian based therapies.

The book is very well organized, with a detailed table of contents that allows readers to quickly find precisely what they want to explore. Each modality includes an overview, discussions of relevance to mental health, risks, case histories, training/certification, resources and references.

Shannon has done an excellent job gathering discussions of diverse approaches, presented in a manner that is readily accessed, easily understood, and supported with a balance of clinical and experimental evidence.

Disclosure: This reviewer has a chapter in this book.

Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, and Vince Rause. Why God Won't go Away: Brain Science and the biology of Belief

New York: Ballantine/Random House 2001 216 pp 17pp refs $24.95

Newberg and D'Aquili studied four Tibetan Buddhists and four Franciscan nuns during meditation, using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. They identified parts of the brain that are more quiet during meditation. While this book is based on limited observations, the discussion ranges across a broad spectrum of neurophysiological and neuropsychological observations, with fascinating discussions on "neurospirituality."

This is an excellent beginning at identifying areas of the brain that appear to be involved with spiritual consciousness. The materialist interpretation will be that the brain is the source of spiritual awarenesses, while the spiritually aware will suggest that these areas of the brain are the body's "radios" that pick up the spiritual vibrations and translate them into conscious awareness.

Johanna Siegmann. The Tao of Tango

Trafford Publishing (on demand), 2000 $12.00 1-888-232-4444 sales@trafford.com

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take that step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen: There will be something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly.

-Marcrina Wiederkehr (A Tree Full of Angels)

The Tao of Tango takes as its point of departure a daring act, the author's taking her "First Step" (the title of the book's first chapter - out beyond the familiar, predictable world she had tried to cling to, and into the enigmatic light/dark mystique of Argentine tango dancing. As the author makes indelibly clear in this and each ensuing chapter, her bold and unanticipated leap onto the dance floor, though it does have much to do with tango dancing itself, has everything to do with life - and with the evolution of human consciousness.

The book reads as a personal narrative of the author's journey beyond old limiting beliefs (about herself, about man/woman relationships, about morality, etc.). In telling her story of metamorphosis from woman-who-unwittingly-overpowers-men to woman-who-finds-both-balance-and-ideal-boyfriend, she unequivocally endorses Argentine tango dancing as a venue for personal transformation. She views it as a legitimate "holistic" health practice, which can involve--and potentially integrate - all the layers of mind/emotions/body/spirit.

In each chapter, the narrative moves from the particulars of tango dancing itself ("The Basic Step," "The Body," "The Posture," "The Attire") to the application of each tango topic to life, in general; and finally to a brief commentary on the life lesson to be learned. For example, in the chapter on "The Posture," we discover that as one learns to find physical balance through shifting weight toward or away from one's dance partner, (s)he can, at the same time, learn the lesson of listening to her instincts: "Our challenge is to tell the difference between our instincts and our ego and to respond to what we instinctively know to be right. This is the principle of Tao - to surrender to the natural balance of things."

As is implied in the book's title, this is a book that views tango dancing as a kind of peaceful (yet passionate!) martial art. I am reminded of the push hands practice I learned as a student of Tai Chi. The power is in surrender to the natural flow, to the natural order of things. Harmony is found in the relinquishing of control, the trusting of a grander choreography to guide the subtle, mystical dance of personal connecting.

As a tango aficionado myself, I can only concur with Ms. Siegmann that immersing oneself in the practice of Argentine tango can lead to profound personal changes. "Soft" men such as myself typically become more balanced and yang; self-described "tough" women such as Ms. Siegmann can become more healthfully yin, as they discover their natural strength as conscious followers of the male's dance lead.

The Tao of Tango is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in learning more about this alluring, intriguing dance and its potential as a healing art. The author's anecdotal evidence for tango's transformational value is, at times, very convincing. Indeed, with tango, if we can but dare to step off the edge into the unknown, as Ms. Siegmann suggests, we can learn how to "fly" again, while at the same time standing on "something solid - our own internal axis. Moving out from there, we can joyfully express our unique creativity.

Review by Barry Sultanoff, MD
Editorial Panelist, IJHC
Barrysult@aol.com 

Jan Yordy, MSW, MEd, Cert. Play Therapist. "Energy Connection"

Non competitive children's game - appropriate for counseling and play therapy
Encourages expressing dreams, wishes, feelings, positive affirmations, energy balancing activities, therapeutic stories, positive coping strategies.- Jan Yordy, PO Box 35, St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada N0B 2NO yourd@energyconnectiontherapies.com Fax - 519-664-1390 

Heather Busch/ Burton Silver. Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics

Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press 1994 96pp $16.95 This whimsical presentation of feline painting by a dozen cats is an extraordinary collection of feline creativity. The paintings are difficult to explain away as examples of "marking" behaviors because they are not typical of felines in general. Cat painting raises many questions about the source of creativity in cats. Is this an individual peculiarity? Do these cats draw upon inspiration from the same muses as human artists? The text is engaging, though clearly tongue in cheek. Warmly recommended to anyone interested in inter-species studies of creativity, as well as to cat lovers.

Vicki Mathison. Dog Works: The Meaning and Magic of Canine Coinstructions

Vicki Mathison presents a serious examination of canine aesthetics. She gathered 22 richly illustrated examples of dogs who repeatedly display behaviors that appear to be creative or and may be attempts to convey messages. A trio of Golden Retrievers build pyramids of sticks; an Irish Wolfhound builds constructions of bones (not bones he chews on); a Jack Russell Terrier digs spiral designs in sand; a Cairn Terrier piles small rocks on large boulders; a Hungarian Vizsla creates series of evenly spaced piles of autumn leaves ; a Poodle-Spaniel mix places bones upright along ridges in ways that suggest aesthetic appreciation; a Border Collie build pyramids out of raincoats (only in the evening, after a rainfall); and more.

A canine cultural heritage researcher, Dr. Raymond Blake, presents historical notes on the characteristics of the particular breeds involved in the various constructions, suggesting ways in which these traits or genetically imprinted memories might come into expression in the artistic creations presented by these dogs.

An animal spiritualist and telepathic diviner, Penelope Winter, suggests various explanations.

For example, Abbie, a Shetland sheepdog, collects pine cones and stones into clusters that look like nests.

Dr. Raymond Blake:

"Initially I was perplexed by the connection between a herding dog such as the Shetland Sheepdog and her interests in nests and egg shaped objects. But after research into the distant background of the bred, I found that the ancestors of the Shetland Sheepdog weree from Scandinavia: known as Lundchunds, Peerie, or Fairy Dogs, they were carried aboard Icelandic fishing boats to both the Orkney and Shetland Islands centuries ago. Fish, food, and eggs were the staple diet of both humans and dogs. Even more significant was the ancient trade in birds eggs and feathers, the latter used to stuff the featherbeds of the wealthy. The instincts and specially adapted conformation of local dogs would have been ideal for seeking out seabird nests and their eggs and feathers. The feather trade spread from Nordic lands all over Euirope, and there were annual peaceful Norse expeditions to the Scottish and Welsh coast in search of the puffin bird and eider duck. So my conclusion is that, unquestionably, this dog is reestablishing contact with her origins and acting out an inherited memory and behavior from centuries ago.

Penelope Winter:

I don't see Abbie's work as representing nests at all. I think she collects objects and arranges them in clusters.

Abbie is an ultra-self-contained personality. Scrupulously tidy, she is very attentive to minute detail. She lives with a Golden Retriever whose rather clumsy, untidy approach to life agitates her desire for order. Abbie's almost obsessive clustering of objects became much more developed after the retriever puppy joined the family. At first, her need to build groups of objects only arose in his presence. Now, however, she is galvanized into action whenever she is confronted with a collection of scattered objects. Her owner says that if Abbie were human she would be a fanatical housekeeper who would nag other members of the family into being the same.

Again, as with the previous book on feline paintings, we have animal behaviors that reflect artistic creativity . Such spontaneous behaviors suggest behavioral conditioning or possible intuitive awarenesses that transcend ordinary reality as we usually conceptualize it. Hypotheses are put forward to explain these observations, including psychological conditioning, telepathic communications with their owners, spirit guidance or possession, archetypal memories, and drawing on a collective consciousness.

Fascinating reading, engagingly presented.

Hazel Russo. Integrated Healthcare: A Guide to Good Practice

London, UK: Foundation for Integrated Medicine (International House, 59 Compton Road, London N1 2YT, UK) 2000 116 pp £7.99

This gem sparkles with numerous observations and suggestions on developing integrative care programs in conventional medical settings, ranging from general practice, through hospital pain, neonatal, and oncology units, and more.

A few of the many helpful suggestions:

Allow sufficient time to gather support from everyone who will be involved prior to launching an integrative care program

Teach mothers of newborns to give their babies massages.

Provide massages for staff who are prone to burnout on oncology units.

Be aware that homeopathy can save considerable costs, reducing visits to family doctors and consultants.

Mitchell E. Gibson, MD. Signs of Psychic and Spiritual Ability

Tempe, AZ: Modern Astrology 2001. 223pp 20 pp refs $15.95

Gibson reports ecliptic and declinational signs that occur in higher frequencies in the charts of 31 psychics and healers compared to 30 controls whom he studied. Those who are immersed in astrology will find this book most interesting.

Those who require more rigorous studies are likely to be critical of this work. While the apparent magnitude of differences in occurrence of particular signs between the groups appears substantial, no statistical analyses were used, so there is no way to know whether these differences were significant. No description is provided of the controls.

Discussions of psychic and healing abilities are very superficial. No mention is made of the research of Michel Gauquelin, suggesting that caesarian births diminish or cancel the significance of a birth chart in predicting success in one's chosen profession; nor of Hans Eysenck's confirmation of Gauquelin's findings. References terminate before names beginning with "N."


Contact:
Mitchell E. Gibson, MD
2600 E. Southern, Suite C-2
Tempe, AZ 85282

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