new age

31
Jul
2014

Review: Hands of Light, by Barbara Ann Brennan


handsolightHands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field – Barbara Ann Brenna
Bantam, 1988, 294pp., 0553345397
This is a rereading review. Hands of Light was probably one of my first energy work books I read way back, I was possibly still in high school then, which is scarily more than a decade away… For various reasons I’ve felt the need to go back and recover some old stuff, and this book was high on my list.
Hands of Light is probably one of the best books I’ve read on the energy body and energy healing, it definitely has its flaws, but overall it’s a great book.
Let’s look at the flaws first. First and foremost this book is very newage in its delivery, the author’s language jumps from culture to culture with little-to-no understanding of the basics, but using them as buzzwords. (The highest levels of your chakras exist in the Ketheric template, for instance) The book deals with channelling, spirit guides, white light, universe as happy-love, and things like that. The material is great, and even when she’s framing it as newage as possible there is a lot of good stuff in the book, you just have to be willing to filter out some of that language. The second problem is this text is very prescriptive. Red means this. A bulge here means that. Cancer will look like this. If you don’t know me, I have issues with prescriptive texts like that, people can and do perceive (not even see) things radically differently, and our energetic bodies, like our physical ones, are too complex to say X=Y with certainty, but it might be a good indicator. Must like the newage language, if you’re willing to reframe her descriptions as personal and a bit nebulous you’ll get more from it. Originally I thought she was more of an authority, so I tried diagnosing and evaluating people by her colours and symbols, sometimes they were right, sometimes they were wrong. Perceptions don’t map 100% across people. (Normally I wouldn’t comment about that in a book, but as I went through that way back I thought I’d bring it up.) I assume that is in part due to Brennan’s background, she has an M.S> in Atmospheric Physics and worked as a research scientist with NASA (these claims pan out), which may not be the most conducive to accepting a more flexible subtle reality.
So what are the good things about this book? It is detailed. It’s nearly three hundred pages (which are 8.5X11) so there is a lot in here. It covers the aura, how it interacts with the “Universal Energy Field,” therapy and energy healing, physical manifestations of psychological-energetic imbalances, the chakras, major chakra patterns, how they operate and interact, past life damage and healing, layers of reality and the way templates affect the bodies, various methods of perception, how to heal and a lot more. Brennan covers the basics all books on the subject hit, but does so more in depth, and covers a lot more.
The book also has a lot of exercises, and case studies for you to work with, these really help people who want to learn, and they’re practical and effective. The perspective and depth of Brennan’s work is what sets it apart. Even after all this time it’s the only book I’ve read that really handles the idea of multiple layers of the energy body in a way that’s rational and informative. Usually it’s glossed over or not mentioned, but her model is the one closest to my own, as well as the models used by several groups I’ve worked with.
With everything she covers this book really is probably the best resource or place to start, if you’re willing to be a bit more flexible, and divorce the newage language. I honestly think if you work through this book, follow the instructions, then you’ll have an amazing foundation for energetic healing.
While it is white light newage, no doubt, if you’re looking for a book on the energy body, and how to work with and heal it then this book is a great starting point and resource.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
14
Feb
2013

Review: Eastern Body, Western Mind – Anodea Judith


eastern bodyEastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self – Anodea Judith
Celestial Arts. 1996. 502pp. 9780890878156.
I’ll confess, I’ve had this book for years now but could never bring myself around to reading it. I suspected it would be horrible and newagey. Currently though a friend of mine attends Naropa University, and apparently it’s used in one of eir psychology courses, so I decided to give it a chance.
The basic premise of the book is to relate the chakra system to Western psychology. Anodea Judith doesn’t really focus on one school of thought, shifting from Jung to Reich to Freud and others, but her main focus is on developmental theory. Each chakra is given an entire chapter, which is then broken down with basic explanations of what the chakra does on a physical, energetic, and mental level, as well as looking at the period of life it represents what traumas may be present, what these traumas do to the person on all levels, how the chakras react, and of course what can be done to help fix this. She does what I have to consider a very thorough and good job of exploring the chakras and linking them to the psychological model.
Her explanations are well constructed and seem consistent in themselves and with my experience. What impressed me though was how realistic she was. She give examples of people who had been through the traumas, how it affected them, what it did to their body, mind, and energy, and she talked about what advice she gave them to help deal with these issues. Nowhere does she proclaim how amazing she is for having cured these people, in fact she next mentions them being “fixed”. A lot of books that deal with energetic diagnosis and healing read more like bragging rights “I could tell by the way he held his hands he had cancer and abandonment issues, so we sang Kumbaya and he was healed.” Not only are these examples unrealistic, but they’re not helpful, and probably damaging. But Judith never went there, she acknowledges that even when handling a trauma on all levels at once you still have a lot of work to do, it will take a lot of time and effort, and may never be truly fixed, only better. To me it was great to see a more realistic approach and an acknowledgement of the limitation of the techniques.
Now trauma can be a strong word, so I should clarify this isn’t just a book about dealing with the energy system of people who have been abused (for an example of trauma), but traumas include various disruptive events that all of us have experienced some of. Premature birth, physical injury, emotionally dominating or absent parents, continual criticism, and a lot more, I can guarantee that everyone has had some of the traumas listed, and could see themselves somewhere in the descriptions. She makes a few factual mistakes, attributing “Tat Tvam Asi” to Buddhism, or saying the mantras are only supposed to be silent, but she also has a good understanding of many other aspects, in fact this work is the first time I saw a model of the criss-crossing Ida and Pingala that actually made sense. The information and interpretation is of great use if you’re just looking to understand yourself, your partner, your parents, or anyone, and it’s even better if you’re looking to navigate or improve these issues. I’m glad I got over my concerns about the book and actually gave it a read, it was worth it.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick