No matter who, where or what we are, getting in touch with our true selves is not as straightforward as we'd like. However, our paths through self-discovery needn't be trodden alone. At Cygnus we want to help you on that path but also assist and encourage you to develop a sense of community and oneness with everything around us.
£12.77 £16.99
Following on from the extremely popular Simple Exercises To Stimulate The Vagus Nerve in the last Review, this newly published book reveals how we can heal ourselves from trauma by understanding the powers of the vagus nerve together with the chakras, because as the author says “your body holds over three-quarters of what you need to know about yourself in order to heal old wounds”. She explains in detail how the vagus nerve works and how it matches the etheric energies of your chakras, and using this knowledge, how, by recognising physical cues, you can assist your spiritual and psychological growth. Including over 45 exercises and prompts used successfully by the author in her role as a trauma therapist, this book provides an exceptional guide to a new form of healing that we can all use especially in these days of trauma and anxiety.
240pp, 202 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
£16.65 £20.00
Liz Zorab has taken a barren piece of land in Monmouthshire and transformed it into a spectacular garden, with an emphasis on fruit and vegetables, but full of a gorgeous collection of other plants and flowers. Liz is a proponent of permaculture and uses its 12 principles to help her create a beautiful, cohesive and functional environment that minimises any negative impact on the land and the natural world, and this is her guide to help us do the same. The book, illustrated with some stunning photos taken by the author, is designed to share the rhythm and patterns of her gardening year, and unusually starts in the autumn, the season of gathering, and the season she enjoys most.
224pp, 245 x 189 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £20.00
£10.55 £14.99
This is an very comprehensive guide to energy healing from the world renowned healer, Alla Svirinskaya, who is based in London. Her reputation has gone before her and she has a lot of big name clients, but she also writes clearly and gives us not only an insight into how our energy works but also how to manage it and keep it “well”. She also advises on specific health issues. Her book gives us a broad set of tools to use, with explanations of how they work and how we should apply them to ourselves and our own energy fields. She lays out how to live a non-toxic energy lifestyle, scan for energy blockages, charge ourselves to provide an energy self-defence, and so much more. These techniques are all designed to be used alongside other complementary therapies and the promise of leading a healthier life is very alluring. This is a new edition of her previous book Own Your Energy.
304pp, 215 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£9.44 £12.99
This is a timely book, not because loneliness is a new thing, but because there have been two big recent developments in society. For the young it’s been the tendency to connect more online than off, and for the older, it’s the effects of Covid and the new working from home revolution. Loneliness is not just about not meeting people of course, it’s about making connections, it’s about touch; it can also be about disconnection and losing your own sense of self-worth. The author is a renowned public speaker who suffered intense loneliness for a long time, but has rebuilt her connections and here shares her story and the techniques she used to turn her life around. She presents everything with context, either her own experience or an analysis of causes and effects, so her book is both supportive and constructive.
272pp, 216 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£10.55 £14.99
This is the latest book from bestselling author Philip Permutt, who has already published several excellent works on crystals including The Crystal Healer and Crystal Tips and Cures. This is his guide on how to take advantage of the amazing properties of crystals, exploring them as living beings and connecting with them by communication and understanding the messages within them. The book includes detailed information and illustrations on 101 indispensable crystals, plus how to work with crystals in dowsing, divination and healing practices, how they relate to chakras and also how to cleanse and look after your crystals. It is nicely laid out with lots of photographs and pretty illustrations and includes exercises with safety guides, plus meditations and lots of hints and tips.
144pp, 233 x 192 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£12.77 £16.99
Featured author Susan Moon is part of the lineage of Suzuki who came over from Japan to teach Zen in San Francisco and became a legendary figure in American Buddhism. This book has become a classic: it’s a profound education and it also offers gentle guidance and spiritual support. Each chapter is taken from a talk he gave but the teaching is not exclusively Buddhist. In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics - from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality - in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It’s one of my favourite books.
176pp, 209 x 133 mm, Paperback, 2020, RRP £16.99
£10.55 £14.99
There haven’t been many books on this fascinating subject. It’s one that needs to be explored because you can imagine that previous patterns within a family can easily be repeated from one generation into the next. Anuradha gives us many exercises such as journalling, visualisation and mind-mapping, and she also gives many suggestions based on her training in flower essences. The book is also full of real-life examples including many stories from her own family’s life. The author used to work in academia and finance and it’s uplifting to know she wanted to give up lucrative employment to do this work instead. Life is hard enough as it is so it’s helpful to be able to avoid repeating old patterns through financial troubles, divorce and breakup and family arguments that aren’t even conscious.
288pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£11.10 £14.99
This is Phill Webster’s first book, and it feels fresh and positive. It’s very personal, part investigation, part guide and part diary, written over the year after his mother’s death. He uses his own experiences and psychic senses to examine how to find solace and hope by connecting with intuition. He shares with us that simple changes in thinking as well as shifting our perspectives on everyday reality can help us transform our lives. His narrative and analysis are both interesting and compelling and it’s good to see he also includes a variety of meditation exercises to try. Letting Glow is also an adventure into mediumship and takes a deeper look at how we experience time, consciousness, and our relationship with our higher self. This book is a useful beginner’s title for anyone embarking on their pathway to spiritual enlightenment.
160pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£12.77 £16.99
This is a book about ageing. It’s not prescriptive: it does have some practices but they are integrated into the text. It’s mostly full of stories that are there to encourage us and to comfort us, about our own ageing and dying and about it happening to others we love. Likewise the author - a popular Buddhist teacher who is in her seventies - writes about her own ageing and about the ageing of people she has known, like her Zen teacher and her friend Jenny who has Lewy Body dementia. Every story is told with great humour and compassion and I am convinced that this book can be enjoyed by anybody, of any age. The author has no theory to outline or anything to convince us of. There is also no overt narrative: every chapter is an essay (the subtitle of the book is Notes on the Home Stretch which pretty much sums it up). Chapters include We Will Be Ancestors Too and Meeting the Final Deadline.
208pp, 227 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2022, RRP £16.99
£11.10 £14.99
Something for Beatles fans, spiritualists, social historians and followers of Rudolf Steiner all in one fascinating volume! This is a Beatles anthology with a difference, bringing together several compelleing strands. It’s a study of the influences that formed the Beatles’ music, from spiritual movements, religious groups, esoteric philosophies and mystical teachings; a look at the famous “hidden” clues in the album covers; an investigation into the strange rumours that pursued them; and an analysis of the horror of the assassination of John Lennon – all within the context of the grey postwar world. You only have to hear some of the lyrics, listen to the music or look at the covers to know how much the band absorbed from all corners of the spiritual world, and which, because of their popularity, they brought to so many other people.
284pp, 234 x 155 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£12.21 £16.99
Tree Carr, an expert in the realms of dreams, divination and esoteric magic, has brought together 365 simple rituals, spells and enchantments to enrich our lives and help us to discover new powers. The spells combine the arts of potions, rituals, lucid dreams, herb magic, candle magic, planetary magic, crystal magic, incantations, ceremonies, divinations, tarot readings and so much more, making this the first book of its kind to bring together multiple realms of magic for the everyday into one place. Gorgeously illustrated throughout, the spells within this book are easy to do, inexpensive, practical and offer profound insight and power. A lot of them are pretty simple but I have the feeling you could treat this like a book of days where the spells get you into a holistic and magical way of being and even shift your life on to a different set of tracks.
336pp, 185 x 130 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £16.99
£12.21 £16.99
This looks at a tricky subject for many of us who are on this path. It’s such an exciting and inspiring one but there is so much potential for disenchantment, dependency, abuse and rejection. How can we be fully committed and make the most of all the transformational potential, while never abandoning a keen awareness of the dangers on that path? Connie, who also wrote The Inner Work of Age, is brave and experienced enough to give us this primer on the subject. The book is deep but not academic or difficult. It is divided into two parts: Before the Fall and After the Fall. It both helps us to be aware and wary of what might go wrong and gives us tools to start again after a disillusionment. It’s so hard when you are let down by someone and you don’t know if you can ever “believe” again. Well, this book shows you that you can.
304pp, 229 x 142 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
£10.55 £14.99
We are spoiled for energy titles this season. Here is another good one to go with Confident Empath. Sharon is in a very strong position, being both a shaman and a board-certified internal medicine physician. She is an expert in both fields and has a high profile through her two radio shows on the Transformation Talk Radio network. The author gives clear instructions on attaining mastery over your own health using many stories from her own work as well as exercises and visualisations. These techniques are not just for use when we are ill but we can also use them to boost our vitality and life force. The text reads very easily and the author comes across as warm and friendly. When you know that she is also a highly qualified doctor, it also gives you confidence in what she teaches and in uncovering your own power.
288pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£10.55 £14.99
Again this book is from Cico, so it’s beautiful to look at, easy to use and very good value. There are colour illustrations throughout which both illustrate the mudras and other exercises and which enhance the look of the book. Basically then it’s all about practical yoga apart from the hatha yoga exercises on the mat that people are familiar with. It’s a lovely combination of breathing exercises, which are very popular right now because they get straight to the heart of anxiety and wellbeing issues, and mudras – or hand positions – which are more esoteric but potentially as effective. The book has two main sections - Breathing and Mudras for the Body and Breathing and Mudras for the Soul - and within those sections, there are listed various conditions with a breathwork and mudra suggestion for each.
144pp, 235 x 190 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£10.55 £13.99
The author was inspired to create this book after reading that psychological research shows that just 8 weeks of daily mindful meditation practices significantly lowers the activity in the stress centre of the brain. She could see that while 8 weeks doesn’t sound long, it would be much easier to do if supported by a guide - and this is it. There are topics for each week, each with relevant activities and daily practices. So week 1 is about Presence, and you are invited to think about paying attention, sound, sight, smell, taste, touch etc. each with a practice to try, from “meditating through sound’” to “connecting through touch”. It’s an agnostic approach, and the practices integrate Buddhist, yoga, and Christian philosophy, mental health treatment, modern psychology, and much more. It’s a clever idea, which is well executed.
200pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £13.99
£9.44 £12.99
Most of us are born with the ability to breathe freely and naturally, but as the years go by, our breathing can become laboured - compromised by fear, disappointment, trauma, and pollutants. We start to contract our breathing body and create ways that feel protective of our vulnerable selves but actually constrict the oxygen intake and thus the nourishment our body receives. The author, a renowned breathing expert, offers a guide to conscious breathing with techniques for loosening these patterns of constriction. In his warm and approachable book, he shows us how by breathing better we can alleviate symptoms of asthma, snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, digestive difficulties, and fatigue, giving us exercises to try and insights into the science of breathing that really make you want to give this a go.
304pp, 228 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£13.32 £18.99
This is Paul Levy’s third book on the subject, following Wetiko and Dispelling Wetiko. Wetiko – which is a term from the Native American tradition – describes a virus of the mind, which underlies the collective insanity and evil wreaking havoc across the world. It has its roots in unhealed ancestral trauma, which expresses within the family. Influenced by the work of Jung, he shows how the answers to the problem are actually hidden within the dark side of our human experience. This is deep and compelling work but it’s greeted enthusiastically by a number of authors quoted on the cover, including Jean Houston, Andrew Harvey and Larry Dossey. Through stories, historical anecdotes and deep insight, he offers a practical map to those shadow parts of us, which is where true healing lies.
416pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £18.99
£9.98 £12.99
There are a few books being published that were written in the teeth of the Coronavirus Pandemic, casting a light on how people were responding to the lockdowns, the media, government policies and the sense of global fear. This short book contains 28 meditations and soul exercises designed to help develop courage and internal strength that were so needed during what was a horrible time. It’s a book to help us recover from the trauma and to be strong in case it happens again. It also includes thoughts from the author on how the crisis was an attack on our connection to spirituality, and how we needed to counter this attack using spiritual means. It’s a personal view, and whether you agree with it or not, the meditations he has created are also relevant now and can help with all sorts of challenges we face every day.
96pp, 180 x 115 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£12.21 £15.99
It’s always appealing to find a new take on emotional healing, and this book brings us an approachable model based on the interweaving of Jungian depth psychology with spirituality. It is a very personal book: the author is not only honest and open about her own inner healing, but she’s also a poet and has a profound love of nature, so that reading her work is like being on a boat, being rocked from side to side as we are moved from wisdom and understanding to emotional connection and back. The narrative takes us through a series of “healing rooms” which address different issues, all the time also illustrated with stories from the author’s affinity with nature and love of the sea. Complete with practical advice and exercises, this is both an interesting and a powerful read.
240pp, 217 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £15.99
£9.44 £12.99
Aspects of life after life and life beyond life are a main rallying point for those of us who see ourselves as alternative or spiritual. While we don’t agree on how this might work or even whether it is a “real thing” we do all agree that it’s a serious debate and that the materialist worldview is absurd. The author is an award-winning documentary film-maker and has been exploring this field for a long time. He starts by demonstrating the restrictive tendency of the materialist belief system and then goes on to explore various phenomena that indicate that there is much more to the universe than that. The author clearly is an advocate for life after death and this short and easy-to-follow book (which is full of resources and references) acts as a starting point for our own further exploration.
128pp, 229 x 152mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£9.44 £11.99
The author, a Zen Buddhist and ikebana practitioner, was about to visit Japan to research a flower temple pilgrimage when the pandemic struck. It forced her to retreat to her own mountain home with its beautiful flower garden and search, like the rest of us, for solace and meaning where she could find it in that difficult time. What she has produced is a fascinating book which is both intimate and thoughtful, and which introduces us to the poetic and beautiful language of flowers. It reads like a diary, but with every entry Stamm refers to a flower and its meaning with particular reference to the issues of that time in her and our lives. This book lends some meaning to those challenging Covid times and perhaps helps ease the trauma.
152pp, 215 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £11.99
£13.32 £18.99
Books like this get me excited. I haven’t got to the end of it yet. It’s about personal transformation and unlocking your full potential, and it’s written by someone who is both an M.D. and a Ph.D. Friedemann also wrote the bestselling book The Fear and Anxiety Solution, which I loved too. And it’s properly big and heavy so it doesn’t deal in platitudes and easy fixes. It’s written for all of us who don’t feel laid low but do feel that life is passing us by a little bit, who feel that we are ready to make big changes that will realign things and make us feel less complicated and conflicted. It’s full of sound advice and exercises too. The six most common survival patterns that we can use are: the victim, invisibility, the procrastinator, the chameleon, the helper and the lover.
352pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £18.99
£12.77 £17.99
Dreams are always a puzzle, sometimes easy to unpick, but often not, so this entirely new set of definitions informed by lunar activity and mystical insight is fascinating. Examining how and why the eight moon phases impact our dreams, the author reveals what message a dream has at any one phase of the moon. There’s a helpful chart that gives an overview so you can see at a glance the overall meaning of the appearance of aliens in each of the phases of the moon, for example. Then you can drill down using the A-Z interpretation of each of the dream symbols and their specific messages within the lunar cycle. This is a well-laid out, attractive book that is also a fascinating exploration into the impact that astrology and the Moon plus astronomy and psychology have had on spiritual wisdom and the art of dream interpretation from ancient Mesopotamia to the modern day.
288pp, 215 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £17.99
£10.55 £14.99
The subtitle of this new beginners’ guide is Learn to be Your Own Astrologer and Unlock the Secrets of the Signs and Planets, which makes it clear that this a good place to start for the novice. When you look inside you see a lovely, highly illustrated and well laid out book which makes the whole process feel very approachable. The author presents a series of tools to gain a deeper understanding of your sign and insights into hidden aspects of your personality. And more than this, she goes beyond the sun signs to look at the influence of every planet’s position in the birth chart. By using this guide you will learn how to understand and interpret your birth chart, reveal the secrets of the signs, houses, planets and aspects, and gain a deeper awareness of your relationships and life’s purpose.
160pp, 235 x 190 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£12.21 £16.99
This book may be pocket-sized but it is a treasure trove of knowledge. The encyclopedia element is hugely comprehensive and features 450 crystals, including familiar ones as well as rarer and more unusual crystals, such as phenakite, cavansite, and yooperlite which you may not have used before. Each entry features an attractive colour photo of the stone and defines its physical, emotional, and metaphysical healing properties as well as its corresponding chakra, element, planet, and zodiac sign. The author also covers the basics of crystal healing, why crystals work, how to select stones and safe and effective cleansing methods, alongside hands-on techniques and practices for you to try. It’s a great beginners’ guide, but will also be appealing to anyone already healing with crystals, because it’s portable and so comprehensive.
288pp, 344 x 128 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
£10.55 £14.99
This is an attractive, small, hardback guide written by expert palmist Johnny Fincham who might be familiar because of his frequent television appearances. He is a third-generation celebrity palm-reader who has brought together psychology, modern techniques and his own vast experience to give us this ultimate guide into reading the secrets of a person’s palm. The book packs a lot in, and includes how to make and interpret a hand print, what the areas of the palm reveal about your strengths and struggles, how your fingers indicate values and drives, the four major lines, the minor lines and much more! With clearly laid out chapters and simple, effective illustrations, real palm prints to practise on and a handy reference list, this book is all you really need. It was first published as Palmistry at Your Fingertips in 2013.
176pp, 185 x 130 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£8.87 £11.99
This 21 Days book is a practical and straightforward guide to numerology, so is a perfect introduction for anyone starting on the subject and wanting to understand both what it can do for them and how to use it to best effect. Over the 21 days (one lesson/chapter a day) you’ll learn the theory behind numerology and the way its benefits can manifest in your life. The book goes on to show what the numbers on your birth chart mean and how they can help influence your life for the good, how to find ultimate purpose with your Ruling Number, how to set up and interpret a Number Pyramid in order to create a well-balanced life, the numerological power and meaning of names, and how to compile a Name Chart. The author was one of the world’s leading authorities on numerology.
176pp, 197 x 130 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £11.99
£10.55 £14.99
Even though the publishers use “mindful” in the title, I think they are going with the trend by using this word, and this book is mostly feng shui. The author is a registered architect and feng shui educator in New York City. It’s a book that you can treat yourself to, to inspire you to make changes to your home and make it a happier place. There are 144 pages of beautifully laid out colour images and text and its retail price of £14.99 is a total bargain. There are many everyday common-sense tips in the book, plus more esoteric feng shui guidance and simple rituals that can enhance the positivity of a place. Chapters include Feng Shui and the Mindfulness Connection, Create a Mindful Space and Interconnecting Home and Community. Anyone who lives indoors can benefit from a book like this.
144pp, 234 x 192 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£14.43 £17.99
Meggan Watterson is a wonderful combination of Harvard trained theologian and mystically inclined spiritual teacher. She wrote the book Mary Magdalene Revealed which is a classic and which has done well already with Cygnus. There are so many facets to how we can learn and be inspired by Mary: through her appearance in the canonical Bible, through her Gnostic Gospel and through all the myths and legends associated with her. This deck is intended to make her teachings available to us in a direct and visceral way. Each card has a title (for example The First Power, The Cave, Mary Magdalene and The Soul) together with a slogan (Darkness Makes Vision Possible, Sanctuary Exists Within, Love Only Ever Expands, I am Free, respectively) and the images are sometimes provocative montages of figures, landscapes and symbols.
44-card deck and 120-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99
£14.43 £17.99
This deck and book set has been put together by the creator of the Law of Positivism Instagram page, which has more than 325,000 followers. She is of Kurdish descent and lives in Sweden. There are 50 cards and they are grouped around five aspects – the physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual layers that we all have. The cards are all in pastel shades and the images are in the photographic style. The statements on them include My Heart Space is Abundant and Flowing, I Hear Speak and Express My Truth and I Accept My Life Exactly as It Is. Almost all the human figures in the deck are female and the deck itself is definitely orientated towards women. It’s an uplifting deck which will inject joy and positivity into anyone’s life.
50-card deck and 152-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99
£13.88 £17.99
Gordon is famously the UK’s most accurate medium and he has a great gift and a gratifying integrity. He hasn’t brought out anything for a while and so this oracle deck is very welcome. Basically it’s full of messages from the other side so that, if you use it suitably, it will be like psychic guidance. There are 48 full-colour cards and they are divided into four suits: Healing from Spirit Healers and Helpers, Healing from Spirit Guides, Healing from Spirit Sages and Masters and Healing from Guardian Spirits. The four suits are colour coded. The guide book gives more information about the nature of these different spirits and more information behind the brief message on each card. This has to be the next best thing to getting a reading directly through Gordon. The illustrations on the cards show figures in different visionary cosmic landscapes.
48-card deck and 120-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99
£14.43 £17.99
This is different. There are 48 cards which carry images of crystals, geometric shapes, landscapes and other soothing images. Each card relates to a crystal or stone and the book then carries an entry for each that gives three pieces of information: an Alchemy Message; What Does This Card Mean For You?; and an Alchemy Mantra. Most importantly, the back of each card has a QR code on it and you can use it to hear the exact sound to go with the card, played on a pure quartz crystal singing bowl. The frequency you hear will then support the message on the card, making the oracle like a 3D, all-enveloping experience. So don’t buy this if you don’t have a smartphone or a computer. I can imagine that this experience can make all kinds of transformation feel possible, because sound can work in ways that other media can’t.
48-Card Deck and 128-page Guidebook with 48 Singing Bowl Audios
£13.88 £19.99
It’s amazing to have two water-based oracles in this Review and they are both excellent. All 40 of these cards are a riot of colour. The colours aren’t spiritual and pastelly but instead they are bright, vivid and varied – a real treat for the eyes. Each card encapsulates an aspect of water: Droplet, Purification, Dam and Tears for example. The author was born in Australia, lives in London and used to edit Prediction magazine. The accompanying book is larger than usual and each entry has plenty of information, describing the card, giving advice on how to work with the card and even including a ritual for it. There is also a lot at the start of the book about water and its profound importance for us all. This is a very “up” and cheerful deck that can be the foundation for a spiritual practice.
40-card deck and 144-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £19.99
£15.54 £19.99
We have already featured many books and decks by Rebecca Campbell in Cygnus. She sells well and everything she does has spiritual authenticity. This 44-card deck and accompanying guidebook will be familiar to members who have previously bought her products; the cards are in pastel colours and portray mystical inner landscapes with photography style figures within a swirling collage. ecause it all relates to water, the cards are all in shades of blues and purples and invite us into a calm and wholesome place. There’s a title for each card: for example, Clear Waters, Gentle Force and The Sirens; plus statements like Use Your Voice. Expansion. Freedom, and Consistency. Persistence. Patience. The long game. Rebecca lives in Glastonbury where the land is watered by many springs including the Chalice Well.
44-card deck and 176-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £19.99
£12.21 £15.99
This one has been recommended by a Cygnus member who read it after Susan Moon mentioned it in her book Alive Until You’re Dead. Again like Zen Mind it’s a collection of oral teachings that have been set down in a book. Blanche was another teacher in the Bay Area of California and she has died since this book was published. She was 90 and again she had much to say about ageing. There’s so much to be treasured in Buddhist writing like this. Sometimes when you lose your way spiritually these books comfort you and make you feel safer and that you are not totally lost. All the endorsements on the back cover talk about her love and wisdom – there are Buddhist specific aspects of the text but mostly it’s just life wisdom that’s both inspiring and illuminating.
192pp, 215 x 141 mm, Paperback, 2015, RRP £15.99
£9.44 £12.99
In this book the author suggests different ways of seeing and thinking to see the life in all things. This will then cause a shift in how we live on this delicate planet. It will help us if we have climate anxiety by giving us a bigger picture and helping us away from a human-fixated outlook on existence. Erik is trained in Tibetan Buddhism and plant medicine of all kinds, and even in the Tibetan traditions there are nature spirits that we can work with. Of course there are also other beings in the European traditions that he discusses, including elves in Iceland and fairies in the British Isles. By relating to these unseen beings, to the animals and other life-forms around us, we can broaden our horizons to become more fulfilled and also be less destructive to the planet in our ways of living.
320pp, 217 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£9.44 £12.99
Brian Cotnoir is a well-known contemporary authority on alchemy and this is not just the psychological aspect but also the literal chemical kind. This is a beautifully-packaged little hardback that could fit in your pocket. It’s full of line drawings and classic alchemical engravings. Alchemy is traditionally a bit impenetrable but if anything could open it up it’s this book, although what’s nice is that it also maintains the mystery around alchemy. It contains many practices including meditations and visualisations. Because it’s so great to look at, it would also make a great gift to friends who are on a spiritual quest. On Alchemy is the antidote to all those books nowadays about Manifestation. This is the ancient road to Manifestation and it requires hard work but the rewards can be incalculable.
120pp, 185 x 130 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£12.21 £15.99
This is a very interesting book. It’s a well-produced hardback with coloured ink and beautiful designs and it would make a great gift to yourself or to someone else. The packaging makes you think that it’s going to be mainstream and perhaps too introductory, but actually its teachings are heavily based on the Rudolf Steiner work and the book is profound and quite esoteric. The author has written many other high-profile books such as The Secret Language of Your Body and she is also a gifted teacher and energy worker. The book as a whole describes a coherent esoteric worldview which helps us make sense of our lives and possible destiny, and in its rigour it helps us let go of a lot of new age lazy thinking. There are practical exercises too and the experience is like sitting in a meditation hall with a wise teacher.
240pp, 218 x 150 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £15.99
£10.55 £14.99
I have to say, this book doesn’t look promising, but actually it’s really quite wonderful. It describes the Vietnamese facial reflexology practice of Dien Chan, which the author also suggests you could combine with Qigong and Chinese Medicine. The author is British and trained with a wise master in the backstreets of Saigon. The book is also very highly praised by Daniel Reid, a leading Western teacher in the Chinese Taoist arts. It feels empowering and it’s full of simple illustrations showing the various points on the face to use plus line drawings of other positions to take up. Finally there are also 24 exercises in the book. A lot of the teaching involves issues around the Vagus nerve, which is a big thing right now. verything described seems quite accessible and the text is an entertaining mixture of western and eastern techniques.
320pp, 229 x 152mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£9.44 £12.99
Here’s another book from Earthdancer (see Shilajit) and like all their books it covers a mainstream subject in a slightly oblique way. There are 33 different oils mentioned in the Bible and here are 12 that the authors consider to be the most important, including frankincense and myrrh (of course) as well as cassia, myrtle, hyssop and others. The book is printed in colour and there are many photographs of the relevant plants. Each entry quotes the relevant Bible entry, gives a history of the use of that plant, describes its properties and gives suggestions for its use. It’s not a big book but every entry gets straight to the point and there is also general information on oils. On one level it is a book of essential oils but knowing they have been used in sacred settings on such a long-term basis gives them an extra resonance and perhaps even energetic power.
96pp, 191 x 146 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£9.44 £12.99
The subtitle of this book sums it up succinctly: Natural Remedies for 21st Century Viruses and Superbugs. After Covid (and there have been other large-scale threats to our health) everyone wants to be in a strong position to avoid the worst of any future threats – which we know will come. This book gets on with it and discusses all the different natural substances we can use to maintain strong immunity. The most relevant chapters are: Food and Nutrients, Herbs and Essential Oils, Probiotics and Fermented Foods and Mushrooms. There are short entries about the science behind each substance, plus wise advice on how best to apply them. There are no illustrations but the book doesn’t need them: it’s a great book to have if you are concerned about your immunity and want to stay strong in a natural and non-invasive way.
176pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£10.55 £14.99
The first thing to stress about this book is that the author is not a medical doctor and doesn’t have academic medical training. He is a teacher and healer. There are though 25 pages of references so he has clearly researched this thoroughly. He has suffered from long Covid himself. He covers both pharmaceutical and alternative approaches to the condition and it seems as far as I can tell that he doesn’t have any specific “agenda” in his whole approach to healing from this nasty illness. So, this seems to present a fairly broad approach to long Covid with advice and guidance that I am sure you could use for other illnesses. Of course he does tend towards the “alternative” but that’s only part of the broad spectrum. Amongst his suggestions are homeopathy, breathwork, lymph drainage exercises and gut biome restoration.
240pp, 228 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
£9.44 £12.99
I must admit that I hadn’t heard of Shilajit before I received this book, but it’s published by Earthdancer, a well-established and trusted alternative publisher of books usually translated from German, and that led me to read the book much more thoroughly. It’s a resinous substance that oozes out of the rocks and is mainly found in the Himalayas. There is a long tradition of its use in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine as well as in Russian folk medicine. It is widely available though in this country. The book is short but deeply researched and is packed with diagrams and photos of Shilajit in its natural state. It’s a well-known adaptogen that contains many antioxidant, cell-protecting and vitalizing components, and the author has more than thirty years’ experience with it.
160pp, 190 x 147 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£9.98 £13.99
This is a promising addition to the treatment options for sufferers of chronic fatigue, ME and anyone who has seriously low energy. The author, once a sufferer himself, has spent years studying the subject, delving into the suggested remedies to prove to himself that they do or don’t work, and has become an authority on the subject. He relates his findings that this kind of fatigue starts at cell level with the mitochondria, our energy generators, and how various areas of our lives are affecting their ability to function properly. He writes fluently and makes all the science accessible. He also tells us where we’re going wrong and how to make changes that will make a profound difference, from looking at our fat to muscle ratio, our gut health, blood sugar and nutritional Toxicities, hormone imbalances and more. This is a thorough, science and evidence-based programme.
368pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £13.99
£13.32 £16.99
The subtitle sums this up best: A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age. Who wouldn’t want to benefit from the guidance of someone who has lived that long? Even though the author is a (still practising) doctor, this isn’t really a health book or a book about longevity; it’s a book of life-lessons and advice on living from someone who has done a lot of it. The secrets aren’t a huge revelation. Some of them include Everything is Your Teacher, All Life Needs to Move and Spend Your Energy Wildly. However the book is crammed with stories and other examples that illuminate what she is talking about and these really uplift and encourage us. So this book is a lovely gentle read that will make us more positive about life and about finding contentment.
256pp, 223 x 144 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
£13.32 £17.99
This is a warm and engaging book written by someone who has herself struggled with life. Kumar tackles here issues around self-confidence, feeling powerless and being constantly self-critical (amongst others) all of which are I am sure familiar to us. Her technique is to get us to have conversations with ourselves, with all the voices we have within us, one by one, out loud. She tells us that saying it out loud helps us focus on each conversation, listen to and adjust the tone of voice we’re using, and transform emotions and feelings into actual spoken words that can be discussed and dealt with. Her book shows us how best to do this, with exercises at the end of each chapter and the use of meditation and affirmations to complement the process. It’s a step-by-step approach, and the tone is encouraging and supportive.
272pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £17.99
£12.77 £16.99
Eckhart Tolle Editions was launched in 2015 to publish life-changing works, both old and new, that have been personally selected by Eckhart Tolle. This latest is a self-empowerment classic from 1961 and includes a rousing foreword by Tolle, concluding with the words “I am grateful to U. S. Andersen for leaving us the legacy of this jewel of a book. May it play its part in the urgently needed awakening of human consciousness”. Andersen offers a liberating message for those of us seeking to change, improve, and understand our lives. He teaches us how to comprehend the concept of ‘mind over matter’, to employ our power of choice, and overcome opposition with our innate sixth sense while showing us the secret way in which our minds are tied to the source of all power and how we can become anything and do anything we can visualise.
320pp, 228 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
£9.44 £12.99
If you’ve found yourself in a place where you have to deal with angry people on a regular basis and you are struggling, then this book could be a lifesaver. Dr. Martin is so experienced in this field that he’s also known as ‘The Anger Professor’ so you feel in good hands. He’s created a comprehensive guide, including a section on understanding angry people, followed by his ten effective strategies for becoming a calm and confident navigator of other people’s anger. He draws on real-life examples, current research and practical examples which provide clarity and illustrate each piece of analysis clearly and effectively. You’ll learn how to keep your cool in emotionally taxing scenarios, understand an incident from the angry person’s perspective, communicate with those who can’t and know when to step away.
224pp, 215 x 134 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£9.44 £12.99
This could best be described as a lab manual containing simple experiments that prove once and for all that reality is malleable, that consciousness trumps matter, and that you shape your life with your mind! Rather than take it on faith, you are invited to conduct nine 48-hour experiments to prove there really is a positive, loving force in the universe. This invisible energy force, or field of infinite possibilities, can be relied on to work on our behalf in a huge variety of ways, and we can learn to tap into this power consciously. Writing with wit and warmth, and an absolute determination to help us alter our limited ways of thinking, Pam Grout invites us to prove to ourselves that the universe is limitless, abundant, and strangely accommodating! This new 10th Anniversary Edition includes a Manifesting Scavenger Hunt.
208pp, 216 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
£9.44 £12.99
This is a lovely take on the confidence building genre which gives you the tools to help you build your confidence while encouraging you at the same time to help others to build theirs. This in turn will help yours even more! You are taken on a clearly illustrated, step-by-step journey from self-evaluation, to understanding the mind-body connection and the use of body language, all the way through to raising your aspirations. And throughout, you’ll be learning about the author’s confidence karma approach, how to look both inwards and outwards and the importance of regularly applying what you have learned. Each chapter ends with a “karma call”, asking you to think about how you can apply your new knowledge and skills in making your colleagues, friends and family their most confident selves as well.
256pp, 216 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99