Experience the mystical in everyday life
by Constance Rodriguez.
Published by Llewellyn, 2008, £11.99
Review by Bryn
There are a fair number of books out
there claiming to tell you how to understand and work with your soul. Most of
the ones I’ve read so far, I haven’t really got on with. Although Rodriguez
doesn’t seem to have any radical ideas, she presents her thoughts in a way that
I found far more appealing than most books of this vein. She isn’t dogmatic,
there’s no sense that she believes her words to represent one great truth.
Instead, she places her ideas in context, with good references to other
thinkers in the same field, and acknowledges a spectrum of different views. Her
notions of gifts of the soul, is that we all have talents, resources and
facilities that we don’t make best use of. She offers techniques designed to
open people to their own potential. Having worked through some of these, they
seemed pretty good to me. Nothing extraordinary, but plenty of exercises
appropriate for a beginner.
Rodriguez is one of these writers
who has no trouble drawing on numerous different traditions – a common practice
in new age material. She refers to theosophy, science, South American
traditions, Native American traditions, and more. Unlike many writers, she does
take some time to root her eclecticism and tell you about her different
sources. I could have wished there was better referencing when she referred to
the wilder end of science however.
If you are looking for a spiritual,
but not religious books with a fairly pragmatic tone then this one is worth a
thought. It’s aimed (I think) at people coming from a rationalist background
but wanting to develop their spiritual side, and is very much targeted at
beginners. If you feel in touch with your inner nature, aware of your
intentions and able to reach out to the wider reality for guidance, then you’ve
already moved beyond what this book can offer.
Available from Amazon.co.uk
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