New Radiance Reviews
December 2003
Mastering the Toltec Way: A Daily Guide to
Happiness, Freedom, and
Joy
by Susan Gregg
Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003
Susan
Gregg
is a clinical hypnotherapist who has a private practice in
Hawaii
. She also leads seminars, retreats and conferences throughout the
United States
. Her previous books include The Toltec Way, Dance of Power, and Finding the Sacred
Self.
In the introduction to her recent book, Mastering the
Toltec Way
,
Gregg
explains that the Toltecs embraced the wisdom of a race of
people she calls "the ancient ones" and made it their own. These people "knew that
life, as we perceive it, is an illusion. They knew that 'reason's' perception of reality was just a
point of view, and a limiting one at that."
In order to help us to "break free from (our) old, limiting
way of viewing the world," she offers us stories, meditations and exercises. Her book is
divided into thirteen chapters, most of which begin with a story about the grandmother who "is
the personification of the feminine aspect of the ancient ones' timeless wisdom." Each story is
followed by twenty-eight daily entries. She has chosen these numbers in order for her book to follow
the moon's pattern and suggests that we start reading her book on a new or full moon and then use it
every day for a year. She assures us that if we do the exercises daily and apply the principles that
she has set forth, our lives will "change dramatically."
Although some of
Gregg
's entries contain helpful insights and ideas, many of them are downright silly. As well, we learn
very, very little about the history of the Toltecs and their beliefs in this book; one has to look
elsewhere for this important background material. Just as the majority of the entries fill very
little of each page, the author’s book falls far short of her intentions.
The Prophet’s Candle
by Daniel
Versatility Press, 2003
The author of The Prophet's Candle's real name is
Dan
Miller
but the book has been published under the name
Daniel
, which I take to be his Christian name. This is appropriate as this is quite a religious book,
written primarily in the form of parables and poetry. They cover such subjects as friendship, hate,
fear, death, compassion, truth, and love.
There is a series of poems in which a child asks questions of
the Mystic; there are a number of parables designed to teach spiritual and moral truths. This is a
spiritually uplifting offering that is written with both honesty and a good ear for writing in the
format he's chosen.
(Reviewed by Brenda Dupas, MLS)
New Radiance
