Book Review: How To Hear Your Angels by Doreen Virtue

Greetings Loves,

Provided by Amazon

Today I wanted to express my personal views on the book How To Hear Your Angels by Doreen Virtue.  Overall I adored this book, having not experienced too many things as far as angels are concerned, I found it to be a perfect beginner's book and a great intro to other Doreen Virtue books. I love how she gives descriptions on the major Archangels that she likes to discuss and that the information is the same as those on her website. She also goes into some detail over the various ways to connect with your angels as well as the differences between the ego and the actual connection with other beings comes into play. 

The only thing that I found odd, which I am not the only one to think so if you give a second to read some of the reviews on Amazon, is that she likes to site her other novels a lot in the middle of paragraphs. Though as I said, this is a good book to have an intro to her other novels, if you have already read her novels you will not be satisfied with these references, and do I day saw advertisements, for her other works. Also it should be worth noting that if you have read her other books then you will not like this book at all. Again, going off of other reviews on Amazon that I have seen, apparently she uses a lot of material from her other novels and does a 'copy and paste' into this book, making up at least 90% of the book. A lot of others were not happy about this, especially those who collect her novels and tarot decks throughout the years.

However, this was the first book by her that I have own and read of hers. I would state that this is a wonderful introduction book. It's a light read and you can finish it within an hour or two if you're reading straight through. It is also nice to have other sources of information that is by her if I am interested in the subjects she was discussing. No where in the book does she say you must buy her product, I got the vibe that she is just letting you know if you want to know more is all. The advertisements didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth.

Overall a cute little introduction book. I would recommend if you've never read her books before or if you've never read about angels before. Safe if you're not a pagan too, as she states in the beginning this caters to no specific religion because the angels do not.

Love and Light to You,
Ganshmi

Book Review: Lakshmi Mantra Magick by Baal Kadmon

Upon seeing this book on the internet, I thought I had honestly struck a gold mind. I have been looking for reading material on my mother goddess and wanted anything and everything to read up on her to obtain more knowledge.* The book promised mantras and an inside depth of these mantras. I had expected a great read that was unique and from a current worshipper of Hers. Sadly, I was mistaken.

If you want a reference book of the things you already know, then this book is the perfect one for you. Most of these mantras can be found on the internet and the author only briefly introduced the goddess stating that we should already know who she is or else, why would we be reading this book? Kadmon missed the opportunity to bring the beauty of Lakshmi to readers who had never heard of her before. Granted if the reader doesn't know who she is, they probably wouldn't be researching her or trying to find a book on her. But what if they were curious and the introduction to the book called to them, the opportunity was lost.

Now when he went in with the mantras, he did state the original language and the english translation of them and then followed brief exercises to use the mantras for, which I found very useful. Kadmon states that the mantras are extremely powerful and will work with the right intent. There is also a lot of white space in the book that I plan on taking notes in with my own findings, therefore creating a little personalized book for Lakshmi.

However one thing that I cannot understand is the spelling errors. There were several spelling errors in the book, simple words too such as 'the' and 'she'. If Kadmon had had an editor to review the book, or if Kadmon had read over the book themselves, the spelling errors could have been avoided. Also the book itself was quite short; most of the information in the book is available online and other then the mantras and exercises, the book was unoriginal. What I am implying is that I wish there was more to it. I wanted it to have more information that was unique and would aid in my spiritual growth. Overall, I would not recommend the book.

Love & Light

Ganshmi

* Yes I know I can just research this information on the internet, but there's something about having a book that it far more personal and intimate then just looking at a web page. I plan on saving the internet for last in my research. [But honestly if I had, I probably would have saved a few dollars]. 

Book Review: Witches In America by Alex Marr

Greetings My Loves!

Today I am going to discuss a review on a book I read a bit ago. If you do not wish to know how this book is writen or what it pertains, feel free to click off of this post but I have a hunch that since it has received numerous reviews and opinions such as those indicated here, here, here and here [along with my personal favorite being this one] then I figured my two cents wouldn't be too much to handle.

Under the Ancient Oaks/Patheos

Upon reading the reviews of this book I decided to form my own opinion on the words within this book. The other reviews I have read about the book are correct when she is describing other people's bodies, which I found to be a little unnecessary, especially when she describes one woman letting go of her problems and Alex describes this woman as obese with her boobs flattening as she twirls around (not quoting Alex's words word by word but am paraphrasing what she states).

“One very obese woman has chosen to go topless: her breasts are so pendulous they hang nearly to her navel, flattened into thick slabs. It is clear she is dancing a word that means something to her. She’s dancing it off, waving her arms , her skin rippling, and her long, frizzed-out hair askew. A large-bodied misfit.” (p. 52)

I do believe Alex was interested in learning about witches however, but she is instantly turned off by anything pagan related except for those of the extreme, such as the two types of groups she tends to study about which is the Feri tradition and the OTO. The vast majority of the pagan community is NOT represented in this book and should not be considered as such. This to me is a tad bit annoying for the soul reason that the 'simple' or 'mundane' way of magickal practice was not worthy enough of her to write about. She constantly states how she wants to be 'wowed' into being a believer in something bigger then herself, which is fine. I get it. You want the proof, in fact we all did at one point or another. But attending regular circles and not finding them 'magickal' enough is a bit absurd. However, she goes into her own experiences, such as her Samhain vision and her breathing techniques, I sense she is trying to understand what she is learning, which I can admire in her writing. And she does try to delve into other styles of paganism, such as the all women's group that I believe to be Dianic but I could be wrong. 

The necromancy chapter was completely unnecessary and unrelated to the whole book in its entirety. I felt it was put in there for a shock value as it was just randomly thrown in there towards the end of the book, being the third to last chapter. Details of that were a bit disturbing and you know, if it had been a common theme in the book, then I probably wouldn't have as much of an issue about the chapter but the randomness of that threw me off. She is constantly switching from stories about her trying to get into the Feri tradition and to understand it and then the next chapter she is experiencing OTO and its initiation/public rituals. The ending as well did upset me too, for I felt there should have been more added into the story. After being initiated into two covens, I am surprised she didn't disclose how she fell out of the traditions. For the Feri one, I do recall her stating she did not feel she belonged there, which is completely fine and she did have a conversation with the woman disclosing her wishes. However with the OTO, she was initiated and then the book ended. You don't get a sense of anything more magickal in her practice after that which makes me wonder if that's also another reason there is so much angst against this novel.

As far as the disclosing of private information, she does list first names or craft names, but discloses on some of them, not all, that she will not share their identities for they did not grant her permission. I do not know anyone involved in this book and had only heard of a few pagan groups mentioned, so I cannot comment whether the information is obscene or not. I could not look up these individuals just by the information in this book alone however. I am not stating that those upset with this book are not unjust in their ratings or opinions, especially since there are so many, and perhaps if I were more involved in this realm I would understand more. I could however, see if you knew these individuals you would be able to pick up who exactly she is talking about without her stating a name and that to me is a bit unsettling. The emails she had shared weren't that extreme to be honest, so I do not understand the whole outrage on that part. One email contained two binding spell techniques, and perhaps that is why people are upset over the emails. The sharing of rituals however, I can understand why they would be upset over her sharing their rituals, initiations, etc. because in a lot of traditions, those things are kept secret for a reason.

So overall I did enjoy her encounter but some things in the book and the way she went about it is a bit disturbing. I do not think she painted paganism, specifically the Feri or OTO traditions in a bad light at all, but she did not conclude if she wished to study paganism more or not towards the end [ I am assuming she didn't based on other reviews and claims ]. This book, according to Alex, was several years of research and experiences in the making, and I felt the ending was really rushed or just came to an abrupt halt. After making pledges to two covens specifically, I can't imagine how they felt about this book.