Life-cycle

Robert Cole's "The Book of Houses" provides a unique and personalized system to really understand your natal chart. Out of print until recently, I have used Cole's book for years to help focus and manifest my personal goals, by utilizing the natural solar progression through my natal houses over the course of a year.

Cole provides an easy-to-use chart to calculate the dates of your natal houses. For instance, my "rising sign": occurs at 25 degrees Libra. According to Cole, this is equated with the day which occurs 25 degrees (or days) into the sign of Libra - or October 18th. Every year, this is the day when the Sun crosses into my 1st house & spends approximately 30 days there. Working with the solar progression as a process of "bringing to light", I would spend this time focused on "1st house issues".

Assigning 365 days on the 360-degree circle of a natal chart is easy, when Cole provides you with the key. His system allows you to spend approximately one month per year in each of the 12 houses, working to bring to fruition a set of goals you chose on the appropriate day.

Actually, I have blended Cole's system with the annual choosing of a tarot card to create an integrated and personalized magickal pattern of self-actualization, which I have taught to others.

Cole's book is fun to work with and each individual's house-seed system is unique unto themselves. You do, however, need to have an accurate natal chart to use the book since it does not provide you with one.

If I were stranded on a desert island and could only have one astrology book - this is it! Have been using this cycle of houses in my life for over 15 years - it's amazing!

This book is beautifully written and provides easy to understand information about the Jewish holidays and life cycle events. The reader learns about the traditional ways holidays are celebrated and is introduced to innovative rituals and observances. The author encourages readers to make notes throughout and also offers the opportunity to record ideas and reactions in the personal weavings section at the end. The Tapestry of Jewish Time is a great resource for individuals and families.

Nina Beth Cardin's Tapestry of Jewish Time is a beautifully written, carefully researched and wonderfully inclusive exploration of the celebrations and commemorations of the Jewish year and the cycles of Jewish life. In a prose style that beckons every reader, regardless of religious background, orientation, or affilitation, Rabbi Cardin explores the richness of Jewish tradition and the introduces a range of innovations that can deepen the joy of living Jewishly. She invites us into a world of practice that becomes a source of delight, illuminating history, explaining symbolism, and opening door after door into the calendar of Jewish living. Cardin writes with sensitivity to and a clear sense of celebration of the diversity of today's Jewish families and Jewish communities. This book belongs in every Jewish home. You will return to it again and again throughout the days of your life for direction, enlightenment and the pleasure of Cardin's beautiful prose.

This book is a bit old by now, and some of the general information about wedding planning is probably best supplemented by more recent books, or wedding planning websites, etc. I would certainly not recommend this as your only resource for overall planning!

However, it's a wonderful sourcebook for ideas for different types of weddings and different wedding traditions. Best of all, it includes a number of full services from various religious traditions, so that those who want to have a traditional wedding but don't want to be bound to a specific service can select their favorite vows, blessings, and prayers from a wide range of services. If what you want is an ultra-contemporary wedding where you write your own vows, this probably won't help very much. If, however, you are firmly rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition and want to see how various parts of that tradition have approached weddings, this is just what you want.

Very useful for people planning a wedding outside the church, but who want to use or incorporate traditional text. It's the only book I've found which provides this range of traditional source material as the basis for a customized ceremony that isn't just new-age blather.

Using two family histories, The Kentucky Cycle charts the tragic sequence of events that show the American heritage of greed and violence. Good impulses in individuals are overrun by bad ones, until the earth itself is destroyed. Success is always corrupted by selfishness--the craving for power and wealth. Indians, Irish immigrants and black slaves contend with these cravings, and are ultimately overpowered by more powerful earlier settlers of the U.S. It's a heart-breaking and realistic set of plays, reminiscent of How Green Was My Valley, by Richard Llewelwyn, who wrote of Welsh coal miners.

This is an epic story tracing a family over 9 generations. It is AMAZING. I could not put it down. The style of Shenkkan's writing and the ambition of the story reminded me of Gone with the Wind. Anyone involved or interested in the theatre must read this book!

"The Kentucky Cycle" is simply put, a blaze of theatrical energy. Mr. Schenkkan has written a masterful piece of descriptive literature that leads the reader on a journey where each protagonist is forced into devastating behavior and choices, only so they could ultimately survive. And survive they do, and ultimately live lives filled with ambition, loss, love, and ultimately, redemption.

Indeed following the lives of two warring clans, as well as the battle for land taken from its rightful owners, The Kentucky Cycle weaves cross-cultural lore in and out of its words, beautifully and sometimes painfully mingling the beliefs and truths of differing societies. Easily of the most haunting of moments is the segment which introduces to the reader the character of Morning Star, captured early on in this story. She is a free-spirited Native American woman, essentially taken hostage by one of the Rowen men, maybe looking for a wife, or maybe just a conquest. But her ploy and her grace are so beautifully drawn out in her dealings with her new husband and later on with her only surviving child. I say "her only surviving child" due to the fact that her husband only desired male children, and made good on the threat that he would kill any daughters born to him. This girl child does ultimately survive, as the triumphant ending of this masterpiece attests to, but the crushing blow to Star's spirit when her daughter is initially taken from her is easily one of the most wrenching portions of the entire work.

As an actress, I would dearly love to be involved in a production of this play. As an audience, I would be equally mesmerized. For the earlier reasons, it has some of the most evocative, stunning audition material I have ever read. As an audience member, the spectacle of The Kentucky Cycle leaves me absolutely speechless.

I highly recommend this piece, both as a stunning read as well as ideas for future productions of same.

As a fiend for books allegedly written by non-corporeal entities, I really loved Steven's latest Alexander book. Of the many "channeled" books I've read, this one is among the most complex yet readable works of its kind I've stumbled across. I especially found it invaluable in understanding the mechanisms of how modern western concepts of reincarnation work-particularly the nuts-and-bolts of how karma functions in time and space. Ramon Steven's incorporeal confidant Alexander lays it out in such precise, no nonsense terms that at times it reads like an assembly manual for a home-built ultralight.

Unfortunately, any book supposedly written by a channeled spirit must remain problematic at best, for it is difficult to determine how much of this work is the result of "outside" forces and how much of it originated in the obvious fertile imagination of the author himself. The reason I say this is because while I found much of the book consistent with the bulk of similar literature I've read on the subject-implying a central repository of ultimate truth that a few mediums may be tapping into-I found a great deal of it suspect as well. His explanation of how karma works-especially how karmic "braids" can be formed with others that keep two souls tied together in future incarnations-was especially difficult to swallow. How victimization in one lifetime can be offset by victimizing the current incarnation of one's former tormentor explains nothing and seems to me to only accentuate the problem. If the purpose of each incarnation is to grow spiritually by overcoming various obstacles one places in their path, karmic braids can only complicate matters and impede growth. It makes more sense that just as previous life memories are erased from the newborn's consciousness at birth, so too should past transgressions be forgotten, especially as those transgressions may prove to be major impediments to spiritual growth. I also found "Alexander" to be inconsistent in other ways as well. For example, he roundly condemns murder in every circumstance (even in self-defense and in the protection of the innocent) while correctly noting how it may be used as a tool for spiritual growth for its victims and their families. Apparently the spirit world doesn't understand that one can't have their cake and eat it too.

Alexander's dismissal of abortion as a potential act of murder is even more disturbing; he carefully sidesteps the issue by declaring that spirits planning their next incarnation simply avoid mothers who intend to abort (as though woman are incapable of changing their minds in later stages of pregnancy.) While Alexander talks a great deal about both "intent" and "action" being required to create "bad" karma, he conveniently ignores the fact that abortion is both an intent to destroy potential life and an action to do so. As such, if killing Nazis is a karmic crime, for the sake of consistency it seems only proper that killing the unborn constitute a karmic crime as well.

Overall, however, I found much in this book to admire. Stevens is an obviously gifted writer who can find his voice only through an imaginary teacher, but the imagination can be a useful vehicle for uncovering ancient truth if one can divorce their own predispositions and biases from the process.

This book takes one to a different plane on thinking and analyzing ones present life. There is a very thorough and interesting review of the authors view on Karma and how it works. An outstanding book that one should read bit by bit to absorb the complete understanding. The grammatical flow of the book is a bit difficult to read at times, but worth working around.

I love this book. In my opinion there is more concentrated truth in this book than any other I have ever read. The writing is lucid, intelligent, compelling, even beautiful. If you have the slightest resonance with the truths of the New Age, this book should speak to you. Many Seth readers (of whom I am one) have found Alexander's works to be congenial, and this, in my view, is the best of Alexander's books.

There is one chapter I could do without, entitled "The Preacher and the Widow: A Case Study." But I freely admit that this could be because of my human limitations -- the chapter has to do with the rules of karma (which sometimes seem unfair to me).

In general, however, there is a trove of deep truth on practically every page. In the wake of the New York bombings, and the upheavals to follow, we need these higher truths and guidance now more than ever.

In writing this book, I believe Sayers intended to make the Gospel stories of Jesus more accessible. She says she wanted to "tell that story to the best of my ability, within the medium at my disposal - in short to make as good of work of art as I could. "Although she sought to maintain a "determined historical realism", I was disappointed with the historical inaccuracies.

She sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of art and the ease of story telling. For example, at one point her character says - "he was allowed to cry, 'My stirrup, Elazar" regardless of the much later date which stirrups were introduced into Palestine(p.19). Another example is found on page 90, where there is a conversation among supposedly Jewish people at the Wedding at Cana. One member says "But my mule cast a shoe, so I had to get a lift from Ezras". Only a very wealthy Jews could afford a mule, and they probably wouldn't own one because where not allowed to breed them, due to the mule's mixed parentage (Lev. 19:19). The first century Roman army was only just beginning to experiment with shoes their horses, and a mule would not have had shoes. It is a small point, but what artistic significance was contributed by this historical inaccuracy?

I was also bothered by her Anglo-centric idioms and assignment of various English accents to certain characters. I find her description of the Jewish Matthew, with stereotyping, offensive; "He is a vulgar little commercial ... as ever walked Whitechapel, and I should play him with a frank Cockney accent." She goes on to describe his "oily black hair and rapacious little hands . . . " What is the artistic contribution here?

Reality is better than artistic fluff, and much more inspiring, I find little in this book to interest me.

I came to this play-cycle not knowing what to expect, as did almost all of Sayers' contemporaries. There was a political firestorm when the project was proposed. Clergymen of every stripe rose up to denounce it as un-Christian, distorted, dishonorable. Needless to say, they had not read the script or heard the audio plays, which aired on the BBC during World War Two.

These plays inspired ordinary dock-workers and High Church bishops alike to examine the Christian faith. People who never gave a second thought to some guy named Jesus were confronted with a living, throbbing reality in these plays.

Sayers did her work conscientiously, as in her translation of Dante, by not making any use of any terms which were theologically inaccurate but dramatically potent. That is, she was faithful to the letter and spirit of her original- the Gospel story of Jesus. These plays contained, at times, shocking insight- and at times, human warmth.

Just as Jesus is supposed to be the meeting of Godhood and manhood, these plays are where entertainment and theology, the natural and the supernatural meet. Miss that, and you'll miss the same thing which soon caused thousands of English to arrive late for church service because they were waiting to catch the last moments of these plays on the wireless.

I found that the dramas forced me to imagine the movements of characters and plot as on a stage, something more difficult to do with the Biblical text itself. That made these stories come alive for me, and refreshed and enriched my grasp of these stories, "old bones in new flesh".

After reading this play cycle, you'll never look at the Gospels in the same way again. Sayers writes in her introduction that she believed the story "should be handled, not liturgically or symbolically, but realistically and historically: 'this is a thing that actually happened.'" It is this matter-of-fact treatment of the story that makes her plays different from almost all the "Jesus movies" that we know today. We're confronted with the shattering truth that God actually came to earth, in a time very much like ours in many ways, and lived among us. We also have to face the fact that humanity -- for reasons of politics and personal pride -- rejected and killed God. So much for the theory that man is basically good! Yet as Sayers writes, "Short of damnation ... there can be no Christian tragedy," and she clearly shows how the love and hope offered by the risen Christ can save us from ourselves. I've been a Christian for many years, and I can still say that this book changed my life. If you have questions or doubts about Jesus of Nazareth, please give it a try.

"The Multicultural Cookbook of Life-Cycle Celebrations" presents more than 500 recipes (from about 140 countries) for foods eaten at important "life-cycle celebrations", e.g., birth, coming of age, marriage, housewarming, etc. The recipes are accompanied by introductory texts containing cultural and geographic information. The recipes are modernized and streamlined for cooks in the developed world (e.g., canned and frozen foods are used in place of less processed counterparts, more common ingredients are often substituted for rarer ones); this may be a good thing or not depending on what you're looking for. The book is aimed at students and has a class-project feel to it. While there is much to admire here, I found several things that concern me. Consider the following from the "Africa" section of the book:

1) A recipe from Tanzania with the Swahili title "Ndizi na Nyama" is called "Stewed Tomatoes with Bananas". "Ndizi" means "Banana" (or "Plantain"), "na" means "and", and "Nyama" means "Meat", but there is no meat in the recipe. Maybe the recipe is "Ndizi na Nyanya" (i.e., "Bananas and Tomatoes").

2) A recipe from Gabon for "Gâteau" is a recipe for French bread. "Gâteau" is the French word for "cake", and "pain" is the French word for "bread". The text explains that people in Cameroon and Gabon use the word "gâteau" (instead of "pain") to refer to bread. I lived in Gabon for two years and will be the first to admit that the French language as spoken in Africa often differs from that in France, but I never met anyone who called bread anything other than "pain". Perhaps things are different in Cameroon. (Interestingly, the Gabonese almost always did use the word "gâteau" to refer what the rest of the French-speaking world call "beignets", that is, "doughnuts".)

3) Why does a recipe in the "Egypt" section for "Egyptian-Style Eggplant Salad" have the title "Auberginen auf Ägyptische Art" (which is German for "Eggplant in the Egyptian Style")? I don't get it.

4) Why call the "stiff cornmeal porridge", which is eaten all over Sub-Saharan Africa, by its Lesotho name "Putu" even when it appears in dishes from other countries where it is called by other names? The more common Eastern African name, "Ugali", is never mentioned.

These may seem very small matters, and they don't affect the quality of the recipes, but they make this reviewer begin to wonder about the rest of the book, especially unfamiliar recipes. Despite the fact that most of the recipes and related texts seem correct (as far as I can tell), until this book gets a complete going-over by a team of fact checkers, I cannot recommend it.

Drawn for all corners of the world, the recipes found in Multicultural Cookbook Of Life-Cycle Celebrations are organized by nations of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North and South America, and the islands of the sea. From Yegomen Kitfo (Collards with Spiced Cottage Cheese), Talamee (Syrian Loaf Bread), and Kielbasa z Kapustoy (Sausage with Cabbage), to Vadas (Fried Lentil Puffs), Bacalaitos (Fried Cod Fritters), and Los Camotes (Candied Sweet Potatoes), these dishes represent the complete spectrum of cultures, countries, and culinary customs. Multicultural Cookbook Of Life-Cycle Celebrations is a highly recommended addition to the adventurous kitchen cook and a super reference for ethnic "theme" dinners and dining clubs.

This is a reference book packed with information on the history, population, celebrations, customs, rituals and feasts of many countries and cultures of the world. It has proven valuable for students writing papers on "A Typical Day In The Life Of A Syrian Teenager", as well as brides planning an authentic French wedding complete with Croquembouche and Beignets Souffles. Extensive explanations are given, at the beginning of the book, for necessary ingredients and common techniques in the recipes listed. This is wonderful for young adults, and the definitions are thorough every step of the way. An excellent book to have in your own cookbook collection.

The book focuses on the efficient market theory. Whether or not you agree with the theory, this book provides a great deal of background on overall investing. Particularly interesting were the sections on investing fads and follies and how the perils of certain types of analysis. I wouldn't recommend working with an investement professional before you have read and digested this book.

As a financial consultant in a global financial services firm, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone in the markets. Burton Malkiel's central concepts still hold up in this seventh edition. He updates with stories of the latest investment follies, and uses them to back up his central assertion: investing in the capital markets requires a long-term time horizon, an understanding of the risks involved, a resistance to rushing into the latest hot trend without researching it, and some kind of investment strategy. (Those investors who trade, trade, trade on broker advice should always remember: Brokers make money on every trade in commissions-- they don't care if *you* lose all of your money.) Burton's continued support of index funds as an important part of any diversified asset strategy is backed up by good, rigorous research. Even the best active managers get burned-- Warren Buffett's hot streak finally ran out in the first half of this year, didn't it? Mean reversion does finally win out in the long run. Investors who play the stock market like the Lotto always lose out to the long-term strategists. "A Random Walk down Wall Street" is, and will always be, an immensely valuable work.

Burton Malkiel's "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is, has been, and will remain a classic for the simple reason that the advice this book contains makes sense. He shows why and how investors should hold a broadly diversified portfolio. He promises no gimmicks but merely some wise advice on what to do with your money. His writing style is clear, and he peppers his advice with a touch of humor that--at the very minimum--makes this book an interesting read.

Most controversial has been Malkiel's support of the efficient market theory, which leads him to believe that "Investors would be far better off buying and holding an index fund than attempting to buy and sell individual securities or actively managed mutual funds." In the thirty years since its first edition, Malkiel's assertion has been supported by an ever-growing mountain of evidence that shows how, over the long run, an index fund outperforms the average actively managed fund. Few believe this advice, and prefer to show how smart they are through active trading, seeing their gains eaten away by brokrage commissions, management fees, short-term capital gains taxes, etc. Even Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch--the most successful traders in history--have admitted that most investors would be better off holding an index fund. Malkiel DOES NOT argue that you should not trade individual stocks or not buy options. He just explains why holding stocks instead of engaging in rapid fire trading will yield hefty returns over the long run. He also shows how options could be a great hedge against uncertainty--if you know what you are doing.

This is a great book that every investor should read.

Reading through these reviews has left me with one question: "Who is Nancy Lloyd and what is her connection to this author?" Does it strike anyone else as just a tad bit too much of a coincidence that every fifth reviewer just happen to have her life changed by reading these two books?
Use these "reviews" with caution folks. Often they are just paid sells pitches and Amazon plays along because...hey, it moves books right?

My husband and I have had an inordinate amount of stress in our lives over the last several years. Dr Peeke says we've been living in Imelda Marco's closet as "the other shoe" keeps dropping on our heads. We have been most fortunate to have Dr Peeke's care and expertise to help us maintain our weight during those times of high stress and have learned what to do to counteract our "stress overeater" habits. Her book is a clearly written explanation of what happens to our bodies, particularly to women's, as we reach our 40's and beyond. Dr Peeke's realistic and practical advice gives us hope that we can finally be in control and become more fit. While the emphasis is on women, Dr Peeke's research has made a great difference in both our lives. There is no magic pill which will take the weight off your body; but reading this book will give you the roadmap to better health. Get in the driver's seat with her excellent book.

I've been a patient of Dr. Peeke for over four years and one of the people urging her to write a book to share her program with others. The book is true to the pricipals she practices. And she's made a believer out of me. The ideas in the book have helped me handle stress better, stay with exercise (when I never could before), and learn to do a better job with my eating. Fight Fat after Forty is really about getting your life together and finding a strategy you can live with to be healthier and fit. I highly recommend it to all women forty and over--in fact I've given copies to several friends as gifts.

This book was very helpful. It's an easy read, and helpful to both the abused and abuser without being preachy to either side. I believe it's a must-read for both the abuser and their victim...

Implement! Do it! Half of my counseling career dealt with violent, angry men, incarcerated for life because they totally lost it... and now regret it. "If only someone had stopped me before I did her in." This statement said over and over even when some went in for counseling sessions yet departed because they did not want the "counsel." That meant dramatic change and they loved their power position so much their "security blanket" was not about to be given up.
Hegstrom's book skillfully presents these insights with all the "on the scene" drama [routinely seen by deputies] as you cannot help but empathize along with all the hurt, pain, and grief experienced by the two parties tied together in these agonizing episodes. Nonetheless, if the solution is only pondered and never applied, they spin their wheels agonizing forever. Read and heed his counsel!
For those couples who will read, I can give them a copy of this book. It is that helpful.

This book doesn't do the "submissive" drivel - it empowers women and holds men accountable. I do believe that wives should listen to their husbands - and vice versa. I believe we have a responsibility to trust our husbands WHEN THEY EARN IT. But too many abusive men use religion as a club to verbally beat up their wives.

This book addresses that facet very VERY well.

It also lays the cold, hard facts on the table, exposes the secret wickedness and pain of verbal and emotional abuse and deals with it.

The author is a former wife beater who turned his life around. He was a PASTOR - and a wife beater. This book is powerful - because it is so honest and presents his wife's side, as well.

If you're looking for a scholarly tome, this is not the book. But if you want a book that is interesting, readable, understandable and practical - AND - conveys its message with an undercurrent of Christian love, this is the book for you.

I'm sorry to see the negative reviews here. I found this book compelling. While reading it, I ignored the phone, the door bell and the barking dog. I've been in a verbally abusive relationship for years and our home life is now changing, thanks to "The Verbally Abusive Relationship" by Evans and "Angry Men and the Women Who Love Them."

This is a powerful pair of books and I highly recommend both of them.