Category: Spiritual Book Reviews

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Spiritual Children’s Book Review – “Cassandra’s Angel”

Today I have read one of my favorite spiritual children’s books, “Cassandra’s Angel” written by Gina Otto, illustrated by Trudy Joost and published by Illumination Arts Publishing.  Please check out Illumination Arts Publishing for they publish many wonderful spiritual books for children which can be hard to find when you want them.

Book cover

Children’s self-images are strongly influenced by the attitudes and beliefs of their parents, teachers and peers.  Unfortunately, these beliefs often become negative stories that can impact children for life.  This powerful tale helps children to perceive these stories in a different light.

Cassandra’s Angel is about a little girl who is very precocious and creative, so much so that she doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.  People all around her in her life tell her she is not good enough in different ways.  They think they are doing the best for her but truly they are hurting her mentally and emotionally.  Even the best parents do this at times.  Plus, our kids are bombarded by these attitudes at school by other kids, teachers, aids and principals.  We cannot always control the actions of others towards our children but we can help our children to think for themselves and not take in everything that others say as truth.

Cassandra meets her angel

As one reads the book, Cassandra’s Angel, it is an excellent reminder for us parents and caregivers about how we speak to our children and how much our words and attitudes truly do affect them. But, by reading this book with them, allowing a lot of conversation and interaction, it gives us a chance to talk openly about these issues and maybe even apologize for those times when we have done this.  We can talk about what kinds of situations, stressful ones mainly, that would cause someone to say hurtful things to others.  It give us a chance to help them feel good about themselves and talk openly about the “scripts” that others try to put on them.

Cassandra is told by the other kids that she is too different for them to play with her.

The more you read this book with your child, I believe, the more help it will do, them and you.  As I loan this book out to my clients or students with kids I continually hear what a positive influence it has been for them and their children.  The book has a very happy ending with Cassandra’s guardian angel coming to talk to her.  I love the poem the angel has to help Cassandra with her self-confidence.  Also, the illustrations are beautiful, engaging and keep the children’s and adults interest.  The faces were intriguing to me and I found myself looking back at some of them again and again to investigate their expressions.  Very beautiful book in the visuals, the poetry and the moral of the story all put together.

Children's Author, Gina Otto

If you are close by you may want to borrow the book from me to see if your child vibrates well with it.  But, overall, this is one book I recommend having in your library to read continuously.  Our children are around this kind of talk by others so often that the book and the message will need to be repeated often, both for them and for YOU as the parent.

I give this book 5 of 5 STARS!

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Frog Totem

One of the many aspects of living in the Pacific North West that I am so enamored with is hearing the frogs in the spring time.  (I’m sure this happens other places but not where I lived before) We have a creek and a pond in our backyard and every year in the spring we are honored by the pleasing symphony of the frogs song.  I heard them last night for the first time this spring, the night before the new moon, and I remembered once again, how much they help me to connect to the earth and her cycles of seasons, change and growth.

When I was a little girl in Southern California I used to fill up my dad’s wheel barrow with dirt, plants, water and sticks to make a habitat for the frogs and toads I’d find.  I thought I was helping them, of course, by making them this nice safe place to live.  I’d get my Noah’s ark that I’d collected piece by piece from Arco service stations and add that to the scene for fun.  I spent hours, days playing this way.  I’d let them go at the end of the day because as most moms do, mine told me I had to.  In my memories I spent a great deal of time playing with my arc and the frogs.  I’d forgotten until I moved up here how much I was fascinated by frogs when I was a kid.  I guess that’s true for a lot of people, as we get older, go to school, then college or a job, we lose touch with some of the nature we treasured as a child.  Moving to the Olympic Peninsula has helped me to get some of that admiration back.  I don’t have to fly or travel to nature, it’s right here in my yard again, all around me wherever I go here.

Western Green Tree Frog

It always amazes me how the frogs  all start-up their earthly singing at the same time with one little guy or gal leading the way, then end all at the same time.  Robert and I sit up in bed listening, enjoying the natural melodic hum of their reverberations.  In spiritual circles it is said that frogs are the pulse of the earth.  That they feel the energy from the earth and through their night sounds are relaying to us what is going on with the weather, with the earth and even with us.  When doing research on frogs I read stories such as in China, where a huge frog migration was seen as a bad omen by many of the local people.  The government told them it was a normal propagation migration.  Seven days later they had a large earthquake and thousands of people were killed.  When civilians were angered by the scientists not being able to predict the earthquake,as the frogs did, Chinese scientists stated that animals have a much better sense of detecting natural disasters.

Original art by Sue Coccia at Earth Art International in Edmonds, Washington

In Feng Shui it is said that a family of frogs living in your garden will bring good luck to your home and it’s occupants.  In Chinese culture frogs and toads are symbols of immortality, healing, money, the moon and frivolity.  In the North West Coast People’s beliefs frogs are considered good luck as well and it is not considered wise to demean or injure them.  And they have native stories about little children who have done this with negative repercussions.  In the Bible many of the stories of frogs speak of them being unclean, dangerous spirits and not to be trusted.  I liked this Hebrew translation of the stories of frogs from the Bible that I read on this website best.  You can read about that at this website if you like.  She does a much better job and is more an expert than I am.  It is extremely interesting.

“The frog does not drink up the Pond in which he lives.”  Sioux

If you enjoy the sounds of the frogs as much as I do and feel frogs may be one of your totem animals then read on.  I have enclosed a transcript from my favorite animal totem book by Dr. Steven D. Farmer, “Animal Spirit Guides.”  Enjoy.

If Frog shows up, it means:  (choose only those that apply to you)  (shows up means, in life, dreams, meditations, a story you hear, etc.)

  • If you hear a frog during the daytime, it will rain very soon.
  • Do a physical cleanse to detoxify your body.
  • Do an emotional cleanse by letting yourself really feel your emotions, and cry as much as you need to in order to clear and release any emotional toxicity.
  • Singing or chanting out loud will help you feel more balanced, at peace, and connected to the divine.
  • You’re entering into a time of plenty and abundance.
  • This is the start of a slow and steady transformational process for you, a movement from an old life to a new.        
Call on FROG when:
  • It’s time to cleanse your life of people, places, or things that no longer fit in with your present lifestyle and who you are.
  • You’re in the midst of any life change, whether small or large, and you need the emotional sustenance and strength to go through it in a fluid and graceful way.
  • You’re planning to do a clearing and blessing ceremony for your home, office, or a specific space.
  • You feel intimidated or hesitant about honestly stating your thoughts, feelings, or opinions to someone.
  • You simply feel overwhelmed with negativity and want to clear it up.
If FROG is your POWER ANIMAL:  (Most will apply if FROG is your power animal)
  • You’re a very sensitive and compassionate person, and readily express deep feelings in words and actions.
  • Your voice, and especially your singing, can at times arouse deep emotions, yet at the same time soothe anyone within its range.
  • To others you initially seem rather remote and self-absorbed, yet once they get past their first impressions of you, they discover the depth and nobility of your character.
  • In your work, you seem to plod along very slowly and have trouble getting started, but you stay with it and get the job done.  You enjoy the study of ancient mysteries and particularly the art of magic.
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Spiritual Book Reviews – “Memories of God and Creation”

This is the first post of a series I’ll be doing over time of book reviews of the books I’m reading.  If they sound interesting to you and you are local, all books are available in my lending library.  A donation is appreciated.

The book I am reviewing is, “Memories of God and Creation” by Dr. Shakuntala Modi.  This is the second book of Dr. Modi’s that I have read and throughly enjoyed.  In fact, I have not read a book on this particular topic before using hypnotized subjects.  I found it incredibly interesting.  Plus, it made me think a lot about my own beliefs and what makes sense to me.  Loved that!  Any book that opens my belief box to such a large extent receives a great rating just for serving me in that way.

Dr. Modi is a Psychiatrist who found that most of her patients were not actually getting better.  She searched for another way and found great healing through hypnosis.  She now combines the two modalities and has amazing success.  Due to my background in hypnosis, I find myself continually drawn to books by hypnotherapists.  I find it a bit easier to believe the information when it comes from many different hypnotized patients, yet they all get the same message.  At the least, it is very intriguing.

What feels right to you, may not feel right to others

With anything you read, watch on T.V. or hear over the radio, I recommend you read this and all information with your own personal filter on.  Do not take in any information without you reviewing it personally first and seeing how it FEELS to YOU.  Your intuition is what counts for you.  Most of the information in this book felt right to me and so I took it in and have been able to use much of it to enhance the healings that I do.  However, there were a few things that I feel were not of the Light completely and maybe got slipped in when the author was having a difficult day and she choose to put in information that maybe was not from her highest source of guidance.  Because this happens with all written material, be aware, read with your filter on and take in only what FEELS right to YOU!

“Memories of God and Creation” is about hypnotized patients having memories of God, creation and how the universe was created.  They describe in similar details why God created life, humans, planets and even how evil began. Dr. Modi believes we all have these subconscious memories in us and the ability to remember them under hypnosis.  The revelations in the book include real patient descriptions of:

  • What it’s like to be one with God
  • Why there are individual souls
  • Where evil came from
  • How and why angels and ascended masters were created
  • How dying feels
  • How easy it is to return to Heaven after death
  • How to protect yourself with Love and Light
  • Methods to transform ourselves and our planet for the future
"EYE OF GOD" Netlore Archive: NASA photo of the Helix Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope has been labeled the 'Eye of God' by frequent forwards.
Image: NASA, WIYN, NOAO, ESA, Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), T.A. Rector (NRAO)

What I found most interesting is the detailed descriptions from all the patients of How the God energy started, grew and then created life.  I found it very possible due to how much creation of Divine Source mirrors creation on Earth, such as cells dividing.  I won’t give it away but only say that if you are ready, truly ready to expand your “box” on this subject.  This book is very worth reading.  The patients also describe similarly in detail how Lucifer and his followers grew and then left God to be their own rebellion, their own revolution against the Light.  I also enjoyed reading her take on how the creation of individual souls happened and how each soul continues to be connected to God but with all the issues and emotions that came with the “disconnection” from God.

As a healer I read everything with different glasses on than others.  I look for ways and ideas of how to use this information to help in the healings that I do.  I have to say, THIS book gave me more information and more ideas on how to help my clients than any book I’ve read yet.   This book with all this visual information about our Source helped me to create a system of “Source Healing” for healing very deep issues like: abandonment, self-worth, anger, vengeance, disconnection from Divine Source, feelings of isolation, depression, abuse, judgement, not fitting in anywhere, and so much more.  It is my belief that much of the deep emotions that people are feeling coming to the surface at this time are very core issues directly from our separation from God that we have never been able to work on before at this level.  I feel we are at a place in time and energy within our planet that these issues are able to be healed, ready to be healed, at the very core levels.  We only need to listen to our inner voices and not ignore what we are feeling.  This book helped me to see that and helped me to create a healing system to work at these deep levels with the energy therapies that I do.  Wondrous!  If I had stars to give out I’d give this book 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Read, read, read and Enjoy!