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Review by Lisa Clark on Thu, 02 Sep 2010
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It’s truly one of the most insightful books I’ve ever read… |
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Review by Nikki Zalewski on Wed, 01 Sep 2010
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This book was a pleasure to read – fun and very thought-provoking. Written from the heart, it is the perfect tool for students and clients starting on their healing journey: a compendium of 365 daily tasks - thoughts and deeds - that provide sound advice on how to make achievable incremental changes, without pain and without strain. I wouldn’t recommend trying to read the book in one hit as there are too many gems of wisdom, which need to be absorbed and utilised at a gentle rate to have best effect. Keep a few copies in your healing room - they won’t be there for long! |
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Review by Ronni Lundy on Tue, 31 Aug 2010
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In 1971 a unique book began to make the rounds among a new generation of spiritual seekers. Actually three books in one, Remember Be Here Now began with the lively, almost cheeky, true story of Harvard professor Richard Alpert's unlikely spiritual quest. Countless hits of acid and a couple of trips to India later, Alpert, now Ram Dass, had distilled the essence of several esoteric philosophies into a cohesive teaching, and this became part two of the book. Part three was a "cookbook" explicating techniques for accessing these truths in the midst of "real" life.
Unlike the classic spiritual guides that then filled the shelves of Aquarian Age bookstores, Be Here Now, spoke to contemporary young soul searchers in their own vernacular, providing a template that made sense in their actual lives. This ability to relay ancient truths in modern terms made Be Here Now an instant classic. Called "the counter-culture's Bible," it has sold over a million copies and is still in print.
Now another utterly singular book, Gini Gentry's Dreaming Down Heaven, is poised to become a much different, but equally seminal guidebook for a new audience of seekers. Two books in one, Gentry's volume begins with the fictional story of Gigi Lenox, a totally together young New York woman whose world has just come spectacularly undone. Gigi finds herself on a magical journey that, like Alpert's, is firmly rooted in contemporary life but dramatically shaken by a series of encounters, tests and miracles that lead her to a deeper understanding of her true divine nature. Gigi’s story reads like rambunctious chick-lit with a dose of magical realism. Romance (both sweet and sour), retail therapy and the ups and downs of women’s friendships are all part of the saga. But while Gigi’s story romps across the pages of the first book in the volume, at its heart it is stone cold serious about the search for awakening.
The Twelve Keystones, based on Gentry's own awakening, are delivered to Gigi by the magnificent spirit guide, Maya. Goddess of Illusion, Maya is also stage manager of The Magic Theater where Gigi, like Alice down the rabbit hole, finds herself. Maya leads Gigi through her journey to self-mastery with love leavened by wit. When Gigi returns to her “ordinary” life, she is armed not just with her memory of her quest with Maya, but with the keystones themselves in a book.
That book is the second in this volume, and can similarly lead and counsel the reader on her personal journey of self discovery. The profound yet accessible teachings of the keystones are laid out clearly and beautifully in this second book. Their clean elegance, like the perfect little black dress, allows them to fit into any aspect of a modern woman’s life.
Gentry's work speaks directly to the vast audience of women and men who are searching for authenticity and meaning amid the illusions and demands of contemporary life. Using the conventions of chick-lit, and the voice of a very real, very funny, often bewildered but always determined protagonist, Gentry makes the esoteric utterly accessible. Speaking from the combined wisdom of the ages, Gentry’s teachings are not only profound, but utterly doable.
Ronni Lundy is the author of Crafts for the Spirit and editor-in-chief of thezenchilada.com, an online food magazine for people who chew with their minds open. |
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Review by Andrew Wright on Mon, 30 Aug 2010
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In a Faraway Land
M. Berman
Orca Books 250pp £14.99
ISBN 978 1 84694 302 7
Michael Berman
Review by Andrew Wright August 2010
‘CNN tells the stories which shape the world in which you live.’
Noone can doubt that storymaking and telling are the main way in which we try to make a sense out of the infinite onslaught of information assailing our poor senses every moment. And this applies to adults just as much as to children. CNN and BBC refer to ‘stories’ just as much as they refer to ‘news’. CNN even go further in telling the truth about their role when they say that the stories they tell shape the world in which we live.
We all need stories, stories can be made of pictures only but normally stories are told through words: motivating texts! What more does a language teacher want?
Stories have been used in language teaching from the year dot and are still used in many texts books. So that is not new. On the other hand, the teacher who recognises the power of stories to engage the interest of his or her students and to give them an experience of language in context is always on the look out for new stories either to provide the main road of the language class or rich supplementary diversions.
As Michael Berman says in his introduction to, ‘In a Faraway Land’, ‘When someone asks you how your day went, that is an invitation for a story.’ (page 2) Stories include, daily anecdotes, international news, fiction and, of course, traditional stories.
Anybody can spend time collecting stories and these days it is easy to collect them from the internet. But it takes time, time to find them, time to select ‘good’ ones and time to work out how to fit them into your lesson.
If one hour of your time as a freelance teacher is about £14.99 then for one hour of your time you can have ‘a collection of 60 traditional and contemporary tales graded Pre-intermediate, Intermediate, Upper intermediate or Advanced, with accompanying worksheets. The notes for teachers that go with each tale include pre-listening, while listening and post-listening tasks.’ (page 4) put together by Michael Berman, under the title, ‘In a Faraway Land’ and published by O books.
Most of the stories have a moral which invites discussion. This is excellent for language teaching purposes because the moral might not be perceived as desirable by some members of the class and immediately there is an, ‘opinion gap’ and a very good reason for using language! On the other hand, the moral carried in the example of the story might stimulate the students to share examples of their own experiences in life which contain a similar concept.
The pre, while and post-listening tasks contain many different suggestions for activities which range from discussion to role-play. I like the openness to the students as individuals. For the story, ‘I know but...’ seven possible morals are given for the students to choose from but the teacher is urged to ask the students to find a moral of their own if the seven listed don’t seem right to them (page 23).
The tasks also include traditional language teaching devices like, ‘Place the nine parts of the story in the correct order.’ (page 11) Such tasks are practical in making the students think about the gist of meaning in each part and in providing the teacher with a very easy ten minutes. On the other hand, such tasks, unlike discussions, are only for the students as language students rather than giving them an opportunity to use the language in order to express their feelings as ‘whole’ people. Too many such language teaching devices can drag down the participation of the students to the level of mere language practice rather than genuine involvement which in turn drives a need to use the language. Michael, in his introduction, shows how aware he is of the importance of the story for ‘whole’ people and I am sure he achieves the necessary balance in his own teaching. In my own work with teachers on the use of stories I often refer to the story of the goose laying the golden eggs. The owner of the goose decided to kill it to find out its secret but finished up with a dead goose. Too many activities which do not involve the student in caring about the content of the story will kill off his or her involvement and the potential magic of using stories in language teaching will be lost.
I would not expect to feel that all the stories are ‘my kind of stories’. But if we have a class of students then we cannot be sure who will like what. I think our bottom line has to be whether we have a respect for the story even if it is not our favourite. If we feel respect we can read it or tell it well: if we don’t, we can’t. For the purposes of this review I have not been able to read and reflect on all of the sixty stories. However, I do feel there is great richness in the variety of stories offered here and I am sure there will be stories for everyone amongst them.
The language of the stories. One of the great advantages of working with students in the higher proficiency levels is that we do not need to be so concerned about ‘unusual’ language. Most of the traditional stories contain those turns of phrase which one associates with traditional stories, for example, the use of the word ‘for’ instead of ‘because’. ‘She asked her family to gather around her for she wished to see them one last time.’ (page 36) Some of the stories include a rather individual use of language, ‘...the young girl...hungered with them and, like them, ate, whatever the sea might yield.’ And here is another example, ‘The mother tried to cheer them up all the way, but there was a muddle and hunger and loss every minute by land and sea.’ (page 78)
Such phrases offer a glimpse of the potential richness of English beyond the world of ‘examination’ English. On balance, I feel it is a positive feature of these stories that the language has not been ‘cleaned up’ but has been left in its original form. In any case, the great majority of the texts are within the more expected language range.
To summarise:
In a Faraway Land is a rich and helpful book with a great variety of stories and many related and practical activities. It is particularly welcome because all the stories are suitable for pre-intermediate level students and above.
Suggestions for modification in the next edition?
The introduction
I think it is probably true to say that teachers rarely read introductions. Given this one is rather long, I would suggest including subheadings which express the point of view of the questioning teacher. For example, Why are stories important? How can I use stories in the classroom? Are stories useful to advanced students? Etc.
I think it would also be helpful to have a summary of the role of activities at the three stages pre, while and post, in the Introduction, which can then act as a guide to the teacher who finds her or his own story and wants to know how to use it.
Perhaps the most serious omission is that no suggestions are given to the teacher for how to tell the story. The success of a storytelling or reading depends so much on how to create ‘story readiness’ before telling the story. Suggestions are given in the individual pre-listening tasks but I think this key point should have been dealt with in the introduction, as well. Also there is no mention, unless I have missed it, on the pros and cons of the different ways of delivering the story: teacher reading the story; teacher telling the story; students reading the story. Simple tips can make all the difference to the quality of reading a story aloud to a class...the craft of reading or telling. A CD would have been a huge advantage, particularly for the non native speaker teacher concerned about his or her ability to offer a good model of English.
The section in the introduction on how to help the students to create stories is useful in itself but is presented with no rationale for how it might relate to the body of the book. For example, trying to make stories helps us to be more aware of how other stories are made and in this way can be a good preparation for reading and responding to stories.
The body of the book
The book designer should perhaps have made the stories more clearly separated from the lesson notes. Sometimes, I had to look twice to find the story...perhaps it would have been clearer if the text of the story had been placed first, before the lesson notes and worksheets?
I think there was a design error with the first two stories. Unlike all the other stories that are presented with their full title the first one is just referred to by the words, ‘The Story’, instead of, ‘Carrying and Leaving’, which is its true title. (page 10) Furthermore, I looked around for the story, ‘The Tail of the Dog’, and then realised that it has mistakenly been called a worksheet which was why I didn’t find it immediately. (page 48)
My mother once said, ‘Only people who wash up can break plates.’ What are a few blemishes against sixty stories and many good ideas for activities?
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright is an author, teacher trainer and storyteller. He has published three books on the subject of stories in language teaching:
Wright, A. 2008 Second Edition. ‘Storytelling with Children’. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wright, A. 1997. ‘Creating Stories with Children’. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wright, A. and Hill, D.A. 2008. ‘Writing Stories’.
He has worked as a storyteller in over twenty countries but he is based in Hungary where he uses stories in his teaching of adults. |
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Review by Georgia Feiste, http://rainbowbridgecoach.com/?p=734 on Mon, 30 Aug 2010
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Walking Through Illusion, by Betsy Otter Thompson, is a thought provoking book based on the energy of love, and the freedom each of us has to express it. Much of the book is devoted to thoughts around the physics of action/reaction… The question asked within the book is profound: “If love is in the moment, and you’re happy now, why does it matter what the future brings?” The chapter on handicaps caught my attention specifically because my son is blind, and while both of us spent a great deal of time looking at this as a handicap, it has opened up a multitude of possibilities for his life, and is now viewed as a gift. In this chapter, we are taught that there is a truth that is right for everyone: that everyone is looking for the ultimate within themselves. This is a book you want to keep close to where you meditate and ask for guidance each day. |
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Review by Cyndy Cessnun, http://triplecreekhealth.blogspot.com on Mon, 30 Aug 2010
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As I opened Walking Through Illusion by Betsy Otter Thomson, and began to read, I became fascinated with the way the author portrays thoughts and beliefs. This book is for anyone searching for insight into their heart and soul. .. Old truths are revealed through a different angle. Truths such as: “inner, not outer transformation is the way to create change” and, “in all the little things you relish are all the big things that matter.” This book teaches in a unique way that life is a mirror; the universal law of Cause and Effect, or, Reaping and Sowing. The book is filled with insight and allows you to see the truth through different eyes. A must read. |
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User review by Denver, Draco on Sun, 29 Aug 2010
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A book that has been needed. We have needed a book out there for young men starting on the path.
If you are a teenager and just starting in Paganism this is a must have. |
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Endorsement by John D. Caputo on Thu, 26 Aug 2010
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Tony Bartlett makes a stunning presentation of Christianity as the transformation of desire from violence to non violence from retribution to forgiveness from competition to compassion from acquisitiveness to giving. |
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Endorsement by Brian McLaren on Thu, 26 Aug 2010
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Tony Bartlett brings a needed voice to an important conversation emerging across denominations and around the world. |
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Review by LeRoy Kattein, http://www.aleroy.com/blog/ on Thu, 26 Aug 2010
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Walking Through Illusion, by Betsy Otter Thompson, is an excellent way to learn spiritual principles. It brings out in easy to understand language the main points on the path of spiritual growth. I highly recommend reading and rereading this book, completing the work sheets, and walking through the illusion into enlightenment. |
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