The Book that will Help You Believe in Miracles!
BOOK REVIEW
Many people believe miracles do occur—to other people. Yet, miracles can happen to anyone!
Shaman Stone Soup is filled with a multi-faceted array of true-life stories. You can read about the ghost who overstayed her welcome, the spirits of ancient wise men who offered advice and a miraculous cure from cancer, a conversation with a hurricane and its unintended impact, the man who got out of his wheelchair to go hunting and fishing, healing the karmic ties of a young college boy, a vivid dream of a pastor who needed guidance, the transformation of a schizophrenic, loving contact from her mother who died unexpectedly, and more.
Whether you’re a novice to the world of shamanic healing and miracles, or a seasoned veteran, you will be able to relate to the 20 incredible stories in Shaman Stone Soup that Shaman Elizabeth describes in a down-to-earth manner. Her gift of being a healer allows her to offer an inside view of the healing process from the “other side” by showing how spirit guides, angels, and enlightened teachers answer our calls for help through miracles.
Shaman Stone Soup’s unique true-life stories are insightful and magical to read. The book will inspire you to believe that miracles are possible and that they can happen to you!
To read sample pages and order, visit Amazon.com.
I really enjoyed reading Shaman Stone Soup by Elizabeth Herrera. It was clearly written from the heart, and facilitates understanding about shamanism and alternative spiritual paths, as well as, helps people to believe in miracles. I appreciated how Herrera was able to follow the spiritual guidance she was receiving without fighting or questioning it. Shaman Stone Soup is a real example of what can be accomplished through the power of trust. And it also shows what is possible when we allow the helping spirits to bring through healing.
—Sandra Ingerman, Author of Soul Retrieval and Shamanic Journeying. www.SandraIngerman.com
Shaman Stone Soup offers a clear, down-to-earth perspective on the ancient practice of shamanic journeying, illustrating ways that it can support the innate healing capacities of body, mind and spirit. The author’s beautifully written and heartfelt stories demonstrate the powers of compassion, caring and prayer when they are focused through ritual and journeying. This very personal memoir of Herrera’s healing work makes the techniques of shamanic healing accessible to any interested reader, with valuable glimpses into the deep and universal spiritual roots of all healing processes.
—Hal Z Bennett, Author-Writing Coach and Best-Selling Author: Spirit Animals & The Wheel of Life: Earth-Centered Practices for Daily Living and Spirit Guides: Companions & Mentors for Your Inner Journey. www.HalZinaBennett.Com
Celebrating ACIM’s 35th Anniversary with David Hoffmeister
A Course in Miracles (ACIM) retreat is being held Feb. 18-20, 2011, featuring David Hoffmeister, a highly regarded teacher of ACIM and author of Awakening Through A Course In Miracles and Healing in Mind.
The event is being held in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the first ACIM group that was started in Durham, and is sponsored by the Janis Foundation.
Hoffmeister began studying ACIM in 1986 as a tool to find enlightenment. He attended many Course groups, studied the ACIM book intensely, and meditated until he could clearly hear the voice of Jesus Christ, who began teaching him. Eventually, he experienced Enlightenment. In 1991, he began traveling in the United States and Canada to share his understanding of ACIM. Those who have been in Hoffmeister’s presence speak of the love and peace that emanates from him, and of his wisdom that is offered with authority and gentleness.
To better understand why ACIM students have become so enthusiastic, you must first learn a little about how ACIM came into existence.
The ACIM book was channeled and dictated by Helen Schucman and put into words by William Thetford, both professors at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Schucman and Thetford were engaged in a professional battle that had exasperated their faculty head, who asked them to work on a project together, hoping that they would iron out their differences.
While Schucman and Thetford pondered the collaborative project for several months, Schucman began having vivid and disturbing dreams. Listening to the advice of Thetford, she sat down to write a description of her dreams, and was surprised when she wrote, “This is a course in miracles.” And, thus the ACIM text channeling began and continued over the next seven years, and was finally published in 1975.
Kemp Ward, president of the Janis Foundation, stated that former Durham resident, Joe Janis, became familiar with the ACIM notes before the book was published, during a lecture in New York City. It was there that he met Schucman and Judy Skutch, who gave him photocopies of Schucman’s notes. Janis immediately saw the value in the channeled notes and introduced them to the spiritual study group that he led. The group put aside all other subject matter and began to avidly study the ACIM notes. The group’s questions, which were sent to Schucman for answers, eventually becoming part of the ACIM book named Clarification of Terms. The group was also honored with a visit from Schucman—the only known visit she ever made to an ACIM group.
Janis’s study and teaching of ACIM, which became his life’s passion, was honored after his passing in 1991 with the creation of the Janis Foundation.
The upcoming retreat is being held at The Barn at Valhalla in Chapel Hill. Hoffmeister will offer an open forum where participants can freely ask questions and receive immediate answers. For those interested in an introduction to or advancing their understanding of ACIM, this will be an excellent opportunity to learn from a gifted teacher.
For more information or to register for the event, visit the Janis Foundation’s website at www.miracles-nc.org or email Janis35th@gmail.com.
Overview of Shamanism and Shamanic Journeying
Book Excerpt from Shaman Stone Soup by Shaman Elizabeth
Shamanism is the oldest known spiritual practice in the world and is still practiced by indigenous people on every continent today. While there are many different rituals, one commonality is that the shaman acts as a catalyst between this world and the spirit world.
Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman, in the book, Awakening to the Spirit World, offered this insight: “Shamanism is an ancient and powerful spiritual practice that can help us thrive during challenging and changing times. In our modern-day technological world we have been led to believe that what we see, touch, hear, smell, and taste with our ordinary senses connects us only to the world that is visible around us. Conversely, shamanism teaches that there are doorways into other realms of reality where helping spirits reside who can share guidance, insight, and healing not just for ourselves but also for the world in which we live.”
I personally have found the practice of shamanism to be life changing. The connection to the Divine power has opened my mind to the wonders of the unseen world, which affects every aspect of our lives and even the entire universe. Through shamanism, I have learned that we are all connected—the Earth, sky, nature, animals, winged and sea creatures, and mankind—all singing one song of unending love.
Here is a short overview of shamanic journeying:
~ During a shamanic journey, a shaman will use a visionary process to travel to the spirit realm to request healings, receive divine messages, help guide lost souls home (psychopomp), and commune with nature and the universe.
~ In the spirit realm, a shaman interacts with spirit guides, ancestors, spirits of people from this world, angels, and enlightened beings.
~ Power animals act as protectors and guides for the shaman. They can be a part of a shaman’s journeys for many lifetimes or brief periods during which their archetype power is needed.
~ The spirit realm has three “worlds”: the lower, middle, and upper. None of the realms are better than the others; they simply offer different experiences that are appropriate for different circumstances.
About the Author
Always drawn to the spiritual side of life, Shaman Elizabeth Herrera began her shamanic path in 2002. She continued to advance her studies for shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, and death and dying (psychopomp) through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, but her major source of learning has been from the Spirit, who offers limitless guidance and lessons on living a spiritual life.
She combines her shamanic practice with the teachings of A Course in Miracles.
Elizabeth provides in-person and distant shamanic healing, spiritual counseling, and teaches shamanic journeying.
To learn more, visit her website at ShamanElizabeth.com.
Walking Through Illusion – Book Review
Book Review: “Walking Through Illusion” by Betsy Otter Thompson
The book “Walking Through Illusion” offers a unique perspective to the characters of the bible. Written in a question and answer format, the author asks Jesus of Nazareth questions, such as: “How did Jesus view Judas’ act of suicide?” and “Did Pilate live his karma by returning in another lifetime as an innocent who was murdered?”
While I did not personally agree with all the answers given, I found myself believing that much of this book was inspired by a higher source. The author sent out to enact the emotions that were felt by Jesus, his followers and adversaries during his lifetime. I found many of the answers helped me to look at my life more clearly. In fact, the author has, at the end of each chapter, thought-provoking questions for the reader and offers her personal insights.
If you love to read books on ‘manifesting your destiny’ or “The Course in Miracles,” you will enjoy this book. If you prefer a Christian view, you might be stretched out of your comfort zone – but you would enjoy the journey through time and envisioning the biblical characters as people who dealt with their own difficulties.
Life Balance
By Eileen Wood, Serenity Expressions
By changing the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
The way we look at ourselves and the world helps to determine our life balance. There are eight areas of our lives that have a direct connection to our behaviors, thoughts, perceptions, beliefs and mental health. I call this the Circle of Life. There is a set for adults and a set for children.
Adults: Health, Physical Environment, Money, Fun & Recreation, Significant Other, Friends & Family, Personal Growth, Health and Spirituality.
Children: Home Environment, Health, Family, Puberty, Spirituality, Friends, Fun & Recreation, and School.
In order to have a bodily system that is in balance all of the eight factors need to be working to a person’s satisfaction. If any of these areas are not connected to the whole, then the body becomes out of balance. When this happens, there are many emotional and physical ramifications. Stress, depression, chronic pain, illness, anger, unwanted feelings and many other patterns begin to emerge.
Learning to work from the inside out by looking at who you are and where you are heading will be the starting point to having a healthy life. By embracing change in your everyday life you allow yourself to open up to all that is right in your life. By changing the way you look at things, the things you look at change. We often repeat the same behaviors and patterns hoping for a different result. The fact is the result will not change unless you alter the exact things that are causing the end results you do not want. Because we have the element of fear, change can be a very difficult task. However, once a person recognizes that change is good and they will become a better person; then the journey becomes easy and wonderful.
Mental health is crucial to the survival of the body. If we have a belief system that causes pain, disappointment, negative thinking and fear then that is what we will get in our lives. On the other hand, if our belief system causes joy, happiness, positive thinking and hope then our end result is one we can look forward to. It all relates to the choices we make in life and learning that we are the only ones in charge of our reality based on these choices.
Following your heart and your sense of what is most healthy, and appropriate in the moment is the key. You begin to see the differences between consequences that are created in fear and those that are created in joy. This does not mean that you will not always experience fear when you have the courage to choose that which you feel is appropriate and healthy when others feel otherwise. This is at the core of what is required for authentic power, and that is to become the expert in your own life about what is most healthy, wholesome and appropriate for you. It is your life that you are living and you alone are responsible for what you choose in it.
Your personal balance will be unique, and your challenge will be to stay mentally healthy by keeping that balance.
Tips on specific areas which can help keep your life balance (for adults and children):
- Build a Healthy Self-Esteem
- Receive As Well As Give
- Create Positive Parenting and Family Relationships
- Make Friends Who Count
- Figure Out Your Priorities
- Get Involved In Things That Matter
- Learn to Manage Stress Effectively
- Cope with Changes That Affect You
- Deal with Your Emotions
- Have a Spirituality to Call Your Own
Working with the Circle of Life components and bringing to balance all the areas of our life, we can achieve a life filled with joy, happiness and positive experiences. The goal of any person is to reach optimal existence by looking towards the future and knowing that there is another tomorrow.
Eileen Wood is a healer who offers the opportunity for you to explore, expand and evolve into the person you are meant to be.
Serenity Expressions
www.SerenityExpressions.com
Eileen@SerenityExpressions.com
919-523-7872
