Last year, Dawn Brunke came to our tribal Ya Ne Dah Ah School to talk about animal communication. As part of her talk, she guided the children through a journey to experience what it was like to be the little fish that was swimming around a bowl in the classroom. I followed along, wondering if the exercise would work for me. Closing my eyes and connecting with the fish, I began to feel what it was like to float and swim through the water with little fins attached to my body. For a few minutes, I actually experienced what it was like to ‘be’ a fish – and so did the students.

This amazingly wonderful book by my friend and editor of Alaska Wellness has just been published. It is easy to read and appropriate for young and old alike. Like Dawn’s first book (Animal Voices), Awakening gave me a greater appreciation for animals by reading their voices as they share their observations and wisdom. Dawn also relates how she learned more about animals by connecting with them in different ways – through animal communication, dreams, healing experiences, power and totem animals, and more. For example, she writes about observing an eagle, and suddenly seeing through the eagle’s eyes. Her book explains how anyone can do this.

In addition to a very appealing graphic design with lots of great quotes, animal motifs and photos, and boxes containing animal messages and stories, Awakening to Animal Voices has many other voices too. It includes advice from professional animal communicators as well as animals…from horses, cats and llamas to donkeys, turtles and even some Iditarod sled dogs. More than that, it has exercises, games, meditations and projects aimed at helping readers to connect more deeply with animals (and themselves) by drawing on their own unique strengths and abilities. I only wish there would have been something like this for me when I was a teenager. It will put young readers at a great advantage that many of us older spiritual-seeking bookworms didn’t have.
~Review by Patricia Wade

Tarot For Teens
M. J. Abadie
(Bindu Books, 2002; $14.95)

In this engaging, reader-friendly book, M. J. Abadie, a professional tarot reader, astrologer and psychotherapist, delves into the ancient divination technique of Tarot.

Her approach is fresh and simple – yet not without depth, humor and creativity. She assures her young readers that there is nothing scary about tarot; rather, it is a wonderful tool that we can all use to view the “big picture” of our lives, or answer everyday questions about specific concerns.

In addition to a bit of history and tips on getting to know the tarot cards, Abadie covers a variety of approaches to learning tarot – from recognizing the importance of color and archetypal symbolism to getting comfortable with card spreads and allowing one’s intuition to speak. Each card is reviewed in detail (illustrations and examples feature the famous Rider-Waite-Smith deck). The format of the book also includes “key words” for each card and a lovely assortment of quotes in the margins. The best part, however, is the inclusion of many appealing games, ideas and exercises designed to engage the reader’s intuition and creative abilities, and to recognize the power held in images to open gateways to our unconscious, allowing us to access our own precious wisdom within.

As with the other teen books mentioned here, this is an excellent resource not just for teens, but for adults who are new to the subject matter or simply want a fresh view on working with (in this case) Tarot.

Teen Psychic: Exploring Your Intuitive Spiritual Powers
Julie Tallard Johnson
(Bindu Books, 2003; $14.95)

This is another really wonderful book for teens, especially those who are interested in digging deeper into the nature of self. Johnson, a psychotherapist and mentor of young adults, covers a wide range of topics, from understanding chakras, energy and our own innate psychic abilities to discerning the difference between fantasy and imagination. She investigates the path of the shaman and the wonders of journeying, the power of dream visions, activating psychic vision, meeting one’s power animals and learning how to make decisions with heart.

Johnson includes real-life stories of teens she has counseled as well as ancient stories and myths. Because she draws bits of wisdom (in the form of poems, ideas, quotes) from a diverse group of teachers, authors, philosophers and more, the book is presented as a rich buffet, with plenty to choose from, whatever one’s interests. As with the other teen books mentioned, there is strong emphasis on exercises, games, meditations and projects to provide readers with a fun yet meaningful adventure through topics such as grounding, breathing, centering, letting go, visualizing and uncording. Also highlighted is the unusual and creative – from making a manifestation bowl and creating a spiral walk to meeting your future self. This is a powerful book that offers much to teens – and adults.

The New Children and Near-Death Experiences
P. M. H. Atwater
(Inner Traditions International, 2003; $16.00)

For those unfamiliar with her work, P. M. H. Atwater is a well-respected writer in the Near-Death Experience (NDE) field, and several of her books are considered classics. Why? Perhaps it is because her protocol is that of a police investigator, a skill she learned from her police officer father. Her specialty is interviews and observations (which she herself subjects to cross-checking a minimum of five times) in many different parts of the country to ensure a minimum of bias and that her findings are not wholly anecdote based. In addition, Atwater brings to the table her own experience of several NDEs and the guidance she received on returning to her body to write books about the power of these events.

This particular book (an updated and much larger rewrite of her previous Children of the New Millennium) is based on Atwater’s interviews and observations with over 3,000 adults and 300 children who have had NDEs. Along with presenting her in-depth study of NDEs in children and the aftereffects, the core of this book revolves around Atwood’s findings that these children are not the same as before, but a “remodeled, rewired, reconfigured, refined version of the original.” In addition to the very same structural, chemical and functional changes in the brain, changes of higher intelligence and empathic abilities are also found in children born since 1982 – the so-called “Indigo” or “New Children” whose enhanced abilities cannot be tied to simple genetics.

Is the NDE a second birth, asks Atwater, “an acceleration of intellect that makes the children part of the groundwork evolution lays for the next ‘upgrade’ in our species?” It is a fascinating question, and one that Atwater returns to time and again as she explores a variety of other intriguing areas – from investigating the remembrance of past lives to the phenomenon of missing fetus syndrome, UFO encounters and alien existences. Despite the seeming “far out” nature of some of these issues, Atwater does a solid job of staying grounded, focusing on her research, like the “gumshoe of near-death” she claims to be. This is an excellent book for those interested in NDEs as well as parents of “New Children” or children who have had a near-death encounter.