3 comments about Shamanic Egg Cleansings.

1. I had seen this ancient art during my travels to Central America and Mexico, and was pleasently suprised to find that there was now a book on this healing technique. Kalyn, who is part Mayan, describes the technique clearly, and her book is easy to follow. I am now practicing myself and find myself referring back to this great book. Egg cleansing is easy to do and I am having great results with it. This book helped me get started with this unique healing method.



2. Very informative book. As a child I had this healing method performed on me. I had never encountered anyone that I knew who used it in my adult life, so I was quite excited to see and read the method used. Looking forward to praticing and learning the method.
   Thanks Kalyn!



3. I have read this book and I think it is a good general guideline into doing egg cleansings. I have watched this ritual done many times and I feel that the author does a good job at letting the readers know that there is no right way of doing them, and no matter what level of spiritual understanding or gift that you have you can perform this process for a positive benefit.

1 comments about The Impartial Spectator: Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy.

1. Raphael(R) has done a masterful job in presenting an exposition of Smith's moral philosophy.Smith conceives that all individuals activate their conscience by postulating the existence in each human being of an impartial mental spectator who is able to discern ,independently from the subjective biases of the individual human observor,what is objectively happening in any particular decision context.The emotion of sympathy is triggered.Sympathy is the key emotion that needs to be understood if one truly wishes to understand moral judgement.Sympathy is not a synonym for pity ,compassion,or expressing feelings of sorrow or regret.The proper role for evaluating the role of sympathy occurs in judgement and not motivation.Essentially,we are all able to put ourselves in the shoes of the human decision maker and walk a couple of miles along the particular path of life that he is taking.Our judgement of rightness or wrongness is based on this mental reconstruction of this path and our own assessment about how WE would behave if stuck in his shoes.
   
   R correctly concludes that Smith has integrated many major aspects and concerns of the Stoic philosophers and early Christian fathers concerning the importance of justice as it relates to all aspects of a human beings life.
   
   
   The only criticism I have of R's treatment is ubiquitous to all extant writings on Smith's moral and economic theories for the last 248 years.There really is no mystery as to why Smith was compelled to put out a 6th edition of TMS in 1790,some 15 years after the last revision in 1775.Smith's entirely new part VI on the character of virtue and the essential neccessity of promoting morality as a necessary social good follows directly from his discussions in the Wealth of Nations(1776;Modern Library[Cannan] edition)concerning major undepletable,negative externalities,and spillover effects which impact the moral,social,political,martial,and intellectual well being and development of practically the entire workforce,that are a direct byproduct of the workings of the powerful wealth creating process of individual self interest,comparative advantage, and the division of labor that Smith characterized as an Invisible Hand(of the market mechanism)on p.423.Smith discusses these negative spillover effects in great detail on pp.734-741 of the WN.Smith's solution is that government is the ONLY institution that can deal with this immemse and massive problem.How will this severe externality ,created by the workings of the Invisible Hand, be dealt with ? Smith states that the entire work force MUST be provided with education and religious instruction,which will be provided free of charge ,if necessary ,to all those who can't afford to pay.Smith's entire discussion on pp.716-768 should be carefully read by all modern day economists since there is not a better discussion of market failure,public goods,and externalities-spillover effects in the current literature.Smith is not merely arguing for public schools.
   
   WE can now see more clearly the connections between the new part VI of the 1790 edition of TMS and the WN.This new part of TMS is the new theoretical construct and foundation that provides the theoretical support for the applied policy analysis advocated by Smith in the WN, in Part V,pp.716-768, that is needed to deal with the dark side of the Invisible Hand Process.What happens if it is NOT dealt with by government action ? What will occur is the "...almost entire corruption and degeneracy of the great body of people "(Smith,p.734;Smith repeats this conclusion 5 times over the next 7 pages).It is now obvious that a major tenet of Marxist analysis is that this severe undepletable externality,first identified by Adam Smith in 1776 and regularly deemphasized by the economics profession for nearly 250 years,will NOT BE DEALT WITH BY GOVERNMENT.This is one of Marx's major premises.This,of course,will result in a very depressing future for the entire working class.Marx's prediction was that, eventually,the working class would rise up to deal with this problem themselves in a revolutionary way.On the other hand,Government actions to reduce or eliminate the negative impacts created by the Invisible Hand process ,leads to a very different outcome-an increased economic well being that is combined with a completely educated and intellectually developed working class applying the principles of Smith's final edition of the TMS,which were virtue and morality.This is ,of course,a 180 degree turn from the wide claims made by economists that Smith was an advocate of free market,laissez faire capitalism that concluded that private greed and avarice would lead to a social optimum if only government would get out of the way.This latter characterization of Smith is simply a bad joke .
   
   An interesting topic for development is WHY no economist,philosopher or political theorist had dealt with this issue since 1759.Perhaps Raphael will write a future book correcting this lacuna.

No comments about International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes (Springer Series on Stress and Coping).

1 comments about Raphael's 151-year Ephemeris 1900-2050 (Raphael).

1. Grreat refernce -- contains EVERYTHING included in the individual year booklets. Excellent that all info for each month is on ONE page. Only has two negatives :
   1. Print is very small -- with this large size, the print should have been enlarged -- rather than the huge empty margins on all sides.
   2. Book is HEAVY -- hopefully the paperback version is more manageable.

No comments about Three Masters of the Renaissance: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael (Bravo).

1 comments about The Hirsch Siddur: The Order of Prayers for the Whole Year.

1. Rabbi Hirsch is a sublime and deep commnentator. There is no one quite like him in the great philosophical elegance of his writing and his deep religious knowledge and faith. The Siddur is especially valuable for his commentary though I am not certain that it is the easiest to davvan with.

1 comments about Bullies: From The Playground to the Boardroom.

1. I've been reading books on bullying, relational aggression and "not nice people" for several years now. Most have disappointed...touchy-feely, wishy-washy, not much practical advice that could be put into place NOW! Start a club, learn a complicated, expensive program. Those things may have their place, but for the victims of bullying and relational aggression, months or years until results are seen is too long. Some say that we have to know "why" these people are bullies or engage in relational aggression. I disagree...we wouldn't try to determine what started a fire before we rescued the victims, would we?
   
   I wish I could give this book a 10. I wish that I had read it first as there wouldn't have been much need to read other books, unless one is engaging in scholarly research. I can't recommend this book highly enough and can't believe that it has not been reviewed before now. If you or your child are the victims of bullies, READ THIS BOOK! If your school, Scouts or other group is having a problem with bullying, READ THIS BOOK! It is validating and the mostly useful of all the books I've read to date.

1 comments about Norman Bluhm.

1. It was my priviledge to have known Norman near the end of his life. As I studied his work more I began to understand the heroic tenancity behind it. The critic Harold Rosenberg predicted for the art world that the new tradition would be the tradition of the new. As odd as it sounds, the aimless quest for the "new" and "different" has become the establishment. Artists like Bluhm courageously stayed the course during all this and paid a price for it. Jim Harithas brings this truth to the reader in his essay. He helps us to understand that Norman took the Abstract Expressionist approach to painting to "a new level by expanding its spiritual meaning and cultural potential." "Bluhm established his own aesthetic priorities and intensified the spiritual content of his painting by perfecting his own gesture and living a life as an artist that tolerated no compromise." Harithas also helps us to understand the purpose behind the work - to create paintings that express spiritual vision "truthfully, with style and high drama." This is what art is all about! The summation of the essay strikes right to the core of the matter. An artist must survive the commercialim of the current art world and endure the lonliness of the outsider and there are few that can. Those that succeed, as Norman did, are the art heros. The benefit of that heroism will be reaped by future generations.

No comments about Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World.

No comments about The Starseed Transmissions: An Extraterrestrial Report (Starseed Series, Vol 1).