Synopses & Reviews
Discover your psychic powers and learn to use the wonders of nature and the world around you as magical tools of divination. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;and#8226; Practical and enjoyable exercises help readers reconnect with their innate psychic sensitivity. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;and#8226; Includes 75 methods and practices of divination from around the world. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Since the beginning of time, diviners and seers have been finding signs and omens in the world around them--in pools of water, tea leaves, delicate patterns of cracked animal bones, and the ripples of clouds in the sky. Because these observers have been able to tap into a deeper level of awareness, they have come to sense hidden truths in powerful and mysterious ways. In modern times we call those who possess these abilities andquot;psychic,andquot; but native cultures accepted that each of us has an innate sixth sense and can learn how to read the forces of nature that appear before us. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;In this fascinating and enlightening guide, historian and psychic Sarvananda Bluestone shows us how our innate knowledge can be rediscovered, allowing us to become far more in tune with our surroundings than we ever dreamed possible. He teaches us to use everyday objects and the wonders of nature as magical tools that offer a window into the future--and ourselves. Whether watching birds cross the morning sky or divining the subtle energies of the earth, you will see the world in an entirely new light. Filled with practical exercises, andlt;iandgt;How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Lifeandlt;/iandgt; demonstrates how the discovery of the power within ourselves requires nothing more than a little guidance and a willingness to see.
Review
andquot;Bluestone's exercises are helpful, provoking us to read the world around us.andquot;
Review
"Should be required reading for Divination 101!"
Review
"Sarvananda Bluestone is a rare combination: a gifted psychic who is also a scholar and a scholar whose clear and lively writing style is accessible to all. In andlt;Iandgt;How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Lifeandlt;/Iandgt;, Dr. Bluestone offers a smorgasbord of fun, easy, and magical games with which anyone can tap in to the latent sixth sense that is our birthright as humans."
Review
"Bluestone's exercises are helpful, provoking us to read the world around us." < b=""> Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat <> , < i=""> Spirituality & Health <> , 06/03
Review
"Bluestone has put together an interactive workbook giving us games to play, questions to answer and exercises to do."
Review
"Sarvananda Bluestone in one compelling excursus sweeps out the New Age fundamentalist fallacy that all our oracles need be Chinese or Gypsy. Rather he shows us, with a refreshing wisdom, how to let nature and the raw material of our experience be our projecting screen for the wisdom faculty of the soul. andlt;Iandgt;How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Lifeandlt;/Iandgt; should be required reading for Divination 101!"
Review
"Sarvananda Bluestone is a rare combination: a gifted psychic who is also a scholar and a scholar whose clear and lively writing style is accessible to all. In How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Life, Dr. Bluestone offers a smorgasbord of fun, easy, and magical games with which anyone can tap in to the latent sixth sense that is our birthright as humans."
Review
"[The author] demonstrates that of the power within requires nothing more than a little guidance and a willingness to see."
Review
"Bluestone shows us how our innate knowledge can be rediscovered, allowing us to become more in tune with our surroundings."
Review
"I would recommend this book to people who want to develop their intuition and explore some very interesting, ancient divining tools. The exercises are fun, and will entertain as well as educate."
Review
andquot;In this fascinating paperback he presents 75 exercises for finding signs and omens in the everyday world.and#160; Bluestone's exercises are helpful, provoking us to read the world around us.andquot;
Review
"Sarvananda Bluestone in one compelling excursus sweeps out the New Age fundamentalist fallacy that all our oracles need be Chinese or Gypsy. Rather he shows us, with a refreshing wisdom, how to let nature and the raw material of our experience be our projecting screen for the wisdom faculty of the soul. How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Life should be required reading for Divination 101!" < b=""> Stephen Larsen <> , author of < i=""> A Fire in the Mind: The Life of Joseph Campbell <>
Synopsis
"Should be required reading for Divination 101!"
Stephen Larsen, author of J <>I > oseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind <>/I > Sarvananda Bluestone shows us how our psychic knowledge can be rediscovered, allowing us to become far more in tune with our surroundings than we ever dreamed possible.Sarvananda Bluestone, Ph.D., received his doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin. After years of teaching, he left academia behind for an ashram in India and then a spiritual community in Oregon. He now lives and works in New York.
How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Life
Thank You
Introduction: The First Sense
Chapter 1: Ides and Tides or a Wind That Comes: Non-Ominous Omens
Chapter 2: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (and Plate and Pool and CrystalBall)
Chapter 3: Stars, Stones, and Bones: Skeletons of the Universe
Chapter 4: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water: Everyday Alchemy
Chapter 5: Tuning In to the Qi
Chapter 6: "That Which Hath Wings": Signs in Nature
Chapter 7: Psychic Alphabets: The Numbers and the Letters of Time
Chapter 8: Pendulums, Hickory Sticks, Dowsing, and Daisies: Computersof the Psychic World
Chapter 9: Signs of the Times: A Variety of Vehicles, Old and Unborn
Chapter 10: Mirror to Mirror: Reading Another Person as an Act of Love
Notes
Introduction
Divination is as natural as breath and breathing. The Greek goddessPsyche was, among other things, the goddess of breath and the soul. Themeaning of the Greek word psyche is literally "breath." The soul and breathwere intertwined and are regarded so in many cultures.
andnbsp;andnbsp; We do not struggle to breathe. Similarly, use of the psychicability is something that happens with ease. One does not work to achievea Ph.D. in psychic awareness any more than one studies to breathe. It comesnaturally and with ease. And the younger we are, the more naturally webreathe. All we need to do is to watch an infant sleep, watch the deepand relaxed breaths, to see how natural it is.
From Chapter 1
Omens are rooted very much in the human condition. People have alwayswanted some security in the face of the unknown. We have always wantedcertainty and a measure of control over that which was coming to be. Toa cave dweller ten thousand years ago, the world must have seemed a scaryplace. For one thing, this cave dweller did not know whether he would haveenough food to last the winter. If the right animal did not come his wayhe or if he and his fellow hunters did not locate enough food before thesnows came, he would die, along with his family and community.
andnbsp;andnbsp; Human beings are the only species on this planet witha consciousness of mortality. And there is no doubt that omens are a responseto our ancient fear of death. It is the knowledge of our mortality thatgives us a notion of time passing and time coming to be.
andnbsp;andnbsp; We look for signs to guide us into the unknown. We arethe only species that consciously plans and tries to live beyond the hereand now. We are the only species that wants to know what will happen. Andhow. And when. And where. And we are undoubtedly the only species thatasks "why?"
andnbsp;andnbsp; Originally omens were quite natural. Human beings havealways used omens to figure out the world around them. When would the rainscome? When would winter's ice and snow cover the land? Where were the animalsnecessary for food? It was only through generations of observation andperception that people came to know the world around them and the signsthat helped them to decipher it. . . .
andnbsp;andnbsp; We learn to pick up signs when we are very young. Whenwe are babies, our mothers communicate to us with a host of signs. Thereis the smell of tension or love or fear. There is the quality of touch.There is the taste of mother, of home and the milk of life. The Earth Mothergives us signs all the time. Nowhere was this more evident than among thepeople of the New World. For the Native Americans the Earth Mother andnature have been the guiding forces in all divination. From the dawn ofthe rich oral tradition to the present, Native American people have lookedto nature for signs, omens, and guidance. This has always been a way oflife rather than a philosophy or religion. It has been born out of theexperience of the natural world.
From Chapter 9
What has made kids and diviners so special is that they have been ableto see the world as if they had never seen it before. They can see allkinds of things because they let themselves. All of us can do that.
andnbsp;andnbsp; For kids and diviners there is nothing strange about seeingthe world in a plate of spaghetti or hearing birds talk. Diviners are artiststhat see the world as their palette. Just about everything can be read.And just about everything has been read from elephant dung to white horses;from ripples in the leaves to clouds; from sneezes to blinks. The entireworld is our mirror.
Since the beginning of time, diviners and seers have been finding signs and omens in the world around them. In modern times, we call those who possess these abilities andquot;psychic,andquot; but native cultures accepted that each of us has an innate sixth sense. Sarvananda Bluestone shows us how our innate knowledge can be rediscovered, allowing us to become far more in tune with our surroundings than we ever dreamed possible. Filled with practical exercises.andquot;Sarvananda Bluestone in one compelling excursus sweeps out the New Age fundamentalist fallacy that all our oracles need be Chinese or Gypsy. Rather he shows us, with a refreshing wisdom, how to let nature and the raw material of our experience be our projecting screen for the wisdom faculty of the soul.
How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Lifeshould be required reading for Divination 101!andquot;"
<>strong > Stephen Larsen <>/strong > , author of <>i > A Fire in the Mind: The Life of Joseph Campbell <>/i > andquot;Sarvananda Bluestone is a rare combination: a gifted psychic who is also a scholar and a scholar whose clear and lively writing style is accessible to all. In How to Read Signs and Omens in Everyday Life, Dr. Bluestone offers a smorgasbord of fun, easy, and magical games with which anyone can tap in to the latent sixth sense that is our birthright as humans.andquot;"
<>strong > Helen Weaver <>/strong > , author of <>i > The Daisy Sutra: Conversations with My Dog <>/i > and editor of <>i > The Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology <>/i >
andquot;In this fascinating paperback he presents 75 exercises for finding signs and omens in the everyday world." Bluestone's exercises are helpful, provoking us to read the world around us.andquot;
<>strong > Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat <>/strong > , <>i > Spirituality andamp; Health <>/i > , May 2002
andquot;[The author] demonstrates that of the power within requires nothing more than a little guidance and a"
willingness to see.andquot;"
<>em > Sedona <>/em > , May 2002
andquot;Bluestone shows us how our innate knowledge can be rediscovered, allowing us to become more in tune with our surroundings.andquot;
<>em > Arizona networkingNews <>/em > , June/July 2002 andquot;Bluestone has put together an interactive workbook giving us games to play, questions to answer and exercises to do.andquot;
<>b > Diane Wilde <>/b > , <>i > SHE magazine <>/i > , June 2003 andquot;Bluestone's exercises are helpful, provoking us to read the world around us.andquot;
<>b > Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat <>/b > , <>i > Spirituality andamp; Health <>/i > , 06/03
About the Author
Sarvananda Bluestone, Ph.D., received his doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin. After years of teaching, he left academia behind for an ashram in India and then a spiritual community in Oregon. He now lives and works in New York.
Table of Contents
andlt;Bandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Thank You andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Introduction: The First Sense andlt;/Bandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 1:andlt;/Bandgt; Ides and Tides or a Wind That Comes: Non-Ominous Omens andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Chapter 2:andlt;/Bandgt; Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (and Plate and Pool and Crystal Ball) andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 3:andlt;/Bandgt; Stars, Stones, and Bones: Skeletons of the Universe andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 4:andlt;/Bandgt; Air, Earth, Fire, and Water: Everyday Alchemy andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 5:andlt;/Bandgt; Tuning In to the andlt;Iandgt;Qiandlt;/Iandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 6: andlt;/Bandgt;"That Which Hath Wings": Signs in Nature andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 7: andlt;/Bandgt;Psychic Alphabets: The Numbers and the Letters of Time andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 8:andlt;/Bandgt; Pendulums, Hickory Sticks, Dowsing, and Daisies: Computers of the Psychic World andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 9:andlt;/Bandgt; Signs of the Times: A Variety of Vehicles, Old and Unborn andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Chapter 10:andlt;/Bandgt; Mirror to Mirror: Reading Another Person as an Act of Love andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Notesandlt;/Bandgt;