The Source

And here’s a brief synopsis…

The Source is a book that comes out of time and is of this time. It is only now, after the world of commerce has been in freefall, that we are ready to listen and respond to Sister Moon and to heal Mother Earth. Each chapter has a ritual, rite or journey, to guide the reader on their path to the source of their own power. Part fable, part spell-book, The Source has true magic woven through it for those who read it well.

Synopsis from Good Reads

My Review: I don’t know what to think of this book. People who know me well and my regular blog readers know that I am not that much into self-help style of books.

But, I have been in the dumps lately, and when an offer came from Random House asking if I am interested in reading and reviewing this book, I jumped at it almost like it was a lifeline.

In the back of the book, the author Ursula James claims that during a low point in her life, she was visited by Mother Shipton – a famous witch of mid-16th century England. In return for helping her get over this bad time, she had to write Mother Shipton’s advice and spread the magic.

This book is the result of that action.

I am reviewing this book in terms of readability of the book, and the value that I got from it after reading the book.

In terms of readability, this book was a pleasant and easy read. However, in terms of usage, it could have done with some improvements. This is a non-fiction book explaining the principles of magic that you can use to improve your life (with some amount of anecdotes on its effectiveness). The anecdotes were nice to read, but when it came to actually tracking the rituals I needed to do, I realized that they were pretty hard to find. What would have been nice was a nice little table at the end of the book summarizing the tasks/rituals to make it easy to use. Even better would have been a pull-out section at the end that I could have put up on my wall to remind me what needs to be done.

In terms of usage also, I am not sure how to word my review. I went into the book expecting some Wiccan style rituals (not that I know really too much about it). But, most of the book was about putting out positivity into the world and thereby receiving it from the world.

This is something I believe in anyway, but it was nice to have this reinforced and listed in a very systematic way. The moon rituals are also very interesting. I never actually tried doing some of the circle rituals that she suggested…it just seemed a bit too spooky. But the bed rituals (basically summoning up positive thoughts and actions before you sleep and get up) were nice to do. That said, I am not sure how new these suggestions are. There are plenty of self-help books out there and I would be surprised if variations on this theme are not covered in other books as well.

In short, this is a pleasant book with a lot of positive things to say. Ursula James claims that following the principles and the rituals changed her life in a fantastic way – she seems to have found true love, booming career, peace of mind, happiness…everything following this book.

I am not so sure about that, but there’s nothing in this book that can cause active harm to yourself, or to someone else. So, it is definitely worth a try. If nothing else, you will feel at peace with the life that you do have.