Archives: Book Reviews

From Ashes to Healing: Mystical Encounters with the Holocaust, by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom

Reviewed by Amy Shapiro, M.Ed.
In JRT Issue 14, 1996

From Ashes to Healing, Rabbi Gershom’s sequel to Beyond the Ashes, follows fifteen individuals whose past-life memories of Holocaust experiences led to inner peace, strength and healing through their spiritual journeys. The remarkable and multi-dimensional stories in From Ashes to Healing exude a most satisfying sense of spiritual intimacy, as if touching the very threads out of which the cloth of soul is woven.

Recounted, among other fascinating cases, are the experiences of a Canadian goat farmer who located a clock from past-life flashbacks and a Swedish woman whose memories were confirmed when she visited the site of Buchenwald. Also discussed is the concept of the “ethnic soul,” … Read the rest

8 January 1996

True Hauntings: Spirits with a Purpose, by Hazel M. Denning, Ph.D.

Reviewed by Thelma B. Freedman, M.A.
In JRT Issue 14, 1996

Hazel Denning, for decades a well-known parapsychologist and the true Founding Mother of APRT, has done something truly original: She has organized haunting entities into surprisingly common-sense categories. In doing so, she shows us the many different meanings of the word “haunting” and makes it clear that these are situations that can be dealt with humanely. The sub-title indicates her basic finding: These haunting entities have some purpose, something they hope to accomplish. Denning devotes separate chapters to entities who are guilt-ridden, malevolent, benevolent, bound by love, or restless; some entities seem to be here to help, but others need help themselves from the living; still others are here … Read the rest

8 January 1996

The Boy Who Saw True, Anonymous

Reviewed by Rabia L. Clark, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 14, 1996

What a treat it is to find a book that is so fascinating, enlightening, and educational that it can’t be put down until it is all read! The Boy Who Saw True is such a book. It was first printed in 1953, and is now in its 11th printing. The author preferred to remain anonymous.

It is the story of a boy who started his diary of psychic experiences as soon as he could write. He lived in the Victorian era in England, when psychic phenomena were discounted. His parents thought him odd, and never encouraged him, but he had a tutor who was open-minded. The boy was … Read the rest

8 January 1996

Loving Mozart by Mary Montano

Reviewed by Chrisanthe E. Nicholaou, M.B.A., C.M.T., C.C.Ht., Reiki Master
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

Loving Mozart is not just another biography of the musical genius, composer of over 600 of the world’s greatest works. It is the author’s very personal past-life experience as Austrian composer Franz Xavier Sussmayr, the friend of Mozart. Much of what we think we know as history is challenged by Montano’s sensitive narrative of her past-life memories.

The story spans four centuries and four lives. There is an intricate interweaving of the 18th century relationship of Mozart and Sussmayr with the 20th century relationship of American pianist William Kappel and the author. Montano tells the story well, in narrative sequences that move us deftly from … Read the rest

8 January 1995

Life Patterns, Soul Lessons, and Forgiveness by Henry Leo Bolduc

Reviewed by Rabia L. Clark, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

Henry Leo Bolduc has been researching hypnosis and regression therapy for over thirty years. He has been a frequent speaker at APRT conferences, and travels extensively as a motivational speaker. His earlier books are Self-Hypnosis: Creating Your Own Destiny and The Journey Within. His new book covers an area which is not covered as thoroughly in any other book as far as I know. It deals with life patterns, learning their lessons, and through this insight and forgiveness, going on to a happier future.

There is an interesting chapter on how to make self-hypnosis tapes to help focus on ideals, objectives, the inner child, and remembering past … Read the rest

8 January 1995

The Spiritual Dance of Life: Where Two Worlds Meet by Teri Daunter

Reviewed by Hazel M. Denning, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

Dr. Daunter’s sub-title, “Where Two World Meet,” says it all in one succinct phrase. This book is an exploration, done with unusual clarity, of the spiritual nature of human beings and how this spirituality manifests in a physical world.

The central statement of the book is well expressed in the Foreword: “…The cause of any mental and physical malfunction is derived from previous lives lived by the individual,” and “…all disease is a reflection of one’s mental attitude, which, as a result, creates the distress that is experienced in one’s present life.”

With a major emphasis on love as the greatest power available to us as … Read the rest

8 January 1995

Remote Depossession by Irene Hickman, D.O.

Reviewed by Russell Davis, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

Although the concept of entity attachment/releasement per se is by no means universally accepted by all past-life therapists, it is becoming a topic of growing interest. Increasingly, when working with clients, past-life therapists are exploring the possibility that a person may be a host to one or more entities that have taken up residence in his or her body. As this concept gathers credibility among therapists, there is a growing desire on the part of therapists to be trained in the techniques appropriate to discovering the existence of entity attachments and releasing them.

This book is Dr. Hickman’s latest publication, and it is sure to stir up controversy, even … Read the rest

8 January 1995

Past-Life Therapy: The State of the Art by Rabia Lynn Clark, Ph.D.

Reviewed by Chet B. Snow, Ph.D
In JRT Issue 13, 1995

Dr. Rabia Lynn Clark, a counselor in Texas and a former Board member and Secretary of APRT, has filled a much-needed gap in the growing body of literature on reincarnation and regression therapies. And she has done so with an easy-to-read style and a painstaking attention to detail that should prove highly valuable to researchers and therapists alike. Past-Life Therapy: The State of the Art belongs in the library of anyone concerned with the ongoing evolution of the therapeutic arts and sciences as we end this second Western Millennium.

Originally published as her Ph.D. Dissertation at the Fielding Institute, the book is divided into three parts. The first … Read the rest

8 January 1995

The Search for Grace: A Documented Case of Murder and Reincarnation by Bruce Goldberg

Reviewed by Russell C. Davis, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 12, Fall 1994

It may be reasonably assumed that Dr. Goldberg, through his writings, TV appearances, and conference presentations, is no stranger to our readers. In The Search for Grace, he presents a fascinating case study involving a patient whom Goldberg eventually regressed to a total of 46 past lifetimes. In an amazing example of karmic reoccurring connections, it was discovered that she (a female in her present life) had been murdered in 20 of these past lives by the same man with whom she presently found herself involved in yet another abusive relationship.

While cases involving the “connectedness” of two individuals in multiple lifetimes are a phenomenon well-known to … Read the rest

6 January 1994

Death & Personal Survival: The Evidence for Life After Death by Robert Almeder

Reviewed by Daniel Kealey, Ph.D.
In JRT Issue 12, Fall 1994

Dr. Robert Almeder, a specialist in the philosophy of science and a professor at Georgia State University, has written a sustained and rigorous defense of the belief in the soul’s survival of bodily death based on the empirical evidence. A chapter each is devoted to five kinds of empirical sources: reincarnation, apparitions of the dead, possession, out-of-body experiences, and communication from the dead. His careful analysis of the facts and thorough critiques of skeptical objections bring him to the conclusion that, while an analysis of a few particular cases or even of the whole field of only one of the empirical kinds of evidence mentioned above do leave … Read the rest

6 January 1994