Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail

Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail[rating:4/5]

Overall, this was a rather interesting book. While I remain concerned that much of it is based upon pure speculation (and therefore did little to persuade me that author was correct in her presumptions), it did raise many interesting questions. As with Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which inspired the writing of this book, the reliance upon the veracity of the Priory of Sion remains a very significant flaw – to date, there is nothing I’ve read that indicates, or at least persuades me to believe, that the Priory of Sion is not a complete hoax that was fabricated by a charlatan during the 1950’s. Furthermore, the second half of the book seems to have fallen into the trap of feminist garbage and, as a result, also distracts from the author’s claims.

Even so, the book does raise many interesting issues and causes one to want more information, although with a greater focus upon historical facts and less speculation.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail

Holy Blood, Holy Grail[rating:4/5]

After reading The Da Vinci Code, I thought I’d take a look at some of the other books available on the topic. As a rule, I disdain spin-offs and other such nonsense. Well, perhaps that’s an understatement – I actually HATE such nonsense – if those who like to ride on the coat tails of others could write, they should create something original and not bother us with their nonsense. Sadly, this seems to be the case with so many books that are now appearing – everyone wants to ride the on the success of Dan Brown. There are already far too many books that are exactly that – spin-offs. One book; however, did stand out and that was Holy Blood, Holy Grail. This book caught my attention for a couple of reasons:

The book was published long before The Da Vinci Code (I frequently look at the copyright page to obtain such information before buying a book), and the book concerned many of the same topics as the Da Vinci code but was listed as non-fiction.

Overall, I found this book to be highly enlightening and well written. Even so, after The Da Vinci Code, it was rather dry reading (although that didn’t bother me) and contained a tremendous amount of information. While the authors were obviously knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their topic, I was disappointed in many of their rather shocking conclusions. Granted, they consistently noted that these conclusions were speculative, at best, I believe that derived at many of their decisions just to continue with their story. In particular, their apparent belief to support the contentions of Plantard, (the Frenchman who appears to have invented the “Priory of Sion” back in the 1950’s) without fully probing into his background in greater detail, casts a pall over the entire book. In fact, I would have to say that their failure to do so now has repercussions on their entire work.

Another problem I have with Holy Blood, Holy Grail is that the authors seemed to extremely well versed in their topic, and numerous references were provided (although I wish these were placed at the bottom of each page as footnotes, rather than stored in the back of the book) but they consistently forged ahead with their story without providing sufficient information for uninformed readers (including myself) to fully grasp the context of their work.

Of greatest interest to me was the second half of the book which dealt with the Bible (especially the New Testament) and the history/role of the Catholic Church. As I am far more familiar with those topics, the information was particularly informative and, of course, shocking, if true. Many of the discussions on the early history of the Bible along with questions regarding the information included in the four Gospels were particularly interesting as they raised many of the same questions I’ve had regarding inconsistencies. This was particularly true regarding Mary Magdalen’s role in the Bible, along with her relationship with Jesus. While many of their hypothesis regarding this relationship could, conceivably, be true, the author’s failure to really address issues that would demonstrate that the Priory of Sion is really a hoax casts a long shadow over the entire book – after all, if the authors can’t fully explain, or at least investigate an organization that may really have been founded in 1958, why should we accept their conclusions regarding incidents that occurred over two thousand years ago?

Regardless, I would still recommend this book to those that enjoy reading dry, albeit controversial, materials and are interested in this fascinating topic.

Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide

Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide[rating:4/5]

Overall, this book provided a great introduction to Podcasting and provides many helpful suggestions and ideas for newbies. It was the first book on Podcasting that I decided to read (I wasn’t too impressed with any of the others) and the author does a fine job with his explanations. For the most part, the examples that are provided are quite useful, as well as Cochrane’s suggestions for equipment. The only problem is that both hardware and software can be replaced, in the marketplace, so quickly that some of his suggestions were no longer available. Even so, he provides a great foundation upon which to start creating podcasts – and the podcasts that I’ll eventually create on this site will have benefited from this book.

Power of Sound: How to Manage Your Personal Soundscape for a Vital, Productive, and Healthy Life

Power of Sound: How to Manage Your Personal Soundscape for a Vital, Productive, and Healthy Life[rating:4/5]

The Power of Sound was, overall, an interesting book on psychoacoustics. Written by a musician, the author describes many of his personal experiences and with the use of sound for healing and describes many fascinating stories regarding those who advocate for the use of sound and music as therapy. Overall, Joshua Leeds does an excellent job and his book leaves one wanting to learn more. Just the same, my own personal biases prevent me from fully endorsing this book as some of his references are, at best, weak. Most notably are those pertaining to Don Campbell and the “Mozart Effect.” Campbell’s book lacks substance and essentially plagiarizes (and bastardizes) the legitimate work of Gordon Shaw, I cannot fully accept the work of those who endorse Campbell.

I would; however, recommend this book to those who are willing to read it with a critical eye and find that it has a great deal of heuristic value.

Animated Earth: A Story of Peruvian Whistles and Transformation

Animated Earth: A Story of Peruvian Whistles and Transformation[rating:4/5]

I had the pleasure of purchasing this fascinating book directly from the author at a special presentation he gave at a week-long class on sacred sound healing (yes, it was a WONDERFUL experience). Animated Earth focuses entirely upon Daniel Statenkov’s fascinating discovery and subsequent life-long obsession with Peruvian Whistling Vessels. Yes, that sounds bizarre – although it’s certainly something that fascinates me.

Prior to meeting Mr. Statnekov, I was really excited about getting the opportunity to play them myself – upon hearing him speak, I was even more eager to try them. Oddly enough, my first experience was a letdown – in fact, they left an obnoxious ringing in my ears and I wondered what, exactly, Statnekov to become so obsessed with them. While he is a very gentle man, he is certainly the world’s leading authority on these whistles and I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would be attracted to them.

Like his presentation to us, his book is quite fascinating but it leads to many strange “new agey” places. Furthermore, some of his “science” is clearly tempered by his own personal quixotic obsession with these whistles. Again, this book was written with by an left-brain challenged (or perhaps right-brained genius) man who stumbled upon fascinating artifacts from pre-Columbian South America.

After my first experience with the whistles, I was disappointed but still wanted to learn a bit more before I gave up on them. As a result, I read the book (remembering to let my left-brain sleep as I did) and found Statnekov’s story to be both exciting, odd, at times upsetting, and just plain weird! With that experience behind me, I had a second opportunity to try the whistles, again a year later with the same teachers (Statnekov was not present this time), even the same whistles, but in an entirely different location. What a difference! This time, I was completely enthralled with them and they took me on a strange “journey” that simply can’t be described. In fact, I had the opportunity to watch another group play the whistles, after I was done, and I ended up wanting my own set (can’t afford one now).

Due to that second experience, I now want to learn more about the mechanism by which they work on the brain (actually, I’m convinced it has to do with the concepts of binaural beats and entrainment of brain-wave patterns). I’m looking forward to trying them again, in yet another location (again, same teachers and instruments but in yet another [third] location) – I suspect that the acoustics of the room in which they are played contribute (or detract) greatly from the experience.