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Reviews

Books and Music

Reviews by Carl McColman

Many people use different names to describe Spirit: God, Goddess, Mother/ Father-God, “the Sacred” or “the Source.” All these different labels for that-which-is-beyond-names, however, share one essential characteristic: they all regard Spirit as essentially One. American spirituality may have many faces, but for most people, its unifying element is monotheism. But it's important to remember that not everyone experiences Spirit in a unified manner. Polytheism is a minority position today, but it does exist; and once upon a time, it was actually more common to believe in many Gods and Goddesses rather than just one God. But there came a crucial point in history when that changed, and monotheism triumphed over the belief in many deities. This is the subject of Jonathan Kirsch's God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism (Viking Compass). This book traces the rise of monotheism from its earliest appearances in Egypt and Israel, to the decisive fourth century of our era when the Roman emperors Constantine and Julian brought the two ways of belief to their climactic final confrontation. It's an interesting book, and considers an important and often neglected chapter of history; however, Kirsch comes across as biased against monotheism (which he sees as linked to intolerance), which somewhat undermines his authorial credibility. Even so, for the nonspecialist reader, this is a serviceable introduction to a fascinating chapter of our shared spiritual history.

Frank MacEowen's first book, The Mist-Filled Path (New World Library, 2002) is a beautiful and poetic statement of the spiritual journey of a modern Celtic healer. His new book, The Spiral of Memory and Belonging (also from New World Library) offers more of his elegant and thoughtful insights on the shamanistic dimension to the Celtic path, particularly in terms of its consideration of the dynamics of the soul's journey into the “downward spiral” of depression and the crisis of meaning. So many Celtic books get lost in magical nonsense or the minutiae of ancient folklore, that it is truly wonderful to have Frank share his grounded healing application of the Celtic path with his readers. Having said that, I am troubled by some of the dramatic claims he makes concerning the ancestors of Ireland. He dogmatically asserts that it is a mistake to regard the leaders of the mythic tribes of the goddess Dana (the central figures of Irish mythology) as Celtic deities, using largely monotheistic assumptions about the nature of divinity to refute the indigenous polytheism of the Celtic people. Furthermore, through his psychic work with inner guides, MacEowen received visions which he presents as evidence that the Celts were violent oppressors of the peaceful goddess tribes. This becomes a recurring theme of the book-even though the best Irish archaeology reveals no evidence that such a warlike invasion ever took place. MacEowen insists that the mythic tribes of Dana were human-and therefore, presumably, historical figures. But by allowing his depiction of ancient Irish history to be inspired by subjective vision rather than archaeological evidence, he weakens what could otherwise be a beautiful and poetic statement of Celtic wisdom.

There's plenty of exciting new music available for crossover fans-that is to say, fans of classically-trained musicians who blend pop and classical stylings in their recordings. Crossover as a genre has long been dominated by one musician – Sarah Brightman – but she may have to start sharing her spotlight with deserving musicians such as Summer, Amici Forever, and Izzy. Summer has been billed as a new Norah Jones, but her self-titled debut CD (Sony Odyssey) will appeal most naturally to Brightman fans. A beautiful woman with a rich and lovely voice, Summer offers arias and songs by Strauss, Wagner, Beethoven and Dvorak interspersed with more contemporary compositions by Morricone and Sting. A similar collection comes from Izzy (so what's with the single names?), whose self-titled disc on Manhattan Records features pretty much the same formula: romantic pictures that show how cute the singer is, and a disc featuring a big voice showcased in music by Handel, Donizetti, Mozart and Puccini. Her song list is a bit more accessible than Summer's with two traditional tunes (including “Greensleeves”) and a duet with Daneil Rodriquez called “the Prayer.”

Both Summer's and Izzy's discs are enjoyable, but I want to highlight Amici Forever's The Opera Band (Victor) as perhaps the most exciting of the newer crossover recordings. Amici Forever includes five vocalists-two women and three men-who are eye candy (of course) but also bring plenty of vocal chops that add color and depth to the Crossover formula. The standard arias-with-a-disco-beat arrangement of the music is found here, of course: Fauré, Handel and Elgar are among the composers featured on this disc. The women are lovely singers, but it's the men who make this CD fun to listen to repeatedly: their rendition of Puccini's “Nessun Dorma” leaves the Sarah Brightman version in the dust. Of course, at the end of the day, Crossover music is really pop music with a dash of classical conceit-but as pop music goes, each of these discs is worth more than a few listens.

Carl McColman, a former columnist with New Age Voice magazine, now regularly contributes book and music reviews to Aquarius. Carl's most recent book is Before You Cast a Spell: Understanding the Power of Magic

P.J. Ray, Rev., Certified Reiki Master