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The Archer – Book review

“Each arrow flies differently. You can shoot a thousand arrows and each one will follow a different trajectory: that is the way of the bow. […] Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Way Of The Bow, The Archer

Published in the autumn of 2020, this book is a short (about 160 pages), allegorical and philosophical story. Full-page illustrations by Christoph Niemann cut the number of actual text pages, making the reading even more quick and simple. Coelho’s writing style is easy, not elaborate, but yet warm and cosy, as usual.

In The Archer‘s prologue we meet Tetsuya, a man once famous for his prodigious gift with a bow and arrow but who has since retired from public life, and the boy who comes searching for him. The boy has many questions, and in answering them Tetsuya’s teachings are divided in different parts: allies, the bow, the arrow, how to hold the bow, how to draw the bowstring, the moment of release, and repetition.

In the epilogue, Tetsuya finally shares how he learned to master the art of archery and he relays why he has kept his skill a secret, before blessing the boy and sending him off with a new found wisdom.

Although sometimes these lessons remind of step-by-step instructions, Coelho uses metaphors and similies for giving the reader life lessons and long-lasting advice. Such simplicity in storytelling disguises a more complex message. This is a clear example of provoking a deep, strong reflection long after you have closed the book: “Just as the arrow seeks the target, so the target also seeks the arrow, because it is the arrow that gives meaning to its existence.”

In this book Coelho also provides the framework for a rewarding life: hard work, passion, purpose, thoughtfulness, the willingness to fail, and the urge to make a difference. The story suggests that living without a connection between action and soul cannot fulfill, that a life constricted by fear of rejection or failure is not a life worth living. Instead one must take risks, build courage, and embrace the unexpected journey fate has to offer.

With that said, I enjoyed reading The Archer. I think that Coelho’s fans will enjoy the story as with previous works. Afterall, The Alchemist followed a similar style of providing life advice through a fictional story, but you may also need to be in the right mood for The Archer. You need to be ready to embrace life lessons and willing of improvement and moving on.

One lesson in the allies section reads: “Join with those who do their work with enthusiasm, and because you could be useful to them as they are to you, try to understand their tools too and how their skills could be improved. The time has come, therefore, to meet your bow, your arrow, your target, and your way.”

The Great Dictionary of Metamedicine – Book review

Claudia Rainville, author of the international best seller “Le Grand Dictionnaire of Métamédicine, chaque symptome est un message” (aka “The Great Dictionary of Metamedicine, every symptom is a message“) started her career as a psychotherapist, born and raised in the typical Western medicine environment. After few challenges she had to face during the years in her personal and family life, and after noticing few similar patterns in her patients, she founded the Metamedicine approach.

Ancient Romans used to say “Mens sana in corpore sano“, so “Healthy mind, healthy body” and that’s what pretty much Metamedicine is based on.

After realising that patients had significant emotional events or traumas before the onset of new health issues or symptoms, the correlation of these events became a vast inventory of case studies and successful diagnostics. So, according to Metamedicine (aka META-Health), there is not only a mind-body connection but actually a very precise organ-mind-emotion network. Which means that each area of our brain, with its chemical and emotional responds, is linked to a specific organ and a specific conflict or trauma or environmental social experience.

As examples of what I have mentioned already, we could say that the skin (organ of touch) might be affected by a loss-of-contact-conflict, the breast (organ that nourishes the baby) by a separation-conflict, the lungs (breath is the sign of life) by a fear-of-death conflict, and so on.

I know this is a lot to take in and maybe difficult to understand, so let me give you a couple more of examples that Claudia Reinville herself mentions in the book.

Let’s start from something very common like allergies. They are a very common problem, which usually onsets due to situations (or allergens) that are not accepted or that wake up forgotten emotions and traumas. One can be allergic to pet hair, pollen some foods: let’s focus on this one. Food allergies are the ones linked with a memory, for example: have you been told that one of your relatives died while you were eating broccoli? Don’t be surprised if you can’t stand them or if you are allergic to them. Were your parents divorcing while you were starting to eat fruits as a toddler? Be careful ’cause you can become strawberry-intolerant. If you are unable to address the episode or the period of time where your allergy started, it could be related to a previous life experience. Gluten and dairy products allergies are instead a separate matter.

Let’s give you another example, a quite common problem that many people are afraid to share: anal itching. The anus is the terminal part of the intestines, and so it represents the end of a process and letting go “something” (yeah, you know what I am talking about!). That’s why anal itching can be getting started when there are difficulties in letting go and move on from a situation. It could be a person, a house, a job, etc. Ask youself: what is that bothers me about letting go this thing/person? Why is it so hard to move on?

In “The Great Dictionary of Metamedicine, every symptom is a message” the author writes in alphabetical order mentioning step by step every single disease, how it is related with a trauma or a issues/ conflict we should face and solve, giving examples thanks to her experience with thousands of patients.

I found this book really illuminating, as being a ThetaHealer Pratictioner I already knew this type of correlation in our beings, but being able to address all of them and put them down on paper is remarkable and it comes very handy. Especially if you work with holistic healing like I do, it makes you save a lot of time and helps you understand better your clients, not to mention all the positive improvements you can gain for youself. So take your new Dictionary and start digging, I hope you will find all the answers you are looking for!

Same Soul Many Bodies – Book Review

The number of days and years one lives on Earth is insignificant. It’s the quality of those days and years that’s important, quality measured in loving acts and achieved wisdom. Some people do more good in one day than others do in a hundred years. This is their message. Every soul, every person is precious. Every person helped, every life aided or saved, is immeasurably valuable.

For those wondering who is the author of this (and many others) book, you must know that Brian Weiss is an American psychiatrist, hypnotherapist, and writer who specializes in past life regression. His research includes reincarnation, past life regression, future life progression, and survival of the human soul after death.

Same Soul, Many Bodies – Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives Through Progression Therapy especially focuses on the idea and belief that looking at past lives through regression therapy (or the future of our present life through progression therapy) can heal illnesses, emotional and physical pain and relationship issues in your life today. The book’s subtitle suggests mainly ‘future lives’, but as I have already mentioned it also covers past life case studies, so well written, intense and based on people common problems that the reader can actually learn much about themselves from reading the book without actually having the therapy itself.

I read this book few years ago when I just started to do past life regression on myself (and then to other people), so I was already experiencing the awe and amazing emotion of discovering something new that opens up your mind, heart and soul. Something that connects these three layers all togheter and with everything around you and answers to the questions you have asked yourself and the universe many times. At least some of the questions I had.

This is the beauty of this book, not only that it opens up the readers a new way to see the world and themselves, but also to begin considering new potentials to have a happy life. A reminder that you create your life. Obviously the book won’t directly solve issues in your life immediately, but you can relate to the stories told and it builds the reader’s acceptance that their life can be happy and magnificent. That is why you need to be openminded and ready for acceptance in order to read and appreciating this book properly. For instance, if you do not believe at all in reincarnation, spirituality and therapeutic healing, then you will question and contest this book too much without taking the benefits it can offer.

Concluding, overall it is an inspirational, easy to read book, that brings in people the positiveness, spirituality and believes we should all start to have for a better future.

The important question regarding spirituality is not which God you follow but are you true to your soul? Are you living a spiritual life? Are you a kind person here on earth, getting joy from your existence, causing no harm, and doing good to others? Don’t push the river. It will travel at its own speed anyway. 

Fear: Understanding and Accepting the Insecurities of Life – Book Review

People have been trying to destroy fear, trying to destroy anger, trying to destroy sexuality, trying to destroy greed, this and that. The whole world has been working to destroy your energies, and what is the result? Man has become a mess. Nothing is destroyed, all is still there; only things have become confused. There is no need to destroy anything because nothing can be destroyed in the first place.

In Fear: Understanding and Accepting the Insecurities of Life, Osho takes the reader step by step over the range of what makes human beings afraid, from the basic response “fight or flight” to the rational and irrational fears of the mind and its psychology. Only by bringing the light of understanding into fear’s dark corners, he says, airing out closets and opening windows, and looking under the bed to see if a monster is really living there, we can begin to explore outside the boundaries of our comfort zone and learn to live with, and even enjoy, the fundamental insecurity of being alive.

Live more, and live more intensely . Live dangerously. It is your life, don’t sacrifice it for any sort of foolishness that has been taught to you. It is your life, live it. Don’t sacrifice it for words, theories, countries, politics. Don’t sacrifice it for anybody. Rather than putting your energy into being special, put your whole energy into being yourself. Just find yourself, because in trying to be special you are running further and further away from yourself.

Fear ends with a series of meditation experiments designed to help readers experience a new relationship with fear and to begin to see fears not as stumbling blocks, but as stepping stones to greater self-awareness and trust. This book is set to remove fears by removing the very basic fear, the fear of death. I think Osho is probably one of the first person to talk and detail out about topics like sex and death, usually considered a taboo.

I don’t see the point in being afraid of death, because in the first place I don’t know what is going to be. And secondly, there are only two possibilities: Either I will survive, then there is no question of fear. Or I will not survive, then too there is no problem of fear. If I don’t survive there is no problem, when I am not, there cannot be any problem, and if I survive as I am here, if my consciousness survives, there is no problem because I am still there. Problems were there in life also, I solved them, so if I am there and there are problems I will solve them and it is always a joy to solve a problem, it gives a challenge.

I found the content of this book quite interesting and inspiring from certain point of view. I agree with the idea that some fears where injected in our minds by society or religion or education, by people that don’t really no anything about life and how it works. Some other contents are a bit redundant and too philosophical that I am not sure how really they were helpful or reliable in our daily lives. Is it really possible to remove all the fears? Fear sometimes is bad but can also be useful to improve develop…and isn’t it a sign that you care, about something? In the end fear is strictly connected with desire, the will to do anything and become anyone you want. Can it happen that you stop desire if you stop fear?

I leave you with these tricky questions, maybe you will be able to answer…Enjoy reading!

UPDATE

Dear Abundy's supporters and friends, It is with sadness that I have to announce the temporarily closure of Abundy Studio due to unexpected circumstances. During this time you can stay tuned and read the Abundy blog, but all the treatments will be suspended until further notice. Hopefully we won't stay close for long! Thank you for your understanding and support. With Love and Gratitude.