Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/356111
art & soul BOOKS The Book of Forgiving The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World Deborah King I n Entangled in Darkness, Deborah King shows us that the path to enlightenment consists of doing one's inner work and helping others. In doing so, she cautions, we must make a conscious and continuing effort to stay in the light and protect ourselves from darkness. Sharing stories from her own life and experiences as a healer, she demonstrates personal courage in exploring the struggle between what she perceives to be very real forces of good and evil. Rather than dwell on the shadow, she focuses on increasing the light to expel darkness. King's engaging storytelling is an ideal read for the spiritu- al novice, and more advanced readers may also benefi t. Her list of best practices for living in the light offers traditional self-help advice: journal, spend time in nature, meditate and eat well. What may be of greater value to the metaphysical communi- ty are the author's thoughts on using discernment in choosing which spiritual teachers to follow. She also gets kudos for ex- ploring why spiritual leaders fall from grace, touching on ego, addiction to adulation, and burnout. Some may disagree with King's critique of Reiki as a dark energy, and her discussion of psychic vampires is more orthodox and prescriptive than illu- minating. Happily she is more expansive on the subject of pos- session, a topic with which she seems well acquainted, perhaps informed by her Chris- tian background. Given the author's vast storehouse of experience and in- formation as a master healer and teacher, more instruction for healing techniques would have been welcome. Still, her book is entirely relevant to the times, offering insight into why addic- tion, mental illness and depression are on the rise. (Hay House) —Erica Lynn Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu I n The Book of Forgiving, Archbishop Desmond Tutu offers a technique on how to successfully forgive, which he calls the Fourfold Path. As archbishop of Capetown, South Africa, and later, head of the reconciliation commission during the end of apartheid, Tutu lived these techniques and has remarkably placed every principle in this book into practice. The Fourfold Path to Forgiveness declares that we must tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness and choose to either renew or release the relationship that caused the wound. Interwoven with the tools of this path are personal stories from his own experience under apartheid, as well as stories from his daughter, Mpho, and their friends. As the archbishop demonstrates, even under critical and violent circumstances, humans still have the ability to forgive, heal and move on. Most importantly, he conveys the message that the option to choose love is always available to us. While Tutu's stories are potent and indicate that extreme circumstances are possible to forgive, they do distract us from the outline of the steps. Ideally the structure would have been easier to follow. It would have been helpful to explain each agreement fully before moving to the next. In addition to story- telling and explaining the steps, the archbishop includes exercises at the end of each chapter that further display the principles of the Fourfold Path. Each exercise invites the reader to take immediate action toward forgiveness. It helps us to move from spectator to participant, from understanding the concept to putting the practice in action. The Book of Forgiving is an important read for anyone who has ever experienced trauma and is willing to do the work to heal. Forgiveness is one of the main solutions of our time; its practice helps us to heal ourselves, and when we are at peace with ourselves, we can bring peace to the world. (Harper One) —Star Stone Entangled in Darkness Seeking the Light 30 wholelifetimesmagazine.com