Watkins' Mind Body Spirit magazine issue 29 features the Spiritual 100

We are delighted to share with you our 2012 list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. This marks the second year that we are publishing our 100 list. Last year’s list was extremely popular and we received a great deal of feedback. We’ve done our best to consider as many people as possible and our spiritual database includes the names of approximately 500 candidates. This list is meant to serve as a positive guide to some of the leading modern teachers that are alive today, and we hope that you are as inspired as we are by their impact. There are a few interesting newcomers to this year’s list. Meanwhile, we are sad to report that three members of last year’s list recently passed away: Kenneth Grant, Sai Baba, and Jerry Hicks.

There are several factors that were taken into account when compiling the list. The main three criteria are:
1) The person has to be alive
2) The person has to have made a unique and spiritual contribution on a global scale
3) The person is frequently googled, appears in Nielsen Data, and is actively talked about throughout the Internet

It’s interesting to think about the amount of times that a person is googled; in a sense, being googled is a form of digital voting, and illustrates just how often someone is being sought out.

Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit magazine (previously Watkins Review) is a quarterly publication by Watkins Books, London’s oldest and largest independent esoteric bookshop, established in 1893. Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit magazine is now available from most WHSmith high street stores in the UK, as well as in Canada, Australia and over 700 Barnes & Noble stores in the USA. You can also get a copy of the current issue (£3.50) or take out a subscription directly from Watkins Books. We appreciate your support!

LIST AT A GLANCE: (scroll down for the top-10 in detail)

Dalai Lama (c)Darko Sikman

1 - Dalai Lama.

Born Lhamo Dondrub, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhists believe him to be a reincarnation of his predecessors and the Buddha of compassion. He is a vocal activist for Tibetan independence and has made an incredible contribution to global spirituality. His visit to Mongolia in November 2011 was criticized by China, but his popularity shows no sign of waning. Time Magazine call him “The most influential person in the world”, while The Times commented “He draws crowds that no other spiritual leader or politician could hope to match…he seems to look at life in a different way to everyone else”. His latest book Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World was published in January.

www.dalailama.com ::  Born in Taktser, Tibet :: 06/07/1935 :: Spiritual Leader

Eckhart Tolle

2 - Eckhart Tolle.

Eckhart’s profound yet simple teachings have helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. His books, The Power of Now and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth are two of the best-selling Mind, Body, Spirit books in the world. Eckhart Tolle TV is a subscription service offering monthly live streamed guided meditations and new teachings with Eckhart, an on-line community, and more.

www.eckharttolle.com :: Born in Lünen, Germany :: 16/02/1948 :: Spiritual Teacher and Writer

Thich Nhat Hanh

3 – Thich Nhat Hanh.

Buddhist monk, teacher, author and peace activist. He founded the Order of Interbeing and the Unified Buddhist Church, along with monasteries and spiritual centres in Vietnam, the USA and France, where he now lives. His latest book The Novice, a retelling of an ancient Vietnamese folk tale, proposes a real way of being in the world relevant to the twenty-first century.

www.plumvillage.org :: Born in Thua Thien, Vietnam :: 11/10/1926 :: Spiritual Leader

Deepak Chopra (c)Helga Esteb

4 – Deepak Chopra.

As a writer on Ayurveda, mind-body medicine and spirituality, Chopra has had huge success with titles such as Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In 2011 he published The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes: Harnessing Our Power to Change the World with his son Gotham and apologised for his “unfair criticism” of Richard Dawkins, after a long-running feud. His latest book, War of the Worldviews: Science vs Spirituality, pits his views against leading physicist Leonard Mlodinow.

www.deepakchopra.com :: Born in New Delhi, India :: 22/10/1946 :: Physician, writer and public speaker

Paulo Coelho (c)cinemafestival

5 - Paulo Coelho.

The Alchemist is one of the top selling books in history, with over 65 million copies sold in 150 countries. Warner Bros bought the film rights in 2003, but the project stalled. In 2008, Harvey Weinstein bought the rights to the film. Laurence Fishburne is set to direct and play the lead role. Coelho has sold more than 100 million books worldwide and his work has been translated into 67 languages. His latest book Aleph was published in September.

paulocoelho.com :: Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil :: 24/08/1947 :: Novelist

Elizabeth Gilbert (c)Deborah Lopez

6 – Elizabeth Gilbert.

Gilbert is best known for her 2006 memoirs, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. Oprah Winfrey so enjoyed the book she devoted two episodes of her show. The film appeared in 2010 starring Julia Roberts. Gilbert followed this up with a sequel, Committed: A Skeptic makes Peace with Marriage, covering her life after Eat, Pray, Love.

elizabethgilbert.com :: Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA :: 18/07/1969 :: Novelist and memoir writer

Iyanla Vanzant (c)J Lyons Photography

7 – Iyanla Vanzant.

An inspirational speaker, spiritual teacher, author, and television personality, Vanzant was named one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine, which said that “Her books, lectures and television appearances have made her a multimedia high priestess of healthy relationships”. Her latest book is Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through.

innervisionsworldwide.com :: Born in Brooklyn, New York, USA :: 13/09/1953 :: Lawyer, minister, talk show host and author

Ken Wilber

8 – Ken Wilber.

Wilber has advocated Integral Thought and influenced figures as varied as Bill Clinton, Deepak Chopra, and Billy Corgan. He founded the Integral Institute and has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith.

www.kenwilber.com :: Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA :: 31/01/1949 :: Author and Integral Theorist

James Redfield

9 – James Redfield.

Best known for The Celestine Prophecy, which he self-published in 1992. Redfield produced and co-wrote the screenplay of the movie, which came out in 2006. Redfield’s latest book, The Twelfth Insight, is now available in paperback.

www.celestinevision.com :: Born in Birmingham, Alabama, USA :: 19/03/1950 :: Writer

Rhonda Byrne

10 - Rhonda Byrne.

Well known for The Secret book and DVD, Byrne advocates the belief that we can all transcend our suffering by not falling prey to negative thoughts. She has been listed among Time Magazine’s list of 100 people who shape the world, and has also produced television shows. Her new book The Magic is published in March.

www.thesecret.tv :: Born in Australia :: 12/03/1951 :: Writer and TV/Film producer

To read the full Spiritual 100 list, please ask for issue 29 of Mind Body Spirit magazine at your local newsagents, WHSmith (UK) or Barnes & Noble (US), or purchase a copy online directly from Watkins Books.

The list that follows only represents a small cross section of what we have on offer, and should make for a good introduction to the section in its various aspects – metaphysical, spiritual, mythological, whimsical…

Basil Bunting – Briggflats
Described as “the finest long poem to have been published in England since T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets.”
Briggflatts is a great poem of love and loss, identity and vocation, restlessness and belonging. It moves with supreme grace over cultures, continents, emotions and varieties of music. The central theme, however cunningly elaborated, shines through clearly today.

Mikahil Bulgakov – The Master and Magarita
The Devil, and his entourage descend upon Moscow, what ensues is a fascinating story, spanning 2,000 years. Disappearances, destruction and death spread through the city like wildfire and Margarita discovers that her lover has vanished in the chaos. Making a bargain with the devil, she decides to try a little black magic of her own to save the man she loves…

George Orwell – Books Vs Cigarettes
Beginning with a dilemma about whether he spends more money on reading or smoking, George Orwell’s entertaining and uncompromising essays go on to explore everything from the perils of second-hand bookshops to the dubious profession of being a critic, from freedom of the press to what patriotism really means.

William Burroughs – Naked lunch
Needs little introduction, as one suspects anyone interested in the less ordinary will have come across this classic, if not the book, the horrifying and by turns brilliant David Cronenberg film, that was inspired by rather than based on this book. It’s easily the best example of Burroughs’s work with the cut up technique – i.e. the book is written as series of routines, then cut up and arranged in a seemingly random order. It holds together despite this, story lines intersect, and die down, inter-sped with poetic passages and darkly humorous routines, moving at the speed of the human stream of consciousness.

Neil Gaiman – Sandman Series 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
I would happily recommend the entire Sandman series, Gaiman’s unique gift for storytelling, and perfect blending of so many genres makes for mesmerizing reading, great novels that just happen to be graphic/comic. Throughout the series Gaiman effortlessly blends mythology, reality, social commentary, and fantasy – this first book in the series draws mainly on the occult, and horror – and features cameos from some familiar faces from the D.C. Universe, and although not generally thought of as a stand-out, Preludes and Nocturnes contains three of the best single chapters of the entire series (24 hours, Passengers, and “The Sound of Her Wings”).

Dan Simmons – Ilium
Dan Simmons expertly weaves three separate story lines, across an epic tale that draws on Science Fiction, the Iliad, Shakespeare and Proust. Brilliantly written and gripping to the last.
Taking the events and characters of the Iliad as his jumping- off point, Dan Simmons has created an epic of time travel and savage warfare. Travellers from 40,000 years in the future return to Homer’s Greece and rewrite history forever, their technology impacting on the population in a godlike fashion. This is broad scope space opera rich in classical and literary allusion.

Jon Ronson – Them
Them: Adventures with Extremists leaps into the heart of darkness, with Jon Ronson, as ever playing the picaresque, neurotic reporter in the middle, trying to make sense of it all. Involving 12-foot lizard-men, PR-conscious Ku Klux Klansmen, Ian Paisley, the legend of Ruby Ridge, Noam Chomsky, a harem of kidnapped sex slaves, David Icke, and Nicolae Ceausescu’s shoes. Jon Ronson is chased by men in dark glasses whilst trying to infiltrate a Bilderberg conference in Greece, unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp, and witnesses CEOs and leading politicians undertake a bizarre pagan owl ritual in the forests of Northern California. He also learns some alarming things about the looking-glass world of them and us. Are the extremists right? Or has he become one of Them? This is a fascinating investigation into extremists of every stripe.

The Lovecraft Anthology. Vol: 1
A graphic rendering of some of H.P Lovecraft’s best short stories. This book is a fun read for anyone already familiar with the world of Lovecraft and his “weird tales” – What is at the foreground here is the vision of the illustrating artist – but even with economical text, the comics are true to Lovecraft’s original tone, and bring the hideous often indescribable horrors of the original tales to life.

Bryan Lee O’malley – Scott Pilgrim series
If you’re hip to the Universe you will enjoy Scott Pilgrim regardless of your age. The six volumes deal with themes of Love, dreams and memory – like Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, for the 21st century…except these books have a lot more Ninjas.

Dylan Horrocks – Hicksville
Yet another comic, this one is more or less about comics, it’s also about finding yourself, or just working out who this “self” that you’re finding actually is. It’s endearing, hilarious, sweet and heroic – it avoids all of the possible pitfalls of the medium, and wonderfully exemplifies everything that is good about comics.

You With the Stars in Your Eyes by Deepak Chopra (more by this author)

Milton’s Secret: An Adventure of Discovery through Then, When, and the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (more by this author)

Magical Adventures Of Tara And The Talking Kitten by Diana Cooper (more by this author)

Angel Colouring Book by Diana Cooper (more by this author)

Little Soul And The Sun: A Childrens Parable by Neale Donald Walsch (more by this author)

Tiger-Tiger, Is It True?: Four Questions to Make You Smile Again by Byron Katie (more by this author)

It’s Not What You’ve Got!: Lessons for Kids on Money and Abundance by Wayne W. Dyer (more by this author)

No Excuses! How what you say can get in your way by Wayne W. Dyer (more by this author)

I Think I Am: Teaching Kids the Power of Affirmations by Louise L. Hay (more by this author)

Santa’s God: A Children’s Fable About the Biggest Question Ever by Neale Donald Walsch (more by this author)

UPDATE: wE RELEASED A nEW lIST IN 2012. Read spiritual 100 list, 2012

We’re delighted to share our début list of the 100 most spiritually influential living people, that was published in the Spring issue #26 of the Watkins Review (now Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit).*  Yes, we’ve taken up the not so simple task of naming the most popular authors and spiritual teachers, whose contribution in spirituality and spreading awareness is affecting us all.

We live in an age of lists – from groceries and obituaries to Facebook friends, resume facts, lists of city capitals and lottery numbers. Of course, lists that classify the past, are easier to compile than lists that attempt to predict the future. With the holy grail of sorting algorithms, the world is sure to be your oyster.

Lists help us organize, explore and perceive our environments. But are so many lists really necessary? It is very much in vogue to publish lists of people: Time Magazine publishes an annual list of the 100 people who most influence the world; Forbes publishes several lists including a Celebrity 100 list, the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and a list of 1000 Billionaires; Art Review’s Power 100 is an annual list of the worlds 100 most powerful collectors, artists, gallerists, etc…

The lists of lists of people, just keep going and going. However, the Watkins Review believes that an important list has been long overdue, and we are delighted to share with you our list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Lists of influential people contribute to the discourse and issues that each person represents, and the Watkins Review hopes that our list will nurture the debates surrounding contemporary spirituality.

There are several factors that were taken into account when compiling the list. Listed below are the main three:
1) The person has to be alive
2) The person has to have made a unique and spiritual contribution on a global scale
3) The person is frequently googled, appears in Nielsen Data, and highlighted in throughout the blogosphere
It’s interesting to think about the amount of times that a person is googled; in a sense, being googled is a form of digital voting, and illustrates just how often someone is being sought out.

*The Watkins Review magazine (published by and available from Watkins Books at £4.99 or as a subscription) not only offers reviews of all the latest releases in the Mind, Body, Spirit field, but also features articles and interviews with leading authors. The Review is published three times a year and has a readership of over 30,000 people worldwide.

Update: Here’s the post about the new 2012 Watkins’ Spiritual 100,

List at a glance:

Interesting statistics:
Male: 76%
Female: 24%
Median age: 67 years
The oldest: 104 years, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki
The youngest: 30 years, Jeff Foster

*88. Kenneth Grant passed away on January 15th, 2011. His extraordinary influence will continue to be felt.

Next: Read about this year’s 2012 Watkins’ Spiritual 100,

~Please note, the comments are now closed. Click here to see Spiritual 100 list, 2012~

Here are the top 10 people from the 100 Spiritual Power List, published in 2011 in issue #26 of the Watkins Review ( now Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit.

1. Eckhart Tolle. Tolle does not advocate any particular religion, and has contributed to a wide range of spirituality. Eckhart’s profound yet simple teachings have helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. His books, The Power of Now and the highly-acclaimed follow-up A New Earth are two of the best-selling Mind, Body, Spirit books in the world – more than eight million copies have been sold in North America alone. He deliberately avoided setting up an ashram or centre as he cautions that “one needs to be careful that the organization doesn’t become self-serving”.

2. Dalai Lama. Born Lhamo Dondrub, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhists believe him to be a reincarnation of his predecessors and the Buddha of compassion. He is a vocal activist for Tibetan independence and has made an incredible contribution to global spirituality.

3. Wayne Dyer. A self-made success story, Wayne Dyer inspires readers to actualize  their potential. He is referred to as a “preacher of self reliance” and is currently focusing on interpreting the Tao Te Ching. He lives in Maui, Hawaii and has eight children.

4. Thich Nhat Hanh. Buddhist monk, teacher, author and peace activist. He founded the Order of Interbeing and the Unified Buddhist Church, along with monasteries and spiritual centres in Vietnam, the USA and France, where he now lives.

5. Deepak Chopra. Deepak began as an endocrinologist, and then shifted his career towards alternative medicine. As a writer on Ayurveda, mind-body medicine and spirituality, he has had huge success with titles such as Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. Chopra’s immense cultural influence spans beyond traditional MBS, from children’s books to comics.

6. Louise Hay. Louise Hay is a motivational author, and the founder of Hay House. Her best known work is You Can Heal Your Life; Hay House has published over 300 books, and has made an immense contribution to mind-body-spirit literature and the New Thought Movement. Thinking positively can definitely make a difference!

7. Paolo Coelho. The Alchemist is one of the top selling books in history—with over 65 million copies sold, and holds the Guinness world record for being translated in the most languages!

8. Oprah Winfrey. Oprah might be the most influential person in the world. She has discovered and advocated for so many spiritually influential thinkers—from Obama to Eckhart Tolle. We ranked her at only 8th place, because her influence isn’t focused on spirituality, but eighth place may act as a metaphor since 8 means infinity in numerous metaphysical paradigms.

9. Ken Wilber. Wilber has advocated Integral Thought and influenced figures as varied as Bill Clinton, Deepak Chopra, and Billy Corgan. He founded the Integral Institute and has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith.

10. Rhonda Byrne. Well known for The Secret book and DVD. Byrne advocates the belief that we can all transcend our suffering by not falling prey to negative thoughts. She has been listed among Times Magazine’s list of 100 people who shape the world, and has also produced television shows. Last year she published The Power as a sequel to The Secret.

Learn more about the Watkins 100 Spiritual Power list >>

See this year’s Spirutal 100 list

Here comes our selection of astrology books the celebrate winter solstice and Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival, from which Yule possibly originated, as well as its traditions of special markets and giving presents (though the customary massive orgies don’t seem to have made it to present day celebrations …

1. Far Out – A Space-Time Chronicle by Michael Benson
Over 50 years of jaw-dropping astronomical photography from the great telescopic wonders of the modern world.  From the furthest galactic clusters and deep range filaments to the immense clouds of cosmic matter and galactic fold-outs of the local yet still grandiose Milky-way, the sheer scale and resolution of these beautiful quality photographic prints pushes your imagination as the mind reaches to comprehend the incredible distances and humbling periods of time involved. Gaze with wonder on the supernova remnants and feel holy awe as the book moves out through the patterns of the zodiac constellations into the vast fields of nebula.

2. Parker’s Astrology – The Definitive Guide to using Astrology in Every aspect of your Life by Julia and Derek Parker
For anyone who wants to know more about astrology and wants it in a way that is graphically clean and generously illustrated. Daunting complexities here are dispelled for the beginner; this uplifting tome is dense with detail and a treasure house of astrological images. Explaining the conceptual framework, each of the Zodiac signs are given the full-treatment with rich visual semiotics of the corresponding rulership groupings – types of minerals, flowers, herbs, animals, cities etc. The Parkers unfold how the basic construction of a natal chart operates; simply taking you through drawing a chart-calculation step-by-step through to interpretation, how fixed stars work, how to understand horary and locational astrology. The book also scrutinizes how relationships work (or fail) through astrology and the book even contains a ephemeris.

3. The Mars Quartet – Four Seminars on the Astrology of the Red Planet by Lynn Bell, Darby Costello, Liz Greene, Melaine Reinhart
Quarrelsome Mars comes under the microscope through these talk transcripts, which took place from 1995-2001 at the Centre for Psychological Astrology.  The four great female astrologers give great consideration to the machinations of the Red Planet in a Q&A format with their audience.  This excellent book covers the (battle) ground, from analysis of the forced-will and aggression to the strength that comes from its archetypal forms – Ares blending his brutish nature with honour and heroism or Achilles displaying martial prowess. Directions of anger and conflict resolution suggestions are given form with each subtle blend of the zodiac; Mars can be the source of many desires – a plethora of examples and case histories show all the permutations of Mars in planetary aspect and tenanting energies in the houses.  Hopefully by reading this you can better know the impulses, the courage, the raw instinct and the life-affirming purpose that can be found through contemplating Mars.

4. The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire – Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun by Roger Beck
This eye-opening book explores and unravels many of the obscure and abstract signs of this ancient mystery religion through the tools of cognitive science, exploring in detail how the language of astrology was enshrined within the Temples of Mithras across the Roman Empire. It speculates on the evolution of those symbols into a ritual communication structure and posits possible meanings towards a truly ‘cosmic’ cosmology.

5. Stellar Magic – A Practical Guide to the Rites of the Moon, Planets, Stars and Constellations by Payam Nabarz
This ground-breaking book plunges you into the astrological inspirations of antiquity, delving through the papyrus and scrolls to produce a text that contains invocations of Orion & Horus, gnosis of bears Ursa Major and Minor, incantations to Sirius and the Greek mythic stellar dramas of Pegasus, Andromeda and Perseus. Using Zoroastrian moon liturgies and the Orphic hymns to create rites for the seven planets, Cygnus the swan and poetic ceremonies for the seven Pleiades, the book enables a wealth of astral path-workings that embody historical curiosity into the night skies.

6. The Star of the Magi – The Mystery that Heralded the Coming of Christ by Courtney Roberts
This season-appropriate themed book looks at one of the most famous of all astrological encounters – the mysteries of the Three Kings following the Star of Bethlehem. Reading through the Persian histories and influence of Chaldean astrology, Roberts explores the stunning context of the Nativity – Bethlehem here is situated within the overarching background of Roman Empire as merely the crust on established Macedonian and pan-Asian Hellenic cosmologies gathered together and syncretised by the trade routes. Were Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar cataloguing the systematic observations of the heavens, identifying their cycles and correlating them to the ebb and flow of the tides of human history in the hope of finding an earthly avatar of the Zoroastrian deity of time Zurvan? Astrology seems to be in the political awareness of that era: “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared” – Matthew 2:7. The book also examines 8th century Baghdad astrologer Masha’allah’s messianic astrology of the Virgin birth, especially the theory of a gigantic Saturn-Jupiter conjunction; and discusses the conjectured appearance of a supernova and the Precessional year.

7. Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art – Guide to Imagery by Matilde Battistini
Since the revival of interest in the arcane from the late Medieval period, stemming from Arabic scholar’s work making its way into Europe alongside a growing fascination with the pagan period of the heydays of Rome and Greece. By the time of the Renaissance, especially in Florence & Venice, much of the symbolism and lore involved in astrology and its sister hermetic science alchemy had found its way into some of the most prestigious artwork. This fascinating book allows you to delve into that arcana, to identify those astrological signs and themes both hidden and overtly celebrated with clear examples and useful footnotes.

8. Planetary Spells & Rituals – Practicing Dark & Light Magick Aligned with the Cosmic Bodies by Raven Digitalis
An informative catalogue of spell-casting rituals all centred on the planets of our solar system – Digitalis takes us through the mechanisms of Sol mask work and sun-charm creation enchantments; Lunar childhood trauma healing, moonlit exorcisms of unwanted spirits and Selenite divinations.  There are Mercurial communication spells for astral contact, mental focus and magickal travel insurance; fascinations for Venusian lovers, helping you increase your empathy and heal heartaches.  Find Earth magicks for purifying/grounding; Martian hexes for anger harnessing and defence sorceries; Jupiterian charms for joy, fortune and self-empowerment.  Also includes Saturnian change-curses of Kronos and the psychopompic whack of ancestral gnosis; Uranian weather magick wards & conjurations to undo social conditioning; Neptunian psychic dream elixirs and scrying cantrips; finally rounds off with Plutonian past-life last-rites, rebirthing/underworld ceremonies and poppet-binding.  Comes with a handy correspondence chart but candles and parchment paper are needed separately!

9. The 12 Chinese Animals – Create Harmony in your Daily Life through Ancient Chinese Wisdom by Master Zhongxian Wu
Explore the world of the Chinese 12 power animal symbols and the hexagrams of the I-Ching. This book helps you seek harmony with your years, months & hours through the Ba’Zi astrology of Heavenly stems and Earthly branches; poetically taking you through the personality traits of each animal – including one’s inclinations towards factors like health, career, finances and even life-enhancing food choices you may wish to cultivate.  Master Wu holistically blends in the tidal hexagrams that represent the animal, exploring the Chinese traditions around the time of year and also the nature of your Qi energy as it relates to those symbols. Ceremonies and meditation practices for each of the 12 animals are also suggested for greater balance and prosperity.

10. Your Secret Self-Illuminating the Mysteries of the twelfth House – A guide to using astrology and your dreams for personal growth by Tracy Marks
The revised and expanded edition. Find a secluded place to mine in-depth all the twelfth house interpretations for the ten planets, meditate on the rulerships whilst trying to avoid indulging your escapist tendencies with this utterly fascinating book. Marks opens the Pandora’s Box of the Twelfth house ‘unconsciousness’, explaining these developmental fixations with great quotes to understand the flavour of each modulation. From our secret fantasies to the Shadow-self trauma that underlie many psychological problems, uncover these disowned parts of your nature. Helping us best our self-delusions, this impressive book also uses the filter of the mythically cursed House of Atreus (Tantalus, Pelops, Agamemnon & the Oresteia) to shine a light on Twelfth house family psychodynamics that lead to feelings of confinement. Understanding and self-awareness of our martyr tendencies; acceptance and ownership of these hidden weaknesses is achieved here via dream work – interpretation & study of our unconscious vulnerabilities. The book concludes with a look at how the collective shadow of the 12th influences both nations and earth itself.

1. Hands of Light by Barbara Ann Brennan £25.00 (online at £22.50).

This book has become the classic ‘scientific’ guide to working with human energy field. It’s the ultimate healers’ toolbox providing clear instructions for all types of hands-on energy work.

2. Anatomy of The Spirit by Caroline Myss £9.99 (online at £8.99)

A great guide to the body’s energetic system going through a detailed journey for each stage (chakra) of consciousness.

3. Energy Medicine by Donna Eden £20.00 (online at £18.00)

Full of practical tips for alternative therapies Energy Medicine covers the total health or our energy systems including meridians, touch-points and chakras.

4. Quantum Touch by Richard Gordon £18.99 (online at £17.09).

The powerful Quantum-Touch techniques teach us how to focus and amplify life-force energy by combining various breathing and body awareness exercises.

5. Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith £19.99 (online at £17.09).

This chakra healing manual is considered to be the definitive work on the subject. Each chapter covers a single chakra with its meaning, location, element, function, body parts, colour, mantra sound and religious deity.

6. Bodymind by Ken Dychtwald £13.50 (online at £12.15).

Dychtwald gives an amazing account of his exploration of various bodywork therapies. Written in an accessible autobiographical style, it’s essential reading for anyone interested in the arena of mind-body healing.

7. EFT In Your Pocket by Isy Grigg £5.50 (in-store only).

This concisely written gem of a pocket book contains all the necessary instructions on how to apply Gary Graig’s EFT technique.

8. Crystal Bible Vol 1 by Judy Hall £12.99.

A million copy best seller! The crystal bible covers the practical and esoteric properties of each stone, including spiritual, mental, psychological, emotional and physical effects, plus its use in crystal healing. (A follow up Vol 2 is also available at £12.99).

9. Hidden Messages In Water by Masuru Emoto £7.99

This beautifully illustrated best selling book contains an eye-opening theory of how water can absorb, hold on to and even retransmit human feelings and emotions. (The follow-up, True Power of Water is available online)

10. Cure For All Diseases by Dr. Hulda Clark £14.50 (online at £16.65).

Dr. Clark explains the causes of both common and extraordinary diseases and gives specific instruction for their cure through natural remedies and an electrical device you can build at home.

1. A Still Forest Pool by Achaan Chah £15.50 (online £13.95)

Thai Buddhist master Achaan Chah’s insights – compiled here by Jack Kornfield and Paul Breiter – refelect the quiet, intensive, and joyous practice of the forest monks in Thailand and awaken the spirit of inquiry, wonderment, understanding and deep inner peace.

2. Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening by Stephen Batchelor £8.99

This lucid examination of the Buddha’s core teaching demystifies Buddhism by explaining, without jargon or obscure terminology, what awakening is and how to practise it.

3. In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Editor)£11.99 (online £10.79)

The renowned scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught. Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha’s Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha’s discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight. Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha’s teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever-vital path.

4. Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart: Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness by Mark Epstein £11.99

A Buddhist psychiatrist challenges the preoccupation of Western psychology with the ego and its satisfaction, showing readers how to attain true happiness through Buddhist spirituality and through favoring being over doing.

5. Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana £11.99

With his distinctive clarity and wit, “Bhante G” – as he is affectionately known – extends a hand to readers of all backgrounds; he takes us step by step through the myths, realities, and benefits of meditation and the practice of mindfulness. He reveals that we already have the foundation we need to live a more mindful, productive, and peaceful life.

6. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh £9.99

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the West, a rare combination of mystic, poet, scholar and activist. In this beautifully written book he explains how to acquire and practice the skills of mindfulness to arrive at greater self-understanding and peacefulness.

7. Being Nobody, Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path by Ayya Khema £11.99

This modern Buddhist classic gives clear, practical instruction on meditation and techniques for overcoming counterproductive mental habits and beliefs. Through the simple practices detailed here, one can develop deeper insight, a sense of calm well-being, and a greater capacity to love and feel loved on a daily basis.

8. A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield £12.99

In undertaking a spiritual life, we must ensure that our path is connected with our heart. With this core understanding renowned Western Buddhist master Kornfield guides the reader through the ups and downs of contemporary living and the difficulties of achieving a balanced life of simplicity.

9. What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula £9.99 (online £8.99)

This book is considered by many to be by far the best introduction to Buddhism available. It draws on the actual words spoken by the Buddha to give a lucid and accurate account of the fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine. Richly supported by extracts from the ancient texts, Rahula gives clear and direct explanations of Buddhism’s essential teachings.

10. The Dhammapada by Valerie Roebuck (Editor) £9.99

One of the best-loved works of Buddhist literature, the “Dhammapada” forms part of the oldest surviving body of Buddhist writings, and is traditionally regarded as the authentic teachings of the Buddha himself, spoken by him in his lifetime, and memorized and handed on by his followers after his death. A collection of simple verses the “Dhammapada” is accessible, instructional and mind-clearing, with lessons in each verse to give ethical advice and to remind the listener of the transience of life.

1. Becoming Enlightened by Dalai Lama £7.99

The Dalai Lama considers the Buddha’s core teachings on interdependence and karma, explaining how our lives are inextricably linked and how our own actions create the world we find ourselves in. Practical, step-by-step exercises, steeped in wisdom, show how to make the most of each moment; how to undo the negative effects of past deeds; and how to grow spiritually closer to finding deep inner happiness.

2. Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa £14.50

Tibetan meditation master Chogyam Trungpa presents an overview of the spiritual path and warns of common mistakes along that path. The author exposes the traps that practitioners fall into by attempting to use Buddhist teachings as a support for rather than an antidote to the problems of the ego. This modern spiritual classic offers a brilliant discussion of the many forms of self-deception and sidetracks along the spiritual path.

3. Flight of the Garuda – The Dzogchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism by Keith Downman £11.99

The book conveys the heart advice of one of the most beloved masters of Tibet, the itinerant yogi Shabkar, held to be an incarnation of Milarepa. Shabkar communicates the essence of Dzogchen teachings through songs of realization both poetic and poignant.

4. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by John Powers £17.99

For many years, the Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism has served as the field’s most authoritative and comprehensive introductory text on Tibet’s distinctive tradition and its four main schools. It opens with a summary of the Indian origins of Tibetan Buddhism and then goes on to explore the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug schools, as well as Bon, in depth and without bias. This is a systematic and wonderfully clear presentation of Tibetan philosophical views and practices.

5. Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David-Neel £9.99

Alexandra David-Neel was the first European woman to enter the forbidden Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1924. This is her extraordinary account of her journey to Tibet in the 1920s which has become a classic of both travel and spiritual literature. Her work emphasises the mystical and supernatural aspect she found in Tibetan esoteric practices, including examples of wondrous psychic phenomena.

6. Mahamudra: The Moonlight – The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal£20.99

This vast and profound presentation of the theory and practice of mahamudra meditation is still used as the primary source for instructing Buddhist practitioners today. In Tibetan this classic work is known as the Moonlight (or Moonbeams of Mahamudra) and it is one of the treasures of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

7. Tibetan Book of the Dead by Padamsambhava & Gyurme Dorje (Translator) £12.99

This is the first ever complete and unabridged translation of the Bardo Thodrol, popularly known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, one of the world’s great spiritual classics. It presents a comprehensive guide to both living and dying, containing exquisitely written guidance and practices related to transforming our daily life, on preparing to use death and subsequent after-death states as a means of liberation, on recognizing death when it comes, and on how to help those who are dying and bereaved. But it is as much a work focused on the potential for transformation of our daily experience by revealing an inspirational understanding of the nature of mind.

8. The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche £11.50

In the Tibetan tradition, the ability to dream lucidly is not an end in itself, rather it provides an additional context in which one can engage in advanced and effective practices to achieve liberation. Dream yoga is followed by sleep yoga, also known as the yoga of clear light. It is a more advanced practice where the goal is to stay conscious during deep sleep, when the gross mind and senses cease to operate and subtle mind is actualised. Most Westerners do not even consider this depth of awareness a possibility, yet it is well known in Tibetan Buddhist and Bon traditions.

9. The Wisdom of No Escape – How to Love Yourself and Your World by Pema Chodron £8.99

The author, one of the world’s most renowned Western teachers of Buddhism, exhorts us to use the abundant, richly textured fabric of everyday life as our primary spiritual teacher and guide. This book is about saying yes to life, about making friends with ourselves and the world, about accepting the delightful and painful situation of no exit.

10. Yantra Yoga – The Tibetan Yoga of Movement by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu £23.50

Long awaited, Buddhist master Namkhai Norbu’s book on Yantra Yoga offers the Buddhist practitioner an intriguing new approach to awareness practice, parallel to the Hatha Yoga of the Hindu tradition. Yantra Yoga leads you clearly through bodily movements, breathing exercises and visualizations once taught by the great Indian tantric guru Padmasambhava and the Dzogchen master Vairochana.

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