The opening quote to the introduction in Sera Beak's book is this:

When sleeping women wake, mountains move.

- CHINESE PROVERB

I discovered this book around the same time that I realized my spiritual path diverged in a wood (okay, it turned a street corner) and taking the road less traveled by (the shortcut through the alley) has lead me into Faery. Pursuing a tradition of the Craft that emphasizes the development of personal will and power, ecstatic experience and joy in the practice of magick has become increasingly important to me, and Sera Beak's approach to finding one's own divine spark fits perfectly into that paradigm. "How intensely do I want to exist?" she implores her readers to ask themselves.

. . . what's a smart, gutsy, spiritually curious young woman to do nowadays? Well, how 'bout taking spirituality back into your own hands? How about finding out what it means for you, through your own explorations and experiences and expressions? You know, all this spiritual stuff doesn't have to be so esoteric or traditional or weird or dorky or intimidating or holier-than-thou. Spirituality is not separate and distinct from you and your everyday life. Igniting your divine spark is a simple perspective shift. An internal nod. An expanded relaxation into All That Is. It's about tuning up your senses, cranking up your antennae, generating conscious living. It's about becoming your own spiritual authority.

I don't know how old Sera Beak is but I know I have a number of years on her and yet I stand in awe of the experience and study that she put into leading the life that lead to the publishing of this book. She is my new heroine. I most certainly would suck as a book reviewer because all I want to do is quote every word of The Red Book that I've read so far and turn all blushing and giggly and use words like "awesome" to describe how wonderful I think it is. One commenter on the book with more discipline than I can muster said: "From gentle meditation to bouncing sexuality and much in between, the path to personal rejuvenation through the enlivening of the heart, mind, and spirit is laid out in such refreshing, sparkling, effervescent words that what results is a psychic shower for the soul." Amen brother.

This self-proclaimed Spiritual Cowgirl has traveled the world and is pushing the boundaries of feminist spirituality, ultimately writing The Red Book and starting a whole new movement - a REDvolution. The fact that she lives in San Francisco and is friends with Mark Morford, my favoritist columnist of all time, is just icing on my RED velvet cake.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 7:16 PM