"The Symbolism of the Tarot" by P. D. Ouspensky

This is a large format book, but quite thin, both on pages and on content. Most of the pages are with reproductions of the Great Arcana of the Waite Tarot Deck. Ouspensky was a student of Gurdjieff, a complicated and not always sincere man, who passed himself for a spiritual master most of his life, besides using methods that border on sadism and breaking his own principles countless of times. Ouspensky was his best student, though excommunicated and humiliated by his teacher number of times, and he published the most cohesive accounts of Gurdjieff's teachings, and molded them into something that might resemble a 'system'.

Ouspensky dabbles in other occult fields, as was the custom at that time, mostly in Theosophy, which in itself was a conglomeration of just about anything you wanted to put in, and wrote and lectured extensively on occult subjects, mostly in the United States, where there were enough people who were willing to pay for it.

This particular book falls short of the standards even of the time when it was writtent. It consists of a generic 'new age' essay on the many, many facets of tarot, followed by 22 musings on the meanings of the symbols of the 22 Great Arcana cards. To put it simply - you could have written this book yourself. There is nothing insightful or terribly original inside of it, pretty much consists of random thoughts on tarot in general and then on each card in particular without giving any new points of view for their use or interpretations.

I would label this book a waste of time. There are plenty of better Tarot books, and if you really want to delve into the symbolism of each card then get Crowley's 'Liber Thoth'.

"How to Be a Canadian" by Will and Ian Ferguson

Well, since Canada is my new adopted homeland (2 years and going strong now :) this is a very appropriate book for me. Actually I got it as a present (thanks!) while I was ailing at home with my broken wrist and pretty stuffed up with painkillers, so it might have added to the already ingrained funniness of the book itself.

The authors say they got the idea for writing the book from Margaret Atwood at a cocktail party. They executed it splendidly, creating one of the funniest tongue-in-cheek books in Canadian literature. To be sure, this is not a manual for new immigrants, though they will find some good pointers here about the 'real' Canada, but old timers and 'born' Canadians will find the things they laughed about all of their lives gathered in one place.

The first chapter 'How to Find Canada on the Map' is one of the most hilarious ones, and is geared mostly towards non-Canadians (ahem, read: Americans). The next chapters takes a swing at each province and makes (good-humored) fun of their provincial and regional stereotypes. Then you will learn about how Canadians dress, eat, communicate, and the most important thing of all: what Canadians are not - Americans!

As the book progresses it feels a little like the authors are losing their steam, as if they spent all their best ideas in the first few chapters, but the last one, which is the 'Canadianness' quiz, saves the day being hilarious. The chapter about the government of Canada and political parties also stands out as being very funny, so at least we can laugh at them, even though we can't do much about them, really (think about the oxymorons: "Progressive Conservatives" and "Responsible Government").

Overall, a light and entertaining book that you can finish in one or at most two reads. It will not burden you with the problems of the world, nor will it enlighten you in some insightful way, but will give you plenty of fun with no strings attached.

"Jungian Dream Interpretation: A Handbook of Theory and Practice" by James A. Hall

This book might seem small (only 120 pages), but it is written in a very condensed and specialized style, so that it can mostly be useful only to a dedicated professional who delves into such specialized writings on a daily basis. To be fair, the author does give an introductory chapter outlining the major Jungian concepts, and there is a glossary of Jungian terms at the end, but I've found this insufficient to internalize the book.

To progress further than the couple of initial chapters, the reader needs thorough understanding of Jungian concepts and terminology, and Jung being himself a notoriously convoluted and condensed writer, this narrows down the audience even further. It has been said that hte best way to dive into Jungian psychology is through neo-Jungian writings, as the founder's are so difficult even in their English translations, but Prof.Hall in this book definitely lives up to the density level, if not to the impenetrability of the originals.

The Potters I-VII

It is not in order to write yet another review of the Harry Potter books, as they have been reviewed a thousand times, with opinions ranging wildly from absolute praise to accusations of satanism. As for me, I can say that I am a Potterhead (hehehe); I really liked the books.

I was upset when JK killed Dumbledore in the 'Half Blood Prince' but I forgave her when I read why in the 'Deathly Hallows.' I loved and hated Snape alternately, I eagerly awaited every next year at Hogwarts to find out what subjects are they studying now, I was impressed by the names and spells and creatures and fables coming out of the, seemingly, unlimited JK's imagination. Yes, I am a Potterhead, indeed.

I am happy and sad at the same time that the series is at its end. I am happy because if it wasn't to end now, it would stretch forever and become more and more dilluted, until it becomes unrecognizable, much like Herbert's 'Dune,' in which a reader should not go further than the 3rd book, or at most the 4th. I am sad because there won't be more Harry Potter adventures to keep me awake at night, in excitement and expectation of what is coming next, laughing and crying with the heroes, and having that satiated, happyending feeling at the end.

JK and Potter are here to stay, and I won't be surprised if one day they are taught in schools, as classics of World's literature, much like Carroll's 'Alice' is. The movies are also very entertaining, but it is my personal opinion that the quality is being degraded with each subsequent issue, the first one being the best. And what will they do for the next one, when the main characters are supposed to be 16, while all the cast is already over 17, nearing 18?

Anyway, the joy of re-reading, re-listening (as Jim Dale's voice acting is absolutely amazing) and, more rarely, re-watching, always remains!

"Dream Yoga and the practice of natural light" by Namkhai Norbu

This is an interesting little book (only 128 pages). The main part of the book is Chapter 2 "The Practice of the Night" which seems to have been a transcribed talk given by Mr.Norbu. In this chapter the Dzogchen perspective on Dreaming and specifically Lucid Dreaming is given, which differs not only from the Western Perspective (presented well in LaBerge's books), but also from the Tantric and traditional Yogic perspective.

In the Dzogchen tradition the lucidity in the dreams is seen as a 'secondary' effect, and is more of a nuisance or a side-effect than a real goal. The real goal is continuing the "Practice of Natural Light" during the night, as well as during the day, and Mr.Norbu goes in great length warning the practitioner from being too involved into lucidity and dream play and being led astray from the only true purpose of consciousness in dreams, which is the practice of natural light, i.e. the Dzogchen system for enlightenment.

In this chapter Mr.Norbu also describes many of his dreams, and incidents of dream telepathy and communication with far-away people (namely his master in Tibet, while he being in Italy). He also elaborates on the different types of dreams, which are the main topic of Chapter 1 "The Nature and Classes of Dreams" emphasizing that dreams can be divided in two major groups: Karmic (which have to do with karma accumulated in previous or present life) and Clarity (which deal with lucidity, telepathy, spiritual instruction, clairvoyance, etc.).

The third chapter is a narrative of different dreams Norbu Rinpoche has on his pilgrimage to the Maratika monastery in Northern Nepal, while the fourth chapter is an interview with Norbu Rinpoche discussing material from the second chapter and further elaborating on it. The book ends with the final fifth chapter, which is a first English translation of a Dzogchen text discussing 'the true nature of mind'.

The book is very well introduced by the editor Michael Katz (who also conducts the interview in the fourth chapter) with a lenghty Introduction in which Mr.Katz discusses dreaming and lucid dreaming in literature and science, including the modern research of Stephen LaBerge, though from the content of the rest of the book the introduction seems a little bit misleading, since the rest of the book is concerned mostly with the view of the Dzogchen tradition. Overall, an interesting and different book compared to the classic lucid dreams and dream control fare we have become used to in the West.

Some light summer reading :)

oh, well, I am re-discovering the joy of reading :)

"The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Yann Martel gives us a refreshing new view of novelistic writing in ‘The Life of Pi’. You won’ t find any spies, international conspiracies, ER doctors or hotshot lawyers inside, but instead you will be treated to an exhaustive explanation of the life in an Indian zoo and a courageous and magical adventure of a young boy named after a swimming pool in Paris.

In the beginning of the book we are treated to a description of the life of a typical educated Indian family. Pi’s father decides to start a small business with a zoo and things are going pretty well for a while. Pi explains his life with the zoo animals, and his problems in school and his thirst for spirituality for which he becomes a member of all three major world religions, only to discover later, to his big surprise, that one cannot be a member of more than one religion at a time.

When the zoo business starts going downhill, Pi’s father decided to immigrate to Canada. They board on a cargo ship across the Pacific, with a load of animals from their former zoo that need to be delivered. About the middle of their journey, they are caught in a storm and he ship sinks, leaving only Pi, with a zebra, hyena, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger as the sole survivors in a life boat.

The rest of the book traces the many adventures of Pi and the Bengal tiger, who is called Richard Parker, drifting across the Pacific. They learn to respect each others territory, share the food and shelter, even converse during bouts of famine and exhaustion, when both are floating on the borderline between life and death. As the time passes by, Pi drifts more into an imaginary world and it is hard to separate the real events form the ones that exists only in his head.

Eventually Pi and Richard Parker reach the Mexican coast, where Pi is taken to a hospital, and Richard Parker escapes into the jungle. When the Japanese representatives of the cargo company that owned the ship Pi’s family traveled on arrive at Pi’s hospital in Mexico, we discover the terrible truth about the real events, which is mercifully given only as a possibility.

‘The Life of Pi’ is a book that is read in one standing (once you get past the comprehensive review of the life of zoo animals). Each alternate chapter is written from the point of view of the author in present day Toronto, then of Pi during his adventures, and gives an interesting contrast and provides a wider context for the storyline. I recommend this book as a rewarding reading experience for everyone.