A WISH CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE: How to Use the Ancient Wisdom of the Kabbalah to Make Your Dreams Come True

Part Jewish mysticism, part pagan Earth reverence and part multicultural exploration, this book opens the secret doors of the arcane Jewish tradition of the Kabbalah, whose symbol is a tree. The authors use the Kabbalah's 10-limbed legacy to explore metaphorical and literal trees to prescribe a means of wish fulfillment. Through accessible explication, exercises, meditations and Web site information, Sasson and Weinstein guide readers through the process of refining and realizing their wishes. Devoting a chapter each to the Kabbalist branches of crown, wisdom, understanding, mercy, severity, beauty, eternity, splendor, foundation and kingdom, the book is a friendly approach to a complex topic, offering a plan of study on one "branch" per week. Drawing on many cross-cultural evidences of the power and venerated history of trees over millennia, the authors satisfy the naturally curious who want to understand the value of trees in daily life. The volume is somewhat flawed in making sweeping connections that may not easily sit with more serious comparative religionists, such as equating Hindu prana with Christianity's Holy Spirit. While not devoid of wisdom, many of the notions are somewhat tired New Age concerns searching for substance. Readers who want to survey the myriad of Earth's spiritual medicines may appreciate the breadth of this text, and eco-spirituality fans will enjoy it all the more for its advocacy for one of the planet's most precious resources: trees. (Oct.)