The Great Work: Self-Knowledge and Healing Through the Wheel of the Year

Intended to help readers deeply explore the spokes of the Wheel of the Year, a sacred system based on seasonal festivals from around the world, Lazic’s guide to spiritual transformation functions more like an axle, propelling the wheel forward. She covers a lot of ground, but seldom stops for a long look around. Lazic offers a calendar, divided into six-week segments, of the myths, energies, and psychological stages aligned with each season. Lazic, an experienced transpersonal psychotherapist, devotes the most space to the psychological. Sections on chakras, I Ching, Tarot, channeling, and more are well-illustrated and include solid lists of the literature, but lack the depth of the transpersonal material. Lazic inexplicably saves the full definition of her own energy healing system, Hynni, for the back of the book, though it’s briefly mentioned throughout. Instead of basing this book directly on her own nine-part system, Lazic offers a survey of traditions. Even with the open-ended reflection prompts that close each chapter, readers may feel a bit adrift in the sea of ideas. (May)