cover image The Soul Searcher’s Handbook: The Modern Girl’s Guide to the New Age World

The Soul Searcher’s Handbook: The Modern Girl’s Guide to the New Age World

Emma Mildon. Beyond Words, $18.99 trade paper (272p) ISBN 9781-58270-524-8

Mildon, a self-described spiritual explorer, puts her extensive search experiences to work in her compendium of new age spiritual growth techniques. Divided into sections addressing body, mind, and spirit, Mildon shares her personal efforts to employ such new age staples as crystals, aromatherapy, decoding dreams, numerology, and past life regression. Alongside in-depth descriptions of each practice, Mildon includes personal commentary on its usefulness, as well as a “woowoo” factor—a way she describes how far along the New Age spectrum the practice seems to be. Text boxes within sections urge the reader to “explore this” by suggesting specific resources to find and practices to try. The introduction is a useful guide to discovering what kind of soul searcher the reader might be, or might wish to become. Mildon’s tone is irreverent and flippant and may not suit all readers. However, those wanting a dose of humor alongside their path will find in Mildon a kindred spirit and a companion for the search. (Nov.)