Perils of the Soul: Ancient Wisdom and the New Age

by John R. Haule

Book Overview

Offers a fresh perspective on the development of cosmic consciousnessthe eternal connection between the human soul and the greater universe. John Haule takes you on a tour through a large array of New Age beliefs and practices, providing acomprehensive historical perspective and showing just how far from new the New Age actually is. Whether you are skeptical of, immersed in, or just curious about the ideas that encompass New Age thought, this is a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578631076
• ISBN13: 9781578631070
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An unheralded treasure of a book

I find it incredible that Haule's Perils of the Soul has been unreviewed until now. It is a treasure of a book, a thoughtful, superbly informed look at the cognitive and spiritual ferment of the present time. In three decades of intensive reading about New Age subjects, this is the first book that has left me with a real sense of understanding what is going on. Haule, a Jungian therapist, has managed the near-heroic feat of balancing a sympathetic view of the impetus behind New Age turmoil and an impressive body of information with a clear-eyed objectivity that is thorough but never reductionistic. The result is illuminating in the very best sense. Against a background of epochal worldviews--the ages called Taurus, Aries, Pisces, and now Aquarius--Haule considers all the major bases that make up today's adventuring into cosmic consciousness--out-of-body travel, near-death experiences, past lives, angels, healing, the idea of the multiverse, UFO abductions,channeling,shamanism, the making of the New Age myth. What is different about this book is that Haule gives us a whole picture. He sees in all these phenomena the fragments of a common underlying pattern which he synthesizes into a plausible scenario that clarifies what we observe happening now and suggests possible outcomes. This is a fascinating book. It deserves a wider readership. Perils of the Soul deserves a wide readership