After Death and Recommended Reading

 

Originally posted http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/mar4.html

 

August 12, 2005

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/aug12.html

 

Dear Eric:

 

If you would be so very kind, I am in search of some quality reading material to learn to understand what I am reading about horoscope and how the astrological calendar affects my life, etc. I find it fascinating. I am also very much interested in the subject of psychic phenomena and after death communication, as I have had some incredible experiences since losing my 19 year old daughter in a car accident last March. She was a very kind and gifted child born under the astrological sign of Aries. She worked with severely impaired children and adults, and was a straight A student at Central Michigan University. I know how busy you must be, and do not expect anything, but would be so very grateful to know if there may be something that would be beneficial reading. Thanks for your time.

 

Sincerely

 

Annie

 

 

Dear Annie

 

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your beautiful daughter. I am sure that many readers are sending you love and compassion for this unthinkable loss.

 

As for books. I am aware of a highly regarded book that I have not read, which may interest you. It is Testimony of Light by Helen Greaves.

 

I can also offer a short list of my top favorite books on astrology and metaphysics, and related subjects that I feel are essential to understanding these things. Apologies for lack of Amazon references; you will find them there, and elsewhere. The thing to remember is that both metaphysical and astrology books often go out of print long before their time, so if you want something, you have to be good at searching, it helps to have a friend in a bookshop who has a knack for finding the difficult-to-find stuff, and it helps to have a little luck.

 

This is a list of the books that have touched me the most deeply, the wisdom of which I live with and work with every day. They are all non-fiction, except where noted. They range widely in subject matter, from metaphysics to astrology to sexuality to fiction. Each contains a fabulous clue to the nature of reality.

 

1. Gifts of Unknown Things by Lyall Watson (nonfiction metaphysics)

 

2. The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot (science-metaphysics)

 

3. The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment by Thaddeus Golas (consciousness)

 

4. Astrology: A Cosmic Science by Isabel Hickey (basic astrology text)

 

5. Chiron and the Healing Journey by Melanie Reinhart (astrology)

 

6. Saturn, Chiron and the Centaurs by Melanie Reinhart (astrology)

 

7. An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar (astrology, cycles and symbolism)

 

8. Celestially Auspicious Occasions by Donna Henes (natural cycles and seasons)

 

9. Tarot: Mirror of Your Relationships by Gerd Zeigler (excellent Tarot book)

 

10. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig (personal history, philosophy, healing mental illness)

 

11. Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsh (a conversation)

 

12. Planet Waves by Eric Francis (In progress: stories from astrology, revealing how to do it)

 

13. A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis and others (how therapy works, and why we feel the way we do)

 

14. The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley (advanced Tarot book)

 

15. Our Dumb Century by The Onion (fiction; humor)

 

16. Acid Dreams by Martin Lee and Bruce Schlain (history of the 60s for all 60s babies)

 

17. Sex for One by Betty Dodson (basic introduction to women's sexuality)

 

18. The Hite Report by Shere Hite (North American survey of women)

 

19. I Am My Lover edited by Joani Blank (women's sexuality)

 

20. Any collection of poems and/or essays by Adrienne Rich (one of the great scholars and poets of our times)

 

21. Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (fiction)

 

22. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (fiction)

 

23. Toward An American Revolution by Jerry Fresia (history and politics)

 

24. Stiffed by Susan Faludi (history of men in the 20th century)

 

I could keep going. I'll leave it at 24 for now. Wait, I'll add one more: an advanced astrology book, really in my opinion, the best ever written, called The Moment of Astrology by Geoffrey Cornelius. To all these authors, I say thank you: may you and your works live long and prosper. For specific, advanced astrology books, please send in a question about that exact topic and I'll see what I can find for you.

 

Oh, I must mention a spoken word CD set, a big one: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. Find it used, get it new, or search MP3s online; this book, in its most effective form -- oral tradition, spoken word -- is all the history, ancient history and background of The Lord of the Rings, the history of our planet, and of the elves, and contains some of the most moving stories of humanity I've ever encountered.