23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Let this no-nonsense inspirational gem grow on you!, July 8, 2005
This review is from: Let Your Goddess Grow! 7 Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Positive Thinking (Paperback)
Charlene M. Proctor, PhD, has written a no-nonsense inspirational gem in Let Your Goddess Grow! 7 Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Inspirational Thinking. Now, it surprises me to some extent to re-read this last sentence as I have just written it, because (a) as the CEO of Enlightenment.Com, I have read an extraordinary number of self-help books in the last thirty years or so, and most of what I now read is repetitive or derivative, and (b) I usually don't like books that start out promoting one group (e.g., women) at the expense of another (e.g., men).
What makes this book special, then, is not so much its amalgam of cutting-edge brain change science, reality co-creation theory, and positive thinking, but the place of clarity, courage, and wisdom that the author obviously writes from. Charlene Proctor writes (or rather, sources) this book from the very place that she is point to, and therefore the many lessons and hints that she presents come through in a thoroughly enthusiastic, practical, and modern way.
Proctor boils it all down to 7 lessons:
* Insight: How Do We Gain Insight?
* Balance: Manage the Daily Complexity of Work, Family, and You
* Resiliency: Become Stronger Through Adversity
* Your Authetnic Self: Define Who You Are by Knowing Your True Self
* Abundance: Create a Mental Equivalent to Manifest What You Desire
* Corporate Soul: Use Spirit and Strength to Guide Work Life
* The Divine Feminine: Bring Mother God into Your Work and Life
For each of these, she uses a variety of descriptions, exercises, and affirmations to get us to approach things differently, or rather, to approach the creative spiritual powers that we hold in a practical and enthusiastic manner. For example, in the lesson on Abundance, she further develops her idea of "labyrinth thinking" and tells us the following:
Why is it helpful to apply labyrinth thinking to reach prosperity consciousness? Because we already know life is an infinite journey. The labyrinth is a metaphor for the universal superstructure we operate within - it offers an exercise in personal growth. Each time we take retreat and take self-inventory, we can go deeper within and come out with something new, whether it's a refreshed attitude or great spiritual awareness. It's the cyclical outlook on life that keeps us coming back to the center, to our self. There will never be an end to the process, only different venues with more elaborate choices. And our experiences are for our own benefit: otherwise, how would we learn to reach our own potential?
Having prosperity consciousness means that each time we vocalize what we want in our lives, we have to cooperate with spirit and not just wait for it to happen. Aciton opens the flow. We must have the courage to walk. Always be aware of who you are and listen to your higher self. Everything you experience outside the labyrinth is a reflection of your inner world of thoughts and feelings. As within, so without. As above, so below. In the world around you, consciously and unconsciously, you are demonstrating what is in your heart and mind. The more clealry you understand who you are and your journey, the greater results you see.
As for the focus on "women" and the Goddess ... well, Dr. Proctor does have a point. The feminine image of the Divine has sufferred greatly in the last two thousand years or so - perhaps longer - and the way that women are approached, by themselves and by men, has also suffered accordingly. While I sometimes wish that this book had been written more in a more gender-netural manner, I then think back to all of the women who have for years had to rewrite various spiritual services in their mind's eye and ear in order to make them palatable. So, for me, this is a bit of turnabout is fair play, and the rest of the enthusiastic, practical, grounded wisdom that this book contains makes it well-worth reading in any case.
Let Your Goddess Grow! 7 Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Inspirational Thinking is a fine effort, well-worth perusing and musing upon. Thanks, Charlene, for letting your book grow on us.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful Ideas and Healing Wisdom, June 12, 2005
This review is from: Let Your Goddess Grow! 7 Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Positive Thinking (Paperback)
Many people think they have little control over their circumstances. They believe their external environment determines their lives. But the truth is that humans have the ability to produce the effects they want in the world simply by observing themselves from another point of view. ~Charlene M. Proctor
Charlene M. Proctor has a creative outlook on life and has realized her power through persistence and through overcoming life's most challenging hurdles. As she worked her way through her education she learned how to manifest success, obtain greater independence and balance her masculine and feminine energies. She also has some interesting ideas about God.
While this book is not overly religious, the theme does seem to be based on allowing our spiritual natures out to play. Spirituality doesn't have to be restrictive; in fact, Charlene M. Proctor shows how tapping into our spiritual selves can actually free us to become more conscious and to create new patterns of thinking.
If there was one point this books makes it is this: "Take Charge of Your Destiny." This is accomplished when we adapt our neural networks through conscious effort. We also have to become more conscious of how our bodies function and this book also points out how humans can become addicted to positive and negative emotions. Through conscious intention, we can change this. That is where our power comes into play. We can then start to create new realities. The seven lessons include:
Insight
Balance
Resiliency
Your Authentic Self
Abundance
Corporate Soul
The Divine Feminine
Charlene M. Proctor has an especially comforting writing style that nurtures your mind with ideas and enlightens you with creative solutions. There are special sections at the end of the chapters called: Consciously Create Your Day. To manifest abundance, she suggests the following affirmation:
I accept my gifts with joy. Every day I rise in a state of thankfulness for all that exists, especially for the blessings in my life.
To become more forgiving:
I forgive because I am capable of expressing compassion. By forgiving, I release this situation from my energy field and feel clear-headed and full-hearted.
Throughout the book there are places for you to record your journey and to analyze your progress. If you are more than ready to toss out limiting beliefs and to embrace hope, love and a new future, then this book might lead you to a more fulfilling life. Some of the very relevant topics for today include:
Affirming the Best in You and Your Workplace - two contrasting lists of beliefs.
What is Self-Worth?
Christ Consciousness and the Symbol of the Divine Feminine - Ideas about the Gnostic tradition and the nature of wisdom.
How Do We Imagine Intellect and Emotion? (How God can be understood through the masculine and feminine qualities.)
There are affirmation for: Fear, Forgiveness, Patterns, No Time for Yourself, Unrecognized Talents, Producing More Income and Overcoming Discrimination.
At times this is a very intellectual and somewhat troubling look at history and how modern religion has repressed the joy women want to feel in worship and life. The author questions biblical beliefs and comments on ancient mystical teachings. I found it fascinating to read about the reasons the libraries in Alexandria burnt down and why many ideas from ancient times are so misunderstood in our current culture. Although I think it is good to read the Bible if you want to compare teachings. Reading this book will probably leave you with a lot of questions. If you are a Christian, the information will push a lot of belief buttons.
This book might also help you understand why you became disillusioned with your religious beliefs or why you always felt something was lacking. Thinking of God as a Mother and a Father does seem more healing. Charlene Proctor definitely has a purpose behind writing this book and if it doesn't awaken your goddess immediately, it will definitely awaken your curiosity and there are many ideas to think about that could enhance your life. Overall, this book is not really about religion as much as it is about empowering women and helping women become more powerful in order to love and nurture the world.
~The Rebecca Review
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Own Worse Enemy, July 7, 2005
This review is from: Let Your Goddess Grow! 7 Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Positive Thinking (Paperback)
We are our own worse enemy. As women, we train ourselves to believe what society has forced upon us -- men deserve and will gain every bit of praise and glory. I love Charlene's new book as it will equip you and each woman with the insight needed to love yourself and grow by leaps and bounds. If you are female, you must read this amazing book and sit back and take it all in stride that you really are worthy of many blessings. The seven lessons may be as plain as the nose on your face, but if we do not do anything with them, it won't matter.
I am so excited about this new book that I am giving it for Christmas gifts to all my female friends and hoping to do the same for male buddies. Husbands need to read it too. Another one of my favorite books, especially for moms to think of themsleves as the real CEOs in life and in their households, is Mommy CEO. They are both full of reasons why we should let go and let God help us in our daily attacks on ourselves and live life to the highest potential, especially in our own home and with our own family and life in general. In fact, it was the author of Mommy CEO who recommended Charlene's book and I will be forever grateful!
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