Customer Reviews

Sacred Sites of the West

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is instrumental to understanding the basics of SacredSites...Barlow's insightfull and easy to understand format isrefreshing. The way the chapters are small provides for pick it up ~read & do it all over kind of refreshing reading. I feel thisshould be a textbook for schools and required reading for spirituallyorientated courses to provide a fundamental foundation to continuestudes from.

I was expecting something much less when I bought this book back in 1997 - what a pleasant surprise to find that the author Bernyce Barlow actually was giving the reader more than a geographic travel book. She actually has some insightful observations and comments about these places. Her own understanding of their importance in our own search for personal sacredness in life comes across in this book.

She covers all the known places like Mount Shasta and the City of Refuge in Hawaii - but she also comes up with some that new - at least to me. One in particular she refers to as the "Lourdes of America" - a little adobe chapel in New Mexico. So I felt that I got more than my money's worth out of this old tattered and torn and yellowing book that is about 10 years old now. I have personally gone though a couple of thousand books in the last decade but have kept only a significant few dozen - of which this volume is one.

If you live in the west, or want to travel out west - you should by all means get a copy of this book to use as a travel guide. It is well written and easy to follow. The photos are a wonderful addition to the book. Her maps of the locations are general but one has no problem locating them on a real map or on Map Quest to find out how to get there. This book is also good for the arm chair traveler who cannot get out there and physically explore these places - the author makes them come alive for the reader and there is some value to be gained from just reading about them in her book.

I personally recommend this book for all "spiritual journeys".

Nov.1998 We live in an area that has established ,documented protected archaological sites that were once occupied by the Nisinen and later the Maidu in No. California. ancient sacred wells,tooling sights,grinding holes complete with mataties (grinding stones)and this all is on or within a lay/Cathay line. Bernice's book has helped us understand what is going on and why we experience "waves" of energy fluctuations in our area. Her book helped us locate the right place to call home. Thanks Bernice! Were looking forward to your next book. Sincerly Bri Bri n Patti.

Sacred Sites of the West was so informative and inspiring...I wanted to start exploring our Mother Earth right away. Not only could I not put this book down,I found myself taking notes and going to these sites to heal and purify my body and spirit. Barlow's style is easily understandable for the novice as well as the academic. Great lessons have and will be taught by Barlow as well as Our Mother Earth. Great Read ! A Must have for anyone's library. Thanks Bernyce... Keep writting!

One of the best books I have ever read on the subject of sacred sites. Well researched, terrific photography and extremely sensitive toward a subject that needs to be understood by all people who travel and seek out the magic of Mother Earth

Bernyce's book is wonderful to take along day outings, longer road trips and Island hopping. The site information could be more in depth. Once at a Sacred Site noted in the book, one doea not need written information, except for brief historical data which she has provided. I check off each Sacred Site I personally visit. Included in the first several pages are maps with Sacred Sites marked and lists of their names cross referrenced. Bernyce points out most commonly known sites as well as lessor known ones. It is a great companion guide when travelling in the Western United States and Hawaiian Islands. The author is also an excellent personal tour guide, with an amazing range of knowledge about various sites especially on the Arizona Hopi Mesa's 1,2 and 3 as well as the greater Sedona Arizona area.I keep this book in my car.

Sacred Sites A topic that is very interesting for Spiritually oriented people, who seek to better themselves. I know she is conducting tours of Sacred Places...I will go on the Hawaii adventure, but hard to chose from the Colorado River rafting adventure?

The red rocks and vortexes in Boynton Canyon; the centuries-old hot springs in Big Sur; the caldera of the volcano Kilauea... these are places at which, for hundreds of years, people have dreamed, used healing energies, even done ceremonies. These are but a few of the sites which Bernyce Barlow mentions in this book. She arouses the senses to the richness of the never-before documented albino redwoods of California... takes us for a stroll along the banks of the Missouri River near Great Falls, Montana, for the nurturing of the goddess site of Giant Springs... even instructs in the earth physics which help us to understand where some of the energies come from. Following ley lines and the Anasazi Trail, we can learn about the richness of the western half of the North American Continent.

She covers sites in at least 12 states from California to Hawaii to Wyoming, with some sites that are outside of the US included, too. And not only does she tell us where the site is, but about some of the history of the site, legends about the site, and some of what it is or was used for. Bernyce gives us an idea of how a sacred site can affect our minds, bodies, and spirits, and tells us about the "spirit of place", or local spirit, that surrounds the area. Her writing style is easy-to-read, with humorous anecdotes tossed in, including a short chapter on little kids and their sacred sites (9 out of 10 little kids in southern California have GOT to say Disneyland!).

The photography in the book is breathtaking! Many of the photos were taken by the author while on her trips around the US. Canyons and forests; waterfalls and rivers; tikis and petroglyphs... all fantastic. A small color section in the middle of the book gives you a doorway into beautiful areas, richly colored by Nature's hand.

All in all, I highly recommend this book for anyone. Whether you're getting ready to travel to this area, or live here, or if you're interested in the physics behind energies and how they are documented, or for just sheer fun, I suggest you pick this up!

The author also tours occasionally, doing book signings, slideshows, and occasionally a seminar. I also highly recommend that, if she comes into your area, you take the time to meet such a wonderful, exuberant lady, full of life, light and wisdom. I've noticed that her touring schedule is on the publisher's website (www.llewellyn.com); it's well worth the time spent, and she will brighten your spirits!

As an indian researcher, I had many questions as to the authenticity of this title. It seems that she made many of the "scientific" evidence up. The book nonetheless is entertaining, but not accurate.