The Sword of Heaven: A Five Continent Odyssey to Save the World [Paperback]

Mikkel Aaland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

At the height of the Cold War, writer and photographer Mikkel Aaland finds himself drawn into a mysterious Shinto priest’s plan to save the world. Traveling from Norway to the Philippines, Iceland to South Africa, he places pieces of a sacred Shinto sword in key power spots around the world. Along the way he comes face to face with his fears of war and destruction. This is the second title in the Travelers’ Tales Footsteps series.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Seemingly farfetched, Aaland's book, The Sword of Heaven, is the very real story of a peace project inspired by ancient beliefs. Aaland's memoir [is]a source of hope and wonder.
--Linda Watanabe McFerrin, SFGATE.com --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales Inc (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885211643
• ISBN-13: 978-1885211644
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,976,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From a Native American Partcipant, November 3, 1999

By 

Turtle Heart, Ojibway ([e-mail]) (Taos, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sword of Heaven: A Five Continent Odyssey to Save the World (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Hardcover)

I was also involved in putting the Sword of Heaven. I am a Native American religious teacher. I placed the Kami at the Trinity site in New Mexico. The subtle beauty and integral integrity of this story is a great study for those living in an increasingly mannerless and faith-less American Society. I strongly recomend this book to those whose hearts really believe in Peace..... Turtle Heart Ojibway Ahnishikad

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On Becoming, March 23, 2006

By 

Elijah Kuan Wong (Elmhurst, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sword of Heaven: A Five Continent Odyssey to Save the World (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Hardcover)

Having just finished 'Sword of Heaven' earlier today, i am left with what i'd imagine to be one of Mikkel Aaland's intentions in documenting such a monumental nearly two-decade long endeavour; i am left inspired and ever the more forward looking. What struck me most about his account of placing the broken shards of such an auspicious and revered piece of Shinto tools/iconography is how dilligent he is in keeping us intimately close to the stream of emotions and consciousness throughout; as if we were in his back pocket the whole time, learning his lessons, eaves-dropping on the conversations, and getting lost and confused and frustrated with him every step on the way to inner and outter peace. I am grateful for the photographs that inaugurate each chapter, it only furthers a sense of inextricable union with Mr. Aaland's journey and our outside-in perspective. Furthermore, those photos really drive home the fact that such an incredible "five continent odyssey to save the world" actually happened. Having my incredulity at such a feat (in the greatest sense of the word) continuously trumped by the constant reminder that the Shinto Peace Project actually took place on this plane, this corporeal reality, was a gift; it's a pleasure amongst pleasures to balance the cynicism that is induced via bombardment of media coverage of wars/crime/murder/rape with the inspiration that is induced with a book that proves that happiness, though may be arduously hard-earned, is indeed possible for each of us as we define it and in our own terms.

With this book in my life, i feel as though the space occupied within the walls of my apartment and the space occupied within the cells of my body is perceptibly warmer as is evidenced by my increased attention to not so much 'being' anything per se, but on the process of 'becoming'.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The fate of the world is in YOUR hands!, November 23, 1999

By 

Brad Newsham (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sword of Heaven: A Five Continent Odyssey to Save the World (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Hardcover)

One cannot read this exciting book without considering in a new light some old and fundamental questions: 'Does my life REALLY make a difference in the grand scheme?' 'Is it possible that what I do in each moment of each day DIRECTLY DETERMINES whether or not human civilization advances or fails?' Mr. Aaland subtly raises these questions by sharing the remarkable story of his life over the last two decades, and leaves one wondering: Did he and his allies IN FACT bring down the Berlin Wall, end apartheid, and reverse the spiral of nuclear proliferation? These are all worthy questions, and Mr. Aaland's way of framing them-the way of the exceptional raconteur-is delightful.