Illuminata: A Return to Prayer (Paperback)

by Marianne Williamson (Author) "There is a spiritual renaissance sweeping the world..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, May God, Native American (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The best-selling author of A Return to Love presents a compilation of contemporary prayers and meditations for people of all faiths, covering such topics as business, friendship, reconciliation, and anger. Reissue.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573225207
• ISBN-13: 978-1573225205
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,435 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The World One Heart at a Time, June 25, 2002

By	Zinta Aistars "Writer & Editor" (Portage, MI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

She writes: "Ultimately, the choice to love each other is the only choice for a survivable future... every time we open our hearts, we create the space for a global alternative. The opening of the heart is an awesome personal politic, providing us with an internal strength greater than any worldly power. As we receive God's love and impart it to others, we are given the power to repair the world... Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one..."

It is as if Williamson understands, and I suspect she does, how tired my own heart grows at times as it travels its lifelong spiritual journey. Is striving to better oneself really worth it? Is it a good thing to be a good person in a dog-eat-dog society? Or is the harsh reality that the one who plays in mud, who is willing to step on another's back, who plays hard to get, who is a master of manipulation, who never blinks at putting oneself first, is inevitably the one who wins the prize? Perhaps. More times than I care to know. And still.... the lifelong struggle to better oneself is, yes, worth it. If only for that final moment when one faces one's own image in the mirror of self-judgement.

"Illuminata" is a book of prayers. There are prayers to begin the new day - and to end it. There are prayers for strength, for health, for happiness, for the renewal of faith, for forgiveness. There are prayers for friends, for family, for lovers. There are prayers to heal nations. There are prayers to overcome addictions, betrayal, emptiness, obsession, loss, greed. There are prayers to mark moments of routine, of tradition, of ritual, of ceremony. The prayers are separated by Williamson's simple, but insightful meditations.

Like many of us, I don't pray nearly as often as I should. Many of my prayers are spoken not in words, but in the way that I touch someone I love, in the manner with which I greet my morning, in the silence I keep when my heart requires healing. But sometimes we need the words to pray. Although I have rarely used her exact words, Williamson's prayers have taught me... that to speak to God is to simultaneously speak to our deeper and higher selves. It is an exchange that is necessary. It is a part of that lifelong journey that we cannot, must not avoid. And, as Williamson writes, we do indeed change the world... one heart at a time.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What did I do before I found this book?, April 22, 2000

By A Customer

Several years ago while watching Oprah I discovered this amazing book. I bought the book and now have it safely by my bedside. I pick it up on a daily basis and read..somthing..I cannot believe how much this book has helped me in my daily life. I have also bought the book and given it to several of my friends as gifts because it truely has something for everybody in it. I have also read all the rest of Marianne's books which are also very good but this one is just too good for words. I have Fibromylgia and live in constent pain each and every day but this book always lets me know that there is hope. All I can say it Thank You Marianne and please keep writing and if you ever come to the state of Washington I would love to hear you speak.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book of prayers . . ., July 11, 1999

By A Customer

This wonderful book by Marianne Williamson, is full of prayers for every occasion you can think of. Besides these wonderful prayers, there's some uplifting, intelligent, and spiritual thoughts added by Ms. Williamson that add to the theme of the book.

If you're soul searching, if you're looking for that spiritual path, and if you enjoy the voice of Marianne Williamson, this is a book for you.