Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative And Thought-Provoking, But Don't Base Your Life On It..., February 16, 2006
This often overlooked title should stand high among the metaphysical/occult/New Age books written in the last forty years. It presents what I find to this day, a full decade after first encountering it, as among the most uniquely interesting ways to view life, spirituality and the evolution of the soul. Which is not to say I believe any of this is real, please let me make that clear. I read books like this because I am the sort of woman who enjoys expanding my mind and taking in all that the divergent philosophies of life have to offer.
The Michael material in this book and the three or four others San Francisco writer Chelsea Quinn Yarbro introduced twenty-five years ago has since been commandeered by a number of would-be Michael messiahs, who have composed books of dubious authority, and most of those have launched business ventures wherein they claim they channel the Michael entity, and charge big bucks while doing it. Good for them. Whatever. My advice would be stick to the Yarbro books, as these deal with the original material, as provided by the original (dare I say "the real"?) group.
Okay, as for what Michael is all about...gee, where to start? Michael claims it is an entity passing on wisdom regarding the true nature of life and humanity's spiritual mission, from a vantage point of a loftier plane known as the Causal. Michael, 1,050 souls who have completed all incarnations on planet earth and rejoined into one life-force, makes the claim that each living person is a "fragment" of a larger "entity" which has chosen to temporarily splinter into about a thousand individual identities and incarnate on the physical plane in order to evolve toward the eventual reunification with the Tao/God/the All That Is. Therefore, by this reasoning, your mother, your best friend, your pen-pal in the southwest, a painter in Germany, a factory worker in China, plus nine-hundred-odd others might all be part of the same oversoul as you. In order to make this journey, all of us live lifetime after lifetime, learning, experiencing, crawling toward understanding. We begin as infant souls, then progress through the seven levels within baby souldom, young souldom, mature souldom (supposedly where I'm at, the roughest stage of all, rather like the teen years) and finally complete it all as old souls. Within these stages, we are cast as one of seven "roles in essence" (slave, warrior, priest, artisan, scholar, king, priest) and act out our life's lessons and goals from the framework of our role's talents and liabilities.
What separates the Michael material from the "flavor of the month" psychic book (the sort I've often uncharitably reviewed in here) is not only its complexity and intricate interweavings of knowledge, but its deft handling of so many of the ponderous questions of life. The book talks about a number of figures from past ages, and tells what their role in essence and soul age was. It offers explanations for many of the issues which trouble and bedevil our lives and it is a fun system of thought and a compelling sort of read.
But, as I said, I don't truly think the universe works this way and all Messages From Michael ultimately is...is a mind game composed by someone, somewhere, and except for being an interesting book, I see it as little real value. I give it five stars because it deserves them for being interesting, well-written, and for standing the test of time in my regard.
My final advice, unasked for by you, but still offered, is don't let this Amazon review, this book itself, the message of the Michael system, or the message anywhere in any holy text, sermon, textbook or scientific treatise change who you are, unless you're sure you want to be changed. There's no substitute for common sense, self-evaluation, and the inner guidance of that little voice in your head.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
don't like the changes, May 21, 2006
It's nice that there's recent channeling as commentaries to the chapter, but the typeset of the original version was much easier to read, as Michael's comments were easily differentiated and had more of an impact. I'd recommend the book wholeheartedly, but would suggest finding a used copy of the old version.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite Interesting!, July 15, 2006
"Messages From Michael" provides an interesting look at soul evolution. It's described from the "viewpoint" of an entity known as "Michael", who has apparently already been through much of this evolution itself & had come through to share its' knowledge.
One of the things that really drew me into this book is that it's stated over & over again that belief is not required, and that this information is NOT meant to be used dogmatically - but instead used to expand ourselves - evolution will occur no matter what we choose.
It's also strongly suggested that, instead of believing all that is said on blind faith, one should test this information for themselves - think of your life, and ask yourself "could this make sense in light of the info. provided in the Michael "teachings".
Overall, I found this book to be very interesting, exciting & thought-provoking - it was a real page-turner. I especially liked the discussions around various soul ages, levels & such - These sections helped me to consider a new potential reason for why we may be drawn to some people, and want to avoid others at all costs - something I find quite interesting.
In the end, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in spirituality & soul evolution - it has much to offer.
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