Avalon Magazine

'All her teaching is simple, straightforward, compassionate and full of humour!' said the press release which accompanied the book. 'The Song of Mother Divine' certainly lived up to the anticipated simplicity, straightforwardness and compassion, although fortunately the humour - which would have been out of place here - was absent.

This miniature book - about four inches square - is a joyous series of affirmations about being loved, each affirmation accompanied by a mandala on the facing page. 'Know only this,' it begins, 'Whoever I am, I am loved...'

These are the wise and comforting words of the archetypal mother figure, who is central to many spiritual paths and plays a key role in others. But the book is not about religion, and does not specify who or what the 'Mother Divine' might be, so it is possible for those of many faiths (or none) to relax into the soothing words and flowing graphics.

The mandalas start with the simplest of geometrical figures centred on the Eye of Horus, moving on to staggeringly complex designs incorporating flowers of life, polygons and crystalline shapes, before gradually becoming plainer once more as we focus on the very centre of it all. Here is sacred geometry at its most accessible and its most relevant to our turbulent daily lives.

This is a book to carry in pocket, handbag or briefcase during difficult, troubling times, a surprisingly deep and full well of reassurance, comfort and calm. At moments when life's path seems to have vanished into a tangle of brambles or left us poised precariously on top of a crumbling cliff without a handhold (let alone a rope ladder or a parachute), this little scrap of a book will see us through.

It would be a super gift for someone you love. But don't forget to get one for yourself, too. After all, 'whoever you are - you are loved.'

Kate Gooch — Editor