Details

<p>Preface</p> <p>Prelude to a Kiss xv</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Wake Up xvii</p> <p>1 Light the Match</p> <p>Set Your Intentions Free 1</p> <p>2 The Beaming You Who</p> <p>Gods, Goddesses, and the Blind Man’s Elephant 5</p> <p>3 Are You Really Gonna Eat That?</p> <p>Grazing at the Spiritual Buffet, Respectfully 19</p> <p>4 Sacred Lipstick and Cosmic Lattes</p> <p>1001 Ways to Give Prayer a Makeover 41</p> <p>5 Catapult Your Inner Waitress</p> <p>Ritualize Your Life; You’ll Just Feel Better 55</p> <p>6 Divine Winks</p> <p>The Universe Wants Your Attention. Will You Wink Back? 71</p> <p>7 Dream On</p> <p>Widening the Spotlight in Your Internal Theater 93</p> <p>8 Peeling Your Onion</p> <p>Who Do You Think You Are? 109</p> <p>9 When Sparks Fly</p> <p>Know Your Self, Transform the World 125</p> <p>10 Breaking the Rules</p> <p>Healthy Transgressions Make the Heavens Applaud 135</p> <p>11 Open Up and Say Ahhh</p> <p>Sex. Spirit. The Twain Shall Meet—Under Your Covers 143</p> <p>12 Sitting Down and Shutting Up</p> <p>The Best Spiritual Tool You Will Ever Learn, Ever (Except for the One in Chapter Thirteen) 171</p> <p>13 Know That You Know</p> <p>Trusting Your Intuition with Your Life 197</p> <p>14 Keep Your Self Buzzing</p> <p>Crank Your Vibe; It’s Your Cosmic Duty 221</p> <p>15 The Joke’s on Us</p> <p>The One Mandatory Ingredient for Every Path 231</p> <p>16 Roar</p> <p>Finale (Like Red Wine Spilled onto a Mattress) 241</p> <p>Judge a Book by What You Uncover</p> <p>Resources to Keep You Blazing 247</p> <p>Select Bibliography 273</p> <p>Acknowledgments 281</p> <p>The Author 287</p>

Beak, a religious scholar and writer for the <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i> Web site, <b>sfgate.com</b>, presents a brief but potent book focused on invigorating spirituality in the 20- or 30-something American woman. She vividly criticizes the patriarchal interpretation that has dominated most belief systems for centuries, and then quickly moves on to create her own feminist one. Beak encourages her female audience to do so as well, with their own "red book" modeled after hers, which was first given her as a birthday gift by her sister after their grandfather's death. Beak initially rejected the idea of keeping a journal, but soon found herself writing down prayers, recording dreams and in essence keeping a spiritual scrapbook. Avoiding the typical sentimentality, Beak's vision is a modern, femme fatale spirituality. The book lives up to its "unorthodox" subtitle, advocating that young women search for the spiritual in all things, even sex (memorably in a chapter called "Open Up and Say Ahh"). Beak calls herself a "spiritual cowgirl," taking her readers along for the ride. Her writing is probably too brazen for more conservative spiritual readers, but she displays poignant insights throughout<i>. (June 16)</i> (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>, February 27, 2006)

<p><b>The Author</b> <p><b>Sera Beak</b> is a world-traveled, Harvard-trained scholar of mysticism and comparative religion and an intrepid spiritual cowgirl.

<p><b>Ignite Your Divine Spark</b> <p><i>The Red Book</i> is nothing less than a spiritual fire starter—a combustible cocktail of Hindu Tantra and Zen Buddhism, Rumi and Carl Jung, goddesses and psychics, shaken with cosmic nudges, meaningful subway rides, haircuts, relationships, sex, dreams, and intuition. For smart, gutsy, spiritually curious women whose colorful and complicated lives aren't reflected in most spirituality books, <i>The Red Book</i> is an open invitation to find your true self and start sharing that delicious truth with the world. <p>"GORGEOUS! . . . A deep, smart, and authentic guide to being more indelibly and powerfully yourself."<br/> <b>—SARK,</b> author/artist, <i>Succulent Wild Woman</i> <p>"A modern, femme fatale spirituality. The book lives up to its 'unorthodox' subtitle . . . poignant insights throughout."</br> —<b><i>Publishers Weekly</i></b> <p>"Every so often there comes our way a glorious chunk of life so utterly unique that even the jaded blink twice. <i>The Red Book</i> is just such a chunk . . . refreshing, sparkling, effervescent . . . a psychic shower for the soul."<br/> <b>—Neale Donald Walsch,</b> author, <i>Conversations with God</i> <p> "If you're hungry for real magic but allergic to self-righteous jive, sit yourself down at this feast."<br/> <b>—Rob Brezsny,</b> syndicated columnist, Free Will Astrology <p>"Smart, stylish, divine!"</br> —<b>Cameron Tuttle</b>, author, <i>The Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want</i> <p> "Beak's knowledge is far-reaching. Her lightness of being is worth taking seriously."<br/> <b>—China Galland,</b> professor, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California; author, <i>The Bond Between Women</i>

"GORGEOUS! . . . A deep, smart, and authentic guide to being more indelibly and powerfully yourself."<br /> —SARK, author-artist, <i>Succulent Wild Woman</i> <p>"Every so often there comes our way a glorious chunk of life so utterly unique that even the jaded blink twice. The Red Book is just such a chunk . . . refreshing, sparkling, effervescent . . . a psychic shower for the soul."<br /> —Neale Donald Walsch, author, <i>Conversations with God</i></p> <p>"If you're hungry for real magic but allergic to self-righteous jive, sit yourself down at this feast."<br /> —Rob Brezsny, syndicated columnist, <i>Free Will Astrology</i></p> <p>"Smart, stylish, divine!"<br /> —Cameron Tuttle, author, <i>The Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want</i></p> <p>"Beak's knowledge is far-reaching. Her lightness of being is worth taking seriously."<br /> —China Galland, professor, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California; author, <i>The Bond Between Women</i></p>

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