Book answers kids' questions about body, mind and
spirit
JOANNA CROSSE and her book, "Encyclopedia of
the Mind, Body, Spirit & Earth.
By STACY PUZO
If you are looking for a place to go this summer, how about a journey through
the mind, body, spirit and earth?
All can be visited in the pages of Element book's "Encyclopedia of
the Mind, Body, Spirit & Earth," by Joanna Crosse.
The purpose of this book is to present a straightforward and objective way
to explain the "new age" questions that children are asking these
days. With the "X Files" type hype, children are bound to have
questions, and it's just natural.
The book guides you on an exploration of different beliefs and practices
that make up our world. This encyclopedia provides a safe resource for many
questions that are not addressed in traditional kids' reference books.
First of all, about the author. Joanna Crosse is a mother of three who has
spent much of her life as a radio and TV journalist in the U.S. and UK.
She is a practiced media speaker and can very eloquently address tough questions
regarding this subject matter for kids. She has lived for some time among
various communities, including the world famous Findhorn Foundation in Scotland.
The book itself is divided into the four sections mentioned in the title
and under each a wide range of topics is covered. For instance, in the Mind
section, information is provided for subjects such as mind power, personality,
knowledge and creativity. Other areas that are talked about include, meditation,
ESP, emotions, education, astrology and myths and legends.
Under the category of the Body, you come across the cycles of life, health
and healing and movement.
The next section is the Spirit, which I found to be the most interesting.
It covers souls and spirits, the paranormal, energy and divination.
In these sections you learn about heaven and hell, demons and devils, ghosts
and hauntings, magic, universal laws, prayer, miracles and tarot. The last
section: Earth, is pretty extensive. It covers, mother earth, creation,
earth mysteries and beliefs and customs.
The book ends with a section about the millennium and what it means to different
cultures. The book also includes a glossary and a very extensive bibliography.
Joanna has been in the U.S. promoting her first book since June 23 and I
had the opportunity last Monday to speak with her. First I asked her what
had prompted, or inspired her to create a book of this nature? She replied
with, "Well, I do remember as a child being interested in these kinds
of things. I never quite believed that this was all there was, there was
always a bit of a question in my mind." Joanna went on to tell me about
how she and her husband and her two children managed once the television
station they were both working for lost its franchise and they were out
of a job:
"...He said, `Why don't we go around the world with the children and
look for another kind o life?' And I think most sensible people would have
reduced their mortgage and stayed at home, but it seemed like a great idea.....we
did all sorts of things and some of it was very comical, but in it all we
really thought in a sense how small the world was and in a sense how small
the universe was and that all these kinds of holistic things were very important
in our lives, and we came back to Great Britain and had another baby and
eventually ended up living in a spiritual community for three years, and
it was during that time that I was living in the community that I actually
wrote the book.."
I also asked Joanna where she collected her data from. She told me that
it helped that they were living in a spiritual community and that she herself
had been collecting alternative books for about the last 10 years. Also
she said, "Some of the subject matters I was interested in, I knew
enough about I suppose to write, other ones I did have to research....we
really did have to think about how we wanted to present the book for children
and families, which is why in the end we decided to split it in to four
sections: Mind, Body, Spirit and Earth."
Since the book is directed toward younger children, I asked her how she
felt it would benefit those of the younger generation. "Well, I think,
from my experience, and my children are aged 10, 8, and 4, and they've always
been asking questions around this subject matter. It certainly occurred
to me that children were already interested and sometimes it's quite hard
to know where to go for answers, there aren't any of these kinds of reference
books for children. It's written, I hope, in a sort of non-judgmental way.
"It's just saying, `here's lots of beliefs and ideas and customs from
across the world and across the universe, have a look at them and then you
can make up your mind, you know, go off on your own spiritual search.'"
The book itself is designed so that children of about the age of 8 and older
can sit down and read it themselves and other than that it really is a family
book. All of the adults that I introduced it to received it very well and
it seems to be a very useful tool.
I asked Joanna about at what age she had observed that children generally
start to be curious about such subjects. She told me this story:
"I remember being absolutely amazed when my older daughter, at the
age of 2 started to tell me things about when she lived in Africa! And I
thought, 'this is very strange, I haven't talked about Africa to her,' and
I realized that she was sort of in touch with you know, perhaps other lives
or whatever...then there was one extraordinary moment when we were traveling
and one of the children, they could have only been 3, 4 at the very most,
started to ask about how many lives we have, and I said you know I believe,
other people may say something different, and I explained it to them and
they turned around and said, `Oh, I see. So in a sense your souls is like
the ice cream cone and then the different lives you have are the different
flavors of ice cream you have each time around.' I thought that was absolutely
incredible that a small child could have such a clear sense of eternal life
for example."
Also, Joanna feels that there is a need for more of this subject matter
in schools. She told me of a visit she made to her two eldest children's
school back in Great Britain, where she was invited to talk about the book.
She thought that it would be a nice test as to how the book would be received.
"Not only were the children absolutely intrigued by the subject matter,
but they knew loads about it. I mean they told me all about their angelic
experiences, about crystals and about how they have the feeling that they've
had other lives and on top of that, the mainstream teachers in state education
were saying 'Hooray! At last a book like this that we can have in our school
library.' You know it really is the time to have that kind of material around."
Now it may seem that the Crosse's lead a rather different kind of life,
but as Joanna said, "We lead a very down-to-earth life, we don't sort
of discuss spirituality over breakfast."
I asked how her children had received the book and she told me that she
did not push the book on them, but that they did take an interest in it,
seeing as they were featured in some of the pictures.
After it was published though, she said that they "took it away and
really kind of looked through it, I didn't feel that they were doing it
to please me, you know they really wanted to look things up, particularly
things like UFO's and they liked the pictures. I thought it was a real testament
that it was being received well by children."
This was Joanna's very first attempt in the world of publishing and she
has another creation on the way. A book for children about guardian angels
should be coming out in the U.S. next spring.
In closing I asked her what she could do for children or youth, if she could
do one thing.
She said, "I would say that it is really important to be open-minded
about all the sorts of mysteries of the universe...and that there may be
a more holistic way of looking at things, not to impose these kinds of things
on them, but I think that when children, however young they are, come and
ask you questions, it's really important for me to be honest and open-minded."
Lastly I asked her where she saw our society as a whole in the future and
what she thought about the direction of technology. She said, "Well,
that's an interesting question because of course we live in a kind of highly
materialistic society, great technological advances and sometimes I think
that could be a distraction, a huge distraction from us connecting with
a higher sense of purpose. While I think it is absolutely amazing with all
of these scientific discoveries, it's all the more important that we can
take the time out to just BE ourselves and to perhaps find a connection
to the bigger picture, because I also think that we live in quite frightening
times, you know life can be scary, and there's no security anymore, so it's
important that we connect ourselves with our inner security that is there
and in a sense, all the things in the book are all roads leading to that
sort of sense of, I suppose, inner truth and inner purpose."
If you would like to know more about this book and other Element Books you
can call toll free: 1-800-253-6476 or you can email: elementcove.com or
you can check out the website at:www.eastwest.com/Element.
Puzo, who will be a senior at Ashtabula High School, invented the TV remote
control in an earlier life, but then lost it.
Hey, as of Wednesday, you don't have to be an old man or lady of 16 to get
your motor running.
Kids as young as 15 1/2 can get a temporary driver's permit. But be warned.
The Ohio Department of Pubic Safety will be watching you closely.
The goal is to give younger drivers more experience before getting behind
the wheel alone.
The result: 24 hours of classroom training, up from 16, and eight hours
of in-car instruction before receiving a probationary license.
So if you are 15 1/2 and you have older brothers and sisters, be sure to
laugh when you get behind the wheel, because you get to drive before they
did. Hey, it's the sibling thing to do.
If you graduated from high school in 1998 and plan to get that college degree
in 2002, congratulations, you are already pretty darn smart.
Well, at least according to three colleges in Pennsylvania.
Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College and Lafayette College are reporting
record numbers of freshmen, and officials say the high volume of applicants
meant they were able to select students with higher test scores.
"All the stars are lined up for Lafayette right now," said G.
Gary Ripple, director of admissions.
So getting kicked in the head with that mule when you were 2 didn't hurt
you too much after all, no matter what Aunt Feebee said.
Actually, that's wrong, it's food for food. Jefferson Baptist Youth will
have hot dogs and pop for sale from 4 to 11 p.m. Friday at the Bi-Lo.
So get out there, dig in and relish the moment.
Really.