Passage to Luminae
“This is a story of Elaina’s passage to Luminae” the author writes. “Elaina through the different lessons of her life seeks with courage and passion to balance her wings between the real world and the spirit world and connect them to the center of her heart…”
This first sentence from Passage to Luminae‘s introduction is a perfect illustration of one of the challenges of the book: is it reality or non-reality? Is the content of the book fiction or nonfiction? The story could be read as allegorical fiction until the author tells readers “It is based on the author’s personal life story with names location and some details of events changed…”
The book begins when Elaina contracts with the Galactic Council to manifest in physical form in the country of Mozambique. Readers follow her through her education in South Africa her relationships and marriage motherhood and a successful career in human resources to her spiritual illumination at age forty-five.
Each stage of life and each event is used by the author to illustrate Elaina’s spiritual development. These insights are understood and discussed from within a broad spectrum of spiritual traditions and philosophies. Native American spirituality Western astrology Mayan astrology and calendars the myths of Atlantis Kabbalah past lives and regression therapy indigo children and shamanism are all presented within the book’s 147 pages. This can be confusing for readers with little or no background in these traditions.
While the author does include a glossary and four appendices that explain some of the spiritual ideas the details of the Mayan calendar and Suns provided for the people in Elaina’s life is too much to be easily digested. This raises questions about who the intended reader is—spiritual novices will find themselves overwhelmed by all of the references and information in such a short work. The author does provide a broad but succinct bibliography for readers interested in studying a variety of spiritual understandings and perspectives in more depth.
Another drawback of this book even if it is memoir is that the author frequently writes summations of events and circumstances creating a sense of distance from the characters. The reader is told what Elaina does feels and thinks—not shown. The style could almost be labeled journalistic except for the spiritual truisms that appear on nearly every page. Each chapter concludes with “Passage Light Bulbs” that list all of the lessons that Elaina has learned but since readers don’t have a chance to identify with Elaina they may not care about these summations.
Nonetheless despite the book’s flaws Atika’s intelligence experience and desire to teach and share the many things she has learned in her life’s journey does peek through.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
