Divine Books

Think of Cosmic Sugar as Moll Flanders with a modern-day kick. Sex, drugs, booze, and karma rock Leela's world, making her exploits all the more outrageous because they really happened. But what kicks Leela's adventures in and out of bed up a notch is that she uses them for spiritual transformation. She grows and evolves spiritually through her many sexual relationships, freeing her and inspiring the reader in the process. Don't read this book if you're looking for cheap thrills, though there are plenty. Read this book if you're interested in learning about the role of karma and how opening to its complex lessons can lead you to your higher self.

Tantric sex has been used for eons in India, and with the Taoists in China, but it has seldom shown up in the West in this mode, particularly for women. Leela Jones chose this as her spiritual path, and the fact that she is a psychic healer balances her nicely. Her story is especially appropriate at this time when women are finding more equality with men.
The book is well written, with wit and insight and full of what most will consider outrageous sexual adventures--giving readers a chance to get rid of inhibitions.
With the correct mindset, one can achieve enlightenment through chopping wood or doing needlepoint--Leela Jones chose cultivating her sexual energies as her path to liberation, and she has written about it in a most entertaining way!

I had to take it with me everywhere til I'd finished it. And believe me my frequent chortling and giggling won me some strange looks on public transportation and waiting rooms. Jones writes about her life with such a genuine voice, not once yielding to the pitfalls of writing in the first person. Her candor and guile create a viewpoint for the reader that has you vigorously nodding your head in recognition and shaking it incredulously almost simultaneously. It is encouraging and liberating to read a woman so at ease with who she is - And whether or not you have the same uncompromising lust for adventure and enlightenment as Leela Jones, reading her story might just convince you to seek out a piece of your own cosmic sugar.

I loved this book! Cosmic Sugar takes you into the immersion of heart energy and flow based on the life and adventures of Leela Jones. This book is a wonderful memoir and helpful teaching aid to creating a greater expansion of your spiritual self, with lovers or with your own sweet self by opening into Divine Feminine heart energy. This book helped set a new tone and clearing for my life and "what is left is an awareness of the ephemeral nature of the earth plane and the preciousness of every moment on our paths of awakening".

Thank you Leela!

I think the title of the review says it all.
I am glad I came across this book after knowing and studying the Divine Comedy for many years; Otherwise it may have been pearls before swine.
But if you are a novice, get it and keep it on your bookshelf, and go back to it every once in a while. As your love of Dante, and your faith deepens, you will appreciate it more and more, and like, me may find you need to buy a second copy after the first became so dogeared and fragile.

helen luke is dead now but i wish she wasn't. this
is the best book i ever found about dante. if dante's
comedy seems a mystery to you, if it seems hard to
reach, or if it seems like it has nothing to say to us
now, you need this book. helen luke used dante's poetry
to write a magnificent jungian deconstruction of growth
and love. it makes everything simple. it is magnificent.
i was interested to see that she liked dorothy sayers'
translations (of all the dante translations that there
are) the best. if you have this book, you don't need
any other growth book, you don't need any other literary
analysis of the comedy. she knew dante very well.

The moment I saw the references to Charles Williams and Dorothy L. Sayers I was hooked. Culturely familiar with, but never having studied, Dante's poem, I had always understood it as an allegory of life after death. Wrong! The intersections between Dante's journey as portrayed by Helen Luke and portions of my spiritual journey were intense, meaningful, detailed -- and totally unexpected. The reality of the passage through Hell and Purgatory in this life points to the hope of a portion of the feast to come also in this life. It is not an easy read, but I found myself unable to put it down -- except when the power of a passage would so resonate in me I had to pause to mark it and reflect on it.

This marvellous book opens up Danteland for the contemporary reader. Helen Luke's masterful guidance on the paths of Dante's three-tiered cosmos not only helps us to reenter and relish the Divine Comedy - the towering literary achievement of the medieval imagination - but to use it to enter deeper levels of reality through meditation and active imagination. I have based deeply moving group meditations on this, along the lines of those decribed in my own book "Dreamgates", and we have found that Dante's gates can actually take us into imaginal realms that people appear to inhabit after physical death. As the life dreamer she was, Helen Luke reminds us of the way the radiant guide keeps calling the seeker through dreams, which are so often ignored or forgotten until the BIG moment of spiritual trial and eventual initiation. I would recommend using the middle section of the book in tandem with W.S.Merwin's excellent recent translation of the "Purgatorio", which is more readable than the older versions quoted by Ms. Luke.

The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina serves as an essential reading for the followers of the Divine Mercy. The Diary should be read in order to have a better and deeper understanding of Sister Faustina's journey, as described in her four notebooks which are included in The Diary. I would recommend The Diary to all Catholics and those interested in understanding our religion.

This is a beautiful, prayer book sized leather edition of Saint Faustina's "Divine Mercy in My Soul", especially made to commemorate the First Divine Mercy Conference in Rome, April 2008. I highly recommend it to Divine Mercy lovers.

I highly recommend to anyone who loves St Faustinas Diary. The edition is compact so it easily fits into your purse which makes it much easier to take with you to Adoration. It is a collectors edition that you will cherish for a lifetime.

This is an absolutely necessary book for everyone to own and meditate on. For those truly committed to gaining a deeper understanding of Our Lord this is an essential resource.

I purchased this tape after attending one of Aretta's life purpose workshops. I have listened to it almost everyday, and it has really helped me to gain insight. While using this meditation, my mind has come up with many ideas that have led me closer to my purpose. I appreciate the insight and clarity I've gained by using this meditation. Thank you so much Aretta, you have made such a difference in my life!

I first heard this meditation when I attended one of Ms. Swanson's Life Purpose Workshops. I purchased the tape and use it all the time. It has really helped me get clear on what I would like to do with my life. I have found that my mind tends to reveal new ideas while I listen to this tape. I have started to take action on many of these ideas... and I am pleasantly surprised at how much is beginning to materialize. I can really say that I am happier and living a better life from using this meditation. Thanks Ms. Swanson!!

Aretta, thank you for sharing your inner most thoughts and feelings. Your writings are a positive source and a tool in helping us apply valueable lessons in our everyday life. I admire and I commend you on your gift and talent in sending us this important message.I recommend this book to people from all walks of life.God bless you! Hiko

This is a beautiful and powerful meditation tape. After listening to it over a period of a few weeks, clues to my life's purpose began to appear. I am now very clear about what my purpose is, and have found the direction I was looking for in my life. Thank you for your guidance Aretta. I've feel as though I've been blessed by you!

This is an excellent contribution to the continuing debate over the relationship between science and theology and should be of interest to philosophers of science as well. This is an important book and it has implications for the theology of miracles, the philosophy of the laws of nature, and other fields outside the classical locus of theology.

totally recommended, and for a CUP book not too expensive either!

I found this book really useful - I am currently studing religion and science and this book contains the best discussion of the divine action issue that I have been able to find. Excellent.

In the last decades, different theological theories have tried to give an explanation of God's action in terms of modern scientific advances. In particular, quantum mechanics and chaos theory are two physical tools preferred for this objective, the first because of the ontological determinism subjacent to some of its interpretations, the second as it entails an epistemological impossibility of making long-range predictions. We must remember, however, that scientific theories are always provisional, and using them for theological explanations means a certain risk.

Most of the theories discussed in this book have to do with a certain type of divine action. SDA (Special Divine Action) applies to concrete actions of God to change the cosmos, and may be divided into "interventionist" (miracles) or "non-interventionist" (providence). The latter may also be subdivided in "compatibilist" (indistinguishable from coincidence) and "incompatibilist" (where God causes independent causal chains). Finally, this last type may be "continuous" or "discontinuous." The book looks in depth at theological theories that try to explain non-interventionist compatibilist continuous special divine action using quantum mechanics and chaos theory.

Two chapters show inconsistencies in present theories, or point out errors of interpretation in the physical basis they use. The conclusion is pessimistic: in the state of the art, we don't have a valid theological theory that explains this type of divine action. Only Peacocke's holistic explanation escapes somewhat. However, the future possibility of a new theory is not excluded. Explanations of quantum mechanics alternative to the orthodox Copenhagen version are still appearing.

This book's analysis of theories based upon quantum mechanics and chaos theory is complete and scientifically impeccable. However, since it looks at a single type of SDA, others are not considered. There are a few loose ends in the analysis that would allow a discontinuous explanation of SDA, or one that makes use of randomness. Perhaps theologians don't like the latter because they are too influenced by the famous Einstein phrase ("God doesn't play dice"). In "The laws of nature" (1945), C.S. Lewis proposes another explanation for the efficacy of prayer: God could trim the initial conditions of the universe to take into account future prayers of human beings. This compatibilist explanation of SDA is not considered in Saunder's book.

In summary: "Divine Action and Modern Science" is useful, because it describes a set of recent theological theories that make use of scientific advances, but contain inconsistencies and weaknesses. Remember, however, that this book only addresses non-interventionist compatibilist continuous special divine action. Other possible forms and interpretations are out of its field of study.

Without doubt this is one of the most important books on divine action of recent years. Except for some theologians within more evangelical circles, the amount of studies explicitly addressing theological, philosophical, and scientific issues of divine action is small. Moreover, many classic studies on the subject (such as Keith Ward's "Divine Action," Michael Langford's "Providence," and Vernon White's "The Fall of a Sparrow") have been out of print for years now and are very hard to come by. (Why does nobody protest against that!? Are publishers simply blind to the many opportunities here?) Saunders gives an overview of the most important studies, and shows that the discussion about divine action has many dimensions which are still relatively unexplored and which are in dire need of further clarification. Moreover, he makes it clear that if one takes divine action in a realist sense (i.e. that God's action has real causal effects in the world), one cannot ignore the many scientific issues involved. Miracles, laws of nature, determinism, quantum mechanics, chaos theory (Polkinghorne) and top-down causation (Peacocke) -- Saunders manages to make the crucial scientific and theological issues concerning these concepts quite clear.

The book is highly readable and does not presuppose too much knowledge of science or theology on the part of the reader (though if one has some background knowledge of science and/or theology this will aid in making the context of many discussions more lucid). While I am not totally convinced that Saunders' approach does full justice to the theological intricacies involved, and while I am critical of the fact that he simply skips many methodological issues -- I will elaborate on these points more fully in a review which in due time will appear in the online journal for Philosophy of Religion: Ars Disputandi, see -- I believe that anyone interested in the issues surrounding the concept of divine action must not ignore this book. Though it is always tricky to make predictions, I am convinced that Saunders' valuable book will remain a standard work for issues surrounding divine action for a long time.

In "Divine Chuckles" author Martin has taken channeled metaphysical concepts and made them tangible for the reader. Even for readers with no prior knowledge of channeling or metaphysics, this book is simple to understand, and Martin has precisely woven the concepts into a practical application for every day life.

If you are looking for a great way to begin your spiritual journey, or strengthen it, get this book!


Rev. Paula T. Webb ~ Author, "Creating Perfect Relationships," "Life with Grace," "An Independent Ministry," "Cooking with Grace."

"Divine Chuckles" is a treasure. "Spirit"'s wisdom, warmth and humor has something great to offer anyone who chooses to listen.

I too must say, as the previous reviewer has already stated, this book DOES indeed speak to one's heart, but it also seeks to reach our minds as well...mostly in a very light-hearted, humorous manner, which is such a welcoming change. The most important aspect I found in this book and greatly appreciate, is that with all of our vast differences and no matter how good or badly we may behave, we are not being judged or critisized. There is a geuine expression of unconditional love and acceptance that speaks through. Hoping that one day people may begin to truly and fully understand our divinely inherent nature, while at the same time, allowing our minds to embrace this wonder in ourselves.

This is a beautiful, healing book with the kind of message, warmth and humor that our fractured world needs so badly. The strength and spirit of this book captured my attention and my imagination. As an author and an avid reader, I tend to look at most books with a critical eye. I found it impossible, however, to assess this book with my eyes or my mind, because it spoke directly to my heart. If you want to tap into and bring forward the highest and best within yourself, this is absolutely the book for you.

There's nothing like a good book and Divine Closure is that! It was an enjoyable, easy to read book that flowed through the author's early life to where she's at today. I found it fascinating and at some points humorous, how she deals with and come to terms with the psychic phenomena that surrounded her. It's one of those books you want to pick up and read over and over again!

Thank you Gail Marie for sharing your life with the reading public. I found it to be gut wrenching bringing me back and forth from real tears to tears of joy and laughter. A memorable read filled with mystics and real life feelings.

I enjoyed immensely and look forward to your next book or sequel.

Love it and I will never forget portions of the story.

How could you have a name like Gail Marie Calderone and how many are there in this country?

Darryl Rabideau

As a avid reader I totally enjoyed this book, it leads you down a person's psychic awakening and her real life journey. Also how it got her to where she is now and how she understands and deals with her gift. I am glad that I read her book and I think you will be to.
Gloria Brooks

I couldnt put this book down. This amazing book will keep you captivated from start to finish. I applaud this author on her courage to write her story and to show us that we are not perfect but we can overcome a great deal of what life hands us. The true message of this book awaits you till the very end and then you realize how important closure is to us all. This book is worth reading over and over again.Divine Closure

for great translation of the Inferno I far prefer the fairly recent The Inferno version done by the husband and wife team of Robert and Jean HOllander, who have now completed all three parts of the Commedia, Purgatorio and Paradiso. They added a better than pedestrian but in fact a very useful commentary to each line, to each canto, plus a great introduction and remarks on the process of translation. I like their faithfulness to the text and to the triplet rhyming as possible while placing it into a living contemporary and comprehensible English which does not in itself need any explanation. For me this is the most faithful and readable version.

Of course the standard version widely used in our schools is the old John Ciardi The Inferno (Signet Classics). If you really require an Oxfordian tone to your translation, then certainly Dorothy L. Sayer's monumental, unmatchable and moving translation of the entire Commedia: The Divine Comedy: Hell (Penguin Classics), The Divine Comedy, Part 2: Purgatory (Penguin Classics), and her posthumous The Divine Comedy Part 3: Paradise (Penguin Classics). I especially appreciate the way she courageously, correctly and brilliantly translates the title of the first section in to good old, clear and monosyllabic anglo-saxon.

For a flavor of a more recent, and male, Oxford Don we have this present new translation by Robin. I find this translation the least felicitous of all, yet the introduction and the commentary highly informative, uesful and not to be missed. In fact the notes and commentary alone, although limited to the world view of a Protestant Oxford Don, are alone worth the price of the book.

Like the Hollander's, this edition is bilingual, placing face to face the currently most authoritative version of Dante's original vernacular, that published in his native Florence in 1994 by the Casa Editrice Le Lettere as Commedia: Secundo l'Antica Vulgata. [edizione nazionale] from Giorgio Petrocchio. For this we are most grateful, and in fact is our sole object in purchasing this edition.

Please note that unlike the indication in another review's title, Robin does not use the most remembered words "Abandon hope" to translate the closing line of the inscription which opens Canto Three: "Lasciate ogni speranza . . ." Rather Robin writes: "Surrender as you enter every hope you have (p. 21)." I would prefer, without thinking too deeply about the matter, something along the lines of "Let go of all hope, you entering (here)."

In a word please think of this then as a brilliant historical, cultural and textual commentary rather than easy reading translation. For instance we read on p. xxiii: "Dante is never more Christian than when he vibrates in horror at the corruption disseminated by the institutional politics of the contemporary Church, the Whore of Babylon ( . . .) impelled in all its decisions by avarice and violence." Or again we may read on pp. xivff: "Dante comes to believe in a providence that creates and sustains human beings in all aspects of their existence. In the end it is charity that underlies Dante's political vision - a love which seeks not to possess (n)or to violate but rather to promote the good of others ( . . .) Despair then is no part of Dante's vision ( . . .) The awful pain of exile informs Dante's representation of Hell, which is a state of absolute alienation form human and divine companionship. But exile in Purgatory is transformed into the condition of pilgrimage, of a quest for distant truth; and in Paradise it finally becomes clear that exile, in spiritual terms, is a metaphor expressing the true nature of charity: 'caritas' demands nothing less than exile; it is that absolute and willing dispossession of self ( . . .)."

This beings therefore to read much like Pope Benedict's First Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est God Is Love: Prepack of 50 or Thomas Merton on peace or something from Dante's own contemporary Saint Francis of Assisi. The commentary by Robin is well worth the price of admission; the translation is like a host's dreary after-dinner reading of his own poetry. For Dante, read the Hollanders, or the original.

"Midway life's journey I was made aware/that I had strayed into a dark forest..." Those eerie words open the first cantica of Dante Alighieri's "Inferno," the most famous part of the legendary Divina Comedia. But the stuff going on here is anything but divine, as Dante explores the metaphorical and supernatural horrors of the inferno.

The date is Good Friday of the year 1300, and Dante is lost in a creepy dark forest, being assaulted by a trio of beasts who symbolize his own sins. But suddenly he is rescued ("Not man; man I once was") by the legendary poet Virgil, who takes the despondent Dante under his wing -- and down into Hell.

But this isn't a straightforward hell of flames and dancing devils. Instead, it's a multi-tiered carnival of horrors, where different sins are punished with different means. Opportunists are forever stung by insects, the lustful are trapped in a storm, the greedy are forced to battle against each other, and the violent lie in a river of boiling blood, are transformed into thorn bushes, and are trapped on a volcanic desert.

If nothing else makes you feel like being good, then "The Inferno" might change your mind. The author loads up his "Inferno" with every kind of disgusting, grotesque punishment that you can imagine -- and it's all wrapped up in an allegorical journey of humankind's redemption, not to mention dissing the politics of Italy and Florence.

Along with Virgil -- author of the "Aeneid" -- Dante peppered his Inferno with Greek myth and symbolism. Like the Greek underworld, different punishments await different sins; what's more, there are also appearances by harpies, centaurs, Cerberus and the god Pluto. But the sinners are mostly Dante's contemporaries, from corrupt popes to soldiers.

And Dante's skill as a writer can't be denied -- the grotesque punishments are enough to make your skin crawl ("Fixed in the slime, groan they, 'We were sullen and wroth...'"), and the grand finale is Satan himself, with legendary traitors Brutus, Cassius and Judas sitting in his mouths. (Yes, I said MOUTHS, not "mouth")

More impressive still is his ability to weave the poetry out of symbolism and allegory, without it ever seeming preachy or annoying. Even pre-hell, we have a lion, a leopard and a wolf, which symbolize different sins, and a dark forest that indicates suicidal thoughts. And the punishments themselves usually reflect the person's flaws, such as false prophets having their heads twisted around so they can only see what's behind them. Wicked sense of humor.

Dante's vivid writing and wildly imaginative "inferno" makes this the most fascinating, compelling volume of the Divine Comedy. Never fun, but always spellbinding and complicated.

Kirkpatrick's translation of the first book of Dante's 'Divine Comedy' is the latest of a series of Penguin editions of Dante's works. It has a good commentary and introduction to the text.

Dante of course really needs no introduction. He is in my view the Western world's finest poet between Virgil and Shakspeare. His visionary genius, incredible intellect and ability to see and integrate several aspects of the medieval world view as a whole are unmatched by any writer or poet of the medieval era. He is the poetic equivalent of Thomas Aquinas.

The Divine Comedy is a journey within and without, to the deepest parts of hell to the highest realms of heaven to the vision of God himself. You get the sense in reading Dante no word is superfluous, every letter has its place in a beautifully precise and organic scaffolding of art. The unity of his poetic vision and his ability to execute it, place him in the same rank of genius as Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare and Milton.

The poem is at the deepest level an allegory of the journey into the depths of the egoistic self (hell) to the beatific vision, where God is found within through the means of graced vision. While Dante may be read in other ways (he certainly was influenced by political, social and class concerns, so a Marxist and feminist interpretation is possible) his spiritual and psychological journey is just as important.

Dante is timeless, even if his view of the cosmos seems absurd and antiquated in our time when clearly there is no empyrean but only an expanding infinite universe of billions of galaxies. Still, if Dante were alive today, I doubt he would have any trouble incorporating our cosmology into a comprehensive vision, such was this man's genius.

This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) "Devine Comedy" weaved together aspects of biblical and classical Greek literary traditions to produce one of the most important works of not only medieval literature, but also one of the great literary works of Western civilization. The full impact of this 14,000-line poem divided into 100 cantos and three books is not just literary. Dante's autobiographical poem Commedia, as he titled it, was his look into the individual psyche and human soul. He explored and reflected on such fundamental questions as political institutions and their problems, the nature of humankind's moral actions, and the possibility of spiritual transformation; these were all fundamental social and cultural concerns for people during the fourteenth-century. Dante wrote the Commedia not in Latin but in the Tuscan dialect of Italian so that it would reach a broader readership. The Commedia was a three-part journey undertaken by the pilgrim Dante to the realms of the Christian afterlife: Hell, (Inferno), Purgatory, (Purgatorio), and Paradise, (Paradisio).

The poem narrated in first person, began with Dante lost midlife. He was 35 years old in the year 1300 and in a dark wood. Being lost in the dark wood was certainly an allegorical device that Dante used to express the condition of his own life at the time he started writing the poem. Dante had been active in Florentine politics and a member of the White Guelph party who opposed the secular rule of Pope Boniface VIII over Florence. In 1302, The Black Guelphs who were allied with the Pope, were militarily victorious in gaining control of the city and Dante found himself an exile from his beloved city for the rest of his life. Thus, Dante started writing the Commedia in 1308 and used it to comment on his own tribulations of life, and to state his views on politics and religion, and heap scorn on his political enemies.

Dante's first leg of his journey out of the dark wood was through the nine concentric circles of Hell (Inferno), escorted by his favorite classical Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid. Dante borrowed heavily from Virgil's Aeneid. Much of Dante's description of hell had similarities to Virgil's description in his sixth book of the Aeneid. Dante's three major divisions of sin in hell where unrepentant sinners dwelled, had their sources in Aristotle and Augustinian philosophy. They were self-indulgence, violence, and fraud. Fraud was considered the worst of moral failures because it undermined family, trust, and religion; in essence, it tore at the moral fabric of civilized society. These divisions were inversions of the classical virtues of moderation, courage, and wisdom. The fourth classical virtue, justice, is what Dante came to believe after his journey through hell that all its inhabitants received for their unrepentant sins. There were nine concentric circles of hell inside the earth; each smaller than the previous one. For Dante the geography of hell was a moral geography as well as a physical one, reflecting the nature of the sin. Canto IV describes the first circle of hell, Limbo, which is where Dante met the shades, as souls where called, of the virtuous un-baptized such as Homer, Ovid, Caesar, Aristotle, and Plato.

In the four circles for the sin of self-indulgence Dante met shades who where lustful, gluttons, hoarders and wrathful. In the second circle of Hell, lustful souls were blown around in a violent storm. In Canto V, one of the great dramatic moments of the poem, Dante had his first lengthy encounter with an unrepentant sinner Francesca da Rimini, who committed adultery with her brother-in-law. Like all the sinners in hell, Francesca laid the blame for her sin elsewhere. She claimed to be seduced into committing adultery after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. At the end of the scene, Dante fainted out of pity for Francesca.

In Canto X, the sixth circle of hell reserved for heretics who are punished by being trapped in flaming tombs, Dante took the opportunity to use the circle to chastise political leaders for participating in political partisanship. A Florentine who was a leader in the rival Ghibbelline political party, Farinata degli Uberti, accosted Dante. Both men aggressively argued with each other, recreating in hell the bitterness of partisan politics in Florence. Farinata predicted Dante's exile. Dante used this Canto to show the dangerous tendencies of petty political partisanship that he harbored.

The seventh circle of hell was subdivided into three areas where sinners were punished for doing violence against themselves, their neighbors, or God. In Canto XIII Dante encountered Pier della Vigne in the wood of the suicides. The shades there were shrubs who had to speak through a broken branch. Pier spoke to Dante about how he had been an important advisor to Emperor Frederick II, and how he blamed his fall, and his suicide, on the envy of other court members. This Canto was especially important because Dante came to grips with his own "future" fall from political power and exile. Pier's behavior served as a strong example to Dante how not to act in exile. Whether he had been tempted to commit suicide is not clear; however, he certainly had been prone to the selfish and despairing attitude that Pier represented.

The last two circles of hell contained the sinners of fraud. In the eighth circle, there were ten ditches for the various types of fraud such as Simony, thievery, hypocrisy, etc. Canto XIX described the third ditch, which contained those guilty of Simony, the sin of church leaders perverting their spiritual office by buying and selling church offices. Simonists were buried upside down in a rock with their feet on fire. Pope Nicholas III mistakenly addressed Dante as Pope Boniface VIII who was the current Pope in 1300, and whose place in hell was thereby predicted. This is not surprising since Boniface was the person most responsible for Dante's exile. In an interesting literary twist, Nicholas "confessed" to Dante, as if he was a priest, his sin of greed and nepotism. He admitted that even after becoming Pope he cared more for his family's interests than the good of the whole Church. Dante responded to Nicholas' "confession" with a stinging condemnation of Simony drawn from the Book of Revelation. After this encounter, Dante came to understand that hell was a place of justice.

Canto XXXIV, the last one in the Inferno, depicted Satan with three heads. Each head was chewing the three worst sinners of humankind. The middle head was chewing on the head of Judas Iscariot, who was a disciple to Jesus and his betrayer. The other two heads were chewing Brutus and Cassius; the murderers of Julius Caesar, and the two men Dante faulted for the destruction of a unified Italy. Dante considered the two ultimate betrayals against God and against the empire as the worst betrayals perpetrated in the history of humankind.

Thus, Dante's intent in his Commedia was to teach fourteenth-century readers that if one wanted to ascend spiritually towards God then one needed to learn the nature of sin from the unrepentant. By doing this, one could learn to overcome the same tendencies found in themselves. He wanted people to realize what he had come to learn that political partisanship would only stand in the way of unifying Italy and keep it from regaining any of its former glory that it enjoyed during the time of the Roman Empire.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

This book is challenging, heartening ansd inspiring. It takes us to the core issues of violence - the damage done to both women and men by the centuries of patriarchy and unequal and damaging relationships. It also offers a blame-free, compassionate way for men and women to meet, acknowledge their pain and find reconcilliation and healing.

I am very familiar with the work described in this book and it has changed my life. Will Keepin and Cynthia Brix are dedicated to healing the wounds of the earth from the personal to the planetary. Read the book and then sign up for one of their programs if you want to transform your life.

This is a wonderful, healing contribution to relations between men and women. What could be more needed now as we try to bridge the centuries-old gap in understanding between the sexes at home, in the office, in the world? I took the whole weekend to read this, I could not put it down.

This book takes a refreshing look at the topic of gender from a spiritual but not religious perspective. It is also not a theoretical focus but a report of actual transformative processes and individual stories of how this group work has been used internationally to heal the wounds that we have all encountered based on gender. It embraces and synthesizes much of what has been written and practiced and has a hopeful and healing message that we all need to hear.

God spoke so much to me through this book. It really changed my walk with the Lord to get a view of how much He loved me and subsequently how focused I am on myself and not letting Him lead. I would definitely recommend this book.

I orginally got this book in audio form and lived it, but wanted to underline in it! This book has some great quotes that brings my heart to life. Ken Gire writes from the heart and writes in a real way few due.

I have just completed reading The Divine Embrace for the second time. As with Ken's other works, The Divine Embrace is filled with nuggets of truth which go right to the heart. Ken uses the metaphor of dance in drawing us to live a connected life with Jesus Christ. Each chapter is filled with creativity, challenge, and suggestions for being more like Mary in a Martha world. The conclusion opened my eyes to a new way of seeing my relationship with Jesus. I will never look at my life with Jesus the same after reading such impacting words.

Another truly inspring and touching book by this Christian author. I love his writing style, his approach to deep spiritual truths, and his open heart. This is another great book by a great man!