Archive for the 'religion' Category

The Last Adventure Of Life: Sacred Resources For Living And Dying From A Hospice Counselor, By Rev. Maria “Dancing Heart” Hoaglund

Posted by Dan Janal, Your Fearless PR LEADER | January 5th, 2009

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Those who are:
• Family members of those who are ill and bereaved individuals
• Healers: healthcare professionals, caregivers, volunteers, spiritual care providers, member of the clergy, social workers, etc.
• Individuals interested in overcoming their fears around death and the afterlife.
• Those interested in learning more about how to combine holistic approaches with end-of-life and grief care.
• Anyone interested in growing spiritually – spiritual seekers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The Last Adventure of Life is an inspirational resource book that weaves together some of the best stories, poetry, scripture, prayers, and guided meditations that I have found to help those facing death or grief in their lives. It also includes chapters on grief and healing resources. This book also serves as an overview of hospice from a spiritual perspective; some have even said that it is one of the best introductions to hospice that they have ever read.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am uniquely qualified to write this book because I grew up in Japan and am bilingual and bicultural. I was gifted with a broad, multi-cultural perspective and a curiosity about life that has made me delve into all kinds of material related to heath and healing through my professional and personal life.

After serving as a United Church of Christ minister for a decade, I served as a hospice spiritual and bereavement care provider for eleven years, so I developed a deep appreciation for hospice and how it can change your life. I have found that doing hospice counseling work for over a decade has given me an expanded view of life – not unlike a person who has had a near death experience. My work shares some of this material in a smorgasbord fashion.

As a healer, I am also passionate about wellness and have developed a body-mind-spirit perspective. Therefore, the last chapter of the book has a great deal of information on many of the complementary and integrative therapies such as: Aromatherapy, acupressure, acupuncture, massage, music, guided meditations, hypnotherapy, shamanism, and the like.

The material is presented in such a way as to be particularly helpful to those who are preparing to die or who are grieving. However, a person working toward their physical healing and wholeness could also benefit from reading my book.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The Last Adventure of Life is a very comprehensive book. It covers a great deal of territory compared to most books on this topic. For example, it honors and shares material from many faith traditions and spiritual perspectives.

Most books covering hospice or these topics are either medically or religiously based. However, I share from a very broad spiritual base, so many faith perspectives are shared firsthand. Also, since there is a lengthy chapter introducing some complementary therapies at the end of the book, this also makes my book unique in its scope.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The Celtic philosophy is that you need to die before you die so that when you die, you don’t need to die! In this vein, my book is actually meant to be a guide for someone who is ready to bring death back into their life.

Ideally, this book needs to be read by someone who is not directly facing death, but would like to deal with their fears and questions around it. Here is what Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, an expert in conscious aging had to say about my work: “Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once had a patient who said to her ‘I want to live through my dying.”

Anyone who shares that sentiment will find The Last Adventure of Life a way to expand their consciousness and to prepare for that moment.”

Here is a list of Chapter titles from the book and some frequently asked questions that my book could help answer:

1. TRUTH: Letting Go Is Liberating
2. BEAUTY: The Divine Presence Within All Living Things
3. LOVE: The Only Real Power
4. JOY: Tuning in to Humor and Gratitude
5. TRUST: Healing into Wholeness
6. REFLECT: Life Review and Dealing with Unfinished Business
7. AWARENESS: Cultivating the Art of Meditation
8. HOPE: Reflections on the Afterlife and the Interconnectedness of All
9. SPIRITUAL PATH: Receiving Strength from Our Faith Traditions
10. GRACE: The Transforming Power of Grief
11. RESOURCES FOR HEALING

The book also has an annotated bibliography with 110 books in it (including books for caregivers), and many other resources like magazines and journals, music, videos, DVDs, and websites. Many of the websites can be found as links on my website as well: www.thelastadventureoflife.com, or www.changewithcourage.com. Also, I have developed some “gift baskets for the soul” related to some of the integrative therapies I suggest in the last chapter. You can see more about my Soul Baskets at www.soulbaskets.com.

Frequently asked Questions:
• What is a near death experience? How have they transformed people’s lives?
• How can I start the “conversation” with our loved one who is sick and perhaps dying? Or with my loved ones who I must leave behind?
• What are some of the signs that death is approaching? How can I assist my loved one at this time?
• How can I talk with my children – and other young people – about death?
• What is meditation and how can it help someone before and at the time of death?
• What are some alternatives, besides more medication, to cope with the pain?
• What is hospice? How does it work?
• Where can I learn more about families directing their own family member’s funeral in a natural, personalized way?
• How can I cope with the grief I am experiencing since the death of my loved one(s)?

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The Ezekiel Code, By Gary Val Tenuta

Posted by Dan Janal, Your Fearless PR LEADER | July 30th, 2008

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: The Ezekiel Code – a metaphysical,  mystery,  adventure thriller – is intended for general audiences from teen to adult and especially those who enjoy the kind of stories told in books and movies like National Treasure, Indiana Jones, The DaVinci Code, The Celestine Prophecy, TheThe X-Files, and even The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor. If you’re a fan of any of the above then this book’s for you!

Q: What is the book about?
A: Zeke Banyon, a Catholic seminary dropout, runs a large homeless shelter in Seattle’s old waterfront district. Angela Martin, an attractive young anthropology student, comes to work for him as his assistant. Together, they stumble upon a strange kind of code and a cryptic note tucked inside an old book that contains a little known story about an artifact known as the Lost Scroll of Ezekiel. They also discover the mystery involves an ancient prophecy about a catastrophic event that would end all life on our planet. Surprisingly, they also discover this prophecy has a curious tie to the Mayan calendar that will end on December 21, 2012. They find themselves in a race against time to figure out the code and what it means. What they don’t know, but soon discover, is that powerful people – a group of rogue Jesuit priests and agents of the secretive Illuminati, hell-bent on establishing a New World Order – are watching their every move. The action carries Banyon and Angela from Seattle to New York and then to a mysterious little village in the South of France and eventually to a point in the Antarctic Ocean where all the mysteries, trials, twists, and tribulations encountered over the course of many months come to a spectacular down-to-the-last-second climax and a dramatic conclusion.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The idea for the book came to me during a conversation with a friend in an all-night diner back around 1997. We were talking about how the first part of the book of Ezekiel in the Bible could be easily interpreted as an encounter with an extraterrestial craft, possibly from another dimension of time and space. My first thought was that the idea would make a great movie project for someone like Steven Spielberg. Then it occurred to me that I could write it as a novel. Having spent years studying and researching a wide range of esoteric subjects, as well as having written several feature articles on related subjects for FATE Magazine I certainly felt qualified to take on the project. But what really makes me the best person to write this book is that the plot device (the “code”, if you will) that drives the story from beginning to end is actually based on my real-life work exporing the possibility that the English alphabet is somehow encoded in such a way that it can be used as a system of gematria (a form of “sacred numerology”, for lack of a better term) as developed and practiced by the Greek and Hebrew priests and mystics of ancient times. Much of what appears in the book was actually derived from the well of data that my work has produced. So, really – now that I think about it – no one else could have written The Ezekiel Code. Apparently destiny chose me for the job. :-)

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: There are a few other novels out there that deal with the issue of 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar. The Ezekiel Code differs from them considerably because of the unique plot device (the “code” mentioned above) that drives the story. It’s all drawn directly from my personal research and development of an English-based system of gematria. This whole idea will be new and unfamiliar to most readers but it’s also completely new and unfamiliar to the two heros in the story too! Believe me, they are totally clueless when their very normal lives are turned upside down by this mystery that suddenly confronts them. Their task is to figure it all out. So the reader can just sit back and go along for the ride because Banyon and Angela do all the work!

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: “2012 is coming…The clock is ticking…The code must be deciphered…And only one man can save the planet…If he can just figure out how before it’s too late.”

“Entertaining and enlightening!”
– Jay Weidner, documentary producer and co-author of Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye

“An amazing feat!”
– Peter A. Gersten, editor, PAG eNews

“Synchronicity at its best! A WOW of a read!”
– Ellen George, amazon.com power reviewer

“Exciting, awesome writing!”
– Tuesday Miles, host of Paranormal Talk Radio

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Secret of the Sands, By Rai Aren and Tavius E.

Posted by Dan Janal, Your Fearless PR LEADER | July 29th, 2008

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Secret of the Sands is suitable for kids and adults, anyone ages 12 & up. It’s got the fun, silly, light-hearted aspects of movies like The Mummy and Indiana Jones series, paired with deep, underlying meaning & messages…Our intent in writing the story was to make it accessible to a wide audience, in the same way our favorite stories and movies are. If your kids liked Harry Potter – then they can certainly read our story.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Secret of the Sands is a mystery novel exploring the origins of ancient Egypt, a pre-pharaonic time, and it has a dual, intertwining storyline between Egypt’s past & present… For 12,000 years a dark and deadly secret has been hidden deep below the Great Sphinx of Giza. In present day Egypt, a frightening, yet awe-inspiring story unravels as archaeologists race against time to decipher an ancient truth…

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: My co-author and I have been fascinated by ancient Egypt since we were small children. We also share
a love of epic stories, so much so we had to create one of our own. In addition, I (Rai) was a member of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities for many years and I have taken two (non-credit) university courses in Egyptology. Further, I have always held certain beliefs about the Great Sphinx of Giza. That coupled with a program I saw on The Discovery Channel many years ago, where they were talking about how the actual age/origin of the Great Sphinx is still a topic of debate today, fueled my fire to write this story.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: It has a dual intertwining storyline throughout the novel – as mysteries are discovered in present-day Egypt, a window to the past opens and the reader learns the origins of the mysterious artifacts. Each jump back in time sheds more light on the present and the truth of the discovery. In addition, this story presents an alternate (fictional) historical account of ancient Egyptian history. Our book touches on many speculations out there today…

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: It is a repeated Amazon.com Bestseller in the category of “Books, Religion & Spirituality, Fiction”. We are also in the process of making Hollywood connections to have it made into a feature film one day. Filmmakers – give us a call, we have a future summer blockbuster for you!

To learn more visit: www.secretofthesands.com and our MySpace page:

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Walking Man: A Modern Missions Experience In Latin America, By: Narciso Zamora

Posted by Dan Janal, Your Fearless PR LEADER | January 17th, 2008

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: This book is intended for young adults, adults, Pastors, and lay persons in support of missions. Walking Man inspires and affirms commitments to foreign missions.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Walking Man is the odyssey of Narciso Zamora’s winding and treacherous path toward finding his calling in missions. Trekking with the Gospel over the mountains and through the jungles of Ecuador, Peru and Chile, often walking for days to reach an isolated settlement of a few families, Zamora’s is a story of Christian triumph in a literal journey of not just a thousand miles, but 10,000 miles.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: Well, I walked it! I have worked in this field for over 30 years and have so many stories to tell that the only logical thing to do was to write a book about the wonders that Jesus has done in my life. This book is a living example of how God can change dramatically someone’s life. I know first hand the challenges that a missionary has to deal with and sharing my experiences can not only encourage others to work, but to act as a manual for someone wanting to get involved in the field.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: This book offers a real life example of what it is to be a missionary and what it takes to be one. My background is so humble and my resources have always been so meager, that if I can do what I’ve done, then, with God’s help, anyone can become a missionary. This book allows me to share my successes and struggles and all of those experiences that have shaped me as a person.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Author proceeds and a significant portion of publisher proceeds go to fund my newest missions project, a school in Cajamarca, Peru to train Latin Americans for the mission field on their own continent.

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