“This is not an ordinary book on healing.”
If you’re at all familiar with Caroline Myss, you won’t be surprised at this statement, which opens her latest book, Defy Gravity: Healing Beyond the Bounds of Reason.
Myss first entered the public eye over a decade ago as a medical intuitive — a person able to discern the emotional and spiritual factors contributing to sickness or other physical mishaps. She has since written a number of books that explore the relationship between energetic systems, archetypes, and health/illness.
Defy Gravity, published in 2011, is one of the more recent of Myss’ books; she wrote it when, during a tour to promote her previous book (Entering the Castle) members of the audience began experiencing spontaneous healings. As she reflected on these events, Myss realized that healing “is ultimately a mystical experience.” It requires more than the coordinated effort of the body and mind: to heal, one must also somehow invoke
that highly refined spiritual substance that I refer to as grace.
From that launching point, Myss erects a framework that will be familiar, in kind if not substance, to anyone who has read her other books. The five chapters that form the heart of the book are each devoted to a series of Five Truths (examples: we need to give ourselves over to something that is beyond human reason; we must connect with purpose; we must be prepared to face that which we fear). Embedded within these chapters you’ll also learn about the Seven Graces and the Five Mystical Laws.
As a spiritual teacher, Myss comes across — for lack of a better word — as sober. This tone is understandable. After all, when we’re sick or in pain, there’s nothing more serious than our desire to be well. But as a result, although Defy Gravity may at times inspire awe (some of the case studies Myss includes are truly elevating), in the end it is a system. And like all systems, to benefit by it, you will likely have to invest yourself wholeheartedly — even if, at times, the exercise comes across as difficult or even drab.
This book would be a good fit for anyone favoring a contemplative approach to metaphysical growth, with overtones of traditional monastic spirituality. If that’s you, click here to buy a copy of Defy Gravity.