Soul Gifts: The World’s Self-Help Book
Prose, Poetry and Art
by Barbara J Gill, RN
Cover Art by Barbara Gill’s daughter

Reviewed by Katherine L. Gordon
Author, Editor, Publisher, Judge and Reviewer.

Usually I have the opportunity to read new poetry books from a wide spectrum of themes and intent, by interesting, talented contemporaries.

Soul Gifts arrived on my desk as something out of the ordinary.Truly it is more prose than poetry, but the prose appears in the form of brief vignettes, slice-of-life poetry-of-life, in themselves. Sprinkled throughout are memorable poems to enhance the theme of connectedness that vivifies this book: at eight and thirty three/we vary/in our sameness, and the mermaid will slide/through fantasy,/splash laughter/at the score of sour wenches.

The vignettes are not in chronological order, but crop up I the writers mind as events call upon them. Relatives, friends, mentors, pop in and out this way, all contribution their special relevance to Barbara Gill’s growth and healing. Some are living, some not still on this plane, but all are very much with us in their words and presence. This is of course what the author intends, another confirmation of our connectedness to the stream of ancestors with friends of the present moment.

Each prose byte enhances the theme of healing through understanding; the key being self-understanding and acceptance, as part of the physical/mental/spiritual health of the individual. Some of the stories are intensely personal, a brave laying-out of the moments faced and absorbed into Barbara’s healing formula.

These stories will help any reader accept the shaky seas of living along with the admitted, firm landmarks.

Barbara J. Gill is an artist. She shares some of her acrylic paintings with us on her accompanying website www.shandarrah.com . Many echo mystical stained glass visioning, as does the kaleidoscope cover designed by her daughter. Much creativity surfaces in this book in art, poetry, music and story-telling. It is quite a refreshing and enjoyable discovery.

Barbara J Gill has used these gifts to bring us a message of hope for healing, encompassing a healing of the environment, for fractured human relationships that lead to disparity and conflict.  The book is a fresh vision for recognizing the roots of human illness and despair. Using her insights into healing, Barbara recovered from cancer and personal difficulties with energy and gratitude. This led her to writing and lecturing to help others help themselves through understanding vision and connectedness. Along this path she met doctors and healers, a very powerful one being her Cree Medicine Woman advisor Carol Desjarlais, Eagle Woman.

Aboriginal healing and spiritual knowledge play a role in Barbara’s book. She shows us the power in the symbols of Eagle and Bear, the stubbornness of Bear playing a particular role her recovery from cancer.

Entertaining as this presentation is, Barbara hopes it can be used as well for self-healing, and comfort in situations that can only be accepted.

Two companions come with Soul Gifts: a booklet called Soul Rubbing™ Exercises that helps the reader pin-point the particular demons that inhibit growth and healing, and a CD that facilitates Barbara’s goal of revealing truths of self-healing and spiritual knowledge.[Free Download www.shandarrah.com]

However one chooses to benefit from this fascinating package, it is an entertaining collection; artistic, creative and valuable to imparting a feeling of connectedness and well-being to the reader. This is a unique, imaginative, creative offering, worth exploring at any level you choose, from reading enjoyment to spirit liberation. Soul Gifts offers a rich feeling of belonging and acceptance in our eclectic human family.

By Katherine L. Gordon
Spring 2006