books:

	In a Spiritual Style: The Home as Sanctuary Laura Cerwinske Thames & Hudson, 2000 - 112 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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We were inspired by another book, Holy Personal by Laura Chester, and built a 10' x 12' meditation room in our back garden. In A Spiritual Style has only affirmed our desire to transform our interior living spaces into sacred, meaningful places of comfort and self-expression for our family as well.

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Wonderful Sacred Book for the Home

An inspirational book that can help make your home a more peaceful place to live, work, and meditate in. I enjoyed looking at the photos and reading the text. I would ceretainly recommend buying a copy.


benissimo

This is one of my favorite books to look through. There are so many full color photographs of different altars and sacred spaces. I get so many ideas from this book. Its one of those books that you just pick up now and again for inspiriation. The author truly has the creative spark. My favorite are the photographs of the authors santeria shrines. The Orisha must be pleased with what the author has created for them. Ashe to Laura Cerwinske!

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Inner peace in your home

As you browse throught this book you will feel inspired in many ways; you will be inspired spiritually of course but also at looking at the world in a different way. In this book the differences between religions are erased, the belief in ancient dieties mesh with contemporary reflections of Jesus, Buddah, Hindu Shiva and Shakti figures, African fetish figures or sculptures are intermingled with Burmese textiles and Mexican altars , complete with crosses adorned with milagros are juxtaposed on other pages with devil wood carvings and images of death in the form of calaveras (skeletons). There is even a section on Santeria altars where the text explains the origins of the religion as coming with the slaves from Yoruba to Cuba and spreading throughout the Caribbean. The book is organized with a text and accompanying pictures of the history of sacred design and the meaning of santuary. If you look at the table of contents you will see that the author explores gardens, rooms and shrines, altars , art and artifacts. The text is less than spellbinding but the pictures are magnificent. The author takes you into several artists homes and naturally they are some of the most spectacular. If you are into wood work from New Mexico than you are in for a real treat. There is nearly a two page spread of renowned santero Ramon Jose Lopez bedroom that shows his "chapel" where he sleeps. The bed has six panels, featuring various saints, a room divider with more hand carved panels of saints, many styles of crosses, including an altar made of wood in form of a pyramid where each level is lit by candle light and colorful retablos. It is a sight to behold and helps explain the inspired beautiful work by Lopez. In general this is a book that opens up the possibilities for creativiy to flow and create your own santuary. Having a mini altar myself that continues to grow and having seen some impressive homes where sacred places exist , this book helps to borrow ideas from or develop some new ideas. The gardens featured range from simple, rustic places to elaborate arts of work complete with sculptural panels and life sized sculptures looking as though they are dancing in the garden in their inanimate state. The colorful pictures seem to reveal something new each time you look at the book, it as though the spirits reveal themselves when the time is right. A fine book for browsing after taking a break from the task at hand, this book will inspire you and elevate your senses as you look to the heavens and give thanks for all the beauty around you.

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A showpiece for the author's own artwork. . .

Beautiful to browse through, but steeped in a sort of spiritual narcissism which I found distasteful. The writing is disjointed and overall, the book poorly organized. A disappointment.

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books i've read sept. 2003
Creating Sacred Spaces