Books:

Dreams and Symbols: How to Understand the Meaning of Your Dreams, by Lucien Morgan.  Fascinating, illustrated guide to the world of dreams.

Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders, by Steve Wall and Harry Arden.  Wisdomkeepers takes an extraordinary spirit-journey into the lives, minds, and natural-world philosophy of Native American spiritual Elders. With magnificent photographs and powerful words, the Wisdomkeepers share their innermost thoughts and feelings, their dreams and visions, their jokes and laughter, their healing remedies and apocalyptic prophecies and - above all - their humanity.  Lots of inspiration here for SoulCollage cards!

The Archetypal Imagination, by James Hollis.  Offering a lyrical Jungian appreciation of the archetypal imagination, Hollis draws on the works of poets and philosophers, showing us how our own spiritual instincts are expresses in images (as in dreams, myths, art, and religious traditions).  The author draws on Rilke's Duino Elegies and also uses a series of paintings by Nancy Witt ofRichmond,Virginia.

365 Nirvana here and now: living every moment in enlightenment, by Josh Baran.  This author spent ten years gathering hundreds of the most powerful and inspiring examples of insights that illuminate the abundance and grace that's here right before our eyes and in every breath.  This fat little book is a treasury of timeless wisdom that spans many continents, cultures and traditions.  You will find the present moment celebrated here through stories, dialogues, meditations and poetry.

Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals, by Thomas Moore.  The well-loved author shows us how honoring our periods of fragility (dark nights of the soul) as times of incubation and healing can provide us with a new understanding of life's meaning.  Dark Nights of the Soul presents our metaphoric dark nights as times of transition, occasions to restore ourselves.  Topics include: the healing power of melancholy; finding solace during illness and in aging; anxiety, anger, and temporary insanities; linking creativity, spirituality and emotional struggles, finding meaning and beauty in the darkness, the sexual dark night and the mysteries of matrimony. 

Music:

The Isle of Dreaming, by Kate Price.  Weaving masterful dreamscapes centered around angelic vocals, Kate Price creates contemporary international folk fusion of classical, jazz and ethnic music using instruments from many cultures. An emotional, multi-faceted journey from darkness to light featuring cello, classical guitar, Nyckelharpa, sitar, electric sitar, tabla, Nigerian udu, oboe and English horn.


Movies:

August Rush, featuring Keri Russell, Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  This is a rich film, full of beauty and Story.  The characters' story lines are woven together beautifully and lovingly into a believable ending that you won't soon forget.  Watch it with the eye of a person on a journey, as are the three lead characters in this movie.  I loved how even when one of them took what seemed like a "wrong turn," it only served to bring them closer to their desired end... a good reminder for us all not to second-guess the twists and turns of our own journeys.  In American theatres now.


Websites for Last Minute Gifts That Give Back:

Donors Choose- Help supply pencils, reference books, and field trips to public schools in need. Purchase a gift certificate for any amount and it will be sent to the recipient, who then selects the project to donate to.

Mark Makers- Geared towards kids, this website makes donating fun.  Choose a gift card from $10 and up, and print it out or email it directly to a child, who can return to the site and allocate the money to a cause of his or her choice.

Arbor Day Foundation- Money may not grow on trees, but it can help save them. For $6 the foundation will plant a tree in someone's honor and mail you a greeting card that you can send for the holidays.

Kiva- Help an entrepreneur of your choice- from a fisherwoman in Samoa to a grocer in Haiti.  It's a microfinance loan (available in small amounts), so once the borrower repays you, you can either withdraw your money or reinvest in another venture.

First Book- Give ten books that help a young person from a low-income family learn to read and do basic math.  More than 80% of preschool and after-school programs for kids from low-income families have no age-appropriate books for the kids they serve. Recipients of First Book donations also participate in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs.