The Celestine Prophecy
Personal Development Planet Review
(click
here for UK buyers
) is a fun and powerful book that I recommend to anyone who has an interest in the evolution of human consciousness.
If you are looking for an engaging and exciting story which converts spiritual and new-age insights into a fast-paced work of fiction, you should consider picking up a copy of James Redfield’s global word-of-mouth bestseller.
This review gives you my thoughts on the book as well as a little background information, and lists the good bits and bad bits too.
By the end of this review you should have a good idea of whether The Celestine Prophecy is for you.
Basic Premise
The Celestine Prophecy tells the fictional story of a “normal” guy who is whisked out of his comfortable (but deadening) life and deposited head-first into the middle of a crazy conspiracy in the rainforests of Peru. Fuelled by some strange coincidences, our guy finds out about the existence of an ancient manuscript which has been discovered – a manuscript that the Church is quickly and ruthlessly trying to cover up.
The manuscript supposedly details nine key insights – powerful spiritual insights about the true nature of human beings, which also details how humans are to evolve their own state of consciousness. Naturally, this kind of heresy is not looked on too kindly by the omnipotent Peruvian Church, who are on a relentless mission to track down all copies of the prophecy - and destroy them.
Fans of new-age or spiritual fare will find themselves in familiar territory as the story progresses and our protagonist starts to uncover the missing insights. First come insights about the true nature of coincidences in our lives (synchronicities); then musings on the energy that make up our universe; onto the tendency for humans to struggle for power; the impact our parents have on us; and also on how to better connect with people and how to live in the present moment.
If you’ve ever read any spiritual / new-age material before, you’ll find yourself in familiar ground – although the novel way the ideas are presented in an action-thriller mould makes for a nice change from reading “text book” insights into spiritual matters. This new approach can actually have quite a powerful impact on you as you read.
As the story progresses, the action gets more and more fast-paced, and as the insights are revealed and acted upon our guy begins to realise some life-changing truths about himself... but will he be able to master the insights and rescue The Celestine Prophecy before the Church close in?
Who's it for?
At just 282 pages, The Celestine Prophecy is not a huge read. As such, it should be appealing for anyone interested in synchronicities, the law of attraction, being present and learning how to evolve levels of human consciousness.
Additionally, if you’ve read about these kind of ideas before and found them a bit abstract, The Celestine Prophecy manages to seamlessly weave hard-hitting spiritual ideals into a fast-paced work of fiction, meaning that you learn about the insights in the format of an evolving story - which makes them much easier to digest.
Seeing how practicing these spiritual principles works on a day-to-day basis for an “ordinary guy” works well too, as it is easy to relate to him and brainstorm ways you can apply the insights to your own life.
Finally, it’s a great starting point for anybody looking to expand their personal development into the spiritual arena, and who wants a nice gentle and exciting story to begin their growth.
Who's it NOT for?
The Celestine Prophecy is not for people who don’t like the idea that coincidences can be meaningful; or for folks who don’t buy in at all to any “hippy crap”.
Frankly, however, I’ve given this book to a couple of my mates who I thought would run a mile (success driven, alpha male types) and they’ve actually come back to me quite moved by the book.
As such, if you’ve read this far, there’s probably a chance you’d like it. Unless you’re just reading this to test how much “hippy crap” you can tolerate before smashing an angry, ego-powered hand through your computer screen, of course :-)
The Best Bits
I think this book does a brilliant job of converting ancient spiritual beliefs into a fast-paced, exciting and unusual story. Even without the added benefit of being highly transformative, The Celestine Prophecy is a fun book.
I’ve read it three or four times now, and each time I get a better understanding of myself, and I become more centred or grounded. As mentioned above, it has a highly transformative effect when you read it; so expect to notice a lot more synchronicities in your life, feel energised and “at one”, and also expect to feel uplifted and really quite positive.
This is an easy-to-understand “feel good” book that is packed full of optimism, in addition to the introduction in spirituality it gives you. I really treasure it and will read it many times more in the future.
The Worst Bits
The narrative at times relies too much on coincidences to drive it forward, and it is a bit lacking in intelligent plot devices. If you’re a big reader of fiction, you may find it a bit basic.
Additionally, as mentioned above, this is a “feel good” book and is written in a way which naturally makes you feel happier and more upbeat. If you averse to this kind of writing, you’d probably be better off staying away.
Apart from that, The Celestine Prophecy exceeds expectations – probably why it has grown through word-of-mouth to sell millions of copies around the world and become a new-age favourite.
What Next?
If you want to give The Celestine Prophecy a go:
Click here to buy from Amazon.com
- price at time of writing (November 2009) is $9.84
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
- price at time of writing is £6.97.
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