Mary Beth Crain – författare

The authors encourage us to learn to love ourselves no matter what mistakes we''ve made. "May you always make mistakes," they advise, "just not the same ones." The wisdom of the angels shows us how to laugh at ourselves, live in the moment, put our energy into productive activities, and follow the timing of our hearts by using our own angel courage to greet each day with authenticity and love.

First introduced in Terry Lynn Taylor''s Messengers of the Light, the concept of optimysticism is one that combines elements of optimism and mysticism to allow us to see not only the best of this world but also beyond this world, into eternity. In short, it is an exciting new way to tap into the positive side of life and learn to live with hope, passion, purpose and joy no matter what challenges we may encounter.

Much more than a simple "don''t worry, be happy" salve, optimysticism offers insight for lifting every aspect of life relationships, work, spirituality to a new level of fulfillment. Combining spiritual and metaphysical ideas with down-to-earth excercises and activities, The Optimystic''s Handbook offers a solid, practical approach to developing otimystic vision a 20/20 balance of sight and insight that dramatically alters our perspective from an anxious, limiting view of the world to one that is fully open to dreams, goals, ambitions and all the possibilities life holds in store.

For everyone ready to live more peacefully and productively in the coming years of rapid millenial change, optimysticm hold the key. Coauthors Taylor and Crain brilliantly point the way to moving from awareness to action, ideas to results, hope to fulfillment.

Do places where violent deaths occur somehow absorb the horror, only to conjure up images that haunt the living for generations to come? Many people believe that this can indeed happen; above all, in the context of that manmade phenomenon that reaps so great a toll in so short a time: War. Haunted U.S. Battlefields takes us on a spine-tingling tour of America’s most legendary spectral scenes of human struggle—from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the Indian Wars to World War II and beyond.

As America’s bloodiest conflict, the Civil War has yielded the greatest number of ghostly sightings. Hence, most of the twenty-five battlefield legends this book relates are from this era—whether the myriad strange spectral happenings associated with Gettysburg, or this war’s lesser known but equally tragic events.

Since ancient times, stories have abounded concerning the existence of ghost animals. From the Native American animal spirits, to the menacing demon dogs of medieval England, to present day encounters with animal apparitions, there can be little doubt that animals, like people, live after death and pass back and forth between this world and the next.

In the realm of the paranormal, experiences concerning deceased pets who revisit the living are common events. Like the ghosts of humans, pet ghosts return for various reasons. Sometimes they appear to say goodbye. Sometimes they want to reassure their grieving owners that they are all right, and that their spirits are always with them. And sometimes, as they often did in life, they are guarding their beloved humans, delivering a message or a warning.

"Haunted Pets" covers a wide range of encounters with animal ghosts. Some of these encounters are comforting; others are terrifying. In general, when pets return in ghostly form, they provide comfort and protection to the living. But there are other less benign phantom creatures who have been known to haunt places of violence, or exact revenge upon humans for evil deeds which, while long past, have somehow evaded justice.

Do places where violent deaths occur somehow absorb the horror, only to conjure up images that haunt the living for generations to come? Many people believe that this can indeed happen; above all, in the context of that manmade phenomenon that reaps so great a toll in so short a time: War. Haunted U.S. Battlefields takes us on a spine-tingling tour of America''s most legendary spectral scenes of human struggle—from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the Indian Wars to World War II and beyond.

As America''s bloodiest conflict, the Civil War has yielded the greatest number of ghostly sightings. Hence, most of the twenty-five battlefield legends this book relates are from this era—whether the myriad strange spectral happenings associated with Gettysburg, or this war''s lesser known but equally tragic events.