Fans pick 100 books like Initiation

I think I learned the most about allegory and symbolism from this book. I also loved the protagonist's exciting and perilous journey, which inspired me to learn about spirituality and the unknown.

I loved the fact that this book is accessible to anyone, no matter what they believe, and I liked how you could take your own messages from its pages. I enjoyed the beautiful scenes the author creates, which on their own can influence faith.

I read this book so many years ago, but it has stayed with me. It struck me then, as it does now, as revolutionary in that it was one of the first retellings of the Arthurian myth from the female perspective.

I took a class on Arthurian Literature in university, and the tales of the period are obviously male-dominated. But The Mists of Avalon showed me a way into the female characters in the tale, and they are fascinating.

I read this for a women’s study class and LOVED it. The telling of a story back in the biblical times from a woman’s perspective… sign me up.

This one took me through an emotional journey, blending fact with fiction to the point where I didn’t know where one ended and the other began. My heart was put through the ringer. I cried. I laughed. I fell in love. I felt the bond between mother and daughter and the rage of the oppression the FMC went through. It made me take a look at these biblical stories in a whole new light. 

It was very exciting. The book is about coincidences/synchronicities and being guided by signs, visions, and feelings. I was already caught up in a spiritual path when this book appeared, and it was like a whirlwind time for me. I was led into many different studies, eventually returning to Christianity. This book was close to the beginning of a journey that began 30 years ago. 

This book, though, opened my eyes to the connection between a higher intelligence and yourself. Its magnificent guidance led me, which I still rely on today. I swear that that ability has saved me daily by following Christ. I learned that the world was very full, alive, exciting, and not mundane.

The companion reader was helpful and one very significant thing that I learned is how we choose our parents and to understand why and the qualities they have that I needed in this sojourn.… show more.

This is a work of fiction written by Jane Roberts, famous as the writer of the Seth books. Through the novel form, Roberts gets across a plausible way to look at life, the fluid nature of time and some possible meaning and purpose to be found in reincarnation. It’s also pretty entertaining. Yay novels! There are three books in the Oversoul series. This, the second, is my favorite. 

A few years ago when my wife suddenly died, on the second day I spoke to a dear friend who also happens to be a longtime monk on my spiritual path. He mentioned a book by a psychologist who took people to see the greater arc of their soul’s journey—their ‘lives between lives’. That doctor was Dr. Michael Newton, and this is my favorite of his series.

At the time, reading it had a profound effect on my growing understanding of the greater arc of the human soul and provided an immense sense of peace. Above all, it soothed my tattered mind at a moment when life felt incomprehensible and helped me make sense of our larger purpose for being here even while still grieving. Through 70 case histories of real people who were regressed into their ‘lives between lives,’ Dr. Newton reveals life continuing on the other side, ways… show more.

This is Ian’s first past life book and in my view his best of many.

Wanting to have his own experience of a past life before writing the book Ian came to me for a past life regression to discover if past lives were real. He regressed into a past life of being tortured by having his fingernails removed that totally convinced him that the experience was real.

The book has a summary of the work of many pioneers in past life regression and their books and also future life regression. Ian presents information in a rational way and has done amazing research to dismiss much of skeptic’s criticism in early past books.

This is a novel that divides. It was a work that took Mailer many years to complete and the book that he (apparently) regarded as his masterpiece. It is certainly an incredible piece of work – the product of a powerful imagination in recreating an authentic feel for ancient Egypt with details ranging from cosmology via warfare to street scenes.

Some readers find the strong focus on the sensuality of the Egyptians a bit much. Mailer’s Egyptian world is very sexualised and who’s to say he’s wrong? If you’re not turned off by that kind of thing you’ll be rewarded with one of the most richly detailed and “real” feeling historical novels ever written.

Stories of people with personal connections to times long gone and places far away always fascinate me. In this novel, 13-year-old Willow begins experiencing strange visions that lead her to believe that she led a former life in ancient Egypt. I love how the author doesn’t shy away from sensitive subjects like religion and terminal illness, but handles them with sensitivity (Willow’s best friend is a fundamentalist Christian who does not approve of the idea of past lives, and Willow’s sister is gravely ill). Still, the main focus of the story is Willow’s research into the possibility of reincarnation, and I found it captivating. 

I am an optimist, and I believe in true love, and I believe things can work for the best even when times seem bleak. So I enjoyed this book, which starts with cave-dwellers and follows their two souls from prehistory to the present. Again and again, though separated by death, these teens search for each other. I love how they find each other again and again, and I appreciate the wonderful message that love is stronger than death.