Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Scented Adventures of The Bouquet Sisters in Fairyland by Susuan Liberty Hall

Scented Adventures of The Bouquet Sisters in Fairyland by Susan Liberty Hall is a unique, modern fairy tale illustrated with beautiful, full color art by Josephine Wall.  The first impression of this book is very impressive with  its full color graphics on glossy pages, high resolution artwork and the scented card inserts infused with "living essential oils".  As the reader  opens the book, greeted by richly colored artwork,  an aroma - reminiscent of Eastern, spicy insense sticks, wafts through the air.  At first glance this may appear to be a seemingly innocent fictional children's fairy tale- with its rainbow infused fairy artwork depicting fairy princesses and mermaids.  Yet further exploration  into the story reveals some unique  and unusual elements usually not found in fiction such as a belief in supernatural beings such as elementals as well as  new age concepts such as the Etheric spiritual realm, mystical Judaism, Eastern religion and the concept of spiritual frequencies measured in megahertz. The inclusion of graphic photographs seem out of place in the context of a story about fairies.  The mention of Jesus and the power of prayer may lead some to believe this is a Christian story, but that is certainly not the case.  The religious messages do not conform to traditional, biblical Christianity. Ironically, despite the inclusions of biblical verses at the start of each chapter- there is little resemblance to biblical theology.  Jesus is just one of a number of "dieties" or supernatural entities mentioned in this story.  Allah is mentioned as well as a number of angelic or spiritual beings, as well as elementals and fairies- all of which have supernatural powers. 

 In the story, the essential oils are capable of healing the world's problems such as war and poverty.  The three girls have an out of body experience with their spiritual fairy counterparts to spread the healing oils to troubled areas of the world.  (The oils are marketed at the end of teh book as well.) On their journey - with the three sisters, the reader is educated concerning some of the major social issues that plague this world.  There are a few vividly graphic photographs depicting the social quest of the three girls.  The photos of the war zone, depicting a building engulphed in flames, and the sick, thin mid-eastern girl, with her glassy, lifeless stare, on a simple cot with an IV line, and a duck covered in black oil are not what you would normally see in a children's fairy tale.  The photoshopped image of the statue of libery with a background of fourth of July firworks appears to be random- as the patriotic element of the story.  The ecclectic sort of photos stand in stark contrast to the vibrant  butterfly infused pages and the beautiful fantasy fairy art in the beginning of the book. 
While reading the story, the  reader is introduced to elemental beings including Salamander, ( a fire elemental),  and sylph (an air elemental).  Elementals are depicted as forces that emmulate human behavior and emotion via the weather.  Some of these fairies or creatures are eccentric  and seem a bit unexpected or out of place- such as the Earth Elemental known as "Elvis the Elf".  He is depicted as a replica of a child sized Elvis except with pointed elf ears.  I can only assume that the author is a fan of Elvis and wanted to integrate this into the story. The bronze figure of "Mary Moriah", Sylph of the Air looks a bit creepy with her stern, ominous, bold bronzed figure.  These entities as well as other spiritual concepts is based on a new age mystical belief of the world in which various religions are included.   The business card sized inserts containing the oils scents are labeled with Hebrew writing. Throughout the book the reader will find brief paryers or statements in Hebrew, which are interpreted in English.    The author, also uses this fiction work as a spring board to introduce her political and social views concerning poverty, the gold standard, organic foods as well as the purpose of essential oils. There is nothing wrong with this, as the author is promoting positive ideas and making the reader aware of many of the world's problems.  Nevertheless, the inclusion of this social agenda makes the story more than just a simple fiction tale- and at times it is reminiscent of a poltical commentary. 

This fairy tale covers a lot of ground: social and religious! This book is based on a hybrid- new age spiritual view which is a mesh of the  traditions of Christianity and Jewish religions as well as new age mystical and spiritual beliefs as well as patriotism.  Essential oils are depicted as a conduit for healing on the global scale as well as personal.  In fact the author promotes the oils as more effective against disease than vaccines!  The author explains this book is best suited for "Indigo" children- who are more spiritually advanced and are more likely to understand the concepts and words in the fairy tale. The last chapter written directly to the child reader sums up the author's views and instructs the young reader how he or she can adapt an organic lifestyle with the integration of essential oils for health.   The book includes a number of additional resources such as a glossary of terms, a list of websites and information on how to purhcase the essential oils mentioned in the book.  If you are into the New Age movement and the environment, this makes a good gift.  If you are a conservative bible believer, you may find that spititual aspects of this book conflict with those of the bible.As a blogger, I recieved a copy of this book published by Inkwell productions for the purpose of writing this review.

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