 BOOK
TALK
Sage-ing While
Age-ing
by Gayl Woityra
Each month here in
Book Talk we discuss various books with themes
of body, mind or spirit. Usually these works are
serious ones ranging from quantum physics to
metaphysics, psychology to philosophy and
offering information, research findings and
often, inspiration. We love all the books that
help us to understand life and to approach our
daily situations with greater insight.
At times, however,
we need to approach our life’s journey in a more
light-hearted fashion. When I need that extra
“light” in my spiritual explorations, I watch
for a new book by Shirley MacLaine. This
delightful person, Academy Award winning
actress, dancer, writer and seeker of truth, has
enlightened us with her forthright explorations
into life’s meaning for many years. In so doing
– going Out on a Limb (the title of one of her
books), she has weathered the jokes from
late-night comics by treating all the criticism
with patience and much self-humor. She has been
a model for all who tread a spiritual path by
remaining true to herself and to her interest in
life’s mysteries.
It was with great
delight and expectation, therefore, that I read
Shirley MacLaine’s newest book, her eleventh,
entitled Sage-ing while Age-ing (Atria Books
2007). Rather than having a single theme as
several of her more recent works have done, such
as her trek on The Camino (Simon & Schuster
2001) or stories about her dog in Out on a Leash
(Simon & Schuster 2004), she covers many
different topics. In this new work MacLaine
provides a cornucopia of what she has learned in
her life experiences and what currently
interests her.
In this one book
readers will find a compendium of “New Age”
topics: all the areas MacLaine has questioned
and explored throughout her life and where she
is still searching for more answers. Among the
many topics MacLaine explores, readers will find
discussions of aging, synchronicity, politics,
the fear factor, physical wellness, contemporary
medical practices, soul memory, Atlantis,
depression, consciousness, beliefs, UFOs,
religions and wars, prophecies and creation
myths. Literally, in one book, Shirley covers
nearly every topic available in the “New Age”
bookshelves in a large bookstore. Moreover, each
discussion sparkles with MacLaine’s unique
personality and enthusiasm.
In her Foreword
MacLaine admits: “I have been a questioner all
my life– sometimes irritatingly so.” She says,
“This book encompasses a great deal of research
that I have done with others who have the same
questioning nature.” When she writes, she does
so to achieve “a little bit of clarity.”
Shirley’s direct research is one reason all her
books are so interesting. If it’s a place to
explore, she goes there. If there is an expert
on a topic, she visits and interviews them.
Given her celebrity, she is able to get to
sources unavailable to the rest of us. In this
way her books never reflect just her opinion,
but rather present the best information and
insights she has been able to gather.
As a person now of
some years, she says she is “concerned more and
more with longevity and the connection of mind,
body and spirit.” Some of the issues she wants
to deal with in this new book are: questioning
and sharing what she has learned about our
connection to what she calls “the God source;”
concerns about why the government has kept
secret information about “visitors from other
worlds;” and a major concern about the “nature
of fear” and its use by the “military-industrial
complex.” She urges us all to “Stay
open-minded.”
Each chapter is structured around Shirley’s move
into a new house in Santa Fe, NM. Each new
experience segues into some thoughts about life.
She reminisces about her childhood and early
experiences in theater and film. She notes how
very early in her life synchronicity became
active. Things happened as if they were meant to
happen, over and over. Along the way in each
chapter, readers will find MacLaine’s insights,
ones that can enlighten readers. For example,
she notes: “Life is meant to enable each of us
souls to learn who we are and why we act the way
we do. Hopefully, by the time we leave, we’ve
learned a little more about our fears, our
happiness and mostly, how to give love and
accept it, without judgment.”
Reflecting on her
times in Hollywood, Shirley finds lessons
learned from her many experiences. She is
critical of current films that emphasize
“horror, violence, perverted sex and so on.” She
reports that “studio heads say they need to put
fear-inducing material on the screen because
there is so much real fear in our culture that
audiences prefer to go into denial about.”
MacLaine bemoans this fact and finds it
“dispiriting” to use horror and fear to make
money and get ratings.
Chapter 3 returns
to the subject of synchronicity. First she
explains its source with Swiss psychologist Carl
Jung. Then she points out ways synchronicity can
work in every person’s life. She shares ways
synchronicity has operated in her own life and
speculates how it may be functioning on national
and international levels. Ultimately, she
explains the importance to her of “surrender” to
the higher source that seems to be directing the
synchronicities. She says, “The power of
surrender to a guided synchronicity has been the
most meaningful lesson of my life. I wish it
hadn’t taken so long!” The wisdom in this
insight can be beneficial to us all.
With her usual dry
humor, bemoans shifts to a chapter’s discussion
of modern day medicine and her own battles with
aging. She is rather critical of allopathic
medicine with its emphasis on pharmaceuticals to
treat symptoms. She focuses instead on her own
experiences with various alternative cures. Her
discussions include what she has learned about
nutrition, Xi Gong, alkaline balance, energy
medicine, radionics and naturopathic dentistry.
Most readers will find this chapter highly
informative.
Readers familiar
with MacLaine’s previous books, won’t be
surprised by a chapter relating to soul memory
(reincarnation), Atlantis and ancient earth
catastrophes. She notes that she “did a great
deal of research on Atlantis.” Referring to
Edgar Cayce’s readings, she claims Atlantis’
“downfall was due to a rise in both militarism
and materialism.” She is “interested in whether
we are now mirroring the same conflicts that
existed in Atlantis.” Her conclusion is that
“unfortunately, we learn from history that human
beings do not learn from history.”
Chapter 6 covers
multiple topics, ranging from a general sorrow
she feels about “the state of the world” to
negativity in general, beliefs and religion,
consciousness and the achievements of IONS, the
Institute of Noetic Sciences founded by former
astronaut, Dr. Edgar Mitchell. All of these
discussions are thoughtful and very informative.
Readers may be
surprised that MacLaine devotes two full
chapters to discussions of UFOs (unidentified
flying objects) and ETs (extra-terrestrials). We
don’t hear all that much about such things in
the standard media today. Shirley calls that
fact “disinformation,” a manipulation by the US
government and she provides some interesting
counter-arguments. (Readers interested in the
topic of UFOs will find regular discussions of
UFO issues on late-night radio: Coast to Coast
AM with George Noory, as well as occasional
programs on The History Channel.
MacLaine openly
announces that she “has seen (along with other
people) many crafts in the skies of Peru and
Mexico.” She notes that it is “only here in
America that the fear and ridicule are the most
prevalent.” These two chapters are the most
fully researched and developed discussions in
her book. Chapter 7 is packed with references to
specific expert witnesses, most commonly
high-ranking military officers who have
testified (usually informally) or written about
their experiences. Many of them offer amazing
facts about the famous Roswell, NM incident.
MacLaine also refers to investigations she made
of Canadian documents regarding UFOs.
It is typical of
MacLaine to “go to the top” to find answers to
her many questions about a topic. It is amusing
to find that she even sought answers from two
Presidents of the United States about the UFO
question. First she “discussed the UFO
phenomenon with President Jimmy Carter...(who)
had actually seen a craft and wanted to know
more.” He told MacLaine that “elected officials
are told such things only on a ‘need to know’
basis.” She learned from President Bill Clinton
that he, too, was curious about the subject,
“but when he insisted on knowing more, he ran
into a blank wall.” MacLaine comments: “The
military intelligence extraterrestrial complex
is, in effect, its own permanent government.”
Chapter 8 continues a very in-depth discussion
about UFOs with even more information that most
of us have never heard. For example, she notes
that “the mass sightings in Mexico are
unparalleled in UFO research history. Fleets of
them are spotted over every city, particularly
Guadalajara, Leon and Mexico City.” She cites
many specific dates and places, but notes that
“None of these events was printed or reported in
the US. There were videos of people filming from
the tops of cars, out of windows, on city
streets – everywhere.” This has to be surprising
for readers. As MacLaine comments, “Why does
this (blackout) still persist?” This chapter
also includes some fascinating quotations about
the UFO phenomena from 15 prestigious sources,
including President Harry S. Truman, General
Douglas MacArthur, President Gerald Ford,
Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, General Nathan
Twining, the Brookings Institute and astronaut
Frank Borman.
I expect by now
readers of Book Talk can understand what I meant
when I described MacLaine’s new book as a
cornucopia of information on many topics. With
three chapters to go, we find still more
interesting topics to explore, including
religion and wars, more about consciousness,
prophecies, the early history of man, creation
myths and the Mayan calendar. Clearly, Shirley
MacLaine loves to explore many aspects of life,
especially those areas that are mysterious or
controversial in nature. What fun it is to
explore these topics along with her. She
provides two quotations that underscore this
attitude. First, as the philosopher Socrates
said, “An uninvestigated life is not worth
living.” And then as the poet Yeats said, “The
only journey worth taking is the one through
oneself.”
This book is
clearly both informative and inspiring. I feel
it is most appropriate to close our discussion
of Sage-ing While Age-ing with some of my
favorite insights from MacLaine. Regarding
“peace,” she says the following: “Peace, to me,
is just being, not striving toward the next goal
or desired success or political victory. Peace
is finding happiness in small things. Peace is
feeling one with all things. Peace is the
freedom of curiosity to question the accepted
political agendas of society without worrying
about what people think... Peace is my warm
puppy to cuddle up to at night.”
Finally, regarding
these searches for truth that Shirley has
journeyed on these many years, she says, “I only
know I get more pleasure from asking questions
than anything else in life. I accept very little
at face value, yet I’m a trusting innocent who
believes that there’s some truth in everything.”
In typical fashion for this talented
actress-writer, she concludes, “We are the
performers and the audience of our own dramas.
And the show must go on!”
Shirley MacLaine’s
website is:
www.shirleymaclaine.com.
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