Book Review: Warrior of the Spirit
I don’t write book reviews in my blog, but now it seems that I have done already twice. If you are interested, I welcome you to read this and others on my blog.
Elizabeth Urabe, to me, is a poet. Her poems fascinate me with their short, yet stabbing verses about universe, ‘self’ and life. I had downloaded this book ‘ Warrior of the Spirit’ after our initial interactions but finally took it up to read over the last week of July 2021.
The book is not an easy read. It is divided into two parts — a short note on how the book is to be read and then the book itself. So what is there in the book?
For me, the book was a quick yet deep journey of self discovery. The contents are fascinating and contemplative. Let us judge the cover first.
Topic and Cover:
The cover itself is fascinating and gives a glimpse of what is awaiting inside. The title of the design, according to Elizabeth is ‘Spirit Dance’. The spirit defines a human.
A human is a combination of body and spirit. The body is unique, but it is a container that holds the spirit. Like a colorful flame, it flickers and glows.
The title is synonymous to the picture. Each human, in his life, goes through a self discovery process — an identity that evolves with his journey. This is their spiritual growth, whether they admit or not. These humans are the ‘Warriors of the Spirit’.
The battle of life makes us the warriors of the spirit. Life leaves many scars and wounds, memories and moments, that shape and evolve our spirit.
Between the Covers:
The author describes the contents, which are ‘designs’. The designs are arranged in three parts — Awakening, Healing, and Transformation and Reintegration.
I perused the pictures, called ‘designs’ at first. Then I beheld them with my eyes, and tried to figure the designs. These designs looked abstract yet thematic.
I am not a connoisseur of the abstract art, yet I could sense myself drawn towards some of these designs. The titles helped to understand the design concept.
I will share one design to make my point. Rest, you will have to pick a copy to experience. I say, experience. And here, I demonstrate one.
This is my interpretation of ‘Karmic Wheels’.
There are two wheels, similar in looks, texture and color. The wheels — the wheels of time and deed — spin, creating ripples in the fabric of our spirits. Deeds because our actions cause the ripples, time because they propagate and let the deeds manifest into results. The results, we don’t control.
There is a strong boundary — the thick blue wall — to this entire fabric, like the shores of a lake. The ripples hit the shore and are reflected back into the lake of life itself. Beyond the thick blue wall, are the spheres of this infinite universe that we cannot control. But the macro events also affect the cycles of Karma.
You could come with a different interpretation depending on your personality and disposition. That is the author’s point. The beholder reckons.
My Word:
Each design is layered — simple yet deep, and the interpretation is in the eyes of the beholder.
It is a journey, if you explore the book for what it has been intended for. You need to explore at multiple points of your life, the three aspects of spiritual evolution: Awakening, Healing and Transformation.
I am sure that the reader who believes and beholds the experience will go back again, and such a trip into the contents of the book is a spiritual journey by itself.
These designs are available in coloring books and apparel form. I could write reams and reams about her works, both ‘designs’ and ‘poems’, then it would defeat the purpose of this article — a simple book review.
Links:
Elizabeth Urabe’s book ‘Warrior of the Spirit’ can be picked here.
You can visit her website to know more about her work.
~Ashok Subramanian
