I picked up this book because it's new since my last visit to the New Age
section at Barnes & Noble and because I have bought and read nearly
everything else written by Ms. Browne. As with the rest of her books, it
didn't disappoint me.

She makes the point in the early chapters that the concept of a female
duality in the deity is one that has been cherished by every religion known
to mankind, with the exception of Christianity and one or two American
Indian religions. She gives quite a bit of historical research for this
fact and it was interesting reading for me. Some of the names for God in
the Hebrew language are feminine, almost all of them having to do with God
the Creator. And even the Judeo-Christian Bible makes a strong logical case
for the existence of both male and female Gods in Genesis where God said,
"Let us make man after our own image." In all of nature, there are two
sexes in order to procreate, so the idea that God set up Nature to flow as
it does, and NOT be a dual God with male and female sides, seems ridiculous.

Mother God has had many names throughout history and among the various
religions, as has Father God. Sylvia says that her spirit guide and her
experience with spirits from the "Other Side" tell her that Mother God's
name is Azna, but that She really doesn't care what you call Her as long as
you acknowledge that She exists and loves you. Father God is pure intellect
and power, and because of that, he does not manifest in a visible form, but
that Mother God is the Mover, the Creator, and our Interceptor, and that She
can and does manifest Herself upon occasion. Sylvia says that the much
publicized sightings of Mary are not Mary, Jesus' mother, but Mother God
Herself. According to Sylvia, the Godhead is a Trinity, but not the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit as the Church teaches, but the Father, the
Mother and the Holy Spirit, which is Their love moving between Them and us.

It is only in the Christian church that Mother God has been denied and
hidden away, her power ignored and declared to belong to the Father or the
Holy Spirit. Anyone who has studied religions and world history has likely
already read how the men who put the Church together sought to control the
mostly ignorant populace more than to worship and exalt God. Making women
subservient to men in all ways would have been impossible had they
acknowledged Mother God's existence and power, so they demonized Her and
condemned anyone who worshipped Her. So, therefore, the historical part of
this book was a fascinating read for me.

Sylvia's explanation of things are very clear for the most part. Since God
gave us eternity and eternity has no beginning and no end, neither do we.
She uses the allegory of a giant sparkler to describe God and his
relationship to us, that we are, in effect, the sparks that fly out from the
center, and that we have always existed. That God is all intellect, but
that knowing something and experiencing it are often two very different
things, so we incarnate into life on this earth (among others) to experience
for God, increasing not only our own understanding, but His as well. Mother
God is the main one who helps us through this life, whether we acknowledge
her activity or not.

There's a lot more to this book and the theology Sylvia Browne espouses, and
whether you agree with her or not, I think her books are definitely worth
the effort to read through. I personally have found a lot more answers to
questions in her philosophy than I ever found without it. Questions like
"Why me, Lord?" and "Why do bad things happen to good people." and "Why do
bad people prosper?" Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I embrace what she
says is because I lost a beloved grandchild several years ago, a child who
was born with such massive birth defects that the medical community thought
he should have been stillborn, but who lived seven and a half agonizing
years. It would be very easy to turn against and away from God over
something like that, screaming WHY? Makes it easier, at least for me, to
understand that Justin planned his own life just like that because he had a
lesson to learn, and that I planned it in my life to have this happen
because I had a lesson to learn, too. It just makes everything more
tolerable if I stop and ask myself, "Ok, you charted this into your life.
What are you supposed to learn from this? How does this help you to grow?"

Pardon the theological digression there. I got carried away. Anyway,
it was a very good book, well written and well presented, and for that I'll
give it a 5. Your mileage might vary. ( )