Wheel of Initiation by Julie Tallard Johnson
A guide to personal spiritual initiation through the transformation of habitual patterns, apathy, and resistance - Based on the Native American medicine wheel, the Vedic wheel, and the universal initiatory mandala - Enables readers from any tradition to initiate themselves through practices of thought transformation, narrative medicine, meditation exercises, rituals, and journaling - Facilitates breaking through personal and societal illusions that perpetuate resistance and apathy Intentions and spiritual principles, meditation and contemplation, ritual, and risk-taking are the conditions that comprise an initiated life. Regrettably, in modern society we do not have rites of initiation that break through the personal and societal illusions that instill and perpetuate negative habits that keep us in states of resistance. Lacking initiation practices, we often remain trapped in ways of being in the world that were formed by our past conditions and attachments. We tend to identify too strongly with the status quo, which must be challenged to prevent stagnation and to encourage happiness and authenticity. Julie Tallard Johnson shows how to become initiated into an authentic life through practices of thought transformation, cultivating attention, journaling, storytelling, and rituals found in the four directions of the universal mandala. She begins the Wheel of Initiation in the South, where initiates set their intentions; then moves into the West, where they free themselves from habitual patterns and core beliefs; then into the North, the direction of cultivating attention and unity; and finishes in the East, the direction of regeneration and initiation. Drawing upon the life experiences of those who have successfully navigated the wheel, Johnson demonstrates that once fears, assumptions, and ingrained beliefs are confronted and transformed, initiates emerge ready to reenter society with renewed energy and vision that will enrich their own lives and their communities.
Julie is a licensed psychotherapist who maintains a private counseling and consultation service, Healing Services On the River, established in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, in 1995. Here she offers the year-long Initiation Course based on her book, Wheel of Initiation, her popular spiritual journaling classes, Bindu Breathwork, writing consultations and one-on-one transpersonal counseling. Her studies and investigation into cognitive-behavioral therapy, creativity, mind training, thought transformation, Buddhist philosophy, transpersonal counseling, and group dynamics lead to her development of the Wheel of Initiation. Julie obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison where she had a double major in sociology and social work. In 1982 she began her career as a social worker and case manager of a program in Minneapolis for those with chronic and persistent mental illness. While in graduate school at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, she designed and authored The Eight Stage Healing Process for Families and Friends of the Mentally Ill. This book was published by Doubleday in 1989 and Julie toured the United States, Canada, and Australia teaching the eight stages and offering instructions on how to set up a healthy self-help group. She founded the National Siblings Network in the United States through NAMI. Australia adopted her eight-stage protocol, incorporating it into their primary national program for families of the mentally ill. Julie is the author of nine books, two for adults and seven for youth. She is presently finishing up her first YA fiction. Julie has a bimonthly newsletter: Monday Musings for Writers & Spiritual Pilgrims, offering readers a means for spiritual inquiry through journaling and meditation. She also writes columns on transpersonal psychology & spirituality for two local papers. She lives outside of Spring Green, Wisconsin.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781591431114 |
| ISBN 10 | 1591431115 |
| Title | Wheel of Initiation |
| Author | Julie Tallard Johnson |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Inner Traditions Bear and Company |
| Year published | 2010-08-25 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |