Helpful Resources

 

Spiritual Books

If you want to bone up on classical spiritual literature, try these books:

Indian Buddhism, Hinduism & Vedanta

  • How to Know God – Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Prabhavananda & Isherwood
  • Autobiography of a Yogi, Parmahansa Yogananda
  • The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, M
  • The Bhagavad Gita, Prabhavananda & Isherwood
  • The Mahabharata, William Buck
  • The Ramayana, William Buck
  • The Crest Jewel of Discrimination, Shankara & Prabhavananda & Isherwood
  • The Supreme Yoga, Swami Venkatesananda

Tibetan Buddhism

  • Tibet’s Great Yogi Milarepa, Evans-Wentz
  • The Tibetan Book of Great Liberation, Evans-Wentz
  • The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Evans-Wentz
  • Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrine, Evans-Wentz

Taoism

  • I Ching, Wilhelm-Baynes translation
  • The Way of Life, Lao Tzu, Witter Bynner translation

Zen

  • One Robe One Bowl, Ryokan
  • Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind, S. Suzuki

Mysticism

  • Journey to Ixtlan, Carlos Castaneda
  • Tales of Power, Carlos Castaneda
  • The Power of Silence, Carlos Castaneda
  • The Art of Dreaming, Carlos Castaneda

Contemporary Spirituality

Spiritual Audios

Here is a wonderful library of free spiritual audio files. Visit Rama Meditation Society and click on “Resource Library”.

Books About Female History

These books give excellent overviews of female history:

  • The Chalice & the Blade: Our History, Our Future by Riane Eisler, (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY 1987)
  • The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain, (The Penguin Group, New York, NY 1998)
  • When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone, (Harvest/Harcourt Books, Orlando, FL 1978)
  • The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image by Jules Cashford and Anne Baring, (The Penguin Group, New York, NY1993)

Books About Female Archetypes

These are books suggested as additional research material that can be used in conjunction with Lucia’s Female Conditioning Work-Study Course (her Women Standing in Their Power DVD).  Archetypes referenced in the DVD are noted after each book:

  • Internet article – An excellent account of Eve and Lilith in the Christian Bible and how their depiction has affected female consciousness through the centuries: Eve and the Identity of Women (Archetypes Mother Earth/Eve & Mother Divine/Lilith)
  • Women and Prostitution, a Social History, Vern Bullough and Bonnie Bullough, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1987.   A dry but comprehensive history of prostitution in the Western World.  Good to skim.  (Archetype Tantric Lover/Whore)
  • Women of the Pleasure Quarters, the Secret History of the Geisha, Lesley Downer, Broadway Books, NY, 2001. (Archetype Tantric Lover/Whore)
  • Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts by Anne Llewellyn Barstow, (Pandora c/o Harper, San Francisco, CA, 1994).  An absolute must read for women who had lifetimes during the Inquisition and are hindered by past-life blockages such as a closed throat chakra. (Archetype Magician/Witch-Devil Worshiper)
  • Witchcraft, The History and Mythology, Richard Marshall, Saraband Incorporated, 1995.  Good pictures that convey the feeling of the Inquisition. (Archetype Magician/Witch-Devil Worshiper)
  • Unveiled, The Hidden Lives of Nuns, Cheryl L. Reed, Berkley Hardcover, 2004.  (Archetype Magician/Nun)
  • Sisters, Lives of Devotion and Defiance , Julia Lieblich, Ballantine Books, 1992.  (Archetype Magician/Nun)
  • The Myths of Motherhood, Shari L. Thurer, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, NY, 1994.  Excellent history.  Sharp author.  (Archetype Nurturing Mother/Party-line Mother/Devouring Mother)
  • Woman as Healer, Jeanne Achterberg, Shambhala, Boston & Shaftesbury, 1990.  Quite good.  (Archetype Healer/Nurse/Witch-Midwife-Herbalist)

Movies About Female Archetypes

These are movies suggested as additional research material that can be used in conjunction with Lucia’s Female Conditioning Work-Study Course (her Women Standing in Their Power DVD).  Archetypes referenced in the DVD are noted after each movie:

  • A Woman in Berlin (Archetype Rape Victim)
    Netflix description:  “Based on the best-selling diaries of an anonymous German woman who survived the Soviet invasion of Berlin at the end of World War II, this gripping drama tells the story of a photojournalist’s (Nina Hoss) forbidden relationship with a Soviet officer (Yevgeni Sidikhin). After being sexually assaulted by members of the invading Red Army, she turns to the officer for support, but soon finds herself falling for him.”
  • Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Archetype Amazon Warrior)
    Netflicks description: “In this sequel, director James Cameron delivers scene after scene of action-packed thrills. A bigger, better Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is gunning for a shape-shifting T-1000 who’s out to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong), the son of Sarah (Linda Hamilton), the original Terminator’s nemesis.”
  • Extremities (Archetypes Rape Victim & Vigilante)
    Netflix description: “Who’d have thought “Charlie’s Angel” Farrah Fawcett had the acting chops to play the role of a sexual assault victim who takes revenge on her attacker? But she pulls it off brilliantly is this film version of the off-Broadway play (in which she also starred). Fawcett wrings true drama from this story about an embattled woman who graduates from helplessness to empowerment through the sheer force of her own will.”
  • Lilya 4-Ever (Archetype Slave)
    Netflix description: “Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) is a troubled teenager lost in the hopeless existence of a gloomy suburb in the former Soviet Union. After Lilya’s mother abandons her to seek happiness with a new boyfriend in America, Lilya finds herself alone. Eager to ditch her depressing surroundings and tempted by promises from a new friend of a better life in Sweden, Lilya leaves, only to find that her new life is worse than the one she left behind.”
  • Sleeping with the Enemy (Archetype Slave)
    Netflix description: “Newlywed Laura (Julia Roberts) discovers that, in private, her handsome husband (Patrick Bergin) is an enraged psychotic who takes out his frustrations on her with his fists. Tired of being a punching bag, Laura orchestrates her escape by faking her death and starting over in a small Iowa town, where she meets a new beau. But her peace is quickly shattered when she discovers her husband is hot on her trail.”
  • Thelma and Louise (Archetypes Vigilante & Rape Victim)
    Netflix description: “Waitress Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon) and naive housewife Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) take off for a simple weekend free of men … and become outlaws blazing a cathartic trail across America. This Special Edition disc includes audio commentary with director Ridley Scott, writer Callie Khouri and the two stars; four documentaries; 30 minutes of deleted scenes; an alternate ending with director’s commentary — and much more!
  • The Long Kiss Goodnight (Archetype Vigilante)
    Netflix description: “Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) can’t remember anything before the day she woke up eight years ago, injured and two months pregnant. Now a schoolteacher with only vague memories of the past, she starts to exhibit bizarre, violent impulses. It’s only after hiring two-bit private detective Mitch Hennessey (Samuel L. Jackson) that she discovers that she was once a top CIA assassin named Charley — and that her old boss has kept tabs on her.”
  • Eye for an Eye (Archetype Vigilante)
    Netflix description: “It’s fire and brimstone time as Sally Field takes justice into her own hands when a kangaroo court in Los Angeles fails to convict the monster (Kiefer Sutherland) who raped and murdered her daughter. Field becomes obsessed, following Sutherland around, joining a vigilante group and then entrapping the villain so she can exact a little homegrown revenge.”
  • The Duchess (Archetype Wife)
    Netflicks description: “Keira Knightley stars as Georgiana Spencer, a young duchess who indulges in extravagant vices and begins a scandalous affair with politician Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper) to balance her unhappy marriage to the duke of Devonshire (Golden Globe–nominated Ralph Fiennes). Director Saul Dibb’s lavish adaptation of Amanda Foreman’s novel about the real-life 18th-century femme fatale received an Oscar for Best Costume Design.”
  • The Stoning of Soraya M. (Archetype Wife)
    Netflicks description: “Set in 1986 Iran at the start of Khomeini’s reign, director Cyrus Nowrasteh’s drama tells the true story of Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), whose husband plots to have her falsely accused of adultery so he can divorce her and marry a young girl. French journalist Freidoune (Jim Caviezel) is pulled into Soraya’s tragic story when he meets a desperate woman named Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo).”
  • Madame Bovary (Archetype Wife)
    Netflicks description: “Director Claude Chabrol’s masterful adaptation of the classic Gustave Flaubert novel. When crude country girl Emma (Isabelle Huppert) meets meek wealthy doctor Charles Bovary (Jean-François Balmer), she sees a ticket out of her meager existence. But Emma soon finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage and, possessed by a burning hunger for life and love, pursues scandalous affairs that threaten to destroy the lives of those around her.”
  • Cowboy del Amor (Archetype Wife)
    Netflicks description: “If you’re looking for a wife and have $3,000, look no further than “Cowboy Cupid” Ivan Thompson, who makes a living as a matchmaker to lonely American men, driving them deep into Mexico in search of the perfect woman. One client is Rick, a truck driver who finds U.S. women “too hard to please,” and Ivan gives him lots of pointers that come in handy during the courtship. Michele Ohayon, a previous Oscar nominee, directs this quirky documentary.”
  • Asylum (archetype Wife/Whore)
    Netflicks description: “A psychiatrist’s wife (Natasha Richardson) encounters an inmate (Marton Csokas) at a maximum-security asylum and finds herself curiously drawn to him. It could be the dangerous “vibe” he gives off — after all, the guy was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his wife. But things really start to heat up when the inmate’s placed on a work detail to restore the asylum’s conservatory, just a few steps from the psychiatrist’s home.”
  • Three Faces of Eve (Archetype Wife/Whore)
    Netflix description: “In this classic drama, Joanne Woodward gives a tour-de-force performance as Eve, a woman who suffers from multiple personality disorder. Her husband (David Wayne), perplexed by her odd manner, sends her to a psychotherapist (Lee J. Cobb), who determines that Eve’s multiple personalities know about one another, but are distinctly unrelated. Will the doctor’s treatment cure her condition, or will Eve be forced to live this way forever?”
  • Hooker at the Point (Archetype Whore)
    Netflix description: “Focusing on the fascinating business of sex and the people involved in it, director Brent Owens and hookers from the streets of Hunts Point in the South Bronx give us this raw documentary of the world’s oldest profession. With interviews and candid shots, it is a look at why people become hookers, what keeps them there and, in an included follow-up film, an update to see where “The Life” has led them.”
  • American Pimp (Archetype Whore)
    Netflix description: “Filmmakers Albert and Allen Hughes’ riveting but sometimes disquieting documentary probes the exploitative world of urban pimp culture. Interlacing interviews, surveillance footage and clips from 1970s blaxploitation films, American Pimp sketches the careers of these charismatic flesh peddlers — with colorful monikers such as C-Note and Bishop Don Magic Juan — who spin self-ennobling tales of life in the trade.”
  • Monster (Archetypes Whore & Vigilante)
    Netflix description: “Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron, in an Oscar-winning performance) faced difficult odds early in life, abusing drugs and becoming a prostitute (and pregnant) by the age of 13. Wuornos moved from Michigan to Florida where she continued to ply her “trade,” specializing in a clientele consisting mainly of truck drivers. It was during that time that she began murdering any “John” who tried to rape her. Christina Ricci co-stars in this true story.”
  • The Magdalene Sisters (Archetypes Nun, Whore, & Slave)
    Netflix description:  “While women’s liberation sweeps the globe in 1960s Ireland, four “fallen” women are stripped of their liberty and dignity and condemned to indefinite servitude in the Magdalene Laundries, where they’ll work to atone for their “sins.” This unflinching drama charts several years in the young lives of the so-called Magdalene Sisters, who were rejected by their families and abandoned to the mercy of the Catholic Church.”
  • The Burning Times (Archetype Witch Devil-Worshipper & Witch Herbalist/Midwife)
    This video is from Wellspring Media,1990 National Firm Board of Canada.  Directed by Donna Read.  Includes interviews with Starhawk and Margot Adler.
  • Real Women Have Curves, (Archetype Devouring Mother)
    Netflix description: “Set in East Los Angeles, this is the story of Ana, a Mexican-American teenager struggling to break free from the responsibilities and expectations of her mother, Carmen, and sister, Estela. Ana wants to attend college so she can better herself (she’s received a scholarship to Columbia University), but she’s needed in Estela’s sewing sweatshop, where women labor to make dresses that are then sold for many times what the shop is paid to make them.”
  • Vera Drake (Archetype Healer/Herbalist-Midwife)
    Netflix description: “Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal) spends her days doting on her working-class family. But Vera also has a secret side: Her family and friends don’t know that she visits women and helps them induce miscarriages for their unwanted pregnancies — an illegal practice in 1950s England. When her crime is discovered by authorities, Vera’s world quickly falls apart, deeply affecting both her and her family.”
  • Changling (Archetype Lunatic)
    Netflix description:  “Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie, in an Oscar-nominated role) is overjoyed when her kidnapped son is brought back home. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn’t her child, the police captain (Jeffrey Donovan) has her committed to an asylum. John Malkovich co-stars as the crusading reverend who comes to Christine’s rescue in Clint Eastwood’s gripping period drama based on actual events.”