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Rating: 
Summary: Ancient Echoes is not about anything ancient
Review: Claiming to contain the wisdom of the Anasazi, Ancient Echoes, is a disappointment. There is nothing ancient in the ideas expressed. Indeed, most of the ideas expressed are New Age ideas with no connection to the Anasazis, who were the ancestors of today's Pueblos. I found this book insulting to anyone who cares about the heritage of the Pueblos or bout prejudices European-Americans maintain against Native Americans. The Pueblos hold that they are the descendents of the Anasazi and that the "Ancient Ones" never vanished. Scholars have long recognized the same. The National Park Service that maintains Anasazi archaeological sites at places like Mesa Verde, has also long recognized the link between Anasazis and contemporary Pueblos. Yet, this book ignores this knowledge in favor of the author's whim. Mary Summer Rain claims to have received the chants and prayers of the Anasazi through "spirit memory recall." However, the information this technique brought her does not square with the information Pueblos themselves give or with the information archaeologists can verify. Her chants bear no relation to Pueblo religious practice and her description of Anasazi society contradicts what is known for certain about the Anasazi. The "Anasazi" ceremonies suggested, like the Phoenix Dance, have never been known among the Pueblos. Indeed the very suggestion that this dance was held "twice a year" (p. 125) goes against Puebloan practice (see Alfonso Ortiz, The Tewa World, 1969). Similarly, there is absolutely no evidence that the Anasazi were enamoured with crystals, (pp. 98, 134, 144) that women were "welcomed into the Hunter Society" (p. 22) or that they traveled about in Star Vehicles (pp.118, 188). This book should be classified as fiction, or as a treatise on New Age thought. In no way should this book be taking as a serious portrayal of Anasazi life. Indeed, it perpetuates many stereotypes Europeans have long held regarding Native Americans disregarding the appeals of Native American scholars that non-Indians stop using Indians to legitimize their own beliefs.
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Summary: On this book not being about "anything ancient".
Review: I am writing for two reasons: One, simply to say that this is a beautiful book about what I feel deep in my heart is quite historically accurate.Two, in reference to one long review that attacks this book as being pretty much a lie. The reviewer should have paid more attention to the book's repeated mention of these chants and customs being associated with a particular Anasazi CLAN, not the entirety of the Anasazi people over centuries. Does the reviewer believe that he/she, or any pueblo for that matter, knows what went on with every CLAN of people back then? It doesn't really matter. You are either positively affected by this book or you are not. If you have the slightest ability to read with an open heart and mind -- which should, by the way, help you see more clearly -- you will probably get what Mary Summer Rain is trying to say with the book: plain and simple truth. She does this abundantly in all of her other books, and I count her work, including Ancient Echoes, as among the most enlightening literature I have ever found.
Rating:
Summary: A collection of inspirations.
Review: Mary Summer Rain answers to the highest calling: that of her heart and soul. This collection of prayers, chants, and poems that she received from the Anasazi through a spiritual connection is something we can read and reread and use in our daily lives. I highly recommend this to anyone, who can appreciate heartfelt messages from the soul paying respect to the forces that drive us: the Great Spirit, Mother Nature, and our brothers and sisters across the world.
Rating:
Summary: A collection of inspirations.
Review: Mary Summer Rain answers to the highest calling: that of her heart and soul. This collection of prayers, chants, and poems that she received from the Anasazi through a spiritual connection is something we can read and reread and use in our daily lives. I highly recommend this to anyone, who can appreciate heartfelt messages from the soul paying respect to the forces that drive us: the Great Spirit, Mother Nature, and our brothers and sisters across the world.
Rating:
Summary: Very resourceful book........
Review: This book,the many chants ect. are beutiful!If nothing else,they are very calming,soothing and interesting.I felt as if I was taken back in time,to a place very far away.To a wonderful place with extradinary people.Mary summer rain has the remarkable ability to captivate her readers with profound wisdom bought forth in a simple,easy to understand manner.Like so many of her other books ,this is a book you will read over and over.I highly recommend it.
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