Shakkai: Women of the Sacred Garden

by Lynn V. Andrews

Book Overview

The bestselling author of Medicine Woman and Flight of the Seventh Moon taps into the mystical powers of Japan's sacred captured gardens and offers its secrets to all women who seek its magical wisdom... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006092179X
• ISBN13: 9780060921798
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: PerfectBound
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Unexpected and interesting.

This was my favorite of Lynn Andrews autobiographical books, besides her book Dark Sister. In this book Shakkai, she explores a future lifetime in terms of what she learned, so that she can apply it to her present situation as Lynn. The book steps into a completely different culture, with totally different values and beliefs. For those who have read the books in succession, the man who becomes the lover of the main character (Lynn in the future) is actually her spirit guide Windhorse, who we met in Windhorse Woman, and he is also the young wizard she fell in love with in the past in The Women of Wyrrd. He is a samurai, and the two have a profound connection. Life and death are thoroughly explored here, as is being in the present moment, through the energetic teachings of the mentor Shakkai, who teaches a method of creating the inner life in miniature, as a personal power object. The teachings Shakkai gives Lynn in the future in terms of respect of the earth, Nature as a living organism that has it's own message and a power that can be cooperated with are truly interesting, and worth reading this book solely for that understanding, or grasp of creating a garden with a distinct purpose.

An amazing glimpse into relationships and gardening

I first read this book several years ago, and was so intrigued by some of the ideas within it that I kept it on my shelf. I just moved into a new home that has a garden, and I'm rereading Shakkai to get some insights on how to go about planning a garden that would be a true spiritual haven for me. What I totally missed in the first reading was the correspondence between human relationships and the human/natural world relationship. I was approaching my garden with a sense of respect, but now I have an even deeper understanding that the garden is about the relationships between the plants (and amongst them) and myself. I have only read a couple of Andrews books, but the parallels between this future life story and what I know of her current life experiences is shocking and yet comforting. I now see myself as the center of my universe, surrounding by relationships with people that cross the bounds of time, and by relationships with all of the physical objects around me. My vision for my garden now is to create a place that reflects my inner peace and self understanding, more than it is about gardening books and landscape architecture.Thank you, Lynn, for an outstanding new experience of my own life.