Your Word is Your Wand

By Vernon Marshall View Profile
This is a simple little book, written with clarity and conciseness. It is a slim volume that is intended, not to be read at one sitting, but dipped into as the need justifies. A sequel to The Game of Life and How to Play It, it is a volume of positive affirmations. The book contains 21 sections such as 'Faith', 'Protection' and 'Health'. Each section has a brief introduction of a few paragraphs. This is followed by a number of simple affirmations of one or two sentences each.

The wording of the affirmations is very effective. The type of language, however, would not suit everyone. The whole philosophy of the book is developed within a traditional Christian culture. The Christ-image is used a great deal, as is traditional 'God language'. This may not be a difficulty for non-Christians if the language is understood as metaphor, that there is a 'Christ-spirit' that is not necessarily the same identity as a historical messiah figure. This language, however, is not applied to all the affirmations and the most effective, in my opinion are those that make use of universal images.

More problematic for me than the spiritual language is the gender exclusive usage of the words 'man' and 'he', both meant to apply equally to both gender. That is a problem for many women today (and men) and a more inclusive use of 'they', 'us' or 'we' would have been preferable. On the whole, though, this inexpensive 45-page book is a useful help in times of struggle. I would recommend it to anyone who feels that positive affirmations can make a difference to their lives.