WHAT IS SOULSCAPES?

SOULSCAPES is Ron Mercier's second book of "Visionary Fiction" which is presented in three parts. It features over 90 minutes of author/artist video commentary.

Part 1, consists of eight short stories and eight poems that are each connected to a colorful Mandala/Medicine Wheel painted by the author. Ron provides video commentary on each story, poem, and Mandala.

Part 2, consists of an essay on "The Imaginal Way" where Ron reveals, "The soul’s faculty of Imagining bridges our physical being to our spiritual origins by creating symbolic events most often from the substance of our daily lives. The nature and function of the symbol are key." Ron shares his insights on the Imagination in nine video clips.

In Part 3, "The Art of the Mandala," Ron teaches us about this ancient sacred art form and shares over 25 of his meditative paintings. Here is an excerpt: "The ancient Sanskrit word mandala means circle. To this day the image of the circle speaks to religious people throughout the world of a sacred space of spiritual transformation. It represents the cyclical visible world through which we make our way to the vivifying invisible world of our Origin." Additional video of Ron further enlightens the reader about the Mandala.

Eternal Ways publisher, John Pritchard says, "SoulScapes is a creative tour-de-force about how the Imagination is a loving force connecting the spiritual and material life of every human being. It has been an honor to work with Ron in putting the book together these past three months and I especially enjoyed producing the special bonus video clips that are available on the iPad version."

The following is an excerpt from the book's Foreword:

"The purpose of Soulscapes is to introduce you to the story and the mandala as tools for accessing the Imagination and developing your unique symbolic consciousness, the matrix from which you will emerge as a compassionate and creatively productive person. As you read the stories and look at the mandalas, I encourage you to be open to your personal symbolic events, which will fuel and expand your awareness of what it means to be a human being. Your own soul stories can bring you through the perennial “dark wood” of life’s journey from one luminous clue to the next, forging connections between you and the Source of your life, between you and your destiny, between you and your fellow travelers, between you and the world that awaits and welcomes your light and your love."

Ron's first book, Dance the River Whale, was published in 1999 to critical acclaim. Metaphysical Reviews called it a "brilliant new book" and that it "is a rare combination of a must-turn-the-page novel combined with recovery, spirituality, and wisdom rooted in Iroquois and Mohawk heritage… and Catholic Christianity. It is a marvelous story by a truly gifted writer that heralds the human ability to vanquish demons. More, it is a melding of several spiritual paths… all leading to the same golden goal, enlightenment."

Ron Mercier, a former Catholic priest, teacher and psychotherapist, continues to devote his time and energy to study and writing. Father and grandfather, he lives with his wife, Stella, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. He is confident that the compassionate imagination of inclusion and possibility, demonstrated in response to the latest hurricane Sandy, can be marshaled to create a partnership society in which people of all races and beliefs can live creatively together in prosperity and peace.