Description
Arching Backward is the extraordinary account of an American woman who found herself suddenly and violently immersed in a mystical initiation for which she was not prepared. For four years, Janet Adler's life was dominated by the transformative experience of primal energy and the visions created by it. Unlike the classical experience of initiation that takes place within the protection of culture and society, Janet Alder went through her experience of purgation and illumination mostly alone. Her story offers a guide for others on this journey and provides a powerful affirmation of women's experience of the spirit.
Praise and Reviews
"Arching Backward is an eloquent and lyrical prose poem, riveting testimony from a modern mystic. Adler offers this narrative of her extraordinary journey, traversing territory both intensely intimate and primordial, luminous and transcendent. This is a heroine's mythic journey, as fascinating as it is mysterious."
Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence
"Her numerous visions are spread out through the book like so many Tarot cards or photographs with no explanation. The effect is akin to walking through an abstract art gallery. One emerges with a nebulous sense of nerve-jangling impressions, which may be just what Adler, with her austere artistic temperament, intended."
Shared Transformation