“Another Piece of the Paranormal Puzzle”

A review of Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Philip J. Imbrogno’s
The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies
(2011, Llewellyn Worldwide, www.llewellyn.com; ISBN: 978-0-7387-2171-2)

by Joey Madia

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. — Socrates

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.—Hamlet, Act I, sc. v

The Vengeful Djinn, by two scientifically minded experts in the fields of the paranormal and supernatural, is an important contribution to the ongoing pursuit of answers about the Unknown, an often attacked but nevertheless serious undertaking that attracts controversy and derision from both within its ranks and without.

Guiley and Imbrogno cover a large swath of study and territory in the book’s 260 pages, which include two appendices, a bibliography, and an index. They begin with a detailed and yet well-explained tutorial on quantum physical aspects of alternate realities and the idea of the multiverse, including “string theory,” setting up with science the plausibility of the djinn dwelling in a parallel plane to ours, which allows them to interact with us without being seen.

Gathering and Reassembling Our Pasts

by Grady Harp

A review of Leah Shelleda's After the Jug Was Broken

Some books of poetry provide solace for personal cum universal bruises while provided sustenance for minds eager to revisit the mythology of the past, seeking a path to understanding the present. They are few these days, when most poets are bent of sharing autobiographical moments that may or may not connect with the audience depending on sectors or gender or philosophies or other circumstances. Leah Shelleda happily offers us a collection of brilliantly composed poems that fall into the realm of universal connection that a knowledge of mythology and other foreign ports have provided her.

Shelleda divides her collection into four parts: Mythos (utterly extraordinary sensitive works recalling mythological and real people in a manner that stirs the imagination); Empeiria/Experience; Topos/Place (exotic ports of pleasure and the unknown); Pneuma/Spirit. If her quarto suggests philosophical bent, then the reader has successfully entered her world. Poetry of this caliber doesn't just roll off the pen: these poems represent a mind's activity that is at all times exploring the aspects of living we too often ignore. As the opening to her invitation to her four part journey she offers the following poem: