“Sacred Psychiatry” Won a Nautilus Award and Inspires an Invitation to You
Dearest Readers,
I just learned that my book “Sacred Psychiatry: Bridging the Personal and Transpersonal to Transform Health and Consciousness” won a Nautilus Award. The core mission of the Nautilus Awards is to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living and green values, wellness, social change, social justice, and spiritual growth.
I am deeply excited about this as it gives my book more visibility and credibility. It will help spread the message at the heart of my book; namely that cultivating consciousness of the sacred has a profound impact on healing both personally and collectively. The conventional practice of medicine and psychiatry is essentially allergic to anything that cannot be weighed, measured, or perceived with our five ordinary senses and thus there is no place for including the power of the numinous aspect of experience in healing. It’s also thrilling that a book that values the ancient art of astrology won a prize. This represents an important attitudinal sea change.
To have my book acknowledged with this award feels like a miracle. It was a major struggle for me to bring my book into the world as I contended with so much fear and self-doubt. I only persevered because of that still, small, but insistent voice inside of me that knew that I had to do it. It took me ten years.
In the book I wrote, ” On a personal note, psychedelic medicines have played an essential role in bringing this book into the world. My journey experiences have enabled me to overcome the belief that neither I nor the book were enough; that if I spoke my truth, my ideas would be ridiculed; and that both the book and I needed somehow to be different. The understanding gained with the use of these medicines helped me to have the courage to authentically share my perspective. Most importantly, I was shown that this is not about me, but rather about how I can help at a time of great need when there is so much fear and suffering. For me, as for most people, the impact of developmental trauma has continued to cause suffering throughout the life span, but in the words of spiritual teacher Ram Das, “We can become connoisseurs of our neuroses,” and that can make all the difference!” (p.59)
I share this with you to inspire you to listen to your intuition, to believe in yourself, and to dedicate yourself to doing the psychospiritual work of metabolizing the effects of ancestral and childhood trauma, as well as the social conditioning that continues to undermine and limit you. We are at a time of tremendous transition and crisis on our planet, a time of death and re-birth, and the gift that each of you was born to give to the world is needed now more than ever. Your contribution, in whatever form that takes, matters enormously.
Every morning when I say my prayers I include a quote from activist adrienne maree brown, ” i am not afraid of what i came here to do/ i am made of stardust/ we are not afraid of what we are called now to do, we’re all made of god.” We each need to remember who we truly are, claiming our own and each other’s divinity, as well as honoring the sacredness of the world in which we live. Cultivating this consciousness will embolden and strengthen us as we work together to create the “more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible.” 1
Here is a conversation about my book that I loved with the wonderful astrologer and poet Heidi Rose Robbins who invited me to her podcast, The Radiance Project.
- “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible” Eisenstein, Charles North Atlantic Books 2013
“Sacred Psychiatry” is now available as an audiobook as well as a print version.
Dear Judy… I’m the proud owner of your book and have been for weeks and weeks. Am so In love with it!!! We have many things on common:. Astrology, drumming, nutrition and Chiron… 12th house conjunct North Node. Am winding my way through it’s final pages. Thank you for publishing a book combining medicine and spirituality…thank you…thank you.
Thank you Patricia for taking the time to write and to tell me that the book resonates with you. We are clearly kindred spirits. It’s good to know that we have company.
Congratulations on this well deserved honor!!
Thank you, dear Reva!
waow man, i did not know and did not think that you had such doubts and kinda fears about bringing your work to the world, like 10 years of doubts maybe..
I am glad and thankful that you did it, and got really happy for you that you got energized and happy to see that your book got this Nautilus Award! Congratulations !!
I was waiting excited for your book to come out, and have ordered it and have been waiting since months 🙂 , as i am in Germany, it takes a lot that it gets sent here i think.
Authenticity will bring what we need 🙂
Bests
Nureddin
Thank you for writing, Nureddin. It’s wonderful that someone your age already understands the power of authenticity.
Congratulations, Judy! This is a wonderful honor of which you are so deserving.
I look forward to reading your book.
Loving wishes,
Elaine
Thank you, dear Elaine! ❤️
Thank you for your brilliant book (I bought 2 copies) and your courage to merge fully with the God source to create your gift to the world. I so in-joyed your podcast with Pam Gregory.
I am in process now of the same cycles of doubt/creating and initially, I had outright rejected the call. Spirit answered ” you will do this because the world needs it”. That was a month before Covid hit- ‘Nuff said.
We are all pure, sparkling and Radiant diamonds. Thank You, Judy.
Thank you, Cayt, for this soulful comment! I love what you said about pure sparkling radiant diamonds. It’s akin to stardust.
A huge congratulations to you Judy for such an important and special award! I have known you since we were 6. I’m honored to witness your journey and get to see your gifts evolve and emerge. I am grateful to benefit as well.
Deep gratitude to my bestie. ❤️🙏
Congratulations on the book and the award! I just discovered AMB; she is wonderful. Glad to know you are doing well living your truth.
Thank you, Andy, so nice to hear from you! What is AMB?
meant adrienne maree brown i think
Correct!
Judy, congratulations on this wonderful achievement! I’ve just ordered the book & really looking forward to reading! You write so beautifully & your words resonate deeply with me
Gaye
Thank you, dear Gaye. Your words mean so much to me. You have intimate knowledge of what it means to write a book in terms of perseverance as an author of many wonderful books yourself!