Listening to the Oracle: Reclaiming Our Ancient Institute Power for Guidance and Illumination

I had the blessed chance to meet Diane Skafte and found her to be such a warm and spiritual woman. She has the air of some ancient prophetess herself; which made her book all the better. The best parts of this book is Skafte's imagining of what an ancient scene would look like (for example--what a petioner to the Oracle might think or experience before, during, and after their oracular experience). She helped me see that God and the "gods" speak to us all the time through various means. The only thing keeping me from giving her book the full 5 stars, is it begins to bog down toward the end as she gets muddled in left-wing environmentalism. But overall, a good book.

This is a wise and luminous book. The author, an expert on the ancient history and lore of oracles, is also a most engaging writer, a skilled psychotherapist, and an extraordinary woman who knows firsthand the mysterious realms of which she writes. She writes with grace, providing suitable warnings of potential pitfalls but, overall, creating a friendly, respectful atmosphere in which one feels safe to explore these deeply sacred realms. For many generations, oracular images and insights were simply an accepted part of our journey as humans. Dr. Dianne Skafte restores to us the wonder of that numinous connection.

Marvelous book--highly recommended. Deftly avoiding the extremes of either sterile skepticism or superstition, Dr. Skafte makes her case for the value of oracular consciousness, a capacity we all share. A while back I went to a lecture given by her to the Jung Society of Claremont; asking us to visualize why we'd come, she distributed envelopes at random to the audience. Introverted Steppenwolf that I was, I'd come to be in the presence of "my kind," the folks who concern themselves with "the deep stuff," and to explore whether I should "raise my voice"--I actually thought of it in those words--and contribute more to my chosen field of endeavor, that of psychology, depth psychology in particular. I was therefore gratified (but not shocked: the Tarot and I Ching are old friends of mine) to draw forth from my envelope a highly appropriate image: a howling wolf. The accompanying Commentary read, in part: "Wolves are deeply bonded to their own kind...Don't go it alone in this matter. Something calls out for connection. Answer in kind, and you will be answered." -- Craig Chalquist, M.S. (designer of Cain's Self-Exploration Site)