We have always been fans of Alice O. Howell. She's a Jungian analyst and a spiritual adventurer with an expansive interest in astrology and Sophia, the feminine aspect of wisdom. Her book The Dove in the Stone: Finding the Sacred in the Commonplace prompted us to look around for more signs of the Divine Guest showing up in our daily lives. There she mentions how her inner landscape developed during trips abroad as a child. Howell was often put in the care of nurses and governesses, but thanks to the spunk and creativity of her mother, she connected with her every night in an imaginary land they invented together. Howell populated this realm with archetypal characters, magical animals, and bits and pieces gathered from fairy tales, the Bible, and mythology. As the years went on, more and more characters were added to Beejumstad. Howell continued expanding this alternate world in stories told to her own four children, ten grandchildren, and godchildren.

Now this phantasmagorical world is available for children and the inner child within all adults. The Beejum Book is half autobiography and half fiction. Teak is the delightful little girl who discovers one day that she can live in two worlds: the world she travels through by day and another realm called Beejumstan she visits at night. Her guide is Lonesome, a rabbit, who is called "an ambassador without portfolio." He tells Teak: "The important thing for you to remember is that you create your own reality. Everyone does."

Then there is the alchemist Figg Newton, a great scholar who has gone beyond the quest for more and more book knowledge. He says: "The truth and mystery are never hidden, my dear, it is we who are too blind to see them. It's that simple. . . . Suddenly those things I had always considered obvious began to glow almost from within. Everything was opening to me in silence, without a word. Everything shone in my heart now instead of my head. The more I appreciated, the more I could see. It was a whole new way of learning, by listening to silence."

There are moments of light humor scattered throughout this book. Mercy Muchmore counsels Teak to watch out for "persnippety attacks," which happen when we lose touch with our true nature and can't see the rhyme or reason of things. This wise woman recommends stopping at the moment of the attack, having some tea, and counting one's blessings. Teak also learns how to avoid capitulating to an attack of the gimmies — "give me this and give me that."

Gezeebius, a wise old man who rides around on a Cloud of Unknowing, makes it clear that she can invite the Divine Guest into the sanctuary of her heart any time. Perhaps the most vivid encounter Teak has in all of her travels is with a carpet seller in Istanbul who happens to be a Sufi Sheikh. He enlightens her about learning from our mistakes and then demonstrates the spiritual practice of unity in saying good-byes and hellos.

The Beejum Book by Alice O. Howell will draw out your wonder and give you abundant pleasure and insights into travel, enchantment, mysticism, the search for meaning, religion and philosophy.