Sera Beak made quite a splash with her out-of-the-box spiritual book The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark. It was aimed at young women in their 20s and 30s but has demonstrated that it can reach other not religiously affiliated individuals as well. Beak is a Harvard-trained scholar of world religions who believes that the Divine can manifest in a multitude of ways. The spirituality that she espouses is mystical, meditative, playful, wild, sexy, smart, and sassy.
Just when we thought that soul had vanished from the book publishing scene, Beak retrieves it in her spunky memoir Red Hot & Holy. She characterizes this book as a "Love Story" and a "spiritual soap opera." As a white, middle-class, Western woman she has been blessed with the time and the energy to "dive deep" in her soul and write about it.
Beak experienced a turning point in her life during an interview with the 80-something Jungian analyst Marion Woodman who propelled her to set out on her own soul journey. Up until then, this red-hot momma had been enthralled by the crazy spiritual antics of Mary Magdalene, the Hindu goddess Kali, the Zen poet Ikkyu, the Swiss therapist Carl Jung, the Persian poet Rumi, and other mystical misfits. Beak stood alongside Jack Kerouac who once wrote:
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding."
Beak's awakening with Woodman brought a halt to her success in the fast lane and propelled her to acknowledge that she was not embodying her feminine soul. What to do? "I had to be my own shaman. I had to retrieve my own soul and integrate her back into my body." There are many interesting facets to Beak's personal and spiritual renewal. But instead of reporting all the radical changes she undergoes, we'll just pass on this closing bit of wisdom:
"If you relax, if you trust your soul, she will lead you to your Self. It will be a crazy journey — as unique as a snowflake, as transformative as a fire, as freaky as a fruitcake, as mysterious as a Universe.
"So, please. Become your favorite subject. Study your Self. Sit at the feet of the Teacher inside you. Cop a feel of your Divine Body. Live your Love Story. And share what you are learning with the rest of us."
