The Celestine Prophesy

[newuser23]

I read the book many years ago.
Having rented the movie, was pleasantly surprised; the film version turned out pretty good.
hxxp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398842/

 

[Zadius Sky]

I saw the film of "Celestine Prophesy" when it came out on DVD, and I've read the book couple of years ago. Needless to say, I had expectations when watching the film (same with Peaceful Warrior), but it wasn't what I had expected in terms of directions, effects, etc. But, it was good.

I've noticed that Laura has brought up "The Celestine Prophesy" during her session with the C's:

941103
Q: (L) In talking about the new level of being after transition to 4th density, will this be something like what is described in the book "Celestine Prophecy?"
A: Close.

fwiw.

 

[anart]

I read the book many years ago.
Having rented the movie, was pleasantly surprised; the film version turned out pretty good.
hxxp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398842/

Interesting, because I found the film to be so 'love and light' that it was distracting (though I never read the book, so maybe it is the same). It was very much a 'create your own reality' venture and, personally, I found the whole film to be not only rather poorly made (seemed like a made for tv movie) but to be, well, just rather annoying. However - that's just me, and I'm sure others enjoyed it as well.

 

[OCKHAM]

I had read the book years ago, and fell in love with it, but remembering back to that time, I was still very asleep. Then when I saw there was a movie, I rented it, and was very disappointed, as it seemed to only touch on things and similar to what anart describes in my impression.

If you check up on the author, of which I did for awhile to see what he was up to, they promote a lot of other authors from the site and email that I received which are mostly light and love orientated and remind me of the noetic crew that runs along those lines. I still love the book, it was a gift from a librarian.

 

[Iconoclast]

a friend recommended the book to me recently, but i'm on the fence if it is worth the time.

since i read 'conversations with god', which was a waste of time, i'm very suspicious about any 'new age' book that has sold millions.


can someone here who has read it help with my indeciciveness?

 

[OCKHAM]

Celestine is a fiction, and the book you mention is not, correct? I have not read that particular one and don't plan on it.

If you like fiction, then I would recommend it. However, I don't read fiction that much anymore, and am not sure if reading books of this nature has much value but I am sure there are people who still read fiction stories.

 

[Iconoclast]

well 'conversations' sure read like fiction to me ;)

i would love to read more fiction, but the limits on time and energy force me only to read the essential stuff, which is mainly non-fiction.

i wonder if there are interesting concepts in the celestine prophecy that might be worth picking up on. in my mind i imagine it a bit like castaneda's books with more of a narrative.

 

[Ryan]

I read the book about ten years ago, and found it an inspiring and awesome story. Then I looked it up and found out it was fiction. The book reads as an autobiography, and nowhere on the cover or blurb did it do anything to dispel that notion. After that, I saw it (and still see it) as nothing but a cheap con-job - an attempt to make a quick buck (and it certainly did that!) with a fantastic tale dressed up as fact. If Redfield really wanted to get a spiritual message through to people, he could have done it in other ways that made it quite plain as to the fictional nature of the book. But he chose (IMO) to quite deliberately exploit a certain level of ambiguity in order to make the book more "believable".

I must admit that the same argument could be made about Castaneda and, after reading "Tales of Power", I was tempted to put him in the same basket as Redfield. As was so eloquently expressed in the movie "V" however, art (for example, fictional books) can be used to reveal the Truth or cover it up. On this criteria, I think Redfield's and Castaneda's works are poles apart (no prizes for guessing which is which! ;) )

 

[OCKHAM]

I would say it was much different than Castandeda’s writings, James Redfield plays the [no coincidence] to lead his fictional story for John Woodson in Celestine Prophecy. John just keeps meeting people, that leads to another and another, and the next thing you know he’s in a tropical adventure searching for hidden scrolls, and being chased by mean people. I collected the synopsis from _http://thecelestineprophecymovie.com/synopsis.php
Insights from _http://www.celestinevision.com/

Here the Author’s note which helps to read a little into the mind of the author. You decide, and to be honest, the difference between fiction and fact is blurred in the new age group, so if this book has some significance in the timing or outlay of that, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Author’s Note: For a half a century now, a new consciousness has been entering the human world, a new awareness that can only be called transcendent, spiritual. If you find yourself reading this book, then perhaps you already sense what is happening, already feel it inside.

It beings with a heightened perception of the way our lives move forward. We notice those chance events that occur at just the right moment, and bring forth just the right individuals, to suddenly send our lives in a new and important direction. Perhaps more than any other time, we intuit higher meaning in these mysterious happenings.

We know the life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting - an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified. And we know something else as well: we know that once we do understand what is happening, how to engage this illusive process and maximize it occurrence in our lives, human society will take a quantum leap into a whole new way of life - one that realizes the best of our tradition - and creates a culture that has been the goal of history all along.

The following story is offered toward this new understanding. If it touches you, if it crystallizes something that you perceive in life, then pass on what you see to another - for I think our new awareness of the spiritual is expanding in exactly this way, no longer through hype nor fad, but personally, through a kind of positive psychological contagion among people.

All that any of us have to do is suspend our doubts and distractions just long enough…and miraculously, this reality can be our own.

THE FIRST INSIGHT . . . A CRITICAL MASS

A new spiritual awakening is occurring in human culture, an awakening brought about by a critical mass of individuals who experience their lives as a spiritual unfolding, a journey in which we are led forward by mysterious coincidences.

THE SECOND INSIGHT . . . THE LONGER NOW

This awakening represents the creation of a new, more complete worldview, which replaces a five-hundred-year-old preoccupation with secular survival and comfort. While this technological preoccupation was an important step, our awakening to life's coincidences is opening us up to the real purpose of human life on this planet, and the real nature of our universe.

THE THIRD INSIGHT . . . A MATTER OF ENERGY

We now experience that we live not in a material universe, but in a universe of dynamic energy. Everything extant is a field of sacred energy that we can sense and intuit. Moreover, we humans can project our energy by focusing our attention in the desired direction...where attention goes, energy flows...influencing other energy systems and increasing the pace of coincidences in our lives.
THE FOURTH INSIGHT . . . THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER

Too often humans cut themselves off from the greater source of this energy and so feel weak and insecure. To gain energy we tend to manipulate or force others to give us attention and thus energy. When we successfully dominate others in this way, we feel more powerful, but they are left weakened and often fight back. Competition for scarce, human energy is the cause of all conflict between people.

THE FIFTH INSIGHT . . . THE MESSAGE OF THE MYSTICS

Insecurity and violence ends when we experience an inner connection with divine energy within, a connection described by mystics of all traditions. A sense of lightness--buoyancy--along with the constant sensation of love are measures of this connection. If these measures are present, the connection is real. If not, it is only pretended.

THE SIXTH INSIGHT . . . CLEARING THE PAST

The more we stay connected, the more we are acutely aware of those times when we lose connection, usually when we are under stress. In these times, we can see our own particular way of stealing energy from others. Once our manipulations are brought to personal awareness, our connection becomes more constant and we can discover our own growth path in life, and our spiritual mission--the personal way we can contribute to the world.

THE SEVENTH INSIGHT . . . ENGAGING THE FLOW

Knowing our personal mission further enhances the flow of mysterious coincidences as we are guided toward our destinies. First we have a question; then dreams, daydreams, and intuitions lead us towards the answers, which usually are synchronistically provided by the wisdom of another human being.

THE EIGHTH INSIGHT . . . THE INTERPERSONAL ETHIC

We can increase the frequency of guiding coincidences by uplifting every person that comes into our lives. Care must be taken not to lose our inner connection in romantic relationships. Uplifting others is especially effective in groups where each member can feel energy of all the others. With children it is extremely important for their early security and growth. By seeing the beauty in every face, we lift others into their wisest self, and increase the chances of hearing a synchronistic message.

THE NINTH INSIGHT . . .THE EMERGING CULTURE

As we all evolve toward the best completion of our spiritual missions, the technological means of survival will be fully automated as humans focus instead on synchronistic growth. Such growth will move humans into higher energy states, ultimately transforming our bodies into spiritual form and uniting this dimension of existence with the after-life dimension, ending the cycle of birth and death.

THE TENTH INSIGHT . . . HOLDING THE VISION

The Tenth Insight is the realization that throughout history human beings have been unconsciously struggling to implement this lived spirituality on Earth. Each of us comes here on assignment, and as we pull this understanding into consciousness, we can remember a fuller birth vision of what we wanted to accomplish with our lives. Further we can remember a common world vision of how we will all work together to create a new spiritual culture. We know that our challenge is to hold this vision with intention and prayer everyday.

THE ELEVENTH INSIGHT . . . EXTENDING PRAYER FIELDS

The Eleventh Insight is the precise method through which we hold the vision. For centuries, religious scriptures, poems, and philosophies have pointed to a latent power of mind within all of us that mysteriously helps to affect what occurs in the future. It has been called faith power, positive thinking, and the power of prayer. We are now taking this power seriously enough to bring a fuller knowledge of it into public awareness. We are finding that this prayer power is a field of intention, which moves out from us and can be extended and strengthened, especially when we connect with others in a common vision. This is the power through which we hold the vision of a spiritual world and build the energy in ourselves and in others to make this vision a reality.

Synopsis: John Woodson has reached a crossroads in his life. After losing his job teaching history at a local high school, he finds himself facing an uncertain future. Disillusioned and temporarily rudderless, he is about to experience a dramatic and profound metamorphosis.

John’s phone rings with a call from an old girlfriend (Charlene), a journalist who just happens to be in town on a brief layover after covering a story in Peru. Over dinner, she explains to John that she couldn't stop thinking of him when she visited a beautiful retreat called Viciente where a dedicated group of people is studying a set of ancient scrolls. There, she met a priest named Father Jose, who explained that this manuscript is s a prophecy, written sometime before the birth of Christ. The scrolls consisting of 9 insights predict a time when violence and unrest in the world would lead to a new awakening, arising within all religious traditions, that moves humanity toward a deeper experience of spirituality, and redefines human life and culture in the 21st century. That time is now. She goes on to tell him that for some reason she feels he should go to Peru, and see for himself.

At first somewhat cynical, he’s amused when his mail includes a travel brochure on Peru. Curious, he calls the travel agency and finds an available seat on a flight the following day. Impulsively, he books it. On the plane, he meets a fellow passenger, a professor who not only knows the priest his friend had mentioned, but also was involved with the authentication of the scrolls. Apparently written in 5 or 6 B.C., the scrolls were found in a wooden box that the professor confirmed as having been created in the 1600s. It’s led him to believe that someone in the early Franciscan Church, inspired by Pope Celestine the Fifth, had buried them. Eight scrolls were discovered. The ninth was yet to be found.

After leaving the professor and checking into his hotel, John stretches his legs after the long flight from Atlanta and strolls around the darkened streets of Lima. By chance, he meets Father Jose. Their brief conversation is interrupted by the sudden arrival of armed men. Jose commands John to leave as he deals with Robert Jensen, a high level operative who confronts the priest about the whereabouts of the missing ninth scroll. As Jose is held at gunpoint, John races for help. Joined by the professor he met on the plane, John returns to the scene and finds nothing except a little beggar girl who reaches out to him. At that moment, armed agents of some kind kidnap the professor, and John is left to fend for himself.

As police sirens wail, a stranger suddenly pulls John to safety. The man, Wilson James, explains that he is a guide who was with Father Jose when he discovered the scrolls. The danger they are facing is real. Rather than take John to the American Embassy or back to his hotel, Wil insists that he accompany him, coincidentally or perhaps not, to Viciente. On the road, Wil tells John more about the scrolls and the insights they contain. John is dumbfounded at the series of coincidences that have led him here. Wil explains that John is beginning to experience the manifestation of the first spiritual insight the prophecy says we're going to discover, the realization of how events shape our lives and seem to be moving us somewhere for a reason. John grapples with the information confronting him. His dreams are filled with visions of a little girl and ancient ruins that are strangely familiar.

Moving on, Wil and John arrive at the crest of an exquisite panorama, hauntingly similar to what he saw in his dreams. They have arrived at the Celestine Ruins, the very place where the first eight scrolls were found. On the edge of a hillside is a mission built by Cardinal Sebastian, (the highest-ranking church official in a country where church and state struggle for power and rebels roam the mountains a short distance away. They travel along rutted roads to arrive at the mystical oasis known as Viciente.

Welcomed by Miguel, Wil introduces John to Julia, a dear friend who excitedly tells them that they have just learned that the missing ninth insight may not be on a scroll after all. It is said that it will just appear. John may be joining them at a most auspicious time. As John explores the extraordinary beauty of his surroundings, it is apparent to Julia that if he is here to help, he has to learn the rest of the insights quickly. She is the next to suggest that he acknowledge the synchronicity that brought him here, and begin to open up to a higher level of perception. He notices a beautiful woman named Marjorie (Sarah Wayne Callies), whom he had spotted at the airport in Lima. Rather than receive him with the grace he met in Julia, Marjorie recoils from his controlling energy. Unaware of what he’s doing, but willing to yield, he allows Julia to show him how to see the energy operating around him, and explains that to open up fully, he must stop his controlling of others. Only then can he complete his destiny here.

Suddenly, the sanctity of Viciente is invaded. Forced to flee and take the scrolls for safekeeping, the women are separated from John and Wil. Out on the road, they meet again only to be caught in crossfire between the military and angry rebels, each side as volatile and threatening as the other. The adventure heightens as he is then separated from Will, pursued by the military, and at the moment of his greatest despair, finally opens up to the new perception of beauty the prophecy is describing. Now he must follow his destiny, and find the remaining ninth scroll. In a riveting ending, he in finally reunited with the young girl who guides them all back to the Celestine ruins, where in a transformation of color and light, the future of humankind is revealed.

Comment on Ryan's post: You are 100% correct about that jab, most people don't see it, but that has become a movement, fwiw.

 

[Iconoclast]

thanks for the additional info!

while it sounds interesting, i think i'll skip it - there are more important books to be read.

 

[newuser23]

I think the part that I truly appreciated, in the movie, was the depiction, scene and explanation. Of how people rob and drain, each other, of energy. I never expected to see or have this explained in any "hollywood' movie.
Like most fictions, alot of drivel. But I did find it to have, a few rare pearls to be picked up along the mud.
Not worth reading, but superior to watching FOX news

 

[PopHistorian]

I just saw this one. It's decent as entertainment but mainly only because of the subject matter. It's also less about the content of the prophecy than it is an adventure story done up not too terribly well. So I think it could've benefited from a different balance of story elements, but that would've been to the detriment of the lowest-common-denominator audience.

I found it interesting that in the Special Features interview with the author, Redfield, he said all the studios wanted to make this movie when the book was a bestseller, but of course they wanted to change it beyond recognition, and he wouldn't sell out. He ended up writing his own screenplay and got the movie made his way (effectively, with people who agreed to let him pull the strings), eventually, which is likely why it doesn't have the highest production values, shows signs of budget restraint, has trite dialog, mediocre acting, and (surprise!) wasn't a box-office hit.

Still, it holds attention well enough for those interested in subjects like a controlling PTB, suppression of spiritual knowledge, and whatnot -- and it isn't too long.

 

[Eva]

It's a good movie , manages to keep a balance between exposing control and at the same time inherent abilities of humanity that have been forgotten.

The main story is fiction of course, yet it touches on very real issues. There's a sense of balance. It's neither all out war and cynicism nor happy-go-lucky attitude.
Some lovely backdrops too, and I quite enjoyed how the hollywood gloss was missing from the scenes.

I read the book quite a few years ago. I liked it a lot then and still like it for what it is now. Obviously one wouldn't go looking for 'the' Truth served on a plate through a single novel, but it lights a tiny match nonetheless.
I'd recommend it as a well-written novel Iconoclast.