Fire in the Heart: Healers, Sages, and Mystics

Daskalos, a Greek Christian mystic of ``unimaginable psychic power,'' and his disciple, Kostas, are the subjects of this credulity-straining report. Based in Cyprus, they communicate with an archangel who once lived on Earth as St. John, author of the Gospel. Able to perform amazing cures and undertake out-of-body travels (here called exomatosis), they drone on endlessly, about Absolute Beingness (God), our inner selves as Holy Monads, reincarnation, karma, chakras (body energy centers). Markides, a University of Maine sociology professior, states that all names in the book are fictitious, which does not inspire confidence. Nor does the appearance of characters such as the Blond Magus, a Macedonian wizard who claims he developed his powers in a Tibetan monastery. (Oct.)