Jewels in the Net of the Gods is a sweeping tale that takes readers from prehistory to the present day, from New Mexico to Morocco, and from cavemen to high priestesses. Along the way, readers learn about many of the world’s religions and spiritual traditions.
The novel tells the story of Kundun, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and Liora, a young Jewish woman. Kundun journeys from his monastery in Dharamshala to Galilee to discuss reincarnation with a leader from the Druze religion. During the long taxi and airplane trip, he reminisces about his past lives. Liora, on a spiritual journey after a difficult divorce, has traveled from her home in the U.S. to her ancestors’ home in Jerusalem. As she wanders through the city, she, too, looks back on her past lives.
It’s no surprise that Liora and Kundun’s reincarnations are intertwined. The book focuses on stories about their 10 shared past lives, ranging from their struggles as hunter-gatherers in ancient Africa, to their role in Christ’s resurrection, to their work in the Resistance during WWII.
The author, who has a Ph.D in East-West psychology, has studied spiritual traditions for more than 40 years. She weaves practices as diverse as Sufism, shamanism, Jewish mysticism, and pagan healing traditions into these past-life regressions. She also includes historical detail, such as the conflict between Spanish Catholicism and Native American religion in 17th century New Mexico.
Each of the past-life vignettes spans only a few pages, but the richness of spiritual and historical detail makes every one of them fascinating. Unfortunately, the plot outside of these stories is minimal. Readers also get little sense of Kundun and Liora’s character, other than that they’re deeply spiritual and contemplative. And the ending is abrupt, leaving readers wishing for more detail and resolution.
But it’s easy to overlook these faults in light of the author’s masterful, evocative storytelling and deep spiritual knowledge. This book will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the world’s religions while also being entertained.
Also available as an ebook.
