A soul rescuer is a shaman, psychic, priest or mystic who heals and releases the trapped souls of the dead in order to guide them into the spirit realms. If that conjures up Hollywood images of exorcists crying, "crossing over into the light" while dodging flying household items and projectile ectoplasm, then this is the non-sensational guide to healing and dealing with the spirits of the dead, which offers a new understanding of a personal spiritual dimension. Terry and Natalia O'Sullivan have years of experience working with both the souls of the dead and the living, helping them to come to terms with death. In this beautiful book, they recall their experiences, suffusing the stories of the people with whom they have worked with a rich cross-cultural knowledge of beliefs and rituals of passing from Tibetan Buddhist belief in the emotional sensitivity of the recently departed (loud displays of emotion by those left behind can frighten it) to the practice of making a hole in the hut to allow for the passage of the spirit shared by the Hottentots of South Africa, the Fijans and the Native Americans. These fascinating belief systems and rituals are further layered with reflections upon death in philosophy, literature and the world's holy books.

However, the real meat of this thought-provoking book is the stories of hauntings, unquiet souls and the ways the authors have brought both the dead and the living from the darkness to the light. Throughout, the tone is remarkably level-headed and deeply compassionate. As a way to understanding a universal experience and as a guide on how to connect with ancestors, deal with hautings and conduct the simple rituals that can help heal the spirits of the dead, as well as the pain of the living, The Soul Rescuers is on every level an extraordinary book to return to again and again. --Fiona Buckland