Each card in a Tarot spread presents a unique set of circumstances that enables the inquirer to stand aside and view their own psychological processes in a way few other methods allow. This use of the Tarot is brilliantly explored by Michael Owen in The Maya Book of Life which offers endless insights into the human psyche. As the painter of The Xultun Tarot and a Tarot author, I recommend it highly.
—Peter Balin, creator of The Xultun Tarot, author of The Flight of Feathered Serpent
A brilliant, eye-opening synthesis of post-Jungian tarot and the shamanic genius of the classic Mayan civilization. Michael Owen shows a remarkable command of this important and original material. His psychological sophistication and savvy interpretations of the archetypes illuminate a more universal cosmos for the emerging 21st century tarot. A fascinating and inspiring journey of natural wisdom, Jungian depth, and timeless spirituality.
—Arthur Rosengarten, PhD, psychologist, USA, author of Tarot and Psychology: Spectrums of Possibility
This book is more than an impressive analysis of Peter Balin’s artistic creation of the Mayan Tarot. It has warmth. It is to be in touch with Michael Owen’s sensitivity to Nature and to his understanding of a world in which all living things are inwardly and outwardly connected.
—Ian McCallum, psychiatrist and Jungian Analyst, Cape Town. South Africa, former rugby Springbok, bush guide, author of Ecological Intelligence
Out of the Xultun Tarot, Michael Owen has created both a memory device and a philosophical machine that twists together the threads of spiritual alchemy, Jungian psychology, indigenous medicine teachings and DNA coding. Owen shows that, in Peter Balin’s single painting of the twenty-two Major Arcana of the Tarot, we have a multi-textured tapestry that depicts the Self from a shamanic perspective. This is a profound book of wisdom that will richly reward the reader who has an affinity for these teachings. It offers a fresh look at the tarot and its myths and symbols that can take your personal work with any tarot deck to a new level.
—Mary K Greer, author of 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card
In writing this book, Michael Owen has performed a dual service. First, he has brought the Xultun Tarot deck to the level of prominence it has deserved since first being revealed in 1976. Second, he has added a significant work to the corpus of Tarot literature. This book not only amplifies and illuminates the Xultun deck, but also provides a welcome reminder about how the Tarot enriches consciousness.
—Kenneth James, PhD, Jungian Analyst, Chicago
I have been very excited and inspired by your impressive and sensitive integration of shamanism, alchemy and earth consciousness.
—Renee Ramsden, clinical psychologist and Jungian Analyst, Cape Town, South Africa
An inspirational book that uncovers not only an unknown part of New Zealand tarot history but reveals many mysteries about tarot itself. Together Peter Balin’s original artistic genius and Michael Owen’s depth analysis interweave many strands—Mayan mythology and culture meets European Western Mystery tradition; Jungian psychology blends with indigenous wisdom. The Maya Book of Life becomes a new World card in itself, where the past marries a multi-cultural present to dance the birth of our future.
—Fern Mercier, Tarot Reader and Educator, New Zealand, www.tarot.net.nz