I was excited to read Field Guide to the Spirit World because I love paranormal stuff. But this book is a huge letdown. It says it's based on science, but it's really not. The worst part is that the author thinks that people who are mentally ill, autistic, or serial killers are all controlled by evil spirits. She also suggests that they need to be cured by electroshock or exorcism. That's so wrong and harmful. Don't waste your time on this book.

There are entire pages that are nothing but quotes!! The author uses this book to promote the Oahspe bible, some obscure 19th-century book channeled by JB Newbrough. So maybe half the book's quotes are from the Oahspe. To make matters worse, other quotes aren't accurate. THen it feels like this is just a bunch of the author's ideas and not really anything that made the book really interesting.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have had a love and dislike with the spirit world my whole like. I found this while I was looking for books to review for my blog. I see there are things I have missed to try understand the Spirit World. I think about to my encounters after reading this and it made a little more sense, but I still have questions. I know not can be answered about world that still holds a lot of mysteries.

Fab read. Could not put down. Highly recommended to all. Believable characters. Great author. Will be watching out for more titles.

I had high hopes for this book but was let down. I think the author has issues with the world of science and thus sways her viewpoints on the spirit realms. I was hoping for some good spirit/ghost information but didn't receive it. The hunt continues for a compendium that will satisfy.

Field Guide to the Spirit World by Susan B. Martinez, PH.D. is a remarkable eyeopener. This scholarly document forces readers to reevaluate many long-held convictions.

A heartfelt foreword penned by Whitley Strieber leads readers into a world of possibilities many have never considered.

I would submit that Susan Makes an important argument in Field Guide to the Spirit World (Strieber).

Martinez does not simply take a surface tour of so-called supernatural, but instead she delves deeply into each topic, offering support for the facts with numerous real-life examples, all of which are supported by experts she quotes. She covers issues such as earthbound spirits, out of body experiences, multiple personalities, psychic attacks, possession, poltergeists, hauntings, dybbuks, ESP, demons, malignant discarnates, angels, ghosts, possession by evil spirits, extraordinary experiencers, vampire spirits, and much more. This is a text book of the supernatural, overflowing with a daunting amount of information.

Perhaps the most frightening element discussed is possession. According to Martinez, it is more common than current opinion accepts. She goes on to list the many ways people open the doors to intrusion by unwise practices such as drug use.

The most notable aspect of Field Guide to the Spirit Word is its extensive documentation. Not only do these annotations support the validity of the information, but they offer a trail of bread crumbs that readers may follow to further develop their understanding of various metaphysical topics.

Field Guide to the Spirit World deserves serious consideration to those interested in baffling phenomenon.

Rougeskireads

The forward is written by Whitley Strieber and is written with the idea that people are spirits housed inside a body of flesh. Therefore, lost spirits that haunt the world can try to inhabit our bodies, and there are a number of things that can leave them vulnerable to possession. A number of mental illnesses would predispose someone to hauntings or possessions, and may even be the result of such activity. These aren't necessarily all harmful violations, as the spirits can also provide information and gifts to those open to them.

I had requested this book to read thinking it was a fictional novel that would have a field guide as its conceit for the storytelling. This is not that kind of book. Martinez quotes a number of articles written within the past two hundred years regarding the fields of parapsychology, psychology, and medicine. She also quotes the Oahspe bible, a text published in 1882 that had been the result of automatic writing. There are a number of accounts from different religions and spiritual traditions woven into this book, as well as extensive amounts of interviews with serial killers and sociopaths quoted. Because a fair number of them are people with multiple personality disorder described a sense of "other" coming over them, or all describing it as a demon, this is laid out as further proof of spirits influencing the material world.

Readers that already believe in the spirits or are sensitive to such things will be drawn to a book like this. This gave me a bit of a headache to wade through because of formatting issues in the advance reader's copy, and it seemed to be more quotes than new text or a literal checklist to go through. Overall, not the kind of book I normally read at all.

It was just ok... The author was very critical and judgemental which made it hard to read. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book truly .are me angry. Do we return want to go back a hundred years ago and claim medical issues are possession and these people end up tragically killed or locked up. Maybe this author should study history and see what happens when things like that happened and hundreds of people had that happened. I would gladly give this negative stars but I can't.

Field Guide to the Spirit World: The Science of Angel Power, Discarnate Entities and Demonic Possession by Susan B. Martinez was received direct from the publisher. Being an amateur ghost hunter myself, and having seen the myriad of ghost hunting televisions shows, a field guide seems a perfect thing to have. The book itself was a well written guide that, to me, is hard to describe in that the author describes “ghostly events, demonic possession, etc” in no nonsense ways that show it can be different physical ailments or mental disorders the person has, or not. If you, or someone you buy gifts for has an interest in ghostly phenomena and/or physical ailments, this may be just the book to buy. I recommend a "hard" copy due to trying to search and mark pages is easier.
4 Stars

I want to thank NetGalley and Bear & Co. for giving me the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.
I was really looking forward to reading this book because other books of this genre have been extraordinary and uplifting. I truly believe in angels, ghosts and other things but this author has truly irritated me regarding this matter.
This author comes off as really angry with the medical /mental health field and does not hesitate to voice her opinion on the matter. She constantly bashes particular medical fields while also making strong claims or accusations against them.
She states that certain ailments such as bipolar, anxiety and epilepsy are all caused by being possessed.
This attitude put me off and I ceased on any further reading of this book. I will not in good conscience recommend this book.

This is an interesting take on spirits. It’s not your usual ghost hunter show perspective with residual energies and the like (it sounds like the author doesn’t believe in that). This is written entirely from the perspective that spirits are angels/dark angels, and various forms of mental illness and disorders such as multiple personality disorders, serial killing/murders, even autistics are possessed by these angels/dark angels and are being influenced by them. The author constantly throughout the entire book gives examples of various cases of those above, including such famous killers such as Gacy, and how certain actions or things they had said could be proof there was something controlling them and what they did. There are also quite a few biblical references throughout the book also offered as proof to the above. This can be a little rough on those who prefer the ghost hunting theories or who aren’t believers of angels or mental disorders being explained in this fashion. I found it beginning to get a little dry on me and harder to read about 2/3 through the book, but it was an interesting read nonetheless and made you really think with the examples offered, whether you believe the author’s theories or not.

An interesting and comprehensive glimpse into many aspects of the spiritual realm outside of our own. It would be a good source for anyone researching near-death experience, multiple personalities, possessions and the mental consequences of those, what happens to the soul after death and more. While a bit dry at times, I found it a good reading experience overall. The author does speak from her own POV and seems to discount current scientific mental health related standards so make of it what you will.

I don’t know if it was my copy but the format it was sent in was everywhere, sentences made no sense and “for review only” flashed in every paragraph, this book felt a bit more like a textbook and a little preachy, I really don’t think someone who is mildly interested in spirituality would enjoy it, is a bit more serious and a bit more in depth than other books are, so this one is just for specific individuals, with that being said the format ruined the reading experience for me so in the end I’m not sure if it was the book itself or just the format that weren’t enjoyable.

This copy was kindly provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

As a materialist and a sceptic, I always enjoy books of this nature. I think it’s healthy to challenge your views and get a good understanding of the opposite and the thing that you argue against. I really enjoyed the history of all these different beliefs, but unfortunately it was written far too unprofessionally for me to really pay attention. Not unprofessional in the terms of bad writing, but just a little childish about the beliefs

Field Guide to the Spirit World reads like research and is not for those that have a mild interest in the spirit world, ghosts, or the paranormal. It's more of a theological work with a slant towards the old world view that mental illness is created by demons and spirits and that is where I had a great issue with the content and the message. I would hate to see the world go back to treating those with mental illness as those they needed an exorcism. It appears as though the author has an anti-science agenda. I tend to believe that there is a place for science and the spiritual to coexist, and that science has proven to be very effective in the treatment of mental illness. I could only recommend this to a theology or seminary student who was interested in an alternative point of view.
#netgalley #fieldguidetothespiritworld

This is a very strange book. I am not sure I would classify it as a paranormal nonfiction, psychological nonfiction, or a criminal justice thesis turned book nonfiction. Martinez's book reads like an academic work with distinct sections, or themes, but were divided into eleven chapters. Some of Martinez's position regarding criminals and the spirit is interesting and unique to a certain degree. However, their position that mental illness can be attributed to the spirit, is obtuse and quite harming at best. The closing argument that Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, was stopped only because of a distant exorcism that removed the "intelligent criminal spirits" is laughable. On one hand, Martinez conducted quite a bit of research for the book, but the book only undermines the lengths that many people have gone to in order to have parapsychology and spiritualism taken seriously over the the past fifty years. This is unfortunately not a book I could recommend to anyone.

Very interesting book on a variety of paranormal experiences. From NDE, out of body experiences and spirit walking and how many outside influence's affect this. There are chapters on the afterlife, possession and UFO phenomenon, among many others. Are some psychological and health problems caused or made worse by the world of spirits? The author explains soul decay, soul travel before and after the death of the body, also how understanding this may help with positive results for autism and PTSD. These are controversial facts that some will disagree with. You have to read it and make your own conclusions. I received this book from Net Galley and Inner Traditions for a honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

I didn't finish this book.
I am very open minded and love to read about other research and supernatural phenomena. Clearly, the author has an issue with science and is very angry. I understand that and can get past that while understanding her bias to look objectively at the material she is presenting. I kept going as she bashed psychology and psychiatry even though that is my field of study. But within the first chapter, she began making claims that epilepsy, dissociative indent disorder, and other medical issues could be caused by possession, I stopped immediately. This is the kind of statement that set back care by decades! People with these issues died from exorcisms and stoning! Why would you promote bringing that back?
At that point, I stepped back. I would not be able to objectively read the material covered in the book.