Children and EEs/EHEs Record Type: Review   ID: 895
The Radiant Child Armstrong, Thomas
This book explores nonordinary experiences in childhood against the backdrop of a new developmental view of children which Armstrong characterizes as being "from the spirit down" as opposed to the standard view of "from the body up." In the new view, which is complementary to the standard view, it is posited that "there is a part of the child which does not have its roots in the mother or earth matrix . . . . There is a dimension of the child (and therefore of all of us) that has its foundations elsewhere" (p. 6). He documents the "spirit down" potentialities of children in the book, weaving together instances of nonordinary experiences with the findings of many fields, such as anthropology, literature, mythology, philosophy, and religion, to provide a foundation for a new discipline that will explore "the child's experience of the extraordinary: visions, intuitions, ecstasies, encounters with the supernatural, confrontations with the infinite, interactions with other levels of existence, and so on" (p. 10). This discipline would explore ways of helping children to integrate these experiences when they grow up rather than simply forgetting or repressing them. In one chapter Armstrong presents a "Spectrum of Childhood Consciousness." In another he describes ways of helping children on nonordinary levels. There are three appendices consisting of useful annotated bibliographies on transpersonal children's literature, books relevant to the study of the child's higher nature, and resources in transpersonal child studies.
Publisher Information:	Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1985. 203p. Annotated bibliographies: 153-174; Chapter notes; 2 figures; 2 graphs; Index: 195-203

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