Richard Bach was the first spiritual teacher to step into my life in the guise of a book; Illusions, presented to me by my Grandma on my 14th birthday. When I was ten I’d read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and greatly enjoyed it, so my Grandma was inspired in her gift giving. I don’t think she ever knew the impact that Illusions had on my spiritual development.

Richard Bach has continued to inspire me through out the years. With each journey I felt I was off to a new and exciting destination; a feather caught in the tailwind of his storytelling.

Hypnotizing Maria, Bach’s latest book, took me by surprise. I expected a story that would captivate me (because he always does), but I had no idea it would touch me at such a deep level.

It’s the story of Jamie Forbes, a pilot and flight instructor, who is making a routine journey back to his home in Florida. While in flight, he picks up a panicked call from Maria, a woman who’s husband, a pilot, has just collapsed while they were flying! Jamie tells her that everything will be okay, that he happens to be a flight instructor, and he knows that together they can make sure she safely lands the plane.

Maria, who does indeed safely land the plane, later tells newspaper reporters that she had been very frightened when her husband collapsed, but that this pilot who came to her rescue had hypnotized her into believing she could fly a plane.

Jamie reads about this in the paper, and it triggers a chain of events which starts with a memory of when he had been hypnotized years earlier.

“Hypnotism… is suggestion accepted.” (From the book – page 47).

Through a series of synchronicities, Jamie learns more about how hypnosis, or suggestions, affect us, and either hold us back, or propel us forward.

“What if we believed we were chained by something that doesn’t exist?” (From the book – page 64).

What I LOVED about this book was its simplicity. Stories that can clearly and easily get a message across offer the greatest impact on our being. Bach is a gifted storyteller who has a way of simplifying the most complex teachings.

Hypnotizing Maria takes us on a journey through our own belief system; what are the thoughts that go through our head minute by minute, hour by hour? What are we suggesting to ourselves on a daily basis? Are we nurturing or bruising our self-esteem? The thoughts we think, whether they are true or not, affect us and how we perceive the world around us.

Bach illuminates with his words. As I read Hypnotizing Maria I felt as if I were on my own journey; one where I am reminded that every thought I think and every word I say has meaning.



This book was sent to Deanna, by the publisher's marketing department, free of charge, for the purposes of reviewing.