US Review of Books

The Reluctant Messenger - Tales from Beyond Belief: An Ordinary Person's Extraordinary Journey into the Unknown
by Candice M. Sanderson
Clark Press

book review by Barbara Bamberger Scott

"The message captivated me; the authors of my first message about a flower had revealed themselves through this familiar lyrical language."

In this mystical memoir, a psychologist turns psychic and shares the results of that experience. In 2013, Sanderson, a widow who had raised two children to successful adulthood, had a demanding but rewarding position as a school psychologist. Things seemed organized and predictable. But then, Sanderson says, “In ten minutes, my life changed forever.” In the midst of her daily commute, powerful words came into her mind, bidding and forcing her to listen and later record a message which spoke of a flower as a “flow-er of energy” and urging her to be such a “flow-er,” to grow and flourish. Though the experience caused her heart to pound, it was positive. Soon afterward she saw a flowering tree and began to see herself as one of its unopened buds. From that day onward, she had a flood of messages of a similar sort, sometimes in the form of dreams, and including words from people who had passed away. Each time, she would do her best to record the communications in a journal and share them on an online site. Nearly two years after the first incident, her message bearers, who called themselves The Muses Within, began encouraging her to write a book. Though she was not sure she was capable of such an undertaking, the idea gradually bore fruit. 

Sanderson’s book, like her consciousness, gradually expanded in scope to take in these new concepts, which include fascinating bits of practical, sometimes scientific, information. She cogently describes the linkages she was receiving between mythological concepts and factual reality, such as the science surrounding higher forms of energy. Some of the wisdom shared with her from her muses touches on psychological constructs that appealed to her professional training. For example, instead of worrying that we have “too much on our plates,” we should instead rejoice that we have a large range of options. Meeting with Native American mystics introduced Sanderson to the concept of the White Buffalo, a symbol of pure earthly energy. 

Sanderson’s memoir is engaging and accessible. Given that her career in psychology often required suppression of personal feelings and a rational approach to the problems of others, her gradual opening to a wide range of emotive themes is touching and credible. The central perception drawing together all of her extraordinary experiences is her own personal wonderment and, at times, puzzlement. Why was she chosen to convey these deeply meaningful communications, as she was merely a “common, everyday person who had stepped onto a path into the unknown”? She frankly reveals her myriad feelings and invites the reader to walk along that path with her. She recounts her steps to acceptance of the truths that are being given to her. She consults with like-minded persons and groups that might give further enlightenment, exploring meditation and other energy-generating practices that she can recommend to her readers. Her exploration into the revelations that have been fed to her from mystical sources forms a guidebook for anyone who may have found or is seeking an internal door opening to etheric realms. --RECOMMENDED by the US Review