Articles, reviews

“Through a meditative reading of this work, it seems that sacred stories, angels, saints, and divine beings – realms that have, for some at least, been a matter of belief, even intense belief – suddenly come near – almost near enough to touch. This transformation comes about almost imperceptibly; what was previously more or less remote, becomes close.”
- Robert Sardello, co-director of the School of Spiritual Psychology, author of Freeing the Soul from Fear. 
Click here for the entire article

“Although temperamentally affronted, agnostic and aghast at such phenomena, I am forced to admit, after twenty years experience, that the source, the energy and the direction of the recorded visions of Joa Bolendas seem to me to be ungainsayably trinitarian, even if the details and the directives in some instances leave me nonplussed. What she says has had so many co-incidental connections with my own life that I am forced to acknowledge my Lord and my God.”
- Mark Patrick Hederman,  Benedictine monk of Glenstal Abbey, author of Kissing the Dark: Connecting with the Unconscious  

Online audio interview of Trina Vargo with Benedictine monk Mark Patrick Hederman: in part 2 of the interview he also speaks about the visions of Joa Bolendas in relation to the icon chapel in Glenstal Abbey. 

“The visions are essentially ecumenical, and Joa had to understand and integrate aspects of Christianity, such as the significance of icons, Mary, the saints, the rosary, and the mass, which were foreign to the traditional practices of her own Reformed church. Already in the early visions, a Johannine mysticism of Divine light, life and love, inherent in all being, is infused throughout the messages she received. The affirmation of a spiritual life, which is linked with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and through which we are born to eternal life, is common to both the fourth Gospel and Joa's visions. Here is a promise of a fulfillment of human nature, expressed in a deep spiritual love of God and one's fellow human being.”
- John Hill, Jungian analyst. 
Click here for the entire article

 “The world Joa sees, hears and receives is the fruit of intense and sustained collaboration between Joa and heaven, Joa and friends or even strangers suffering or struggling with real problems, sorrows and concerns in modern life: betrayal, shame, divorce, anger, hardness of heart, guilt, health, and more. People bring the raw material of life and death to her and she  in turn brings them to God.”
- Therese Schroeder-Sheker, musician-clinician, founder of the Chalice of Repose Project, Missoula Montana

 “In a time of awakening consciousness and veil rending, Joa's luminous visions quicken the spirit, nourish the soul, and provide manna for contemplation. A book overflowing with God's grace."
 - Nan C. Merrill, author of Psalms for Praying and Meditations and Mandalas

“The body of the book (So That You May Be One) consists of powerful statements claiming to come from such key figures in the Christian tradition as Mary, Mary Magdalene, the evangelists, Peter and even Christ himself as well as numerous saints and holy figures. There is naturally no way of proving the provenance of such statements: my own approach is 'by their fruits ye shall know them', and the fruits are indeed remarkable.”
- David Lorimer, Former Director of the Scientific and Medical Network, UK. Author of: Survival? Body, Mind and Death in the Light of Psychic Experience
Click here for the entire article

 “Spirituality enchants (or disenchants) us all at one stage or another in our journey through life, and in this important, chaotic time of crisis within the institutionalised churches world-wide, the inspired, mystical writings of Joa are vital, exciting and highly significant. If a word can in some small way go to describe the beauty, the sensitivity, the godliness of Joa herself, the abiding, transformative, someway protective effect of meeting her in person, it is - enthusiasm - a word derived from the Greek enthousiasmos = to be inspired or possessed by the god. These volumes/prayers/visions/dreams are, if it is time for your soul-flower to blossom, your invitation to experience this profound enthusiasm. Finally, for me as a singer, the purest act of singing embodies and manifests the Divine. Re-creating, within the authentic mould of inherited celtic tradition, the visionary music which Joa has received through these visions always forcefully and indelibly bonds this precious, sacred relationship.”
- Noirin Ni Riain, Ireland, vocalist

 “For many years now I have studied many varied examples of present day visionaries and mystics. I have read thousands  of descriptions, reports on angels etc. - both genuine and fraudulent ones… I would like to simply state, that never before could I say yes with such inner conviction on first sight as when I read these pages. More important than the very precise theological terminology is the attitude that prevails throughout: an attitude of deep inner devotion to Christ, of love towards all living and dead, of suffering and joy, humility and courage. The knowledge that Joa Bolendas has received about Mary, on life after death, on confession and Holy Communion, on demons and the power of intercession etc. could not possibly have come from her own personal unconscious. Truly a breath of the Holy and of the Divine Spirit blows through these pages.”
- Prof. Dr. Gebhard Frei, co-founder of the C.G. Jung Institute

 “As a musician I would like to testify that the greatest gift of my life has been to live with the great risen musicians. It has become a life of receiving and giving in God. I am on the way to understanding music as a creation of God, and to put this creatively into practice.”
- Peter Barcaba, Musician

 “I have found enormous wisdom, insight and warmth in the visions of Joa Bolendas. Whenever I have endeavored to carry into my own life a prayer, an attitude, an awareness gleaned from her work, I have always found it to be true and valuable. Working with the world in this way is so fundamentally healing - for oneself and for the world - that my hope is that many more may become aware of her message. This is the message of life lived in awareness of the unity with the divine - and in an awareness that this is to live as a full human being.”
- Nancy Parsons, Bob and Nancy’s Bookshop

 “Joa Bolendas, through her devotion to God, her commitment to truth, her purity of spirit, and her dedication to prayer, is a practicing mystic…her writings about dreams, psychology (and its relationship to spirituality), life after death, the nature of sound and color, and the life of Jesus are all ripe with truth.”
- Connie Kaplan, author of The Women’s Book of Dreams: Dreaming as a Spiritual Practice

The following articles, reviews and introductions to Joa Bolendas's books can be read as pdf files, to read these you need Acrobat Reader (download here).

Robert Sardello, The Visions of Joa Bolendas, An Introduction to So That You May Be One, 1997, 11 pages Sardello: The Visions of Joa Bolendas.pdf

John Hill. Translator's Foreword to So That You May Be One. 1997, 10 pages.
Hill: Foreword, So That You May Be One.pdf

John Hill, Translator's Introduction to Alive in God's World. 2001, 9 pages.
Hill: Introduction, Alive in God's World.pdf

Review of So That You May Be One by David Lorimer.

These copyrighted pdf files have been put on this web with the permission of the authors.