Illuminata: A Return to Prayer

by Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson's bestselling A Return to Love ended with a prayer in which she asked God to help us "find our way home, from the pain to peace, from fear to love, from hell to Heaven." Now, in this stunning new collection of thoughts, prayers, and rites of passage, Marianne Williamson returns to prayer.Prayer is practical, Williamson tells us. "To look to God is to look to the realm of consciousness that can deliver us from the pain of living." Illuminata brings prayer into our daily lives, with prayers on topics from releasing anger to finding forgiveness, from finding great love to achieving intimacy. There are prayers for couples, for parents, and for children; prayers to mend broken relationships and prayers to overcome obsessive and compulsive love. There are prayers to heal the soul, prayers to heal the body, and prayers for work and creativity.

Williamson also gives us prayers for the healing of America, including two prayers that have had powerful effects on audiences at her lectures: a prayer of amends on behalf of European Americans to African-Americans and one to Native Americans. How, Williamson asks, can we expect anyone to forgive when we have made no formal apology?

Another section includes rites of passage, ceremonies of light for the signal events in our lives: blessing of the newborn, coming of age, marriage, and death. There is also a ceremony of the elder, for moving into midlife, and a ceremony of divorce, in which a gentle transition is provided for both the couple and their children.

"Read my prayers or someone else's," Williamson says. "By all means, create your own." Illuminata is a way to bring prayer into practical use, creating a sweeter, more abundant life for yourself and the people you care for. "No conventional therapy," she says, "can release us from a deep and abiding psychic pain. Through prayer we find what we cannot find elsewhere: a peace that is not of this world."

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Self Help, Religion, Prayer, Poetry, Inspirational

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed lecturer, activist, and author with six New York Times bestsellers. Her books include Tears to Triumph, A Return to Love, A Year of Miracles, The Law of Divine Compensation, The Gift of Change, The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, and A Course in Weight Loss. She has been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah and Good Morning America.

Reviews

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!!! Whenever I need something I just can't find anywhere else, I always reach for this book.........

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a book of prayers and found this in the second hand book store. She has some beautiful prayers in here that say what your heart is saying when you do not have the words. She has daily prayers, prayers for difficult situations, a prayer for your child that I prayed often over one of mine. I keep it by my bedside and often read the prayers. Oprah quotes her prayers often I've noticed.

[Yelda Basar Moers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminata is a beautiful book of what I would call “secular” prayers by one of the most acclaimed spiritual writers of our time, Marianne Williamson. There is no mention of a prophet or religious lingo, just God and the contemplation to reach him with these words. There are prayers for everything you could imagine, healing, love, children, money, failure, achievement and work, daily prayers and renewal prayers. The prayers are as powerful as those of the three monotheistic traditions, yet they are bare and simple, applicable to anyone. Williamson believes in the unification of the world’s spiritual traditions, and this book of prayers reflects that. She also offers her own commentary to spirituality, written as a preface to her prayers.

Meditation is just as important to her as prayer. She writes, “prayer is when we talk to God, and meditation is when we listen.” Meditation is a time of quiet when the mind is freed, a silence in which the spirit of God can enter us and work his divine alchemy upon us, she says. Our brains hence emit different waves as we receive information more deeply than we do during normal waking consciousness. Meditation is a time we can speak to others at their soul level, “in the holiness of the inner shrine from your most naked, loving truth.”

Williamson’s reflection on prayer here is a snapshot of the great insights she shares in Illuminata, “The highest level of prayer is not a prayer for anything. It is a deep and profound silence, in which we allow ourselves to be still and know Him. In that silence, we are changed. We are calmed. We are illumined.”

One of my favorite sections is “Daily Prayers.” Henry David Thoreau once said that each day is a new beginning, like a new blank leaf page of a book, the chance to start anew. The prayers in this section are a great way to begin the day, with “Morning Prayer,” or “A New Day,” or even closing the day with “Evening Prayers.” She also has a wonderful section on relationships. During meditation, she says, we can speak soul to soul and hear the response. “Where we love,” she writes, “let us deepen that love through silent communion in the chambers of the heart. Where we experience conflict, let us find the soul of the other in silence, in prayer.”

[Erin Hearts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've thoroughly enjoyed this book of prayers and will continue choosing prayers here and there when I need to layer my perspective with renewed joy and gratitude. I like that the God Marianne prays to is not a religious God from a specific set of doctrine. It is more like an all-encompassing presence of love. She has explained this concept in her book "Return to Love," but this book could serve as a first look through her sightline of grace as well. Adding prayer into my daily life has helped me practice my values and work towards becoming the person I want to be at each moment and in each daily interaction. I'm on my way to becoming a Marianne expert, it seems, and proud of it!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has prayers for every kind of celebration. The divorce prayer and ceremony is one every person who is going through a divorce should read and do. There are prayers for the world, your enemies, your pets etc. Only Marianne Williamson can invoke such intention in her prayers, she gets to the heart and moves you.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful prayers for many every day situations. The prayer for our children is wonderful. There are prayers for a new day, prayers for achievement at work, etc. Non denominational.

[etherealfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this didn't make my read list before as I read this book and ate it up in the mid nineties. A simple and beautiful call to prayer. As with practically every book listed in my "read" section I'm completely riffing on the dates read since I haven't the faintest clue about the exact dates.

[Suzanne Kittrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time through this book for me. I keep it on my bedstand because it is better than aspirin for what ails you. Very soothing and comforting any time of day but especially in the middle of the night.

[Linda]

Love this book - keep it beside my nightstand.

[Sandy Markley klieger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It has prayers for many situations. I especially love the morning and evening prayers. I keep them on my bedside table and read them often.

[Helynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely experience as an audio book because Marianne Williamson's voice is so sincere and soothing as she reads through these gentle prayers that are on a variety of topics. However, it's nice to have a hard copy of the book as well for frequent future reference. Williamson's overall premise is that life is all about love, and that a life without heart is a life without life force (or chi, as the Chinese call it). She explains her choice of the book's title in Chapter 2: "Illumination is not of this world. It lifts us above the lies of the world by helping us to detach from them. Illumination is both our source and our destiny, and the reason we came here and the reason we stay" (23). Most of the rest of the book consists of suggested prayers for various types of people and situations. There are daily prayers, prayers for the soul, prayers for the body, for relationships, for healing, for work, creativity and for the rest of the world. Her prayer of Amends to the African-American is particularly touching. "For the evils of racism throughout our history, Please forgive me and please forgive this country . . . May the spirit of this amends bring peace to your soul. Truly, you have waited long" (214-15). I also liked her prayer on money, part of which states, "I want money to flow freely into me and through me, that it might bless my life and the lives of others." Whenever I start to feel miserly or financially threatened, I think of that line about money flowing "through me," and I feel a lot more secure. Really, there is hardly a life's experience that isn't covered by one of Williamson's prayers. This is truly a book that has something to comfort everyone.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

i knew it was a prayer book, but i thought it would be more...

a let down after reading "a return to love".

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and rewarding read but also a good one to keep at my bedside to read over and over. This is a book I may never shelve.

[Angy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this former bestseller for free from a local book shop. I think that Marianne Williamson is a talented writer very in touch of her spirituality, and these traits are very admirable. I think her prose about the world is meaningful and beautiful, even when she writes about ugly topics. However, I don't think I'm particularly connected to the things she says on a spiritual level. I believe in prayers as words of manifestation not directed toward a specific being, and I can appreciate the suggestions for prayers that Williamson includes here. Though the God she prays to seems to be very masculine and Christian-based, she is open-minded to other sources of faith. I cannot relate to her devotion to the Source, though, and my philosophy requires a lot of action on my end instead of surrender.

[Cindy Wiedemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hard to review. As a sort of guide to returning or turning to a regular routine of deep, meaningful, and regular prayer practice in your life, it is a fairly straightforward book. Offers a lot of sample prayers for a variety of life's situations. My challenge was that a lot of the scenarios did not apply to me and my life, so I struggled to read and focus on those parts of the book. There are a lot of good thought-provoking ideas, though.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it a lot. Read it quickly.

[laurenkrup · Rating 5 out of 5]

every person should read this book

[Jungsook Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, "Illuminata: A Return to Prayer" is not only a beautiful prayer book but also enlightening book.

I will record the lines I like a lot.

God's greatest desire is to alchemize our being, that He might then sends us out as His lamps unto the world.

... self-actualized people are hard to manipulate and difficult to control.

No matter is happening, the universe is invested in healing. Night is followed by morning.

We cannot remain asleep or limited by materialistic consciousness forever.

In silence, we are changed, calmed. We are illumined.

"Nothing is so fragile as action without prayer."

What is not love is fear. Anger is one of fear's most potent faces.

The point of love is to make us grow, not to make us immediately happy.

Nonjudgmental listening is light.

The point at which we shut down on others is the point at which we shut down on life. We heal as we heal others, and we heal others by extending our perceptions past their weaknesses. Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who that person is.

Honoring our connection to another person is a way of honoring God.

In surrendering we do not love but only gain... The intimacy can grow strong, the immature can love, but only the mature can surrender.

Each of us is a cell in the social body.

Eternity means a present untainted by past pain or future anxiety.

dangerous scapegoating.

The only thing we can be one hundred percent responsible for is our own minds.

...so it is not appropriate to ignore "just a little violent thinking. Little cancer, unchecked, turns into a monstrous killer.

[Dawn Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to read books by this author. I think she has a gift for interpreting spiritual principles.

[Tina]

This book is always by my side of the bed, has been for years now. Marianne has a very efficient way of communicating, but you will have to see for yourself. I also like the fact that no matter what problem you need relief for, its usually there in a simple prayer and when you read it, you are capable of putting things into better perspective, finding a way back to Love, Harmony and Peace!!!

[Alcqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my daily reader books. It helps keep me spiritually focused, balanced and open-minded for what is coming my way. Also, it helps me focus more on how to better interpret stressful situations in my life. It is actively assisting me to eliminate some of my negative behaviors. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to become more spiritually in tune with themselves and others.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep reading and re-reading this. Marianne has such an eloquent writing style and manages to say, with bluntness and sincerity, what many of us have been waiting and needing to hear. She is a master of putting thoughts to words, which is one reason that her prayers are so meaningful and beautiful.

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are at least a few prayers in here that will speak to everyone and anyone! Very lovely and well-written prayers. Some of the explanatory parts I skimmed through, especially the end, but most of the prayers are all worth a read and at least a few could become part of your daily intentions and/or meditation.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book! I heard so much about it and finally purchased it from a local bookstore and love it. My mom saw it at my house, picked it up and was so impressed with the prayers. That is saying a lot because my mom is a master prayer!
The phrasing evokes such beautiful imagery and faith. I have found it to be an excellent reference book to use for many years to come.

[Amy Terhorst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I personally have to change some of the terminology to feel comfortable, Marianne Williamson presents beautiful ceremonies and rituals to mark important times of life. I have used this book for my own wedding, separation from relationship, and so much more.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read from this book every day. It has broadened, blessed, and enlightened my spiritual journey a great deal. I have given several copies out to people who have ALL said that it has blessed them as well.

[Sean Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those that want/need a little something to start your day, end your day, or for that certain moment, circumstance...prayers, reflection, meditation, a time to just be, this is that blueprint for creation.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great prayers on many different topics. This is a good book for people who have trouble coming up with the "right words" in a prayer, or maybe need help beginning to pray because they have never prayed before. Her prayers are beautiful.

[Lisa Steele-Maley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first section of this book. The remaining sections got tedious when reading them in sequence. I am sure they will be a wonderful ongoing resource when I am looking for inspiration, prayers or rituals to meet specific needs, questions and concerns.

[Camille Bovee · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Marianne Williamson's best books....the entire book is filled with the most illuminating and profound prayers that apply to any situation or need. this is the type of book you could leave close by and refer to it often!