What do you think?
Rate this book
The Michael Handbook: A Channeled System for Self Understanding
This book presents a complete system of knowledge that makes perfect sense and is fun. It describes how people operate through roles, goals, attitudes and chief features. It explains soul ages and how the number of lifetimes you have had affects the way you see the world. The authors provide easy to understand examples including famous people, nations, and historical events. This system is one of the many channeled message being presented to assist the rapidly changing consciousness of humanity. The source of the information is Michael, a higher plane being who communicates with us through channels and trans-mediums.
325 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1988
46 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 7, 2008
Where we fit in the Universe. How and why we write our life scripts the way we do. Also gave me a huge appreciation for others in their life journeys and helped me to not judge others.
April 21, 2023
AN OVERVIEW OF TEACHINGS ATTRIBUTED TO THE ENTITY ‘MICHAEL’
Authors Jose Stevens dan Simon Warwick-Smith wrote in the ‘Brief Overview’ of this 1990 book, “This teaching exists to assist the planetary shift toward older soul age evolution. The ultimate goal of existence on the planet is to unite, and in everyday terms this means cooperation instead of competition. That is why self-acceptance and acceptance of others is important, and why unconditional love is the highest goal within this teaching. This body of knowledge describes personality in terms of ‘overleaves,’ a set of characteristics that overlay your essence or soul. With the knowledge of this system, you can choose whether you operate from the positive or negative parts of your personality. When you come from the positive parts, you are acting out of true personality, and that is how your essence or inner being can grow and express itself. Many modern schools of philosophy and psychology represent facets of this system. Readers of Maslow, Jung, Erik Erikson and Freud, as well as others, will find a ring of familiarity here. Elements of this system were being taught in the 1920s by Gurdjieff, Ouspensky… Readers will discover that many of the underlying targets resonate with Eastern philosophies, especially Sufism. This teaching, as present here, surfaced in the early 1970s in the San Francisco Bay Area through different mediums and channels. The information is channeled from the being called Michael and is named after him. Michael is a non-physical being who once lived many lifetimes on the earth. He completed his experience and moved on to other realms of existence from where he teaches.”
They explain in the Preface, “We wrote this book to take those with little or no knowledge of this teaching up to a basic level of understanding. Our approach has been to teach by analogy, analogy that will draw on your everyday experience. This book is not a body of facts but a way of seeing the world, a language, a medium, a perspective. It contains one interpretation of how the universe works and is broad in that it speaks of the universe, and focused in that it explains the workings of everyday personality. Some of the terms expressed here differ from the way this system is presented elsewhere. This is a result of the expansion of understanding about the system and the process of self-confirmation that goes with it. Different things are true for different people, experiences and cultures. The terms are only intended as a transitory vehicle toward seeing the world with wider perception… Please do not ‘believe’ what we have written here but check it out for yourself. And once you have mastered it, let it go.” (Pg. iii)
The Introduction states, “This book is … a long lost map, that reveals the contours of a rugged and exotic terrain and a trail through it. Here, you will find the essential elements that make up your personality: the role you play, the goal of your life, your basic attitude, and the stumbling blocks that exist. Here, you also will discover how you can shift gears to accelerate your self-understanding and move towards unconditional acceptance of others. This book is about a spiritual teaching. ‘Spiritual’ because it examines the context of our existence, ‘teaching’ because that’s what it does. Many teachings advance mankind, and this is one. Two thousand years ago, at the beginning of the age of Pisces, a great teacher… Jesus Christ introduced a spiritual teaching. It flourished and flowed down through the centuries like a river of truth… The age of Pisces is coming to an end, taking with it the symbol of the fish which is also the symbol of Christianity. A new age approaches: the age of Aquarius, with new teachers and new concepts about our existence.
“The ideas in this book filter out from small groups who live them in their lives. These concepts include that the universe and life itself is a rational system, not random chaos, with describable elements such as essence, false personality, reincarnation, our underlying oneness, and so on. These notions can help to set the context for the growth of the planet as the major civilizations of the world continue their rapid integration after thousands of years of separateness. With this integration can come awareness of our actions on a personal scale and on a world wide scale….
“The nations of the world do not generally recognize these concepts… It takes wider perception than the present soul age of the world population to understand this. Recognizing the distinction between false personality and essence would facilitate better decision making world-wide and improve international relations, not a mention reducing the chance of nuclear war. This book is presented not as just another school of thought but as a genuine transformational text.”
They state, “Each overleaf or personality has a positive and a negative pole… As a soul accumulates experience, so one can increasingly recognize the impulses of the body personality and develop and broaden the ability to act from essence… The overall goal is for each fragment to experience all that life has to offer, and to progress towards wholeness, integration and balance. The model for this is self-acceptance and acceptance of others. Thus the game of hide and seek leads to a major discovery, ‘Me’ discovers ‘we’ and ‘we’ discovers ‘I.’ The game is finished. The Tao has been caught.” (Pg. 10)
They assert, “The infinite soul is a representation of the Tao itself. The infinite soul comes to earth, say, every two thousand years, although historically, for example, Christ and the Buddha came within six hundred years of each other because each impacted separated and distinct regions and civilizations. These avatars have world impact for literally thousands of years. There are often magical and mystical events surrounding the birth of these exalted beings and their presence is felt and prophesied long before their arrival.” (Pg. 54)
They outline, “Each human being, although uniquely different, is one of seven possible essential roles: server, artisan, warrior, priest, sage, king, or scholar. These terms refer to a way of perceiving the world, not to the usual career definitions…. Just as an actor gives a far better performance when he knows his character, so we can live our lives more effectively when we know our roles and those of others. Knowing of the roles also can bring about a larger degree of self-acceptance in a way that self-examination from a purely personal perspective may not.” (Pg. 70, 74)
They say, “The overleaves… are personality characteristics that overlay the core or essence each lifetime. Together they create a complete picture of personality… While the roles remain the same, lifetime though lifetime, the other personality characteristics or overleaves are chosen anew each lifetime. This enables the essence to set the scene in terms of personality traits. These personality characteristics facilitate the lessons that essence wants to learn for a given lifetime.” (Pg. 117)
They state, “The chief feature is the primary stumbling block we have set up so that we can learn about the characteristics and consequences of that particular fear. It neutralizes efforts towards the goal. The chief feature is the chief neutralizer of the chief negative obstacle. It is the one that is possible to erase completely so that it no longer exists in your personality. In fact, erasing the chief feature is one goal of this system of knowledge.” (Pg. 189)
They assert, “Centers convey the experience of personality to essence. They are like bridges, tunnels, or energy vortices between essence and personality. You might think of them as communication lines between the central command and the outpost. These lines carry information back and forth giving direction and guidance to the outpost or personality and giving feedback to the central command or essence. The personality determines what to do with the information although essence tends to influence the long-term developmental direction and certain specific events (i.e. karma). Before you are born, essence decides what your centering preferences will be and your overleaves.” (Pg. 218)
They add in an Appendix, “Currently, the average sol age of the population of the earth is late young moving towards early mature. This shift started in the 1950s and is expected not to be completed until 2050. The shift … represents a change in values and perspective from a preoccupation with the material world to an intense focus on emotions and relationships… The shift will be characterized by events that compel people to look at life differently and these are often stressful... This stress gives segments of the population an energetic shock and causes them to revise their values… the U.S. economy is approaching a major turning point during the late 1980s. If the 1990s were a period of economic hardship and distress this would facilitate the change, albeit via suffering… Since the majority of the Earth’s population is late level young, a shift in their perceptivity to early mature will create a critical mass, moving the level of consciousness of the planet forward a quantum leap. Let us make the move safely together.” (Pg. 301-303)
This book will interest those studying the ‘Michael Teachings.’
Authors Jose Stevens dan Simon Warwick-Smith wrote in the ‘Brief Overview’ of this 1990 book, “This teaching exists to assist the planetary shift toward older soul age evolution. The ultimate goal of existence on the planet is to unite, and in everyday terms this means cooperation instead of competition. That is why self-acceptance and acceptance of others is important, and why unconditional love is the highest goal within this teaching. This body of knowledge describes personality in terms of ‘overleaves,’ a set of characteristics that overlay your essence or soul. With the knowledge of this system, you can choose whether you operate from the positive or negative parts of your personality. When you come from the positive parts, you are acting out of true personality, and that is how your essence or inner being can grow and express itself. Many modern schools of philosophy and psychology represent facets of this system. Readers of Maslow, Jung, Erik Erikson and Freud, as well as others, will find a ring of familiarity here. Elements of this system were being taught in the 1920s by Gurdjieff, Ouspensky… Readers will discover that many of the underlying targets resonate with Eastern philosophies, especially Sufism. This teaching, as present here, surfaced in the early 1970s in the San Francisco Bay Area through different mediums and channels. The information is channeled from the being called Michael and is named after him. Michael is a non-physical being who once lived many lifetimes on the earth. He completed his experience and moved on to other realms of existence from where he teaches.”
They explain in the Preface, “We wrote this book to take those with little or no knowledge of this teaching up to a basic level of understanding. Our approach has been to teach by analogy, analogy that will draw on your everyday experience. This book is not a body of facts but a way of seeing the world, a language, a medium, a perspective. It contains one interpretation of how the universe works and is broad in that it speaks of the universe, and focused in that it explains the workings of everyday personality. Some of the terms expressed here differ from the way this system is presented elsewhere. This is a result of the expansion of understanding about the system and the process of self-confirmation that goes with it. Different things are true for different people, experiences and cultures. The terms are only intended as a transitory vehicle toward seeing the world with wider perception… Please do not ‘believe’ what we have written here but check it out for yourself. And once you have mastered it, let it go.” (Pg. iii)
The Introduction states, “This book is … a long lost map, that reveals the contours of a rugged and exotic terrain and a trail through it. Here, you will find the essential elements that make up your personality: the role you play, the goal of your life, your basic attitude, and the stumbling blocks that exist. Here, you also will discover how you can shift gears to accelerate your self-understanding and move towards unconditional acceptance of others. This book is about a spiritual teaching. ‘Spiritual’ because it examines the context of our existence, ‘teaching’ because that’s what it does. Many teachings advance mankind, and this is one. Two thousand years ago, at the beginning of the age of Pisces, a great teacher… Jesus Christ introduced a spiritual teaching. It flourished and flowed down through the centuries like a river of truth… The age of Pisces is coming to an end, taking with it the symbol of the fish which is also the symbol of Christianity. A new age approaches: the age of Aquarius, with new teachers and new concepts about our existence.
“The ideas in this book filter out from small groups who live them in their lives. These concepts include that the universe and life itself is a rational system, not random chaos, with describable elements such as essence, false personality, reincarnation, our underlying oneness, and so on. These notions can help to set the context for the growth of the planet as the major civilizations of the world continue their rapid integration after thousands of years of separateness. With this integration can come awareness of our actions on a personal scale and on a world wide scale….
“The nations of the world do not generally recognize these concepts… It takes wider perception than the present soul age of the world population to understand this. Recognizing the distinction between false personality and essence would facilitate better decision making world-wide and improve international relations, not a mention reducing the chance of nuclear war. This book is presented not as just another school of thought but as a genuine transformational text.”
They state, “Each overleaf or personality has a positive and a negative pole… As a soul accumulates experience, so one can increasingly recognize the impulses of the body personality and develop and broaden the ability to act from essence… The overall goal is for each fragment to experience all that life has to offer, and to progress towards wholeness, integration and balance. The model for this is self-acceptance and acceptance of others. Thus the game of hide and seek leads to a major discovery, ‘Me’ discovers ‘we’ and ‘we’ discovers ‘I.’ The game is finished. The Tao has been caught.” (Pg. 10)
They assert, “The infinite soul is a representation of the Tao itself. The infinite soul comes to earth, say, every two thousand years, although historically, for example, Christ and the Buddha came within six hundred years of each other because each impacted separated and distinct regions and civilizations. These avatars have world impact for literally thousands of years. There are often magical and mystical events surrounding the birth of these exalted beings and their presence is felt and prophesied long before their arrival.” (Pg. 54)
They outline, “Each human being, although uniquely different, is one of seven possible essential roles: server, artisan, warrior, priest, sage, king, or scholar. These terms refer to a way of perceiving the world, not to the usual career definitions…. Just as an actor gives a far better performance when he knows his character, so we can live our lives more effectively when we know our roles and those of others. Knowing of the roles also can bring about a larger degree of self-acceptance in a way that self-examination from a purely personal perspective may not.” (Pg. 70, 74)
They say, “The overleaves… are personality characteristics that overlay the core or essence each lifetime. Together they create a complete picture of personality… While the roles remain the same, lifetime though lifetime, the other personality characteristics or overleaves are chosen anew each lifetime. This enables the essence to set the scene in terms of personality traits. These personality characteristics facilitate the lessons that essence wants to learn for a given lifetime.” (Pg. 117)
They state, “The chief feature is the primary stumbling block we have set up so that we can learn about the characteristics and consequences of that particular fear. It neutralizes efforts towards the goal. The chief feature is the chief neutralizer of the chief negative obstacle. It is the one that is possible to erase completely so that it no longer exists in your personality. In fact, erasing the chief feature is one goal of this system of knowledge.” (Pg. 189)
They assert, “Centers convey the experience of personality to essence. They are like bridges, tunnels, or energy vortices between essence and personality. You might think of them as communication lines between the central command and the outpost. These lines carry information back and forth giving direction and guidance to the outpost or personality and giving feedback to the central command or essence. The personality determines what to do with the information although essence tends to influence the long-term developmental direction and certain specific events (i.e. karma). Before you are born, essence decides what your centering preferences will be and your overleaves.” (Pg. 218)
They add in an Appendix, “Currently, the average sol age of the population of the earth is late young moving towards early mature. This shift started in the 1950s and is expected not to be completed until 2050. The shift … represents a change in values and perspective from a preoccupation with the material world to an intense focus on emotions and relationships… The shift will be characterized by events that compel people to look at life differently and these are often stressful... This stress gives segments of the population an energetic shock and causes them to revise their values… the U.S. economy is approaching a major turning point during the late 1980s. If the 1990s were a period of economic hardship and distress this would facilitate the change, albeit via suffering… Since the majority of the Earth’s population is late level young, a shift in their perceptivity to early mature will create a critical mass, moving the level of consciousness of the planet forward a quantum leap. Let us make the move safely together.” (Pg. 301-303)
This book will interest those studying the ‘Michael Teachings.’
August 15, 2016
The authors have done a good job in attempting to systematize the contents of the elaborately complex channeled Michael teachings. I would rate their effort a four out of five. But as far as rating the potential of readers of average intelligence and comprehension—after having persevered to complete reading their book—to profit from its contents, I give it a one and a half. But the reason for such a low rating must be attributed to the group soul entity Michael itself, not the authors.
In this age of instant answers and short attention spans, the usefulness of esoteric spiritual teachings ought to be measured by their comprehensive simplicity (e.g. “love one another,” which the authors in fact do support) not by formulaic pigeonholing of each person’s attributes and characteristics, as this book does. There are too many factors that play into who each of us are—including the myriads of influences that contribute to mold us from day to day—to justify attempting to categorize us in the arbitrary way that Michael teaches. Yes, it can be interesting, even fascinating, to try but in the end it is as futile as nailing Jello to the wall to represent some kind of meaningful analytical testament to one's true nature.
I believe the adage KISS (keep it simple, stupid) has significance when teaching the meaning of our lives and destinies. However, this book is the cat’s miau for anyone who relishes complicated and complex esoteric theories about every aspect of his/her personal existence.
In this age of instant answers and short attention spans, the usefulness of esoteric spiritual teachings ought to be measured by their comprehensive simplicity (e.g. “love one another,” which the authors in fact do support) not by formulaic pigeonholing of each person’s attributes and characteristics, as this book does. There are too many factors that play into who each of us are—including the myriads of influences that contribute to mold us from day to day—to justify attempting to categorize us in the arbitrary way that Michael teaches. Yes, it can be interesting, even fascinating, to try but in the end it is as futile as nailing Jello to the wall to represent some kind of meaningful analytical testament to one's true nature.
I believe the adage KISS (keep it simple, stupid) has significance when teaching the meaning of our lives and destinies. However, this book is the cat’s miau for anyone who relishes complicated and complex esoteric theories about every aspect of his/her personal existence.
June 22, 2014
An interesting read which provides a platform for understanding the roles, goals, attitudes, soul ages and how the number of lifetimes you have had affects how you see the world. For me personally I thoroughly enjoyed the first four chapters and could easily reread those at a whim.
March 16, 2011
Wisdom and foolishness has many layers and this book clearly breaks down human/soul behaviour in a way that is concise without feeling psycho/spiritual babble.
May 28, 2016
Mind-bending. Thought provoking.
January 28, 2021
The Micheal teaching is a spiritual thing, religion I guess. A friend of mine follows it so I thought I would check it out.
The beliefs themselves mostly invovle a complex personality profile that is supposed to help people understand the particular lessons of their current incarnation in life. As personality profiles go it seems a lot better than the meyers briggs or what hogwarts house you're in. I may even borrow the system to flesh out side characters in my novels quickly.
Of the two books on these teaching I read I found the other one "Michael The Basic Teachings" to be the better introduction and this one to be the better for clarifying the details the other skipped over.
The beliefs themselves mostly invovle a complex personality profile that is supposed to help people understand the particular lessons of their current incarnation in life. As personality profiles go it seems a lot better than the meyers briggs or what hogwarts house you're in. I may even borrow the system to flesh out side characters in my novels quickly.
Of the two books on these teaching I read I found the other one "Michael The Basic Teachings" to be the better introduction and this one to be the better for clarifying the details the other skipped over.
June 8, 2019
I cannot understand why this isn't more popular! I have been searching and searching for ways to understand myself, my motivations and ways to figure out other people. This is such a wonderful guide on how to do just this. I feel like a hole in my life has been fulfilled. I've been following the Michael Teachings off and on for many years, but this book brings it all together and makes so much sense. Absolutely life changing, especially if dealing with difficult people.
September 15, 2023
I don’t give 5 stars typically, but this book was right up my alley. There is a quote in the book about the purpose of life that is fantastic. I won’t spoil it, but it made perfect sense.
This book helps you obtain a better understanding of self, as well as those around you. Although it’s an older book, it is interesting how the concepts apply to this day still.
Love that I gave it a chance!
This book helps you obtain a better understanding of self, as well as those around you. Although it’s an older book, it is interesting how the concepts apply to this day still.
Love that I gave it a chance!
June 3, 2020
It helped define things more clearly for me with my life.
January 8, 2015
Interesting…
This book is a handy tool to read at least once in your life. It helps you understand your “life outfit” and appreciate why others make choices and carry behaviours on opposite poles to your own. Like realizing we all have a different shape in the big puzzle.
There is quite a lot of information that you can source if you’re wanting to slip into another “outfit” depending on your desired manifestations.
I found this book created a filter in my mentality to help measure everything on scale.. Like "oohh that makes sense" ;)
This book is a handy tool to read at least once in your life. It helps you understand your “life outfit” and appreciate why others make choices and carry behaviours on opposite poles to your own. Like realizing we all have a different shape in the big puzzle.
There is quite a lot of information that you can source if you’re wanting to slip into another “outfit” depending on your desired manifestations.
I found this book created a filter in my mentality to help measure everything on scale.. Like "oohh that makes sense" ;)
Want to read
March 30, 2011oh
November 5, 2013
I just don't get it
March 26, 2014
My aunt introduced this book to me when I was 12 and it definitely influenced my ideas about where we come from & why we are here. I just found it again & am looking forward to re-reading it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews