The word "prayer" means "to ask". I got this book for my wife. While its definitely written for women, I thought it was condescending towards women since it used some very trite language to discuss serious matters. "When someone dies in your life, look to love yourself more by praying to your inner conscious". In my view, praying is to think with God's mind. You are not in your own mind, but in God's and (s)he directs your path and thoughts. I think thats something to hold onto. I really thought the book tries to hard to make the reader cry. As if a bunch of sad things will help the reader be more spiritual and "pray better". I don't know, I think going online and reading wikipedia's answer for prayer is more interesting and insightful than this book.

I first got this book during a time when I thought prayer, or a certain spiritual awakening, could help me through some difficult times. It was highly recommended by Oprah and a bunch of other celebrities at the time,and I was curious.

What a terrible disappointment. I found it to be full of very trite and empty sayings, a new age-y approach to prayer without anything significantly profound to back it up with, and I found her writing to be annoyingly self-absorbed and pretentious. I was looking for words that would inspire, a more philosophical way of approaching spirituality, and a guide to how to get there. Instead it was more of a self-serving vanity work showing off bite-sized digestible chunks of cliched new age spirituality. If you are seriously interested in prayer and spirituality, stay far away from this one.

This little volume of prayers will have a place among your most treasured books. It will be taken out for special occasions, or when life is becoming to stressful and you need some prayerful support. The prayers contained in Illuminata range from everyday, such as greeting the morning prayers to specifically for special occasions like the prayers for a wedding. This book, like most of Marianne's work contains material that reflects the principles of A Course in Miracles. This means that they are non-denominational, because the Course is not a religion but a way of thinking. Non-denominational prayers can be used by anyone. The prayers are written in language that anyone of any faith will be comfortable with. I think it's a beautiful book, the cover and illustrations are well done and there is a prayer for almost any situation. This book can be used over and over, when ever the need for inspired words arises.

When I first read Marianne Williamson's Illuminata: A Return to Prayer, I was in middle school, and by default, not impressed. Now, in my twenties, I gave it another chance, and was still not impressed. I thought there were some very nice, quotable prayers in this book. The thoughts were simply stated, and not unrealistic. Williamson's style is very organic, and soothing. Her writing style makes you want to light candles and read while soaking a bathtub, which is probably why I didn't like it. The language was a bit too flowery. I was very confused about to whom the prayers were to be directed. It was never made clear in the book, due to the enormous double talk that's common in New Age genres. I grew bored of the numerous prayers, although I was aware it was a book of prayers. A lot of prayers seemed to have no focus or be repeats of previous prayers, which was disappointing.