Myss, 45, got her first taste of national fame last year, with the hardcover publication of “Anatomy of the Spirit,” which hits The New York Times paperback best-seller list this Sunday. Her newest book, “Why People Don’t Heal,” was published last month, and there are 100,000 copies in print so far. Myss mines the same territory of mind-body interdependence as best-selling author Bernie Siegal. But while Siegal, a medical doctor, puts his emphasis on the body, Myss plugs the notion that illness represents a set of spiritual symptoms. Her lectures and books dwell on why people suffer, physically and spiritually, and what they can do to improve their health. Myss believes that “refusing to let go of past events, whether positive or negative, means throwing away some part of your daily energy budget.” In her new book, she gives the example of “one of my dearest friends who couldn’t let go of her college years. A few years ago, she developed lupus and died-lupus being tied directly to the fear of letting go.”
Medical doctors criticize Myss for making unscientific claims, and many others accuse her of blaming the victim. Still, her popularity grows. She regularly draws crowds of 1,000 (at $155 a head) to her daylong workshops, both in the United States and overseas: this year she’s carried her message to England, Scotland, South Africa and Australia. Last month in Palo Alto, Calif., 800 people had to be turned away as Myss addressed a capacity crowd of 1,200. This month, she has a two-part special on PBS television.
Raised a Catholic, she draws on the traditions of Hinduism and Judaism as well as Christianity. “It’s not just about energy and spirituality,” says Peter Shaw, who promoted Myss’s appearances in Australia. “I say, ‘Forget about that.’ You get your money’s worth just with her entertainment value. She tells great stories, and there happens to be a message in the stories. It’s the oldest tradition.”
After graduating from St. Mary of the Woods College in Indiana, Myss returned to her hometown, Chicago, to pursue a career in journalism. A freelance assignment to interview Elizabeth KUbler-Ross, the philosopher of death and dying, threw her into “a crisis of meaning.” She got a master’s degree in theology, started a small New Age publishing house and worked as a consultant with holistic doctors. Then she began to lecture and sell tapes, which led to “Anatomy of the Spirit.”
Myss insists she’s not “a healer.” “I can’t touch anybody and make them well,” she says. But try telling that to her fans. At a recent reading in New York City, a man announced, “I am deaf in one ear. What can you do for me?” During a break at the Oakbrook Marriott, she had to be escorted out by security because of the crush of fans who surrounded her. “Oh, my God,” said one woman as Myss made her way to the service elevator. “I just want to touch you.” No matter how many times she tells her audience that she has no magic powers, people look to her for just that. Her books sell hope, and business is booming.
