Another month, another book about “cosmic ordering”. Another text telling us, at inordinate length, how to “ask the universe for everything we’ve ever wanted”.

If Jonathan Cainer’s book was just like that I wouldn’t be reviewing it here. Unusually for a psychological can-do book of this genre, Cainer is more concerned with some genuine spiritual principles, and the book is full of insights and intuitions that continue to strike chords as the text progresses.

Jonathan Cainer is an astrologer who writes a column for the UK Daily Mail and a number of websites. His work is often described as “spookily accurate” even though the most people read are their Sun sign forecasts which can be said to describe one-twelfth of the population. Spookily accurate, however, is how I would describe Cosmic Ordering — how to make your dreams come true. Don’t let the subtitle put you off, it was probably concocted by the marketing folk over at Collins, the publisher.

Where this book differs from the ones we’ve seen before, is that Cainer puts himself in the role of the “force” or “entity” — call it what you will — that fulfils your cosmic orders (for want of a better phrase).

At first I thought, “he can’t possible keep this up” — playing “God” is a difficult enough task even for God. But somehow he pulls it off. There’s a feeling of genuineness about the writing and a depth of nuance that prevents it becoming yet another get-rich-quick slim volume. Here’s a small sample of the text:

There is another factor that can come into play here too. No matter how many chances I put before you, you have to seize them and make them work. That requires a degree of level-headedness on your part, but passion and perspective are like sunshine and starlight — you rarely see both at the same time. As soon as you have a lot of one, the other vanishes.

This book is now at half-price at Amazon.co.uk (£3.99/$7.38). Well worth the entry fee for an interesting read whether you believe in ordering from the cosmos or not.