
I Know Why You're Sad

The concept of this individualized soul-image has a long, complicated history; its appearance in cultures is diverse and widespread and the names for it are legion. Only our contemporary psychology and psychiatry omit it from their textbooks. The study and therapy of the psyche in our society ignore this factor, which other cultures regard as the k
... See moreJames Hillman • The Soul's Code
Just to say this plainly: human beings can never be made happy by the material world. We are spiritual beings and can be emotionally healthy only when we are in touch with a higher world. We need higher forces just as we need air. This is not abstract philosophy, it is a description of our nature. But it requires constant work to stay in touch with
... See morePhil Stutz • Lessons for Living: What Only Adversity Can Teach You
To further aggravate our emotional woes, modernity has cast aside what had been, since the dawn of time, a central resource for coping with life’s vicissitudes. God has died and there is now little we can turn to, intone in front of, or beg for deliverance from when times grow hard. We dwell in a world ruled by the pitiless laws of science in which
... See moreAlain de Botton • A Therapeutic Journey
Finally, although psyche means soul, many of the current trends in psychotherapy today are empty of soul. Focused on short-term treatment and behavioral change, they lack an orientation to depth. Focused on medication, they lack a permeability to the underworld. Focused on personal psychology alone, they fail to honor the gods. Focused on insight a
... See moreSteven Wolf • Romancing the Shadow
The lost soul is the consciousness that has dropped into the place where one human’s thoughts, emotions, and sensory perceptions of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell are all synchronized. All these messages come back to one spot. Then the consciousness, which is capable of being aware of anything, makes the mistake of focusing on that one spot
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