Imaginal Love

This book, written in the genre of "Imaginal Psychology", presents the imaginal dimension of the mourning process. The "angels" it greets are the interior figures who greet the bereaved during the course of their mourning process. In memory, reverie, and dream, images of the dead return to heal and be healed. As the bereaved enter into relationship with these images, the grief in which they are sequestered is particularized and individualized into the precise nuances of significance which make mourning possible.

Does love have its limits? Are couples challenged beyond what they can handle when one becomes ill? How does one cope in the face of a devastating, debilitating disease that has come to steal your loved one from you? Saving Beauty is a deeply personal narrative of a marriage transformed by the emergence of a serious illness. Dr. Kaplan shares his touching story of loving a beautiful woman ravaged by multiple sclerosis. A tale of love, sensitivity and strength emerge from the pages as Dr. Kaplan examines the psychological and social effects of disability with the wisdom and expertise of a trained psychologist. Saving Beauty is not only about facing the unexpected, it is also about exploring the meaning of soul, and learning how to muster courage and acceptance while dealing with life and death issues. Dr. Kaplan provides pragmatic insight into celebrating life, even through the devastation and pain. Saving Beauty examines how circumstances, good and bad, shape our characters and destinies, as it champions the importance of hope. These memoirs capture the redemptive power of love in the face of despair. With a surprising conclusion, the reader discovers how pain and loss can become catalysts for amazing soulful transformations. Dr. Harvey A. Kaplan is a psychotherapist who lives and practices in New York City.

Labyrinths of Love is an interdisciplinary examination of the self, psyche, and soul, providing a comparative analysis from religious, paranormal research and transpersonal theory perspectives. The work creates a unique synthesis that unfolds what it means to be human and demonstrates a visionary epistemology of the self.

Imagination in the Western Psyche: From Ancient Greece to Modern Neuroscience offers a comprehensive treatment of the human imagination by integrating the rich discourse on imagination in the humanities with modern neuroscientific research. This book is the first to offer an integrated understanding of imagination from both a humanistic (i.e., historical, philosophical, cultural, depth psychological) and scientific perspective. The book presents neurobiological accounts that align with prominent theories in Jungian and archetypal psychology and offers a window into the many ways imagination can be understood. It elaborates on the discourse on imagination in Western civilization that goes back thousands of years. Chapters analyze how imagination has been considered throughout history and contrasts a modern neuroscientific approach that looks at imagination by studying its component parts without addressing the phenomenon in all its experiential richness and complexity. By bringing these two approaches together an account of the human imagination emerges that is grounded in scientific rigor without diminishing the fullness of human experience. This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of analytical psychology, depth psychology, Jungian studies, and psychotherapy

Although Islamic philosophy represents one of the leading philosophical traditions in the world, it has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves in the non-Islamic world. This important text provides a concise and accessible introduction to the major movements, thinkers and concepts within that tradition, from the foundation of Islam to the present day. Ever since the growth of Islam as a religious and political movement, Muslim thinkers have sought to understand the theoretical aspects of their faith by using philosophical concepts. Leaman outlines this history and demonstrates that, although the development of Islamic philosophy is closely linked with Islam itself, its form is not essentially connected to any particular religion, and its leading ideas and arguments are of general philosophical significance. The author illustrates the importance of Islamic thought within philosophy through the use of many modern examples. He describes and contrasts the three main movements in Islamic philosophy ? Peripatetic, Sufi and Illuminationist ? and examines the Persian as well as the Arabic traditions. Wide coverage is given to key aspects of Islamic philosophy, including epistemology, ontology, politics, ethics and philosophy of language, providing readers with a balanced view of the discipline. The second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout, including the addition of two new chapters on recent debates surrounding Islam's need for an enlightenment, and on the future of Islamic philosophy. The new edition of Islamic Philosophy will continue to be essential reading for students and scholars of the subject, as well as anyone wanting to learn more about one of the most significant and influential philosophical traditions in the world today.

Hiroshima claims a crucial yet neglected place in the psychic terrain of our individual and collective memories. Drawing on recent work in depth psychology and Jungian thought, this study explores the ancient art of remembering by envisioning "places" and "images" that are impressed upon the memory. Enthusiastically used by ancient, medieval, and Renaissance explorers of soul and spirit, the art of memory became a profound expression of striving for cultural reform and an end to religious cruelty. Imaginal Memory and the Place of Hiroshima shows that images arising from the place of Hiroshima reveal, with stark exactitude, the psychic situation of our world. Specific images are explored that embody unsuspected psychological values beyond their role as reminders of the concrete horror of nuclear war. The process of remembering these images deepens into a commemoration of the fundamental powers at work in the psyche--powers that are critical to the development of a sustained cultural commitment to peace and to the deepening and revitalizing of contemporary psychological life.

Mary Magdalene is one of the most influential symbols in the history of Christianity—yet, if you look in the Bible, you’ll find only a handful of verses that speak of her. How did she become such a compelling saint in the face of such paltry evidence? In her effort to answer that question, Cynthia Bourgeault examines the Bible, church tradition, art, legend, and newly discovered texts to see what’s there. She then applies her own reasoning and intuition, informed by the wisdom of the ages-old Christian contemplative tradition. What emerges is a radical view of Mary Magdalene as Jesus’s most important disciple, the one he considered to understand his teaching best. That teaching was characterized by a nondualistic approach to the world and by a deep understanding of the value of the feminine. Cynthia shows how an understanding of Mary Magdalene can revitalize contemporary Christianity, how Christians and others can, through her, find their way to Jesus’s original teachings and apply them to their modern lives.

Assesses Merleau-Ponty’s contribution to ethics as calling for a poetic interplay between perception and imagination, and between silence and solidarity, that reveals our place in the world, and our obligations to ourselves and others. Before his death in 1961, Merleau-Ponty worried about what he saw as humanity’s increasingly self-enclosed and manipulative way of experiencing self, others, and the world—the consequences of which remain apparent in our destructive inability to connect with others within and across cultures. In Merleau-Ponty and the Face of the World, Glen A. Mazis provides an overall consideration of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy that brings out what he sees as a corrective prescription for ethical reorientation that is fundamental to Merleau-Ponty’s thought. Mazis begins by analyzing the key role that silence plays for Merleau-Ponty as a positive, powerful presence rather than a lack or emptiness, and then builds on this to explore the ethical significance of the face-to-face encounter in his thought as one of solidarity rather than obligation. In the last part of the book, Mazis traces the development of what he calls “physiognomic imagination” in Merleau-Ponty’s work. This understanding of imagination is not fancy or make-believe, but rather brings out the depths of perceptual meaning and leads to an appreciation of poetic language as the key to revitalizing both ethics and ontology. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s published works, lecture notes, unpublished writings, and the work of many phenomenologists and Merleau-Ponty scholars, Mazis also offers incisive readings of Merleau-Ponty’s work as it relates to that of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Gaston Bachelard, and Emmanuel Levinas.

Used for thousands of years by indigenous tribes of the Amazon rain forest, the mystical brew ayahuasca is now becoming increasingly popular in the West. Psychologist Rachel Harris here shares her own healing experiences and draws on her original research (the largest study of ayahuasca use in North America) into the powerful medicine’s effects on depression, addiction, PTSD, and anxiety. In this wide-ranging and personal exploration, Harris details ayahuasca’s risks and benefits, helping readers clarify their intentions and giving psychotherapists a template for transformative care and healing.

Incorporating cultural and religious contexts, this unique Encyclopedia provides a vital guide to the main concepts and thinkers in Asian philosophy - starting with Abhidharma and ending with Zurvan. The main philosophical trends and thinkers in each geographical area are featured, with an emphasis on endtemporary developments and movements. The A-Z structured encyclopedia emphasizes that Asian philosophy is not merely an ancient form of thought but that it is a living philosophy, with roots in the past, and also a potent and animate presence today. This translates into the reciprocal exchange of theories between Eastern and Western thinking, for example of new schools of thought such as orientalism. Requiring no prior knowledge of philosophy, religion or Asian cultures, this book is essential reading for students, teachers and the interested individual who wishes to gain an understanding of the philosophical basis to Asian cultural systems.

Attracting And Manifesting Love, Health, and Wealth With Grace And Ease And Finding Your Path To Bliss In The Years Of Unprecedented Natural Disasters And The Era Of The Divine Feminine When Peace Is Breaking Out Despite All The Threats About International Terrorism And Global Warming

Drawing on the author’s lifelong practice in the non-competitive and defensive Japanese art of Aikido, this book examines education as self-cultivation, from a Japanese philosophy (e.g. Buddhist) perspective. Contemplative practices, such as secular mindfulness meditation, are being increasingly integrated into pedagogical settings to enhance social and emotional learning and well-being and to address stress-induced overwhelm due to increased pressures on the education system and its constituents. The chapters in this book explore the various ways, through the lens of this non-violent relational art of Aikido, that pedagogy is always something being practiced (on the level of psychological, somatic and emotional registers) and thus holding potential for transformation into being more relational, ecological-minded, and reflecting more ‘embodied attunement.’ Positioning education as a practice, one of self-discovery, the author argues that one can approach personal development as engaging in a spiritual process of integrating mind and body towards full presence of being and existence.

With economies in peril, war in the Middle East, genocides, global warming, and a host of other grim phenomena, the world has never seemed so besieged. The solution, says Robert Sardello, lies with the individual. In this timely, thoughtful book, he explains how the soul can engage with the outer world to produce radical change. Because we think of the world as a vast mechanism and behave as mechanical objects in it, the results are devastation and dysfunction. The key is to learn to identify with the plight of the Earth by developing a true sense of individual imagination and conscious awareness of inner purpose and beauty in conjunction with the soul of the world. Sardello shows how to achieve this awareness and bring what is inside out into the world, inspiring balance and stability. Using the Grail legend and the myth of Sophia—known as the Soul of the World—as well as writings by Jung, James Hillman, and Rudolf Steiner, Love and the Soul helps readers imagine a revitalized Earth by exploring the significance of grieving, the transformative power of radical receptivity, the creative power of dreaming, and a new basis for community.

First published in 1990. James Hillman is one of the leading figures in archetypal psychology and one of the most creative minds in psychology. This anthology of his writings presents carefully selected, choice passages from many of his seminal essays and work on archetypal psychology. Fundamental themes in Hillman's thought form the chapters of the book: poetic basis of mind, psychological polytheism, dreams, love, therapy. The book is intended for the reader who wants an overview or introduction to his highly original approach, an approach that draws on mythology, renaissance philosophy, alchemy and critical readings of Jung and Freud.

This is a collection of works by internationally recognised women leading the field of dance research and spirituality across the globe. Building on current soulful research scholarship in the discipline, these authors offer extensive and detailed research into spirituality, dance, gender, religion, and somatics women-centred dance research. Written by women dance scholars in higher education, this evocative and illuminating work highlights a growing discourse on gendered leadership in dance research. Spiritual Herstories provides new pathways and innovative research methods that respond to the educational needs of women emerging in male-centric socio-historic research traditions.

Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention continues where the acclaimed Techniques of Grief Therapy: Creative Practices for Counseling the Bereaved left off, offering a whole new set of innovative approaches to grief therapy to address the needs of the bereaved. This new volume includes a variety of specific and practical therapeutic techniques, each conveyed in concrete detail and anchored in an illustrative case study. Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention also features an entire new section on assessment of various challenges in coping with loss, with inclusion of the actual scales and scoring keys to facilitate their use by practitioners and researchers. Providing both an orientation to bereavement work and an indispensable toolkit for counseling survivors of losses of many kinds, this book belongs on the shelf of both experienced clinicians and those just beginning to delve into the field of grief therapy.

Acorns delineates the future of humanity as a reunification of intellect with the Deep Self. Having chosen to focus upon ego (established securely by the time of Christ), much more beta brain wave development will destroy our species and others, which process has already begun. We create our own realities through beliefs, intents and desires and we were in and out of probabilities constantly. Feelings follow beliefs, not the other way around.

But of all the markers of Corder's Soul-questing, the most poignant is his last: his description of his grandmother's quilt-making, whose intricate (yet homemade) patterns express the true American folk-mandala, symbolic of psychic wholeness."--Jacket.

The Witches’ Almanac is a sophisticated publication appealing to general readers as well as hardcore Wiccans. Founded in 1971 by Elizabeth Pepper, the art director of Gourmet magazine for many years, The Witches’ Almanac is a witty, literate, and sophisticated publication that appeals to all those devoted to the Craft. At one level, it is a pop reference that will fascinate anyone interested in folklore, mythology, and culture; but at another, it is the most sophisticated and wide-ranging annual guide available today for the mystic enthusiast. Modeled after the Old Farmers’ Almanac, it includes information related to the annual moon calendar (weather forecasts and horoscopes), as well as legends, rituals, herbal secrets, mystic incantations, interviews, and many a curious tale of good and evil. Although it is an annual publication, much of the content is both current and timeless—not specific to the date range of each issue. The theme of Issue 41 (Spring 2022–Spring 2023) is The Moon: Transforming the Inner Spirit. Also included are articles on geomancy, the lunar nodes, charms of the Welsh March, the Messenger of the Gods, the Orisha Sango, and much more.