The Soul's Code : In Search of Character and Calling - Softcover

James Hillman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 055350634X ISBN 13: 9780553506341

Publisher: Bantam, 1997

Synopsis

Plato and the Greeks called it ''daimon'', the Romans ''genius'', the Christians ''Guardian Angel'' - and today we use terms such as ''heart'', ''spirit'' and ''soul''. For James Hillman it is the central and guiding force of his utterly unique and compelling ''acorn theory'' which proposes that each life is formed by a particular image, an image that is the essence of that life and calls it to a destiny, just as the mighty oak''s destiny is written in the tiny acorn.

Highly accessible and imaginative, The Soul''s Code offers a liberating vision of childhood troubles and an exciting approach to themes such as freedom, and, most of all, calling - that invisible mystery at the centre of every life that voices the fundamental question, ''What is in my heart that I must do, be and have? And why?''

About this title

Review

James Hillman, a former director of the Jung Institute who has written more than 20 books on behavior and psychology, delves into human development in The Soul's Code. Hillman encourages you to "grow down" into the earth, as an acorn does when it becomes a mighty oak tree. He argues that character and calling are the result of "the particularity you feel to be you" and knocks those who blame childhood difficulties for all their problems as adults. According to Hillman, "The current American identity as a victim is the flip side of the coin whose head brightly displays the opposite identity: the heroic self-made man, carving out destiny alone and with unflagging will." Hillman's theories seem disarmingly simple, but he backs them with a careful, well-practiced intellect.

From the Back Cover

Some call it" genius". Others have named it "spirit", "daimon", and even "guardian angel". But while philosophers and psychologists from Plato to Jung emphasized the fundamental essence of our individuality, our modern culture refuses to accept that a unique, formed soul is within us from birth, shaping as much as it is shaped.

Now in this extraordinary bestseller, James Hillman presents a brilliant new vision of our selves not defined by family relationships or the mentality of victimization. Drawing on the biographies of such disparate people as Ella Fitzgerald and Mohandas K. Gandhi, James Hillman argues that character is fate and shows how the soul, if given the opportunity, can assert itself even at an early age. The result is a reasoned and powerful road map to understanding our true nature and discovering an eye-opening array of choices -- from the way we raise our children to our career paths to our social and personal commitments to achieving excellence in our time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 055350634X
• ISBN 13: 9780553506341
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344