The Archetypal Imagination

Carolyn and Ernest Fay Series in Analytical Psychology

by James Hollis, David H. Rosen (Foreword)

"What we wish to know, and most desire, remains unknowable and lies beyond our grasp." With these words, James Hollis leads readers to consider the nature of our human need for meaning in life and for connection to a world less limiting than our own. In The Archetypal Imagination, Hollis offers a lyrical Jungian appreciation of the archetypal imagination. He argues that without the human mind's ability to form energy-filled images that link us to worlds beyond our rational and emotional capacities, we would have neither culture nor spirituality. Drawing upon the work of poets and philosophers. Hollis shows the importance of depth experience, meaning, and connection to an "other" world. The author draws upon the work of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, particularly his Duino Elegies, to elucidate the archetypal imagination in literary forms. To underscore the importance of incarnating depth experience, he also examines a series of paintings by Nancy Witt. With the power of the archetypal imagination available to all of us, we are invited to summon courage to take on the world anew and to risk a radical re-imagining of the larger possibilities of the world and of the self.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Art, Spirituality

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

James Hollis, Ph. D., was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years and now was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston.

He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.

He has written a total of seventeen books, which have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Serbian, Latvian, Ukranian and Czech.

Reviews

[JAck SøN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot, especially the way Hollis incorporated Jung ideas.

Before reading I was struggling a bit with the idea of identifying as an atheist but also being drawn and immersed in ideas of the Divine, so this book helped redefine ideas around god and the divine for me and how it can be used.

The chapter on psychopathology and the soul was particularly interesting for me too.

[Gabrielle Jarrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the first time, I was disappointed in James Hollis. I found it to be more head than heart, whereas in many of the previous books I read, I felt a balance. He reached me in three out of five chapters - the intro/archetypal imagination, literary imagination, and psychological imagination.
I was enlightened with his definition of emotions and feelings. Emotions are the raw neurological discharge of energy. Feelings are how we consciously (mindfully) and unconsciously form the energy into words, actions, and/or meaning. Unfortunately the forming is based on our unconscious repetition of complexes (bundles of stories and intense feeling stored within), culture, and previous experiences. I now see the why of the long journey to awareness of the source of my feelings...
The brilliance of James Hollis is, of course, present in Archetypal Imagination. Gaining insight from 60% of the book is not too shabby. In my experience, not his best.

[Anders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book - probably one of the most insightfull books on therapy written since Jung.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read selected chapters from this book. I thought the chapter on religious imagination was very insightful, especially since I used to be within the Christian world. I appreciate Dr Hollis's explanation of how religious symbolism and archetypes form and how they point us toward deeper meaning. Even though those religious symbols don't point to the things they used to point to for me, I can understand why they come to be what they are.

[Maan Kawas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, though not always easy to understand.

[Carl Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to it twice as an audio book. Very good!

[Calliope100]

Not what I was expecting - I have found his books very rewarding, until this one.

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that reading some Jungian work by someone other than Jung would make it make more sense, but this book is just gobbledygook word salad to me.

[Forrest Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little cult-y but given the alternatives…

[Pavel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars on the Rilke section alone

[Taylor Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one goes into the book collection.

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to digest in this book. I particularly liked the author's reference to art and poetry and how these provide access points into the archetypal imagination. Parts of the book were more obscure, however, and I found difficulty with the Kindle version; listening to the text-to-speech feature, it was as if there were many print errors or odd hyphenations because words constantly sounded wrong and this detracted from the content. All in all, I found that the book deepened my grasp of Jungian theory and practice.

[Abner Rosenweig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply nourishing book about the importance of imagination to make a symbolic leap and connect us to the mystery of being. Hollis recognizes spiritual dislocation as the chief problem of modern life and suggests that we need to recover meaning by reconnecting with the symbolic life of psyche.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I'm reading it again.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Hendrika Vries]

I found this to be an important book in helping me deepen my understanding of the complex facets of the Archetypal imagination.