The Jewel in the Wound: How the Body Expresses the Needs of the Psyche and Offers a Path to Transformation

by Rose-Emily Rothenberg

This is the compelling story of how the author's disfiguring scars guided her search for a connection with her mother, who died at her birth and, ultimately, led to her own psychological development. In this process, the scars became the sacred jewels that illuminated the pathway of self-understanding. Movingly told from a Jungian point of view and in the intimate context of analysis, it is not only the autobiography of a person with a lifelong dedication to understanding the psyche, but also a portrayal of the unconscious as it reveals itself throughout the course of that person's life. As a journey of the soul, the book includes dreams, art work and active imagination-all ways of accessing the archetypal dimension underlying body symptoms. Ms. Rothenberg explains, through focused work, how body symptoms and physical illness can help us to discover our personal myth. In her case, the journey led her to Africa and a study of the art of scarification, during which she interviewed shamans who helped her unveil the symbolic and spiritual meaning behind her own physical and psychological scars. Rothenberg explores wounding in a way that opens us to healing. It is the tale of a life lived consciously and with great integrity. She includes a rich variety of art work, images of cultural artifacts, and pictures from her visits with shamans.

Genres: Psychology

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Darlene Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be about "how the body expresses the needs of the psyche and offers a path to transformation," as the subtitle suggests, but it was not. Rather, it was about how one woman's body expressed the need of her very particular psyche. There was very little effort made, if any, to teach a reader how to generalize the author's experience and then apply it to his own. This would be a fascinating case study for a Jungian psycho-analyst, but didn't appeal to me, an average person interested in body-mind interactions because it was just too specific.

[Carroll Straus · Rating 5 out of 5]

which time?