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Re-Visioning Psychology
This groundbreaking classic explores the necessity of connections between our life and soul and developing the main lines of the soul-making process.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
74 people are currently reading
2493 people want to read
About the author
James Hillman
175 books574 followersJames Hillman (1926-2011) was an American psychologist. He served in the US Navy Hospital Corps from 1944 to 1946, after which he attended the Sorbonne in Paris, studying English Literature, and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with a degree in mental and moral science in 1950.
In 1959, he received his PhD from the University of Zurich, as well as his analyst's diploma from the C.G. Jung Institute and founded a movement toward archetypal psychology, was then appointed as Director of Studies at the institute, a position he held until 1969.
In 1970, Hillman became editor of Spring Publications, a publishing company devoted to advancing Archetypal Psychology as well as publishing books on mythology, philosophy and art. His magnum opus, Re-visioning Psychology, was written in 1975 and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Hillman then helped co-found the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture in 1978.
Retired into private practice, writing and traveling to lecture, until his death at his home in Connecticut on October 27, 2011 from bone cancer.
In 1959, he received his PhD from the University of Zurich, as well as his analyst's diploma from the C.G. Jung Institute and founded a movement toward archetypal psychology, was then appointed as Director of Studies at the institute, a position he held until 1969.
In 1970, Hillman became editor of Spring Publications, a publishing company devoted to advancing Archetypal Psychology as well as publishing books on mythology, philosophy and art. His magnum opus, Re-visioning Psychology, was written in 1975 and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Hillman then helped co-found the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture in 1978.
Retired into private practice, writing and traveling to lecture, until his death at his home in Connecticut on October 27, 2011 from bone cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 28, 2021
This is one of the most densely packed reading experiences I have come across in a long while, as well as one of the strangest.
I expected "Re-Visioning Psychology" to contain critical history of psychology's historical development as a scientific discipline as well as laser-sharp dissection of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung's interpretations of classical mythology. After all, that is what I got out of the two other books by James Hillman which I read before. (Insearch: Psychology and Religion and The Myth of Analysis: Three Essays in Archetypal Psychology) What surprised me was how far Hillman went down the rabbit hole opened up by another recurring idea in those books: Reconstruction of psychology as an alchemical process of crafting an individual human soul like a work of art - an endeavour Hillman took even more seriously than Jung. However, this is exactly how the ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as the Europeans of the Renaissance, understood psychology.
Hillman does not end up doubling down and coming out as a full-blown Hellenic neopagan as I expected, but the result ends up feeling more like one of the Chilean occultist/filmmaker/comic book author Alejandro Jodorowsky's nonfiction works than a typical work of psychology. (as a matter of fact "Re-Visioning Psychology" gave me the idea to re-read The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Creator of El Topo, as well as finally read my mother's copy of Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy - check out my reviews of either book where I highlight my favourite insights from Jodorowsky to be found there!) Indeed, "Re-Visioning Psychology" is a book that could only have been written and taken seriously in the 1970's when such New Agey ideas and philosophies enjoyed a level of mainstream acceptance they will probably never see again. Another mark of the book's 1970's-ness is Hillman examining how many so-called psychopathologies might better be understood in a completely different light. Notice that this book was written in the same timeframe when homosexuality was removed from the list of mental illnesses in most Western countries.
The critical history of psychology accounts for the bulk of the book's academic value which would be non-controversial today. For instance, Hillman makes a good argument that Freud and Jung's theories have more literary than scientific value and that the extremely specific set of metaphors either man used to explain their ideas say more about the grand narratives they as individuals used to make sense of the world than about how the human mind works. Hillman's nerding out over Greco-Roman antiquity is also worth reading for people who do not share his occult inclinations: The analysis of how Plato and Augustine of Hippo described the same processes of transcendence in different terms, as well as the usual in depth clearing up of modern Westerners' misconceptions about classical mythology and philosophy, constitutes some of the best scholarship on those subjects I have come across in a long while.
I think most 21st century readers would nod in agreement with the above mentioned criticism of modern Western misconceptions about Greco-Roman antiquity especially as they pertain to Freud and Jung's appropriation of both. However, I wager it would be a different story with Hillman's project to re-invent psychology as a method of transcendence that has more in common with religious mysticism than with materialistic science. After all, one of the central concepts in "Re-Visioning Psychology" is that humans do not have a soul to begin with but must craft one by creating a grand mythical narrative to make sense of the individual's place in the cosmos. Many of the chapters tread ground more covered by the likes of G. I. Gurdjieff, Colin Wilson and the aforementioned Jodorowsky than by Freud or Jung.
"Re-Visioning Psychology" has much to offer for anyone interested in Greco-Roman mythology and philosophy, the history of psychology as well as esoteric spirituality and occultism - but readers will have to bring a metaphorical saltshaker if they are not interested in all of the above subjects like I am.
I expected "Re-Visioning Psychology" to contain critical history of psychology's historical development as a scientific discipline as well as laser-sharp dissection of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung's interpretations of classical mythology. After all, that is what I got out of the two other books by James Hillman which I read before. (Insearch: Psychology and Religion and The Myth of Analysis: Three Essays in Archetypal Psychology) What surprised me was how far Hillman went down the rabbit hole opened up by another recurring idea in those books: Reconstruction of psychology as an alchemical process of crafting an individual human soul like a work of art - an endeavour Hillman took even more seriously than Jung. However, this is exactly how the ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as the Europeans of the Renaissance, understood psychology.
Hillman does not end up doubling down and coming out as a full-blown Hellenic neopagan as I expected, but the result ends up feeling more like one of the Chilean occultist/filmmaker/comic book author Alejandro Jodorowsky's nonfiction works than a typical work of psychology. (as a matter of fact "Re-Visioning Psychology" gave me the idea to re-read The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Creator of El Topo, as well as finally read my mother's copy of Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy - check out my reviews of either book where I highlight my favourite insights from Jodorowsky to be found there!) Indeed, "Re-Visioning Psychology" is a book that could only have been written and taken seriously in the 1970's when such New Agey ideas and philosophies enjoyed a level of mainstream acceptance they will probably never see again. Another mark of the book's 1970's-ness is Hillman examining how many so-called psychopathologies might better be understood in a completely different light. Notice that this book was written in the same timeframe when homosexuality was removed from the list of mental illnesses in most Western countries.
The critical history of psychology accounts for the bulk of the book's academic value which would be non-controversial today. For instance, Hillman makes a good argument that Freud and Jung's theories have more literary than scientific value and that the extremely specific set of metaphors either man used to explain their ideas say more about the grand narratives they as individuals used to make sense of the world than about how the human mind works. Hillman's nerding out over Greco-Roman antiquity is also worth reading for people who do not share his occult inclinations: The analysis of how Plato and Augustine of Hippo described the same processes of transcendence in different terms, as well as the usual in depth clearing up of modern Westerners' misconceptions about classical mythology and philosophy, constitutes some of the best scholarship on those subjects I have come across in a long while.
I think most 21st century readers would nod in agreement with the above mentioned criticism of modern Western misconceptions about Greco-Roman antiquity especially as they pertain to Freud and Jung's appropriation of both. However, I wager it would be a different story with Hillman's project to re-invent psychology as a method of transcendence that has more in common with religious mysticism than with materialistic science. After all, one of the central concepts in "Re-Visioning Psychology" is that humans do not have a soul to begin with but must craft one by creating a grand mythical narrative to make sense of the individual's place in the cosmos. Many of the chapters tread ground more covered by the likes of G. I. Gurdjieff, Colin Wilson and the aforementioned Jodorowsky than by Freud or Jung.
"Re-Visioning Psychology" has much to offer for anyone interested in Greco-Roman mythology and philosophy, the history of psychology as well as esoteric spirituality and occultism - but readers will have to bring a metaphorical saltshaker if they are not interested in all of the above subjects like I am.
January 7, 2016
I've now re-read the entire thing more slowly and wound up with forty pages of notes. Hillman has opened a channel between Jungian psychology and the ocean in my opinion. This book is critical reading for anyone interested in depth psychology or soul-making
August 13, 2009
This book was absolutely fascinating. I'm not sure I've ever seen so much squeezed into 230 pages. I will not even begin to pretend that I can fully understand the full magnitude of this text after one reading. Hillman is doing many things here: revolutionizing how we look at psychology; defining the true meaning and aim of psychology; exemplifying depth psychology; analyzing the history and importance of Greece and the Renaissance; unraveling and dissecting what makes us human; illuminating ways we get trapped by ego; arguing for a return to soul. And, after all that, his ultimate conclusion indicates that to connect psychology to soul it must not ignore religion.
There is no aspect of life, death, psychology, philosophy, sociology, psyche, and soul that Hillman leaves unexplored.
I leave you with some great summary, in Hillman's own words, that will hopefully inspire you to dig into this text:
"Chapter 1 ... was mainly a reflection from the imaginative psyche, the phantasia of the archetypes emerged. We saw there the many images of their persons, their appearances as mythical figures, as daimones and Gods. Chapter 2, mainly a reflection from the affective psyche, brought out the pathos of the archetypes. We saw there that Gods are in the styles of our suffering ... shaping our case history into their myths. Now this chapter [3:], mainly a reflection from the intellectual psyche, presents the logos of the archetypes so that we may recognize the Gods and their myths in our ideas" (129).
From Chapter 4: "Thus the Renaissance achievement of spatial perspective reflects the main themes of this chapter: (a) the depth dimension of soul now entering the subjective structures of consciousness; (b) a new relation with the image and closer participation 'in' its 'reality'; (c) the silmultaneous apperception of the soul's multiplicity, its several points of view coalescing as perspective" (212).
There is no aspect of life, death, psychology, philosophy, sociology, psyche, and soul that Hillman leaves unexplored.
I leave you with some great summary, in Hillman's own words, that will hopefully inspire you to dig into this text:
"Chapter 1 ... was mainly a reflection from the imaginative psyche, the phantasia of the archetypes emerged. We saw there the many images of their persons, their appearances as mythical figures, as daimones and Gods. Chapter 2, mainly a reflection from the affective psyche, brought out the pathos of the archetypes. We saw there that Gods are in the styles of our suffering ... shaping our case history into their myths. Now this chapter [3:], mainly a reflection from the intellectual psyche, presents the logos of the archetypes so that we may recognize the Gods and their myths in our ideas" (129).
From Chapter 4: "Thus the Renaissance achievement of spatial perspective reflects the main themes of this chapter: (a) the depth dimension of soul now entering the subjective structures of consciousness; (b) a new relation with the image and closer participation 'in' its 'reality'; (c) the silmultaneous apperception of the soul's multiplicity, its several points of view coalescing as perspective" (212).
December 10, 2018
This is a fascinating and passionate book - a plea for all sorts of unfashionable things: the imagination rather than the mind, pathology rather than normality, psychology rather than medicine/science or theology, polytheistic soul-making rather than humanism. Hillman wants to move away from the heroic ego and dive into the depths of the unconscious. He wants us to move beyond the human/inhuman dichotomy into the world of soul/Psyche where we can grow and learn from all things including the perverse and the twisted. We need to recognise and accept the gods that move us; rather than cling to the illusion that we are in control or that there is a single God who can do away with uncertainty and the confusing multiplicity of nature where the good and the bad, the beautiful and the horrendous keep spilling over into each other. This is a poetic book, an attack on many aspects of modernity and a slightly desperate call for change. Hillman lambasts literalism, but I was left unsure of what to make of his gods who are as it were real but not literally real. It is also quite hard to anchor the book. It does not give any examples of how these ideas relate to people, so for me it ends up being just a fascinatingly different way of looking at things. The book shows the limitations of many other ways of thinking, but I was less convinced that it points a convincing way forward. What does it mean to move south and to get back to the true polytheistic spirit of the Renaissance?
April 14, 2024
Hillman is a HYPER-OBJECT.
HE is simply TOO VAST to contain in ONE MIND.
At least not MY MIND.
And this book is a MAGNUM OPUS.
It’s simply TOO VAST to summarize in ONE REVIEW.
At least not THIS REVIEW
As such.
I’ll do my best here.
But you may wish to skip it and GO TO THE SOURCE.
Anyway.
This book is an intro to James Hillman’s take on Jungian DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY, known as Archetypal Psychology.
Hillman diverges from the traditional Jungian approach in that he (A) resists Jungian CONCRETE LITERALISTIC definitions of ARCHETYPAL entities and constructs. (B) focuses on SOUL MAKING (exploration and discovery of soul's deeper NARRATIVE/NATURE), rather than the traditional Jungian DIFFERENTIATION. And (C) conceptualizes people as POLITICAL CITIZENS first and INDIVIDUALS second, as such he views PSYCHOTHERAPY as REVOLUTIONARY rather than as a PROGRAM of SELF IMPROVEMENT.
FANTASY IMAGES
Hillman prioritizes the PHENOMENOLOGICAL over the POSITIVISTIC, and the FANTASY IMAGE over the CONCRETE IDEA.
Hillman writes “when we turn to events themselves and let them tell us what they are, our work is phenomenological. And our work is phenomenological when we search for the essence of what is going on in terms of an essential idea or style of consciousness, putting to one side all whys and hows.
Hillman differentiated between DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY and PHENOMENOLOGY.
In that DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY examines SUBJECTIVITY, CONSCIOUSNESS and FANTASY, and does not portend to OBJECTIVISM as does PHENOMENOLOGY.
Hillman writes “phenomenology stops short in its examination of consciousness, failing to realize that the essence of consciousness is fantasy images.”
IDEAS
Hillman does not however COMPLETELY NEGATE the value of IDEAS. Which he views as necessary for DIFFERENTIATION from LITERALISM and CONCRETE EXPERIENCE.
Hillman writes “without ideas the soul is a victim of literal appearances and is satisfied with things just as they present themselves.”
IMAGES + IDEAS = VISON
THE PSYCHE LONGS FOR VISION
Hillman refers to VISON again and again.
He REPEATEDLY asks CLIENTS/STUDENTS.
WHERE IS THE VISION?
WHERE IS YOUR VISION?
This is not the type of question one would get in Traditional Jungian analysis. And I think it’s one of the ESSENTIAL things that DIFFERENTIATED Hillman from Jung.
THE SOUL SUFFERS WHEN…
ITS INWARD EYE IS OCCLUDED!
Hillman advocated for beginning with the SYMPTOM.
And focusing on the SUFFERING.
Hillman writes “the first thing that the patient wants from an analyst is to make him aware of his suffering and to draw the analyst into his world of experience.”
However, Hillman did not view REDUCTION of the SYMPTOMS/SUFFERING as the important goal of ANALYSIS. But rather SOUL MAKING.
SOUL/PSYCHE
Hillman RESISTED LITERAL CONCRETE DEFINITIONS. Particularly regarding SOUL.
Hillman writes “soul is really not a concept, but a symbol. Symbols, as we know, are not completely within our control. The soul is a deliberately ambiguous, resisting all definition in the same manner as do all ultimate symbols.”
However, in a very rare exception, he does offer the following. “Experience and suffering are terms long associated with soul. The terms psyche and soul can be used in-terchangeably, although there is a tendency to escape the ambiguity of the word soul by recourse to the more bio-logical, more modern psyche.
"Psyche is used more as a natural concomitant to physical life, perhaps reducible to it. Soul on the other hand, has metaphysical and romantic overtones. It shares frontiers with religion.”
PSYCHOLOGIZING
Hillman refers to PSYCHOLOGY in VERB form and PSYCHOLOGIZING. Meaning the act of understanding the world PSYCHOLOGICALLY.
Hillman writes “Psychologizing becomes illegitimate by simplifying into psychologisms, when it loses the distinction between the activity of seeing through and the specific ideas by means of which it sees. For example: by means of the idea of the unconscious we are able to see into, behind, and below manifest behavior.
DELITERALIZING
According to Hillman. PSYCHOLOGICAL IDEAS GIVE THE SOUL VISION. However, the SAME IDEAS can also BLIND when taken LITERALLY:
Hillman writes “ Should we take the ideas of the unconscious literally, then it too becomes a husk that constricts the psyche and must be seen through, deliteralized.Any psychology that believes itself, that takes itself at its own word, no longer reflects the psyche or serves soul-making.”
ALCHEMY
Hillman posits ALCHEMY as the ARCHETYPAL basis for PSYCHOTHERAPY. In traditional ALCHEMY, the ALCHEMIST seeks to PURIFY BASE METTLE (LEAD) into GOLD via FIRE.
In spiritual alchemy (SOUL MAKING).
The BASE METTLE is the SYMPTOMS/SUFFERING of the ANALYST/ANALYSAND.
The FIRE is the PASSIONATE INTEREST and UNCERTAINTY of the ANALYST/ANALYSAND.
If one can TURN UP THAT FIRE.
Our BASE METTLE (that within us that is LEADEN, or INCURIOUS, TOXIC or ASLEEP) can be transformed into the SOLID GOLD/SOUL.
SUFFERING
Hillman writes “The soul seems to suffer when its inward eye is occluded, a victim of overwhelming events. This suggests that all ways of enlightening soul-mystical and medita-tive, Socratic and dialectic, Oriental and disciplined, psycho-therapeutic, and even the Cartesian longing for clear and distinct ideas arise from the psyche's need for vision.”
PAIN
Hillman see this process as NECESSARILY PAINFUL. He writes “If the SOUL is to be truly MOVED, a tortured psychology is necessary”.
As such.
Pain for Hillman is necessary.
Suffering however, is not.
THERAPIE’S SHADOW
Hillman wanted to expose the SHADOW of THERAPY to THERAPISTS.
Hillman states “I want to do therapy on therapy.
Whereas THERAPISTS feel that they are doing THE GOOD WORK.
And rightly so.
WE ARE.
Hillman is APPROPRIATELY QUESTIONING.
An old adage states.
The BRIGHTER the LIGHT.
The DARKER the SHADOW.
Hillman wants to know what the SHADOW of THERAPY is. The answer he arrives at is. THERAPY assumes PEOPLE are INDIVIDUALS.
And assumes that INDIVIDUATION is the GOAL.
Hillman posits, that this assumption has DEPOLITICIZED our culture. Whereby, in the PAST, we would have taken our OUTRAGE to the STREETS in PROTEST. Now we take our ANXIETY and DEPRESSION to our THERAPIST.
As the WORLD BURNS.
Hillman wanted to RE-VISION people as CITIZENS as opposed to INDIVIDUALS. He wanted to refocus the OUTRAGE OUT onto the WORLD. And he wanted to RE-VISION THERAPY as a site of REVOLUTIONARY SOUL MAKING.
So LETS all get to the BUSINESS OF SOUL MAKING
So that our SHARED VISION can LIVE.
And a GREATER UNDERSTANDING can EVOLVE.
And so that LOVE can EMERGE.
And so that WE can CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.
And so that WE can BE OF GREATER SERVICE.
To OUR SELVES
To EACH OTHER
To the COMMUNITY
To the PLANET
To the WORLD
To the BODY POLITIC
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
5/5 ⭐️
HE is simply TOO VAST to contain in ONE MIND.
At least not MY MIND.
And this book is a MAGNUM OPUS.
It’s simply TOO VAST to summarize in ONE REVIEW.
At least not THIS REVIEW
As such.
I’ll do my best here.
But you may wish to skip it and GO TO THE SOURCE.
Anyway.
This book is an intro to James Hillman’s take on Jungian DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY, known as Archetypal Psychology.
Hillman diverges from the traditional Jungian approach in that he (A) resists Jungian CONCRETE LITERALISTIC definitions of ARCHETYPAL entities and constructs. (B) focuses on SOUL MAKING (exploration and discovery of soul's deeper NARRATIVE/NATURE), rather than the traditional Jungian DIFFERENTIATION. And (C) conceptualizes people as POLITICAL CITIZENS first and INDIVIDUALS second, as such he views PSYCHOTHERAPY as REVOLUTIONARY rather than as a PROGRAM of SELF IMPROVEMENT.
FANTASY IMAGES
Hillman prioritizes the PHENOMENOLOGICAL over the POSITIVISTIC, and the FANTASY IMAGE over the CONCRETE IDEA.
Hillman writes “when we turn to events themselves and let them tell us what they are, our work is phenomenological. And our work is phenomenological when we search for the essence of what is going on in terms of an essential idea or style of consciousness, putting to one side all whys and hows.
Hillman differentiated between DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY and PHENOMENOLOGY.
In that DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY examines SUBJECTIVITY, CONSCIOUSNESS and FANTASY, and does not portend to OBJECTIVISM as does PHENOMENOLOGY.
Hillman writes “phenomenology stops short in its examination of consciousness, failing to realize that the essence of consciousness is fantasy images.”
IDEAS
Hillman does not however COMPLETELY NEGATE the value of IDEAS. Which he views as necessary for DIFFERENTIATION from LITERALISM and CONCRETE EXPERIENCE.
Hillman writes “without ideas the soul is a victim of literal appearances and is satisfied with things just as they present themselves.”
IMAGES + IDEAS = VISON
THE PSYCHE LONGS FOR VISION
Hillman refers to VISON again and again.
He REPEATEDLY asks CLIENTS/STUDENTS.
WHERE IS THE VISION?
WHERE IS YOUR VISION?
This is not the type of question one would get in Traditional Jungian analysis. And I think it’s one of the ESSENTIAL things that DIFFERENTIATED Hillman from Jung.
THE SOUL SUFFERS WHEN…
ITS INWARD EYE IS OCCLUDED!
Hillman advocated for beginning with the SYMPTOM.
And focusing on the SUFFERING.
Hillman writes “the first thing that the patient wants from an analyst is to make him aware of his suffering and to draw the analyst into his world of experience.”
However, Hillman did not view REDUCTION of the SYMPTOMS/SUFFERING as the important goal of ANALYSIS. But rather SOUL MAKING.
SOUL/PSYCHE
Hillman RESISTED LITERAL CONCRETE DEFINITIONS. Particularly regarding SOUL.
Hillman writes “soul is really not a concept, but a symbol. Symbols, as we know, are not completely within our control. The soul is a deliberately ambiguous, resisting all definition in the same manner as do all ultimate symbols.”
However, in a very rare exception, he does offer the following. “Experience and suffering are terms long associated with soul. The terms psyche and soul can be used in-terchangeably, although there is a tendency to escape the ambiguity of the word soul by recourse to the more bio-logical, more modern psyche.
"Psyche is used more as a natural concomitant to physical life, perhaps reducible to it. Soul on the other hand, has metaphysical and romantic overtones. It shares frontiers with religion.”
PSYCHOLOGIZING
Hillman refers to PSYCHOLOGY in VERB form and PSYCHOLOGIZING. Meaning the act of understanding the world PSYCHOLOGICALLY.
Hillman writes “Psychologizing becomes illegitimate by simplifying into psychologisms, when it loses the distinction between the activity of seeing through and the specific ideas by means of which it sees. For example: by means of the idea of the unconscious we are able to see into, behind, and below manifest behavior.
DELITERALIZING
According to Hillman. PSYCHOLOGICAL IDEAS GIVE THE SOUL VISION. However, the SAME IDEAS can also BLIND when taken LITERALLY:
Hillman writes “ Should we take the ideas of the unconscious literally, then it too becomes a husk that constricts the psyche and must be seen through, deliteralized.Any psychology that believes itself, that takes itself at its own word, no longer reflects the psyche or serves soul-making.”
ALCHEMY
Hillman posits ALCHEMY as the ARCHETYPAL basis for PSYCHOTHERAPY. In traditional ALCHEMY, the ALCHEMIST seeks to PURIFY BASE METTLE (LEAD) into GOLD via FIRE.
In spiritual alchemy (SOUL MAKING).
The BASE METTLE is the SYMPTOMS/SUFFERING of the ANALYST/ANALYSAND.
The FIRE is the PASSIONATE INTEREST and UNCERTAINTY of the ANALYST/ANALYSAND.
If one can TURN UP THAT FIRE.
Our BASE METTLE (that within us that is LEADEN, or INCURIOUS, TOXIC or ASLEEP) can be transformed into the SOLID GOLD/SOUL.
SUFFERING
Hillman writes “The soul seems to suffer when its inward eye is occluded, a victim of overwhelming events. This suggests that all ways of enlightening soul-mystical and medita-tive, Socratic and dialectic, Oriental and disciplined, psycho-therapeutic, and even the Cartesian longing for clear and distinct ideas arise from the psyche's need for vision.”
PAIN
Hillman see this process as NECESSARILY PAINFUL. He writes “If the SOUL is to be truly MOVED, a tortured psychology is necessary”.
As such.
Pain for Hillman is necessary.
Suffering however, is not.
THERAPIE’S SHADOW
Hillman wanted to expose the SHADOW of THERAPY to THERAPISTS.
Hillman states “I want to do therapy on therapy.
Whereas THERAPISTS feel that they are doing THE GOOD WORK.
And rightly so.
WE ARE.
Hillman is APPROPRIATELY QUESTIONING.
An old adage states.
The BRIGHTER the LIGHT.
The DARKER the SHADOW.
Hillman wants to know what the SHADOW of THERAPY is. The answer he arrives at is. THERAPY assumes PEOPLE are INDIVIDUALS.
And assumes that INDIVIDUATION is the GOAL.
Hillman posits, that this assumption has DEPOLITICIZED our culture. Whereby, in the PAST, we would have taken our OUTRAGE to the STREETS in PROTEST. Now we take our ANXIETY and DEPRESSION to our THERAPIST.
As the WORLD BURNS.
Hillman wanted to RE-VISION people as CITIZENS as opposed to INDIVIDUALS. He wanted to refocus the OUTRAGE OUT onto the WORLD. And he wanted to RE-VISION THERAPY as a site of REVOLUTIONARY SOUL MAKING.
So LETS all get to the BUSINESS OF SOUL MAKING
So that our SHARED VISION can LIVE.
And a GREATER UNDERSTANDING can EVOLVE.
And so that LOVE can EMERGE.
And so that WE can CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.
And so that WE can BE OF GREATER SERVICE.
To OUR SELVES
To EACH OTHER
To the COMMUNITY
To the PLANET
To the WORLD
To the BODY POLITIC
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
5/5 ⭐️
April 13, 2008
James Hillman is one of the most brilliant psychologists alive today. This is his classic on, well, revisioning psychology. Reading it was a viscerally psychological experience, kinda like his words actually reached into my brain and moved things around in there. He writes about psychology the way my favorite painters paint about painting; the language and the thing being discussed are one thing together. His subject matter is the restoration of the psyche (the Greek word for soul) back into psych-ology. I highly recommend any of his books, including the more acessable Soul's Code, to anyone involved in any level of soul-searching.
February 18, 2023
This was the toughest book I've ever read, as much for the density of its content as for the extreme academic nature of the work. In spite of the effort required to understand and internalize what Hillman puts forward, this is hands-down the most rewarding, enlightening experience, that I've drawn constant inspiration from and that has literally changed the way I see the world - inside and out.
June 6, 2008
A complex and provocative book that asks us to expand our ideas about the world of psychology. Hillman introduces new concepts dealing with the study of psychology and pushes us to re-examine how we engage this ever morphing discipline. It's not an easy read but very worthwhile for anyone interested in challenging the methods and principles found within this area of study.
December 14, 2012
Excellent argument for updating the purpose of psychology. Also serves as a great intro for "Archetypal Psychology".
March 26, 2016
This was a drag.
There were good and interesting passages throughout where Hillmann writes very poetically, interestingly and captivating. Unfortunately these passages were few.
The rest were a lot of historic and mythic references that I had a hard time following and caring about.
The reflections on soul, the psychology field, contemporary society and examples on how archetypes and myths are rearing their heads throughout our personal and societal lives I found interesting, but it was covered in too much unintelligible talk that I had a hard time getting through this.
There were good and interesting passages throughout where Hillmann writes very poetically, interestingly and captivating. Unfortunately these passages were few.
The rest were a lot of historic and mythic references that I had a hard time following and caring about.
The reflections on soul, the psychology field, contemporary society and examples on how archetypes and myths are rearing their heads throughout our personal and societal lives I found interesting, but it was covered in too much unintelligible talk that I had a hard time getting through this.
May 27, 2017
Hillman in this book makes a great case for understanding symptoms, that is human pathology, as soul speaking to us, getting our attention. Psyche, is "theophanic," the ever present activity of soul and its efforts at making connections with the Divine and what is innermost and essential in us. Rather than trying to eradicate or minimize our symptoms, we must listen to them as guides to becoming more human.
July 26, 2007
To my mind, the best of of Hillman's many fine books. Reading Hillman is itself an act of imagination. I first read this book 30 years ago, and I still pick it up and read something in it every year.
November 26, 2019
A must read for anyone with an interest in the therapy of Soul..
September 11, 2017
An extraordinary work that I'll be returning to for years...I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get to it in the first place.
June 14, 2021
To abuse a made-up term, I've come to realize that my favorite genre of criticism is mythography, which lays down methods of seeing the world but never inscribes literal truths. I've come to this via trickster myths, which strike me as an ideal entry-point, because the trickster operates at the seams of the world and turns these into magical portals.
Similarly, Hillman identifies the seams between what we experience as ego consciousness and the massively overlaying field of psyche, which individual humans can never fully contain. In some ways, Hillman's writing about psyche reminds me of a neuroscientist's musing about consciousness, that perhaps it is the universal quality, and reality is suffused by consciousness, or more than that, consciousness is the fundamental element of reality. Individual consciousness may just be our "tuning" of a radio wave that creates the field for all forms of existence. In other words, our brains are radio tuners, pulling down a frequency that we experience as our "self" or selfness.
Anyway, I liked this book a lot. It was very challenging, the sort of exploration that teaches you how to read it as it goes along.
Similarly, Hillman identifies the seams between what we experience as ego consciousness and the massively overlaying field of psyche, which individual humans can never fully contain. In some ways, Hillman's writing about psyche reminds me of a neuroscientist's musing about consciousness, that perhaps it is the universal quality, and reality is suffused by consciousness, or more than that, consciousness is the fundamental element of reality. Individual consciousness may just be our "tuning" of a radio wave that creates the field for all forms of existence. In other words, our brains are radio tuners, pulling down a frequency that we experience as our "self" or selfness.
Anyway, I liked this book a lot. It was very challenging, the sort of exploration that teaches you how to read it as it goes along.
July 27, 2015
Puiki knyga. Pateikiamų įžvalgų gausa didžiulė. Panašiai kaip Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Citadelėje". Štai viena autoriaus įžvalga į įžvalgų reliatyvumą: "The more hard evidence and solid backing a psychology finds for its hypotheses, the less its ideas open the soul's eye toward concretely specific insights. The righter it becomes, the wronger its effects; the more tested, the less true. Our tools construct theologies in an idolatry of concepts and methods." (p. 145) Knyga rekomenduotina įsiskaityti, o ne perskaityti.
November 20, 2015
An in depth treatise on the primacy of soul as the core of psychology and psychological treatment. Hillman's insistence and academic backing on the soul's centrality to the psyche's existence is both a relief and inspiration on a personal and professional level.
January 2, 2020
Through a highly developed synthesis of depth psychology and Neoplatonism, Hillman makes an excellent case for a soulful second look at the world. We moderns are stuck in a literalistic worldview that prevents us from healing ourselves or from encountering life's mysteries in an authentic way, and psyche calls us to break free of the literal to find a multitude of other perspectives. Psyche is itself a perspective, a way of looking through everything in our inner and outer world to infinite depths (23). Not only do we need to look with new eyes, but our relationship to what we see must also change. Everything we encounter is a subject, and our encounters with archetypes (or Gods) are what influence our feelings, behaviors, and ideas. By personifying the world, by encountering everything as a subject, we are able to encounter the world with our hearts, and thus through love, make sense of it (14-15).
Hillman focuses on language and image as two ways that we encounter soul and give voice to it: either through the eloquent use of metaphor and myth or through the use of fantastical images. Through language (logos), we give voice to soul (psyche) and find our true purpose as humans (psychologizing). Indeed, even words themselves are persons requiring thoughtful use (9). Images likewise are both the "raw materials and finished products of psyche" (xi) and are powerful so long as we refuse to interpret or analyze them (39). Yet psychologizing requires neither language or image and can be as simple as performing a task as though it as something else (143). Whenever the literal gives way to the metaphorical, soul is present.
Thus for Hillman, truth is not found in ideas, which are always an expression of one archetypal voice or another, but in the reflection process itself. What is true is the activity of soul's encounter with the world. Moreover, humans are only "metaphors enacting multiple personifications"--our bodies do not possess "our" souls, but are rather possessed by soul (51, 174). Death becomes a final unknown, the final depth to discover (110), and soul thus carries the mystery of death within each living body (207).
I love that Thomas Moore has built on Hillman's psychology to show more clearly what "care of the soul" looks like, and I love that I now have a fuller understanding of the ideas behind care of the soul. These ideas, and the actions that flow from them, have certainly made my life more beautiful and meaningful.
Hillman focuses on language and image as two ways that we encounter soul and give voice to it: either through the eloquent use of metaphor and myth or through the use of fantastical images. Through language (logos), we give voice to soul (psyche) and find our true purpose as humans (psychologizing). Indeed, even words themselves are persons requiring thoughtful use (9). Images likewise are both the "raw materials and finished products of psyche" (xi) and are powerful so long as we refuse to interpret or analyze them (39). Yet psychologizing requires neither language or image and can be as simple as performing a task as though it as something else (143). Whenever the literal gives way to the metaphorical, soul is present.
Thus for Hillman, truth is not found in ideas, which are always an expression of one archetypal voice or another, but in the reflection process itself. What is true is the activity of soul's encounter with the world. Moreover, humans are only "metaphors enacting multiple personifications"--our bodies do not possess "our" souls, but are rather possessed by soul (51, 174). Death becomes a final unknown, the final depth to discover (110), and soul thus carries the mystery of death within each living body (207).
I love that Thomas Moore has built on Hillman's psychology to show more clearly what "care of the soul" looks like, and I love that I now have a fuller understanding of the ideas behind care of the soul. These ideas, and the actions that flow from them, have certainly made my life more beautiful and meaningful.
November 26, 2019
In this groundbreaking book, for which Hillman was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, Hillman puts the soul back in psychotherapy. "When we lose this focus on psyche, psychology becomes medicine or sociology or practical theology or something else, but not itself."
Soul is "that unknown component which makes meaning possible, turns events into experiences, is communicated in love, and has a religious concern. 1.) soul refers to the deepening of events into experiences; 2.) the significance soul makes possible, whether in love or in religious concern, derives from its special relation with death. 3.) the imaginatie possibility in our natures that recognizes all realities are primarily symbolic or metaphorical."
"Often in the course of a therapeutic analysis a revolution in experience occurs. Soul is rediscovered, and with it comes a rediscovery of human-kind, nature, and world. One begins to see all things psychologically, from the viewpoint of the soul, and the world seems to carry an inner light."
"Psychology ideally means giving soul to language and finding language for soul."
Soul is "that unknown component which makes meaning possible, turns events into experiences, is communicated in love, and has a religious concern. 1.) soul refers to the deepening of events into experiences; 2.) the significance soul makes possible, whether in love or in religious concern, derives from its special relation with death. 3.) the imaginatie possibility in our natures that recognizes all realities are primarily symbolic or metaphorical."
"Often in the course of a therapeutic analysis a revolution in experience occurs. Soul is rediscovered, and with it comes a rediscovery of human-kind, nature, and world. One begins to see all things psychologically, from the viewpoint of the soul, and the world seems to carry an inner light."
"Psychology ideally means giving soul to language and finding language for soul."
February 17, 2019
This book with its provocations, its beauty, its seminal insight and sparkling style is a landmark. After it, psychology was and will never be quite the same. For the author, the Renaissance and Italy are sacred ground. In fact, as well as delivering the Terry Lectures at Yale and other academic honors, received in Florence, usually considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic. The book, in fact, is less a ‘psychology’ book in any conventional sense and in its sweep and scope and mesmerizing effect on the reader more akin to a great novel or a film by Visconti or the other great revolutionary Italian Directors. Nonetheless, it remains a psychology book like no other in that it speaks a soul language dense with poetry, as it convincingly develops a logos of soul, that is, not only a language but a definition and logic of soul and a demonstration of that logic, personifying, pathologizing, seeing through and de-humanizing. Highly recommended.
April 13, 2023
To bylo naposledy, co jsem si nechal doporučit knihu Respektem. Vůbec se nejedná o nějaký rozbor nového pohledu v psychologii, ale jedná se spíše o knihu pro psychologa, kterého jeho práce už nudí a chce spíše blábolit o ničem. Závěr o renesanci je trochu zajímavější.
Hlavní problém knihy je, že vlastně nic neříká jasně a ještě si z toho na některých místech dělá přednost. Za celou dobu mi ani nebylo jasné, co autor myslí pod pojmem duše, o kterém je celá kniha. Nejprve to vypadalo, že duch znamená rozum a duše emoce. Pak do toho ale přidal archetypy a jejich prožívání, podvědomé impulzy a nakonec i boha. Zakončil tím, že duše ani není v těle, ale někde bokem. Že to je jakási podstata člověka, ale nejen jeho. Duše je všude.
Hlavní problém knihy je, že vlastně nic neříká jasně a ještě si z toho na některých místech dělá přednost. Za celou dobu mi ani nebylo jasné, co autor myslí pod pojmem duše, o kterém je celá kniha. Nejprve to vypadalo, že duch znamená rozum a duše emoce. Pak do toho ale přidal archetypy a jejich prožívání, podvědomé impulzy a nakonec i boha. Zakončil tím, že duše ani není v těle, ale někde bokem. Že to je jakási podstata člověka, ale nejen jeho. Duše je všude.
September 29, 2022
There are better Hillman books. His ideas are great but he repeats himself so much I really had trouble getting through the mud of this. I took a class on this book in my grad program, and the class was a great companion to the book because it brought these ideas to life. Still, I think this book could be 1/4 of the length and still contain everything.
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September 1, 2019Could not get through this one. It is not written for the lay person, let alone someone who's had years of therapy and done a lot of related reading. Hillman is surely well know in psychotherapy circles, but for me, unfortunately, his reputation and wisdom remain hearsay.
February 24, 2020
Blown away by the insight and rhetoric
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April 24, 2024This is one of the most challenging but interesting books I’ve ever read.
February 19, 2025
Mind blown, sacred cows eviscerated. Hillman is a true psychopomp for a modern world in need of soul.
November 18, 2025
Incredible. The most cogent account of the mythological unconscious and a refreshingly non-moral account of pathology.
August 13, 2024
Anna: se potessi invitare a cena due persone che non ci sono più, chi sceglieresti?
Io: il nonno e James Hillman.
Io: il nonno e James Hillman.
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December 29, 2017Interessante in generale la prospettiva di Hillman del fare anima atraverso l'aspetto immaginale della psiche, cosicchè l'immaginale diventa il reale. Anche il suo rivolgersi all'alchimia e all'arte della memoria è di grande rilievo, soprattutto l'ultimo capitolo che gira intorno all'interpretazione neoplatonica e rinascimentale (Marsilio Ficino) dell'anima. Invece non condivido assolutamente le sue valorazioni rispetto alla psicologia umanistica e alle varie prassi spirituali come tecniche per la crescita personale (meditazione, ecc.).
Want to read
October 24, 2008Hillman has been rec'd time and time again as an innovative thinker in psychology...looking forward to learning his ideas!
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