Witness to the Fire: Creativity and the Veil of Addiction

by Linda Schierse Leonard

In Witness to the Fire, Linda Schierse Leonard, Ph.D., explores the dark and fiery journey of transformation from the bondage of addiction to the freedom of recovery through creativity. A Jungian analyst, Leonard studies the relationship of creativity and addiction in the lives of writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Eugene O'Neill, Jean Rhys, and Jack London, as well as the experiences of ordinary men and women. Leonard holds out the hope that anyone bound by addiction can reclaim the power that fuels dependency for a life of joy and creativity.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Addiction, Self Help, Philosophy, Art, Personal Development

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Linda Schierse Leonard, PhD, is a philosopher who trained as a Jungian analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. She is the author of many bestselling books, which have been translated into 12 languages.

Reviews

[Brian Fagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with Luigi Zola's book, "Drugs, Addiction, and Initiation" this is the best book on addiction looking through the Jungian lens.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, thoroughly researched and well written book that takes on many challenging concepts and unites them beautifully. Leonard talks about: archetypal energies at play in addiction; the lives and works of authors who live and write about these energies, and the relationship between the 12 steps of recovery from addiction and the steps or stages of living a creative life and of creating artistic representations. Oh, and there’s existential philosophy in there as well. It was a long and challenging read, but well worth the time if you’re interested in depth (Jungian) psychology.

[Amber Middlebrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a valuable resource in my personal growth journey. The references to the AA 12 steps resonated with me, as I believe they have played a significant role in my healing process. The book provides insightful guidance on inner archetypes and practical steps towards healing. I believe that we all have addictions that can hinder our joy, creativity, and relationship with a higher power.

[Felicia Romano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone working with addiction. It encourages a compassionate and insightful interpretation of addiction which avoids reductionism. It drives home the point that addictions are not accidental and that the symptoms of addiction are anything but random--in all addictions is a propensity for great creative transformation.

[Freesiab BookishReview · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting look at addiction via jungian psychology. Also a very interesting look at jungian psychology which is why I read it. The best book in my class of Archetypes this semester. Really good. Recommending it to a wide variety of people

[Anna]

andrew garfield

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adult, objective, sensitive, honest, thought-provoking and hopeful account of tie between addiction, creativity and, ultimately, redemption.

Linda leverages the lives and writing of famous authors in explaining how our common core unconscious motifs work to help or hurt an addict in the changing phases of addiction.

Any mature and caring adult should find this book rationally, as well as, spiritually truthful. - And this, at a gut-level. Moreover, it can show how we can draw an individualized road map for our own lives. For those not willing to accept common mundane explanations. Good.

Not just for the addict.

[culley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archetypal patterns in addiction. The Demon Lover lures us with possession, The Moneylender with euphoria and the “quick fix”, the Romantic with longing for the infinite, The Gambler with desire to exceed limits. The Underground Man embodies alienation and resentment, the Madwoman devouring hunger, rage and paranoia. The judge is lured by control and superiority the outlaw by rebelliousness and the Trickster by cunning and unpredictability. The Killer wants to obstruct our basic goodness.

Part psychology, part recovery and part literary criticism, for me this book romanticized addiction to some extent.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was reading this a second time before I lent it to Marquita. Linda Leonard is my favorite Jungian feminist author. This is a really cool book in which she identifies "archetypes of addiction". I find her discussion of addictions as destructive and "veiling" our creative potential very useful. I will read it again, as I will most of her other books...I consider them classics in the psychological/Jungian realm.