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A Complete Guide to the Soul
Who am I? What's my life's purpose? Where am I going when I die? These questions lie at the heart of all our lives, yet clear answers seem hard to come by. "A Complete Guide to the Soul" explains that answers can in fact be found in a secret history that runs like quicksilver through Western culture, from philosophy and alchemy, to poetry and modern psychology. This hidden tradition places our soul at the centre of the universe and shows us how to recover a sense of meaning that so many of us have lost today. In this important book, Patrick Harpur explores the nature of our soul, as well as its destiny. He unpacks the myths that surround it and shows how it may actually be the very fabric of reality. And he explains that, not until we have a clear understanding of this invisible part of ourselves, can we discover the answers to many of our questions about existence and human nature. Ultimately, this knowledge could help us find our true place within the world in which we live.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2010
40 people are currently reading
415 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Harpur
12 books113 followersPatrick Harpur is an acclaimed author, best known for his philosophical works, which include
The Philosophers' Secret Fire: A History Of The Imagination
and
Mercurius: The Marriage Of Heaven and Earth
, the latter of which, after being out of print for several years (and fetching a small fortune on auction sites like eBay) has finally been re-released in a paperback edition.
Other works include Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld and The Serpent's Circle .
He currently has a couple of new projects in the pipeline, including The Stormy Petrel, a fictional biography of Søren Kirkegaard, and The Savoy Truffle, a witty, dramatic novel about life in Britain's richest, wildest Surrey suburb in the early 1960s.
Patrick Harpur lives near Dorchester in Dorset.
Other works include Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld and The Serpent's Circle .
He currently has a couple of new projects in the pipeline, including The Stormy Petrel, a fictional biography of Søren Kirkegaard, and The Savoy Truffle, a witty, dramatic novel about life in Britain's richest, wildest Surrey suburb in the early 1960s.
Patrick Harpur lives near Dorchester in Dorset.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 6, 2014
“Ya se sabe lo difícil que es hablar del alma.” Así es como comienza este libro y también así es como esta reseña empieza. Debe ser porque el alma es intangible, un concepto, algo cuasi abstracto que no sabemos muy bien cómo explicar ni entender, pero que Patrick Harpur sabe cómo explicar hablándonos de ella tanto desde un punto científico y empírico como teórico y filosófico.
En este libro se nos muestran las diferentes concepciones que se le han dado al alma, así en oriente como en occidente, desde tiempos remotos hasta nuestros días. Desde los griegos, quienes pensaban que teníamos dos almas (psyché, que se asociaba con la cabeza y actuaba como principio vital, y thymós, que estaba activo en el pecho, los pulmones y el corazón, y del que se dice que siente y piensa), hasta Egipto, que concebía que el corazón era el centro de la conciencia; desde los seres mitológicos, que comprendían los distintos rasgos que pueda tener el alma, hasta el cristianismo, que nos determina como seres individuales y nos la muestran como inmortal.
También cabe destacar los importantes aportes de filósofos como Platón, quien pensaba que el alma tiene tres partes -razón, deseo y espíritu-, y el neoplatónico Plotino, que afirmaba que el alma es un movimiento interior, el deseo de conocer y de ser; psicólogos como Carl Gustav Jung y James Hillman, que comentaban el alma a través de la psicología, el inconsciente, nuestro mundo exterior y la alquimia; o artistas como William Blake, que la mostraba a través de sus creaciones. Todos ellos han llevado el alma a su práctica y teoría. Práctica porque el alma ha sido un profundo objeto de estudio y este se llevaba a cabo no solo en el pensamiento, sino también en el sentimiento y en el hacer. Esto se nos muestra a través de los mitos (como Zeus y Atenea, por decir dos ejemplos), por los arquetipos que rigen nuestro ego, conductas y pensamientos, por las emociones que salen desde nuestro interior, por el deseo de lo que queremos y no tenemos, y por último, por la imaginación, que nos provee de todo lo que creemos imposible pero que está ahí, al alcance de todos nosotros. Con todas estas cosas llegamos a partes que no pueden hallarse en ningún otro sitio como lo es en el alma. A través de todo ello se pueden observar atisbos de lo que el alma puede ser, o que, quizás, simplemente es. Basta con leer estas páginas para asegurarnos de lo que podemos observar, indagar e incluso potenciar. Así, el libro nos habla del daimon, el cual está íntimamente ligado a nuestra esencia y es lo que nos conecta con los dioses; del espíritu y cómo este engloba todo lo que relacionamos con el alma; del miedo que tiene el ego a lo que desconoce; de la psicología humana en sus múltiples variantes, esto es: lo inconsciente, los sueños, las conductas, los instintos; del misticismo y de la posible vida después de la muerte a través de diversas experiencias, ya sean espontáneas o culturales; y, sobre todo, del gran misterio que nos rodea y en el que nos encontramos inmersos.
Patrick Harpur nos ofrece una visión global y variable de lo que el alma es y no es, y de cómo esta puede encontrarse en todo en lo que nos hallamos envueltos: el arte, el amor, la enfermedad… la vida en sí. De esta forma, nos hace preguntarnos y sentir lo que para cada uno de nosotros es el alma, pues, sin duda, nos identificamos de alguna manera con algo perenne en nosotros que cambia y aprende conforme avanzamos; algo indefinido e interminable, poético y misterioso, ¿no es acaso así el alma? A medida que continuamos su lectura, más aprendemos de todas las observaciones que del alma podemos hacer. Sin embargo, esta se nos escapa, se escabulle entre nuestros dedos, pero nos atrapa de tal manera que es imposible no sentirnos aliviados, arropados o desgarrados, por todas las cosas que podemos sentir en y con ella.
Basta leer las teorías y experiencias de los autores que aquí se nombran, e incluso las del mismo Harpur, para hacernos las siguientes preguntas: ¿conocemos realmente el alma? ¿Es el alma un producto nuestro o es algo con entidad propia? “Solo hablando con el alma y escuchándola podremos conocernos a nosotros mismos. […] Ella es el fundamento del ser.”, nos comenta Harpur. Y, sin embargo, opino que también podría ser al contrario: solo hablando con nosotros y escuchándonos podremos conocer lo que el alma es.
Publicado en Détour
En este libro se nos muestran las diferentes concepciones que se le han dado al alma, así en oriente como en occidente, desde tiempos remotos hasta nuestros días. Desde los griegos, quienes pensaban que teníamos dos almas (psyché, que se asociaba con la cabeza y actuaba como principio vital, y thymós, que estaba activo en el pecho, los pulmones y el corazón, y del que se dice que siente y piensa), hasta Egipto, que concebía que el corazón era el centro de la conciencia; desde los seres mitológicos, que comprendían los distintos rasgos que pueda tener el alma, hasta el cristianismo, que nos determina como seres individuales y nos la muestran como inmortal.
También cabe destacar los importantes aportes de filósofos como Platón, quien pensaba que el alma tiene tres partes -razón, deseo y espíritu-, y el neoplatónico Plotino, que afirmaba que el alma es un movimiento interior, el deseo de conocer y de ser; psicólogos como Carl Gustav Jung y James Hillman, que comentaban el alma a través de la psicología, el inconsciente, nuestro mundo exterior y la alquimia; o artistas como William Blake, que la mostraba a través de sus creaciones. Todos ellos han llevado el alma a su práctica y teoría. Práctica porque el alma ha sido un profundo objeto de estudio y este se llevaba a cabo no solo en el pensamiento, sino también en el sentimiento y en el hacer. Esto se nos muestra a través de los mitos (como Zeus y Atenea, por decir dos ejemplos), por los arquetipos que rigen nuestro ego, conductas y pensamientos, por las emociones que salen desde nuestro interior, por el deseo de lo que queremos y no tenemos, y por último, por la imaginación, que nos provee de todo lo que creemos imposible pero que está ahí, al alcance de todos nosotros. Con todas estas cosas llegamos a partes que no pueden hallarse en ningún otro sitio como lo es en el alma. A través de todo ello se pueden observar atisbos de lo que el alma puede ser, o que, quizás, simplemente es. Basta con leer estas páginas para asegurarnos de lo que podemos observar, indagar e incluso potenciar. Así, el libro nos habla del daimon, el cual está íntimamente ligado a nuestra esencia y es lo que nos conecta con los dioses; del espíritu y cómo este engloba todo lo que relacionamos con el alma; del miedo que tiene el ego a lo que desconoce; de la psicología humana en sus múltiples variantes, esto es: lo inconsciente, los sueños, las conductas, los instintos; del misticismo y de la posible vida después de la muerte a través de diversas experiencias, ya sean espontáneas o culturales; y, sobre todo, del gran misterio que nos rodea y en el que nos encontramos inmersos.
Patrick Harpur nos ofrece una visión global y variable de lo que el alma es y no es, y de cómo esta puede encontrarse en todo en lo que nos hallamos envueltos: el arte, el amor, la enfermedad… la vida en sí. De esta forma, nos hace preguntarnos y sentir lo que para cada uno de nosotros es el alma, pues, sin duda, nos identificamos de alguna manera con algo perenne en nosotros que cambia y aprende conforme avanzamos; algo indefinido e interminable, poético y misterioso, ¿no es acaso así el alma? A medida que continuamos su lectura, más aprendemos de todas las observaciones que del alma podemos hacer. Sin embargo, esta se nos escapa, se escabulle entre nuestros dedos, pero nos atrapa de tal manera que es imposible no sentirnos aliviados, arropados o desgarrados, por todas las cosas que podemos sentir en y con ella.
Basta leer las teorías y experiencias de los autores que aquí se nombran, e incluso las del mismo Harpur, para hacernos las siguientes preguntas: ¿conocemos realmente el alma? ¿Es el alma un producto nuestro o es algo con entidad propia? “Solo hablando con el alma y escuchándola podremos conocernos a nosotros mismos. […] Ella es el fundamento del ser.”, nos comenta Harpur. Y, sin embargo, opino que también podría ser al contrario: solo hablando con nosotros y escuchándonos podremos conocer lo que el alma es.
Publicado en Détour
March 1, 2020
This book suffers from a severe case of misadvertising.
Rather than a complete guide to the soul, this book should be renamed A Complete Guide to Greek Mythology, The Problems with Secular Society and Hey isn't the Otherworld brilliant?!!
Harpur can't go more than a page or two without quoting a Greek myth, a Greek god, a Greek philosopher from the days of Greek myths!!! It's like a compulsion!
Also, he seems to have a thing about atheists and their inability to contemplate their own mortality; likening science at times to a soul sucking abomination! Bit of an arse-soul (do you see what I did there!!) attitude!
I was expecting a deep, intense conversation about the soul and the nature of human existence, but I ended up with a Classics lesson! No thanks.
Rather than a complete guide to the soul, this book should be renamed A Complete Guide to Greek Mythology, The Problems with Secular Society and Hey isn't the Otherworld brilliant?!!
Harpur can't go more than a page or two without quoting a Greek myth, a Greek god, a Greek philosopher from the days of Greek myths!!! It's like a compulsion!
Also, he seems to have a thing about atheists and their inability to contemplate their own mortality; likening science at times to a soul sucking abomination! Bit of an arse-soul (do you see what I did there!!) attitude!
I was expecting a deep, intense conversation about the soul and the nature of human existence, but I ended up with a Classics lesson! No thanks.
October 31, 2014
In his latest book, Harpur explores the connection of the soul to identity, daimonic reality and sacred imagination. Much like his previous works, he draws together a wide variety of sources to offer readers a multitude of perspectives on the subject area. What I enjoyed most about this book is how the author deftly explores the soul in context to the various traditions he refers to, defining in the process what the soul is and what role it plays in our lives. He also does a good job of building on his previous works while also differentiating this book from those works. If you are mystically inclined or want to understand the nature of the soul this book will be a thought-provoking read that will inspire your own spiritual work.
Read
November 7, 2018Harpur at his most lucid and brilliant on the Soul and its loss in the modern world. Three great quotations from Harpur's book -
We know that Hell exists because we see people every day trapped in little hells of their own making and, whether through fear, self-centredness, defiance or simply habit, unable to escape unable, that is, whether through a lack of distortion of imagination, to walk out. For the gates of Hell are always open. It is we who do not take the single step into Heaven, despite the prompting of our daimons and the imploring of our ancestors, because to walk through would be to admit of another life outside ourselves, which, having admitted it, we would have to lead. We would have to change, and this we cannot do; however miserable my little self, it is mine, all mine, and I won't let go of it.
When we die we return to the Soul of the World whence we came. We are still in that great imagination but we do not see it. We cannot imagine Imagination itself. Those who have glimpsed it tell us over and over again that we are sleepers or blind people until death wakes us and restores our sight. Most of us have sensed this, however fleetingly, in the course of our lives perhaps in a sunrise or in an epiphanic dream, in a work of art or the joy of love; in quiet moments at midnight when eternity descends on our hushed souls like moonlight. Then, for a second, we understand that we are like the prisoners in Plato's dim and musty cave, unable to conceive of sunlight and a scented breeze. Understand that our chains are Blake's mind-forged manacles we can shake off at the instant, and step out into the glory of the Earthly Paradise.
We are all alchemists who are looking for the primordial ingredient necessary to begin the Great Work. It can be found in the sweepings of the street yet it is the treasure hard to attain Once we have found it we cannot begin the work of transmutation until we have unearthed our mercury the secret fire which is the chief agent of the Work. Even if we obtain these, there is no guarantee we will reach our goal, or indeed even know what that goal is, since it is called the Stone that is no Stone. In short, the Work is its own beginning, process and end result. The secret ingredient is soul, with which we begin; its imagination is the secret fire by which we transmute ourselves; and the self is the transmuted soul in which we are consummated.
We know that Hell exists because we see people every day trapped in little hells of their own making and, whether through fear, self-centredness, defiance or simply habit, unable to escape unable, that is, whether through a lack of distortion of imagination, to walk out. For the gates of Hell are always open. It is we who do not take the single step into Heaven, despite the prompting of our daimons and the imploring of our ancestors, because to walk through would be to admit of another life outside ourselves, which, having admitted it, we would have to lead. We would have to change, and this we cannot do; however miserable my little self, it is mine, all mine, and I won't let go of it.
When we die we return to the Soul of the World whence we came. We are still in that great imagination but we do not see it. We cannot imagine Imagination itself. Those who have glimpsed it tell us over and over again that we are sleepers or blind people until death wakes us and restores our sight. Most of us have sensed this, however fleetingly, in the course of our lives perhaps in a sunrise or in an epiphanic dream, in a work of art or the joy of love; in quiet moments at midnight when eternity descends on our hushed souls like moonlight. Then, for a second, we understand that we are like the prisoners in Plato's dim and musty cave, unable to conceive of sunlight and a scented breeze. Understand that our chains are Blake's mind-forged manacles we can shake off at the instant, and step out into the glory of the Earthly Paradise.
We are all alchemists who are looking for the primordial ingredient necessary to begin the Great Work. It can be found in the sweepings of the street yet it is the treasure hard to attain Once we have found it we cannot begin the work of transmutation until we have unearthed our mercury the secret fire which is the chief agent of the Work. Even if we obtain these, there is no guarantee we will reach our goal, or indeed even know what that goal is, since it is called the Stone that is no Stone. In short, the Work is its own beginning, process and end result. The secret ingredient is soul, with which we begin; its imagination is the secret fire by which we transmute ourselves; and the self is the transmuted soul in which we are consummated.
August 9, 2017
Adored the subtlety.
November 2, 2018
Partick Harpur has an encyclopaedic knowledge of mythology - classical and folk - and the spiritual significance of these myths and ancient practices. Moreover, he's a friendly, genuine gentleman.
October 31, 2020
Myths of Soul through the ages, and what they can teach us.
This book is for seekers, disillusioned by materialism and religion, who crave to understand our place in the cosmos. It is a profound journey through mythology, philosophy, depth psychology, dreams, mysticism, poetry, alchemy, mediums, shamans, prophets, and Near Death Experiences. What we see, through the gnosis of paradox and myth, is a view of reality akin to that of western Monistic Idealism and eastern Advaita Vedanta:
”Each of us is an individual manifestation of the collective world-soul … we are also and paradoxically contained by the world-soul, like droplets in the ocean.”
Along the way, we rediscover the fascinating ancient concept of a personal daimon - our elusive personal guide along the circular and labyrinthine path of the soul into the heart of the One. Our daimon, both beautiful and daunting, is a mentor, a guru, a paradoxical personification of our unconscious and the world-soul.
”Our task is to heed the daimon, glean from each situation the greatest possible insight, and try to acquire a larger, more meaningful context in which to view our lives.”
We are guided to self-knowledge through synthesis of opposites: chiefly spirit and soul, which is associated with ego and unconscious respectively. Harpur’s poetic contrast of spirit and soul (pages 127-133) is shockingly beautiful and resonant.
”As soul comes to herself in spirit, so spirit returns to himself in soul - and they are joined in the holy matrimony of the self.”
The secret is to develop “daimonic consciousness,” a “double vision” which abides both literal and metaphorical, fact and fiction, spirit and soul. In this way we become a whole Self, a microcosm of Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World.
”Emotion and intellect, matter and spirit, body and soul, One and Many, male and female, human and divine, freedom and necessity - all the contradictions of our fractured existence are most marvelously woven together in the wedding of soul and spirit, which preserves our twofoldness right into the heart of the One.”
This book is for seekers, disillusioned by materialism and religion, who crave to understand our place in the cosmos. It is a profound journey through mythology, philosophy, depth psychology, dreams, mysticism, poetry, alchemy, mediums, shamans, prophets, and Near Death Experiences. What we see, through the gnosis of paradox and myth, is a view of reality akin to that of western Monistic Idealism and eastern Advaita Vedanta:
”Each of us is an individual manifestation of the collective world-soul … we are also and paradoxically contained by the world-soul, like droplets in the ocean.”
Along the way, we rediscover the fascinating ancient concept of a personal daimon - our elusive personal guide along the circular and labyrinthine path of the soul into the heart of the One. Our daimon, both beautiful and daunting, is a mentor, a guru, a paradoxical personification of our unconscious and the world-soul.
”Our task is to heed the daimon, glean from each situation the greatest possible insight, and try to acquire a larger, more meaningful context in which to view our lives.”
We are guided to self-knowledge through synthesis of opposites: chiefly spirit and soul, which is associated with ego and unconscious respectively. Harpur’s poetic contrast of spirit and soul (pages 127-133) is shockingly beautiful and resonant.
”As soul comes to herself in spirit, so spirit returns to himself in soul - and they are joined in the holy matrimony of the self.”
The secret is to develop “daimonic consciousness,” a “double vision” which abides both literal and metaphorical, fact and fiction, spirit and soul. In this way we become a whole Self, a microcosm of Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World.
”Emotion and intellect, matter and spirit, body and soul, One and Many, male and female, human and divine, freedom and necessity - all the contradictions of our fractured existence are most marvelously woven together in the wedding of soul and spirit, which preserves our twofoldness right into the heart of the One.”
March 1, 2020
Me parece un libro indispensable para el hombre moderno en busca de un contacto espiritual hacia las grandes preguntas. Este libro forma parte de la resistencia en contra del desbordamiento de la Razón por sobre la Imaginación, en donde se hace un análisis del hombre moderno que está volcado hacia el literalismo, el materialismo y la búsqueda del resultado; en contraposición de la riqueza del inconsciente, la gratuidad, y lo "inútil" como diría Nuccio Ordine.
Hacer alma es una de las frases del libro (dicha por John Keats). Símil del proceso de individuación Junguiano para encontrarnos con el sí-mismo mediante la ayuda de nuestra ánima o daimon; personificación habitante de la "realidad psíquica" que se mantiene entre los umbrales y nos conecta con los Dioses.
Hacer alma es una de las frases del libro (dicha por John Keats). Símil del proceso de individuación Junguiano para encontrarnos con el sí-mismo mediante la ayuda de nuestra ánima o daimon; personificación habitante de la "realidad psíquica" que se mantiene entre los umbrales y nos conecta con los Dioses.
October 5, 2019
I started out loving this book as I felt a deep need to connect to my own soul. It did not disappoint. This book discusses the personal soul as well as the world soul. It goes through indigenous traditions from around the world from antiquity to the present and expresses their views on soul as well as talking about ideas from western philosophers and psychologists such as Freud and Jung. It also discusses the differences between soul and spirit, ego, myth, mana, the 'shadow,' ancestors and the afterlife.
March 11, 2022
Increíble repaso con cantidad de referencias desde las primeras civilizaciones hasta la visión literal del mundo desde el siglo XVII.
Un escrito muy personal pero no por ello escasa en corrientes que han marcado la forma en que vemos la realidad . Son numerosas las citas de Jung , Freud y Heráclito.
Según se acerca al final el ensayo es más personal y se ajusta más al enfoque del autor , más allá de lo cerca que estés de su pensamiento supone un enriquecedor repaso a eso que no sabemos definir y todos damos por sentado.
Un escrito muy personal pero no por ello escasa en corrientes que han marcado la forma en que vemos la realidad . Son numerosas las citas de Jung , Freud y Heráclito.
Según se acerca al final el ensayo es más personal y se ajusta más al enfoque del autor , más allá de lo cerca que estés de su pensamiento supone un enriquecedor repaso a eso que no sabemos definir y todos damos por sentado.
August 25, 2020
This book deals with a sphere essential to our understandig of humanity and ourselves that has been barred since the beginning of modernity. In our contemprary world, where the scientific criteria reigns supreme, the soul and imagination are exiled, and thus have provoked and impoverishment of what makes us human, causing a chronic disease in our society.
For me, the importance of this book resides no in accepting the metaphysical statements that it contains such as the existence of a life after death, but in reconciling ourselves with this tradition and this vocabulary that are ingrained in the way we understand humanity: the soul and the spirit and the Western myths that nowadays are relegated to child's books or academic idleness. For better or for worse, we do not understand ourselves as a set of cells or of chemical reactions. We call ourselves individuals, souls that inhabit a human body. As such, we can have a better understanding of the human nature in reading the works of Plato or the myths of Apollo and Dyonisius and the tragedies of Sigmund and Hercules.
It reminds me the point that C.S. Lewis was trying to defend in "The Abolition of Man": when we try to abolish the language that deals with values and non-objective descriptions (like calling a waterfall "sublime") we are abolishing ourselves.
I firmly believed in those statements, the ones that barr imagination from the sphere of knowledge and that deny the reality of every non-measurable and non-physical phenomenom. That is why, for me, reading this book felt like a relief and a cure for a long sustained illness
For me, the importance of this book resides no in accepting the metaphysical statements that it contains such as the existence of a life after death, but in reconciling ourselves with this tradition and this vocabulary that are ingrained in the way we understand humanity: the soul and the spirit and the Western myths that nowadays are relegated to child's books or academic idleness. For better or for worse, we do not understand ourselves as a set of cells or of chemical reactions. We call ourselves individuals, souls that inhabit a human body. As such, we can have a better understanding of the human nature in reading the works of Plato or the myths of Apollo and Dyonisius and the tragedies of Sigmund and Hercules.
It reminds me the point that C.S. Lewis was trying to defend in "The Abolition of Man": when we try to abolish the language that deals with values and non-objective descriptions (like calling a waterfall "sublime") we are abolishing ourselves.
I firmly believed in those statements, the ones that barr imagination from the sphere of knowledge and that deny the reality of every non-measurable and non-physical phenomenom. That is why, for me, reading this book felt like a relief and a cure for a long sustained illness
October 11, 2021
A great conversation piece I picked upon a friend's recommendation. I can't say I'm convinced by the arguments/modes of thinking exemplarized in the book but as a survey of mythological, cultural and theological views of "the soul" this is well structured and provocative. Can't wait to hear my buddy's take (and read the reviews of others on this site who might also have a more spiritual bent).
August 25, 2025
Intelligent Freedom: a journey of choice
A timely contribution awaiting acceptance of our quantum interconnectedness. The author draws on rich traditions of the past indicating pitfalls and solutions applicable to today’s world.
A timely contribution awaiting acceptance of our quantum interconnectedness. The author draws on rich traditions of the past indicating pitfalls and solutions applicable to today’s world.
January 25, 2018
One of several books I read over the holidays that try to make sense of paranormal phenomena.
April 27, 2020
Tiene la particularidad de ser un libro iniciático. Es un resumen de la filosofía de Patrick Harpur desde la perspectiva del concepto del Alma. Erudito y libre de pretensiones.
October 4, 2021
Essential
April 13, 2022
Uno de los mejores ensayos que he leído. Patrick Harpur es uno de los mejores pensadores de este siglo.
Want to read
October 26, 2023Read parts of
May 28, 2024
Phenomenal book.
November 6, 2024
Otro de los libros que aprecio haber leído. En sí todos los ensayos que he leído de este autor los he descubierto por la editorial Atalanta.
February 7, 2013
This book enlightened me to many new philosophical ideas. Although many of these ideas I'm hesitant to believe, I'm still grateful for them. The goal was exposure, not conversion. Mythology has never been a big interest of mine- had it been, I probably would have found this book much less tiresome. Nearly every chapter is laden with several mythological outlines that would read much less arduously had I been previously well versed in mythology.
October 9, 2013
Some good stuff in here, particularly the thoughtful connections between the immaterial/spiritual/metaphorical/irrational vs. the scientific/materialist/rational. More an exercise in comparative metaphysics than anthropology, and unnecessarily dismissive of 'western' and 'literalist' religion and psychology at points but still, a good read.
December 22, 2021
Harpur busca qué sucede con el alma a partir del conocimiento humano proveniente de todos lados. Busca aquello que persiste en todas estas culturas acerca dle alma y construye, a partir de aquello perdurable, una imagen del alma y de la profundidad que su existencia inyecta en toda la existencia.
January 10, 2012
Maybe Harpur's best yet. Brilliant.
April 16, 2012
Everything you need to know about the soul and imagination.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews