James Hillman's "The Soul's Code"

James Hillman, the author of "The Soul's Code", spent many years as a student of Carl G. Jung and helped develop Archetypal Psychology. Archetypal Psychology is a branch of Psychology that asserts that people from all times and all cultures share a number of similar symbols, meanings and mythologies. These mythologies are represented in symbols that seem to reappear over thousands of years, in paintings, religious rituals, dances, writings and myths. One of the basic concepts rests upon the assertion that there is a collective unconscious that connects all people, places and times with these archetypes or symbols.
Hillman starts and ends this book with a concept he calls the Acorn Theory. This Theory is an idea that Hillman has conjured out of years of experience as a psychologist, student of Carl G. Jung and as an interested party in this world. The acorn theory delves deeply into a restructuring of the soul as we know it. The acorns in Hillman's theory are like the acorns that spawn monumental trees that grow from the sometimes rich sometimes infertile soils and regions of the earth; trees that live in all places, countries, lands, regions and environments. To simplify the theory, each person has their own individual and special acorn that has a predestined mission in life, well before birth or even inception.
"The acorn theory suggests a primitive solution. It says: Your daimon selected both the egg and the sperm, as it selected their carriers, called 'parents.' Their union results from your necessity ---and not the other way around." -Hillman
I know, this sounds like destiny, which reminds one of determinism, which leads to no free will, which leads to "why should I even go outside today if everything I do is predetermined"; but I promise it is not. The acorn theory does not insinuate that everything "you" do is determined already by some divine, sometimes cruel and sometimes gentle presence in the sky. Instead of "God" deciding each and every one of our fates, the acorn inside of all of us is a guide, a soul, a helping hand along the way that pushes one into doing what it one is meant for. Fate becomes an extension of and directed by ones character or acorn. For instance, Hillman uses a number of famous and renowned figures in world history as examples of his theory, many of these exhibited signs of their fates at an early age. Former United States presidents Washington and Roosevelt, religious figures Gandhi, musicians, business men and women and more all become illustrations of the acorn theory in its many facets and possibilities. One such striking and particularly illustrative example is that of the renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin. "Before Yehudi was four he frequently heard the concertmaster (first violinist) Louis Persinger break into a solo passage as little Yehudi sat with his parents up in the gallery of the Curran theater. 'During one such performance I asked my parents if I might have a violin for my fourth birthday and Louis Persinger to teach me to play it.' His wish was granted, it seems, when he was given by a family friend a toy violin made of metal with metal strings. 'I burst into sobs, threw it on the ground and would have nothing more to do with it.' Because the genius is not bound by age, size, or by education or training, each child is too big for its britches and has eyes bigger than its stomach." -Hillman.
This child, who would later rise to fame as a concert violinist, would have nothing less than the real thing. The acorn was speaking strongly from the depths of this child's inner most longings. His daimon called out for a violin that would be dramatically too big for his four year old hands and abilities. Hillman provides countless examples throughout "The Soul's Code" of other such instances. During the course of reading this work I became frustrated with the idea that the acorn theory may simply be reserved for those who become extraordinary in some fashion during their time on earth. This would indeed be a fatal flaw in any overarching theory of a nuance of human nature, to leave out the majority of people. But being the comprehensive archetypal psychologist he is Hillman addresses this point with a chapter dedicated to 'mediocrity' and another dedicated to the 'bad seed' which is mainly illustrated by Adolf Hitler.
This book breaks down not only the acorn theory, but something that the author calls the "parental fallacy" and he provides a new third option to the nature and nurture debate and in turn insinuates that human nature may be far different from how we view it.
I recommend Hillman's book to anyone who was interested in Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning", and those who are looking for a different spin on parenting and a new way to view their own life past, present and the potential future (s). This was certainly an enjoyable and insightful read that provides a great deal of food for thought.

"Man's Search For Meaning" By Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was an Austrian born neurologist and psychotherapist who created his own form of therapy called Logotherapy. Logotherapy was and is known as the third school of psychotherapy in Vienna, and is an important discovery, but it is one that continues to be overshadowed by the ideas of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Logotherapy and Frankl take part in a movement called Existential Analysis that strives to give meaning to all forms of experience. Logotherapy may be Frankl's most important contribution to the mental health field, but his writing about his experience as a holocaust survivor may be his most memorable. Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning" written in 1959 provides a detailed and deeply human analysis and depiction of Frankl's experience in the Nazi death camps of the second world war. While this may be the case, one of the main premises of the book is that it is not a diary, or an attempt to explain or describe all of the holocaust experiences from the point of view of those who were, branded, tattooed, murdered and forced into labor. Frankl does not write this book for sympathy, empathy or any kind of grasping for a shared experience that would in turn alienate those on the other side, the ranks of the Nazi camps guards and the notorious SS.
Instead the author is using his and the experiences of others to provide, as the subtitle of the book reads, "An Introduction to Logotherapy". The first portion of the book is dedicated to the holocaust experience and its horrors; this experience sets up and hints along the way towards the practical, potential and powerful applications of Logotherapy. The second portion provides an outline for Logotherapy and a breakdown of some of the experiences Frankl had during WWII as examples of how to apply this form of existential analysis.
The accounts of holocaust survivals, trials and tribulations speak for themselves and are hard to summarize without doing them injustice. There is something beautiful in the way Frankl joins what many would call unimaginable pain and suffering with his deeply motivated striving towards the betterment of humanity. His quest to find meaning in the darkest of hours gives rise to an incredible mode of therapy that is applicable for any situation either dire or seemingly superficial. Logotherapy's main goal is in being able to motivate people by finding meaning in their situations, troubles, losses or gains. This may seem incredibly simple minded, and in some respects it is; but it is the way in which Frankl survived, by creating meaning in his life during the most incredibly fruitless situations.
The following is a passage in which Frankl describes how he helped an elderly man who came to him for therapy after his wife passed away: "He could not overcome the loss of his wife who had died two years before and whom he had loved above all else. Now, how could I help him? What should I tell him? Well, I refrained from telling him anything but instead confronted him with the question, 'What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?' 'Oh,' he said, 'for her this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!' Whereupon I replied , 'You see, Doctor, such suffering has been spared her, and it was you who have spared her this suffering- to be sure, at the price that now you have to survive and mourn her.' He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left my office. In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice." Simple minded perhaps, but effective and deeply human. Viktor Frankl displays an insight into the enduring qualities of the human spirit that many authors could only wish to taste.
Frankls provides a deeply motivating true story that cuts through the unnecessary to the heart of what it means to be a human being. I recommend this book to anyone and especially to those with an interest in psychology, psychiatry, history and existentialism.

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked." -Viktor Frankl

Welcome to Summer Reading!

For those of you interested in some good old summer reading this is the blog for you! Now I know this sounds like Grade School, but I assure you it is not. This is about reading for pleasure and just the slightest bit of masochism. Having just graduated from a private prestigious undergraduate institution I was under the impression that I know everything. Basically, that is not true. Its time for me to buckle down and realize that after Graduate School I will really know everything, Right?! Well I do know how to read, and to over analyze that much is for sure. In lieu of that, I am planning to read a lot of books this summer, firstly because I love to read and secondly because I just bought $400 worth of Art books for my graduate program that starts in the Fall. I have already read a few to start off what I hope will be a prolific summer of reading. Viktor Frankl's "Mans search for Meaning", William Segal's autobiography "A Voice at the Borders of Silence", and James Hillman's "The Soul's Code" are what I have read so far, but I plan to live long and prosper between the lines of many more. So please read along with me as I provide what I hope will be witty, eloquent, thoughtful and insightful reviews of these and the other books I choose to read.
So stick with it, it'll be fun and funny and maybe a little bit interesting.