Most Popular Books by James Hillman

“[An] acute and powerful vision . . . offers a renaissance of humane values.”—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life Plato called it “daimon,” the Romans “genius,” the Christians “guardian angel”; today we use such terms as “heart,” “spirit,” and “soul.” While philosophers and psychologists from Plato to Jung have studied and debated the fundamental essence of our individuality, our modern culture refuses to accept that a unique soul guides each of us from birth, shaping the course of our lives. In this extraordinary bestseller, James Hillman presents a brilliant vision of our selves, and an exciting approach to the mystery at the center of every life that asks, “What is it, in my heart, that I must do, be, and have? And why?” Drawing on the biographies of figures such as Ella Fitzgerald and Mohandas K. Gandhi, Hillman argues that character is fate, that there is more to each individual than can be explained by genetics and environment. The result is a reasoned and powerful road map to understanding our true nature and discovering an eye-opening array of choices—from the way we raise our children to our career paths to our social and personal commitments to achieving excellence in our time. Praise for The Soul’s Code “Champions a glorious sort of rugged individualism that, with the help of an inner daimon (or guardian angel), can triumph against all odds.”—The Washington Post Book World “[A] brilliant, absorbing work . . . Hillman dares us to believe that we are each meant to be here, that we are needed by the world around us.”—Publishers Weekly

Traces the intellectual ancestry of archetypal psychology, assembles its literature, and clarifies the root metaphors governing its practice. Includes a bibliography of relevant publications, as well as a complete checklist of all of James Hillman''s writings to 1992.

First published in 1990. James Hillman is one of the leading figures in archetypal psychology and one of the most creative minds in psychology. This anthology of his writings presents carefully selected, choice passages from many of his seminal essays and work on archetypal psychology. Fundamental themes in Hillman''s thought form the chapters of the book: poetic basis of mind, psychological polytheism, dreams, love, therapy. The book is intended for the reader who wants an overview or introduction to his highly original approach, an approach that draws on mythology, renaissance philosophy, alchemy and critical readings of Jung and Freud.

In the boldest expose on the nature of power since Machiavelli, celebrated Jungian therapist James Hillman shows how the artful leader uses each of two dozen kinds of power with finesse and subtlety. Power, we often forget, has many faces, many different expressions. "Empowerment," writes best-selling Jungian analyst James Hillman, "comes from understanding the widest spectrum of possibilities for embracing power." If food means only meat and potatoes, your body suffers from your ignorance. When your idea of food expands, so does your strength. So it is with power. "James Hillman," says Robert Bly, "is the most lively and original psychologist we have had in America since William James." In Kinds Of Power, Hillman addresses himself for the first time to a subject of great interest to business people. He gives much needed substance to the subject by showing us a broad experience of power, rooted in the body, the rnind, and the emotions, rather than the customary narrow interpretation that simply equates power with strength. Hillman''s "anatomy" of power explores two dozen expressions of power every artful leader must understand and use, including: the language of power, control, influence, resistance, leadership, prestige, authority, exhibitionism, charisma, ambition, reputation, fearsomeness, tyranny, purism, subtle power, growth, and efficiency.

In his bestselling The Soul''s Code, James Hillman restored passion and meaning to the concept of identity, arguing that each of us is born with an innate character, the "daimon" or "spirit" that calls us to what we are meant to be. Now, in The Force of Character, Hillman brings the idea of character full circle, offering a revolutionary new vision of life''s most feared and misunderstood chapter: old age. "Aging is no accident," Hillman writes. "It is necessary to the human condition, intended by the soul." We become more characteristic of who we are simply by lasting into later years; the older we become, the more our true natures emerge. Thus the final years have a very important purpose: the fulfillment and confirmation of one''s character. Contrary to the current genetic determinism that sees increased longevity as a wasted aberrance created by civilization, The Force of Character presents an explosive new thesis: The changes of old age, even the debilitating ones, have purposes and values organized by the psyche. Memory for recent events may falter, offering more place for long-term recollections. A heart condition in later life brings an opportunity to remove blockages from constricted relationships, while changes in sleep patterns allow the old to experience the profound elements of nighttime that we usually overlook. As Hillman says, "Aging makes metaphors of biology." In this empowering and original work, James Hillman resurrects the ancient, widespread, and socially effective idea of the old person as "ancestor," a model for the young, the bearer of a society''s cultural memory and traditions. America disregards old people who aren''t young-acting and young-looking. We don''t realize that "oldness" is an archetypal state of being that can add value and luster to things we treasure, places we revere, and people''s character. When we open our imaginations to the idea of the ancestor, aging can free us from convention and transform us into a force of nature, releasing our deepest beliefs for the benefit of society. For all who read it, The Force of Character will be a seminal, life-affirming experience.

This groundbreaking classic explores the necessity of connections between our life and soul and developing the main lines of the soul-making process.

In this work, acclaimed Jungian James Hillman examines the concepts of myth, insights, eros, body, and the mytheme of female inferiority, as well as the need for the freedom to imagine and to feel psychic reality. By examining these ideas, and the role they have played both in and outside of the therapeutic setting, Hillman mounts a compelling argument that, rather than locking them away in some inner asylum or subjecting them to daily self-treatment, man''s "peculiarities" can become an integral part of a rich and fulfilling daily life. Originally published by Northwestern University Press in 1972, this work had a profound impact on a nation emerging self-aware from the 1960s, as well as on the era''s burgeoning feminist movement. It remains a profound critique of therapy and the psychological viewpoint, and it is one of Hillman''s most important and enduring works.

This furious, trenchant, and audacious series of interrelated dialogues and letters takes a searing look at not only the legacy of psychotherapy, but also practically every aspect of contemporary living--from sexuality to politics, media, the environment, and life in the city. James Hillman--controversial renegade Jungian psychologist, the man Robert Bly has called "the most lively and original psychologist we''ve had in America since William James"--joins with Michael Ventura--cutting-edge columnist for the L.A. Weekly--to shatter many of our current beliefs about our lives, the psyche, and society. Unrestrained, freewheeling, and brilliant, these two intellectual wild men take chances, break rules, and run red lights to strike at the very core of our shibboleths and perceptions.

Originally published in 1967 by Charles Scribner''s Sons.

Since the 1980s James Hillman, the best-selling author and founder of Archetypal Psychology has written and lectured extensively on the presence of animals in our conscious and unconscious lives. Volume 9 of the Uniform Edition of the Writings of James Hillman unites, for the first time, his papers and lectures on the subjects of animals, including "Animal Kingdom in the Human Dream" (1982), "Dream Animals" (1997), "Culture and the Animal Soul" (1994/1997), and "Learning from Animals" (1999).

This new edition is introduced by the eminent psychiatrist and pioneering social critic, Thomas Szasz. It concludes with a long reflective postscript by the author with his recent thoughts on the psychology of suicide for our times.

This is Volume XIV of thirty-eight in a series on the General Psychology. Originally published in 1960, this study offers A Comprehensive Phenomenology of Theories and their Meanings for Therapy.

A vitally important introduction to the theories of one of the most original thinkers in psychology today, A Blue Fire gathers selected passages from many of Hillman''s seminal essays on archetypal psychology.

War is a timeless force in the human imagination—and, indeed, in daily life. Engaged in the activity of destruction, its soldiers and its victims discover a paradoxical yet profound sense of existing, of being human. In A Terrible Love of War, James Hillman, one of today’s most respected psychologists, undertakes a groundbreaking examination of the essence of war, its psychological origins and inhuman behaviors. Utilizing reports from many fronts and times, letters from combatants, analyses by military authorities, classic myths, and writings from great thinkers, including Twain, Tolstoy, Kant, Arendt, Foucault, and Levinas, Hillman’s broad sweep and detailed research bring a fundamentally new understanding to humanity’s simultaneous attraction and aversion to war. This is a compelling, necessary book in a violent world.

Examining the three great originators of depth psychology - Freud, Jung, and Adler - these chapters look again at what is really meant by "case history", "active imagination" and "inferiority feelings".

Two groundbreaking essays, "The Thought of the Heart" and "Anima Mundi: The Return of the Soul to the World," by James Hillman that launched Archetypal Psychology and began the renaissance of a psychology that returns psychic reality to the world. Following Marsilio Ficino, who was the first to place the soul in the center of his vision, Hillman argues for a psychology that reflects the world it works in.

A reflection on the presence and fading of animals in human lives and consequently in dreams and imaginings, emotions and thoughts. An interweaving of art and psychology, dream and symbol, Jungianism and lore.

Volume 6.1 of the Uniform Edition of the Writings of James Hillman features lectures, occasional writings, scholarly essays, and clinical papers on the subject of mythical figures, including "Athene, Ananke and Abnormal Psychology" (1977), "Dionysus in Jung''s Writings" (1972), "Pink Madness, or Why Does Aphrodite Drive Men Crazy With Pornography?" (1995), "Mars, Wars, Arms, Rams" (1987), and "Moses, Alchemy, Authority" (2001).

With Jung’s Red Book as their point of departure, two leading scholars explore issues relevant to our thinking today. In this book of dialogues, James Hillman and Sonu Shamdasani reassess psychology, history, and creativity through the lens of Carl Jung’s Red Book. Hillman, the founder of Archetypal Psychology, was one of the most prominent psychologists in America and is widely acknowledged as the most original figure to emerge from Jung’s school. Shamdasani, editor and cotranslator of Jung’s Red Book, is regarded as the leading Jung historian. Hillman and Shamdasani explore a number of the issues in the Red Book—such as our relation with the dead, the figures of our dreams and fantasies, the nature of creative expression, the relation of psychology to art, narrative and storytelling, the significance of depth psychology as a cultural form, the legacy of Christianity, and our relation to the past—and examine the implications these have for our thinking today.

The second volume of the James Hillman Uniform Edition consolidate Hillman''s papers and lectures on the subject of politics, ecology, and urban affairs, such as "Psychoanalysis, Self, and Community," "Culture and the Animal Soul," "Natural Beauty without Nature," "City, Sport, and Violence," and "Where Is The Environment?"

In a deepening of the thinking begun in The Myth of Analysis and Re-Visioning Psychology, James Hillman develops the first new view of dreams since Freud and Jung.

Enth.: The inferior function / by Marie-Louise von Franz. The feeling function / by James Hillman.

Edited by Glen Slater, Senex & Puer, Vol. 3 of the Uniform Edition of the Writings of James Hillman, for the first time, collects Hillman''s running encounters with a primary psychological pattern-an archetype that arises alongside the very attempt to fashion psychological perspective. Senex and puer are Latin terms for "old man" and "youth," and personify the poles of tradition, stasis, structure, and authority on one side, and immediacy, wandering, invention and idealism on the other. The senex consolidates, grounds, and disciplines; the puer flashes with insight and thrives on fantasy and creativity. These diverging, conflicting tendencies are ultimately interdependent, forming two faces of the one configuration, each face never far from the other. "Old" and "new" maybe the most direct terms for the pair. They represent two very different ways of entering the world, but are oddly dependent on one another.

Fra i lettori appassionati di Hillman si sentono spesso ricordare due scritti, vere gemme della sua produzione: il saggio sul tradimento e "Senex e puer". Di fatto sarebbe difficile trovare una migliore via d’accesso al pensiero di questo autore. Nel primo caso perché in poche pagine egli ci offre un’analisi esemplare di una di quelle realtà condannate e deprecate che solo lo scandaglio psicologico riesce a illuminare dietro le grevi cortine della morale. E questa, come sappiamo, è una linea che Hillman ha in seguito ampiamente sviluppato. Nel secondo perché la caratterizzazione del Puer aeternus e quella parallela del Senex hanno una tale precisione e capacità individuante da offrirsi come ausilio immediato per riconoscere nella nostra psiche, in tutti i loro camuffamenti, i tratti dell’eterna fanciullezza e della saturnina vecchiaia. "Il tradimento" e "Senex e puer" sono entrambi nati come conferenze, rispettivamente tenute a Londra nel 1964 presso la Guild of Pastoral Psychology e nel 1967 ai seminari di Eranos.

This book collects all of James Hillman''s papers on the alchemical imagination from 1980 to the present: "Therapeutic Value of alchemical Language"; "Silver and the White Earth I & II"; "Alchemical Blue and the Unio Mentalis"; "Salt: A Chapter in Alchemical Psychology"; "rudiments: Fire. Ovens, Vessels, Fuel, Glass"; "The Imagination of air and the collapse of alchemy"; "The Yellowing of the Work"; "White Supremacy"; "Concerning the Stone - Alchemical Images of the Goal"; "The Azure Vault: Caelum as Experience."