Verified Document

Archetypal Psychology A Myth Is Term Paper

There is a danger in not connecting to the environment around us. There is a danger in not allowing our hearts to have thoughts. We become closed off to the entire world and our entire existence by ignoring nature; we become shells of people. Hillman (1997) discusses the calling of individuals in his book The soul's code: In search of character and calling. The book talks about how we are all subject to fate at some point when we get this idea about what we want to do with our lives. He claims that these kinds of "annunciations and recollections determine biography as strongly as memories or abusive horror" (1997). And though we all have some sort of trauma from our earlier years, from the beginning, he claims, we have a "definite individual character with some enduring traits" (1997). The book is about both character and calling and finding ways to dig down to the feelings, desires and person that one believes they have lost and resurrecting that person again. The book is about finding that image of the person that we thought we were a while back and changing our destinies in the process.

Hillman (1997) believes that people have been robbed of their true identity -- "the destiny written into the acorn" -- and the reasons that people go to therapy is to find a way to get it back.

That innate image can't be found, however, until we have a psychological theory that grants primary psychological reality to the call of fate. Otherwise your identity continues to be that of a sociological consumer determined by random statistics, and the unacknowledged daimon's urgings appear...

Repression, the key to personality structure in all therapy schools, is not of the past but of the acorn and the past mistakes we have made in our relation with it (Hillman, 1997).
Hillman (1997) asks in his chapter entitled "Fate" what happens when the soul chooses its daimon and life -- do we then have any ability to make decisions? The Greek idea of fate is about events happening to us, events that we cannot control, and thus they are events that "had to be" (1997). An interesting idea associated with this idea of fate is that these events are only events that "don't fit in" -- or out of the ordinary. So, Hillman (1997) asks, should we just think of fate as an "intervening variable?" Fate is given so much importance in our lives and we view fate as some kind of predictor of where we will end up in life. If one is to believe in fate, they are to believe that there is some "distant misty goal" (1997).

Sources used in this document:
References:

Hillman, James. (1977). Re-visioning psychology. New York: Harper Paperbacks.

Hillman, James., Moore, Thomas. (1990). The essential James Hillman: A blue fire. New York: Routledge; 1st edition.

Hillman, James. (1997). The soul's code: In search of character and calling. New York:

Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Archetypal Psychology James Hillman's Archetypal
Words: 2112 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

To recognize something as beautiful can be deemed as dirty. If every life and every twist in life has its own beauty, why is there such judgment that comes with each of those lives or twists in lives? It has been believed that beauty has had to be neglected because it was regressive (i.e., considering the Oedipal model). To see something as beautiful can be viewed as base. Beauty has

Mythology Overall, I Do Not
Words: 335 Length: 1 Document Type: Assessment

With respect to the mythology of the male gods, Zeus, Apollo, and Hephaestus seem to be a combination that matches the dynamism of their female goddess counterparts. These gods represent the good and the bad of males; they also represent the spectrum of power and balance of male energy. There is no one god or goddess myth that I feel fully represents the tension between male and female gods because

James Hillman's Re-Visioning Psychology Is
Words: 1565 Length: 6 Document Type: Reaction Paper

I sih Hillman could be more direct with this point. Explication Paper 6 Hillman might perhaps more accurately be called a philosopher than a psychologist; his views are incredibly expansive and rooted in what is ultimately a conjectured construct of human understanding and existence. This is made abundantly clear in these sections regarding character and the development of personhood and human individuals' sense of self. Again, language and its influence is

Psychology of What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Words: 1923 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Gilbert Grape Otto Rank's conflict theory posits that the experience of birth is the root cause of all human anxiety. The state of being in the womb is theoretically blissful, and birth is a deeply traumatic experience (Wolverton, 2011). From this premise, Rank suggests that several core conflicts characterize the human experience and can lead to neurosis. One conflict is between the life instinct and the death instinct. The life instinct

Exploring the Self Cultures History or Religion Through Myth
Words: 1308 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Myth Exploring Self, Culture, History, Religion Exploring the Self, Cultures, History, or Religion through Myth Mythology (general) PO Box, 60453, LIVINGSTONE Dear Lee, How are you my little friend and how is everyone at your home? I hope all doing good. Pass my greetings to them. I received your letter and was happy to know that you have been promoted to 4 rth and the final year of your college. Wow! You'll graduate after a year. Lee!

Inanna the Myth of Innana
Words: 2975 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

This mythical structure has a long history in terms of mythical and visionary experience in all cultures of the world. One could also refer to the earliest Shamanic forms of religion and the myth of the dismembered Shaman who is also the transformed healer of others. In these myths the journey to the underworld, and the process of the destruction of the old self or ego does not result

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now