>“I’m often surprised in my therapeutic work when an otherwise mature and discerning adult who is faced with some tough choice collapses everything into the statement “I can’t be selfish.” When I explore this weighty moral imperative with the person further, I usually find that it is tied to a religious upbringing. ”

I feel like there is something to gain from everything you read, but IMO, this is a book that has a very specific niche: those who do not understand myth, psychology, or how systems organize organically regardless of individual neuroticism, and want to understand deeply why all their experiences are not validated in depth by others. If you tie back ignorance about own actions regardless of what that person justifies that action as, all the way to upbringing, you are ignoring all the interactions in between that made that hard to validate any self (adult or child) against, and those exude a similar lack of connectedness to child while having nothing to do with anything religious or upbringing related. ( )

Care of the Soul, a philosophical guide, shows how to add spirituality and meaning to modern life.

from cover

'From time to time I've been jolted byan extraordinary book which stops my world. It forces me to look at reality in a different way-a more expansive and meaningful way. It has provided a missing piece for me.'--John Bradshkaw, author of Homecoming

'The sincerity, intelligence and style-so beautifullly clean-of Tom Moore's Care of the Soul truly moved me. The book's got strength and class and soul, and I suspect may last longer than psychology itself.'--James Hillman, author of Re-Visioning Psychology

'This book just may help you give up the futile quest for salvation and get down to the possible task of taking care of your soul. A modest, and therefore marvelous, book about the life of the spirit.'--Sam Keen, author of Fire in the Belly

'Thoughtful, eloquent, inspiring.'--Alix Madrigal, San francisco Chronicle

Thomas Moore is a leading lecturer and writer in North America and Europe in the areas of archetypal psychology, mythology, and the imagination. He lived as a monk in a Catholic religious order for twelve years and has degrees in theology, musicology, and philosophy.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
I Care of the Soul
1 Honoring Symptons as a Voice of the Soul
II Care of the Soul in Everyday Life
2 The myth of family an dchildhood
3 Self-love and its myth: narcissus and narcissism
4 Love's initiatins
5 Jealousy and envy: healing poisons
6 The soul and power
7 Gifts of depression
8 The body's poetics of illness
9 The economics of soul: work, money, failure and creativity
III Spiritual Practice and Psychological Depth
10 Theneed for myth, ritual, and a spiritual life
11 Wedding spirituality and soul
IV Care of the World's Soul
12 Beauty and the reanimation of things
13 The sacred arts of life
Notes
Suggstions for further reading

I was uncertain of the rating. I found the 1st third of the book to be quite well done and intriguing. The last half didn't appeal to me as much, but perhaps that is because his bias began to show. And because he reminded me of a conversation I didn't want to have and the person who made me have it anyway.

He's also a definite fan of Freud. I prefer ... not Freud most of the time. Not a favorite, but I will clearly acknowledge my bias. ( )

Thomas Moore undertakes to define the soul, and the differences between spirituality and soul needs. This is not a "how to fix yourself" book. If you are looking for quick and simple directions on how to have a healthy soul, one, two, three, this is not the book for you. I think what he is trying to do, is to convince the reader first, that there is such a thing as soul, and second, how to define it and look for it in our daily lives.

I don't believe that I understood the half of this book, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. In fact, I am keeping it because I want to return to it occasionally to examine passages again. The first few chapters were the most difficult for me. Moore gave some examples of how he helped people who came to him for therapy and related their experiences or behaviors to certain mythological figures. It is interesting, having read Robert Graves' The Greek Myths not long ago, to see the complete and utter opposite reading of them which Moore gives. Graves interprets them historically, Moore uses them as universal figures to define humanity and soul needs. They could both be right, and I suppose that is why the Myths have endured. This section of the book was difficult for me, because it seemed a bit woo-woo at times, and when Moore talked about his therapy techniques, well, if I were a patient, I would be frustrated because he isn't clear about how to overcome difficulties (which is his whole point), rather he encourages patients to explore them for soul food. Here is where I lack the ability to describe the contents. I will say though, that having read this book, I was able to gain a different perspective on some issues at work I am having with co-workers. It hasn't solved them. I can't "fix" them, however, something has shifted and the torment I was having has changed. Not gone, but viewed differently.

The chapters which resonated more with me were those near the end which defined "soul" and the differences between that and spirituality.

When the author speaks of faith, he isn't speaking of creeds or specific religions. He is speaking of the mysteries which move our souls. He says, if we allow ourselves none of those mysteries, we are denying a crucial element of our soul. For me, this can happen when I am examining some form of life or nature, whether plant, animal or mineral. Pondering its essence, its origin, its nature, its function, all of that creates awe in my heart, or my soul. The more I understand it, the more awe I experience, if I slow down and allow the awe to enter, and don't simply file away the facts in my brain, moving on to something else without pondering and giving way to the wonder. The author says even a mathematician can experience awe in their profession and the perfection or imperfection of numbers and equations. Whatever. ;)

I'm going to put some quotes here which I have underlined in the book for my own purposes.
"Care of the soul is a continuous process that concerns itself not so much with "fixing" a central flaw as with attending to the small details of everyday life, as well as to major decisions and changes."

"The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it." - Wallace Stevens in "Reply to Papini"

To sum up, the author encourages people to search for soul, to allow it room in their lives, through beauty, painful experiences, love and sorrow. His thought is that any of life's strong emotions, if allowed in and looked at with imagination, pondered and experienced, can feed soul. However, if we load ourselves down with "busy" work each and every day, if we focus only on the material aspects of life, if we don't use our imagination to look at problems, we are denying ourselves a deep part of our personhood and that leads to sickness and mental illness. ( )