James Hillman (1926–2011)

Hillman was an animist, and student of Jung, and an influence to David Abram.

Although Hillman does have a book by this title, this recording is a series of talks and discussion recorded at Rowe Retreat Center in Western Massachusetts back in 1990 (focused on the themes of the book).

Having been a student of Bill Plotkin and David Abram, I'm quite struck by the ways I can hear Hillman speaking through them. I'll begin by looking at the concept of imaging.

Carol Sanford spoke a lot about the show more importance of imaging; “always work in specific situations and experiences from your life, never in the generic!” Only after her death in listening to Hillman am I realizing that the term has a Greek lineage. Imaging is the practice of sitting with a somatic understanding of something rather than allowing ourselves to collapse into what something “means,” or other rational mental models (a right-hemisphere understand as opposed to left hemisphere). For example, in speaking about dreams, Hillman speaks about the importance of letting the image work on you rather than trying to move right into interpretation; experience as doorway. Images are infinitely-dimensional; the longer you sit with them, the more you get out of them.

As a series of talks, Hillman does bounce around a lot. He speaks about the three faces of Eros (I would describe them as carnal, unitive, and insatiable). He speaks about Eros' arrow prying open our wounded places.

There are some novel moments, such as when he speaks about ceilings, and the way in which they initially were designed both for the protection from certain energies while concentrating others (as in the canopy above a king or queen).

Hillman feels that the fundamental fallacy of the Western World is the belief in the individual. This is something to sit with.

If you're a fan of Jung and an animist, you'll love this recording!

A word of warning to those considering getting into other Hillman material: I've been advised to stay away from Hillman's best-known work—"The Soul's Code." show less

Brilhante, nada mais que isso. E faz com que se pese ainda mais a morte do Hillman no fim do ano passado, já que ele era o último grande junguiano vivo, ao menos dentre os grandes bambambans do movimento. O livro praticamente transforma Freud num personagem do Wodehouse, ele é ao mesmo tempo um Jeeves e um Wooster ao contar as peripécias dos seus coleguinhas da mesma forma pateta de Wooster, mas com o espírito crítico de um Jeeves – isso tudo acaba sobrando para o Jung que se parece show more com um daqueles amigos igualmente patetas do Wooster, é claro. Confesso que a parte do Jung Food deu uma pontada no meu peito, ver tio Sigmund tratando-o como um Glossop da vida partiu meu coração.
Particularmente o trecho em que discorre sobre Otto Gross é o mais digno de deleite, em especial a constatação que deve-se dar um desconto à dissidência teórica do Jung porque ele andou conversando demais com o matusquela viciado em ópio.
É uma das coisas mais engraçadas que li em muito tempo e de certa forma reflete um mundo prático que personifica um freudiano ortodoxo com chapéu de cozinha e qualquer tentativa social de se parecer remotamente junguiano comendo biscoitinhos da sorte é rapidamente ridicularizada, não no sentido do bom humor apresentado neste livro, mas no de sentido primário de destruição por destruição sem pensar no outro, como se fosse uma velha cozinheira fofoqueira como o nosso Freud comicamente apresentado aqui. Ou nas palavras do próprio Hillman: uma sociedade sem alma.

Adendo: O livro é semi-ilustrado e nas ilustrações há outra pista de que foi escrito por um junguiano, enquanto o Freud foi desenhado todo desmilinguido, o Jung foi desenhado no melhor estilo “eu sou gato, hein!” Se meu scanner não tivesse quebrado, colocaria a ilustração em questão aqui, embora não tão sexy quanto o display de A Dangerous Method nos halls de cinema que me faz ter vontade de lamber o bigode do Jung. Rá! show less

Hillman's slim volume is the best book I have read about the significance and experiential weight of dreams. He opposes the therapeutic and vulgar divinatory approaches that want to merely convert dreams into utilities of waking consciousness. While situating his study within the psychoanalytic tradition, he constructs his theory with extensive reference to classical notions of death and the underworld.

Magicians reading carefully can also find a wealth of pointers about the "astral" and the show more full range of visionary experiences which access materials from an unconscious source--collective or individual. In fact, this book is one of the most valuable texts I have found for that purpose.

An early monograph by Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld has a style that is more incisive and demanding than his later popular work like The Soul's Code. He often uses untranslated Greek terms in order to orient the reader to what is likely to be at first an alien perspective on the underworld into which we all must descend. Although short, it requires genuine work to read, and it should repay the effort well. show less

Eat your way to sanity the Freudian way, with recipes from Sigmund Freud's long-suppressed private cookbook. Here is the definitive work Freud would have given us had he not been distracted by his patients, anxieties, and professional articles. As the master himself writes, “Enough has been recorded of what we said; yet not one word of what we ate.” These are the authentic dishes which not only delighted those pioneers of the pleasure principle, but nourished them as well. With these show more recipes come Freud’s intimate revelations about his colleagues and patients, their gastronomical peculiarities—and some of his own—and previously unpublished reflections on his theories, including “Civilization and Its Indigestion,” “Moses and Matzoballism,” and “Luncheon Interruptus.” The truth comes out about Jung’s fainting spells and Freud’s lifelong dislike of chicken. Replete with source notes, editors’ comments, index, tips on technique, and delightful illustrations of the Vienna circle at the table, Freud’s Own Cookbook is essential for those who only know oral eroticism as a theory. Now everyone can try it, as Freud did, in the privacy of the kitchen. Source: Amazon show less