willowmillway reviewed The Soul's Code by James Hillman
the acorn within
3 stars
I appreciate Hillman as a writer opposing existential nihilism with mythic psychology. Its at this point trite to affirm that nothing is essential, nothing is firm, even reality itself; so it is that the myth of the acorn resounds as a callback towards pre-christian mythology and the ideas of ancestors that lived in more traditional societies. Even if the acorn, the daimon, guardian angels, etc. aren't real in a strict sense, they are real if we choose to recognize them as forces of personality and self-development. There is irreducibly, a piece of the human assemblage that is neither genetic nor cultural; it is a calling that forcefully makes manifest the individual character when answered and can drive one to suicidal despair when ignored. It makes one wonder at the value of myth when life is lived with it rather than made an object for contemplation. There is much in this …
I appreciate Hillman as a writer opposing existential nihilism with mythic psychology. Its at this point trite to affirm that nothing is essential, nothing is firm, even reality itself; so it is that the myth of the acorn resounds as a callback towards pre-christian mythology and the ideas of ancestors that lived in more traditional societies. Even if the acorn, the daimon, guardian angels, etc. aren't real in a strict sense, they are real if we choose to recognize them as forces of personality and self-development. There is irreducibly, a piece of the human assemblage that is neither genetic nor cultural; it is a calling that forcefully makes manifest the individual character when answered and can drive one to suicidal despair when ignored. It makes one wonder at the value of myth when life is lived with it rather than made an object for contemplation. There is much in this approach a greater appreciation for indigenous and non-western cultures well which treat the soul as real and relevant to daily life.