Random House issues latest as trade paperback

According to Random House, Thomas Moore’s latest book, A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do, will be available as a trade paperback on January 6, 2009. It can be pre-ordered on the publisher’s site.

A Life at Work:
The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do
Trade Paperback
208 pages
Price: $14.00 (U.S.)
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2253-1 (0-7679-2253-0)

Learn about the unicorn in the garden, Oct. 25

The Mind Body Spirit Expo, to be held October 24 - 26 2008, hosts an address by Thomas Moore on Saturday 25 October at the Valley Forge Convention Center, 20 minutes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the program, Moore’s presentation is:

THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN:
The Spirituality of the World
Saturday, October 25 2008
12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Montgomery Room
$50
Book signing follows lecture
General Admission Ticket Required

"Spiritual practices often try to tone down our connection with our bodies and the physical world. They are often cosmic, abstract, and aimed at perfection. A little distance from the world can be useful, but it has its dangers. Spirituality can become anti-sexual, anti-family, against possessions, and moralistic about food. It may see virtue in detachment and can be negative about pleasure and sensuality. But these tendencies of the spirit away from the ordinary things of life can split life into the secular and the sacred, the good and the bad, the ordinary and the miraculous. This presentation will show connections between spirituality and nature, pleasure, sexuality, and the secular life. It will deepen our sense of the spiritual and ultimately unite the soaring spirit with the life-embedded, emotional, and poetic soul."

For directions and venue information, visit the Valley Forge Convention Center site.

Forgiveness allows life to resume its flow

Thomas Moore’s column in the May-June issue of Spirituality and Health, "Finding Freedom in Forgiveness," may be read online after free registration on that site. In this column, Moore suggests,

"The capacity to forgive reveals a soul that is free of anxiety, one that is mature and equal to the complexity of human interaction. Forgiveness requires what Aristotle called "a great soul" and is captured in a virtue often ignored and not appreciated — magnanimity. The Greek philosopher said that this power lies between the extremes of vanity and timidity. That’s exactly where I think forgiveness is to be found — that place uncovered when we get over our "too big" sense of self and grow out of our smallness of mind and spirit.

The Greek word for forgiveness means release. When you forgive, you release yourself as well as the other person. You allow life to go on, to bypass your exaggerated sense of virtue and your worry about being offended. As long as you sit on your power to forgive, you suppress your joy in life. You also limit yourself: If you keep those you love within tight boundaries of behavior, you have to bind yourself as well lest you be a hypocrite."

He describes several scenarios that illustrate the power of forgiveness before concluding,

"Some aspect of your imagination may have to shift before forgiveness is possible. In that case, the effort toward forgiveness heals you and opens a valve that allows life to flow. The sense of release is the sign that forgiveness is at hand and you may now come back to life."

Moore writes about gospels in Hillman volume

Spring Journal Books announces the availability of Archetypal Psychologies, Reflections in Honor of James Hillman, edited by Stanton Marlan. Publicity for the book includes,

"In this volume, Stanton Marlan brings together the work of 29 leading scholars, practitioners, and new voices as a testament to the fecundity and influence of archetypal psychology around the world. Archetypal Psychologies highlights the importance both of Hillman's original contributions and of current developments in this field. Featured in the volume are an excerpt from the developing official biography of James Hillman, a provocative current interview with Hillman, and a series of rare photographs. This work provides a fascinating exploration of the innovative ideas and current controversies generated by archetypal psychology and of how its many-faceted approach to life and culture intersects with and enriches contemporary society."

Thomas Moore contributed "Notes towards an Archetypal Theology of the Gospels" in the POETRY, MYTH, ART, AND RELIGION section.

Archetypal Psychologies,
Reflections in Honor of James Hillman
ISBN: 978-1-882670-54-3
524 pages
$32.95 (U.S.)
This book is from the Studies in Archetypal Psychology Series.
Series Editor: Greg Mogenson