Moore writes about James Hillman for HuffPost

Today Thomas Moore writes "Remembering James Hillman" for The Huffington Post, emphasizing Hillman’s role in the field of depth psychology. Moore writes about the beginning of their correspondence and his attraction to Hillman’s psychology:

"I was taken by his loyalty to Jung expressed through his original and fresh re-working of key ideas. He calmly removed unnecessary gender issues from Jung's ideas of the anima and soul. He advocated a view of the person as made up of multiple, dynamic faces that should be kept in tension rather than "integrated" into some sentimental notion of wholeness. In hundreds of pages he worked through the struggle between age and youth, senex and puer, that causes individuals and culture itself to stumble."

Moore concludes:

"If I had to sum up his life, I would say that he lived in the lofty realm of thought and yet also like one of the animals he loved so much. He was always close to his passions and appetites and lived with a fullness of vitality I have never seen elsewhere. To me, he taught more in his lifestyle and in his conversation than in his writing, and yet his books and articles are the most precious objects I have around me."

Read Thomas Moore’s tribute in his October 2011 newsletter, and his recent blog post about A Blue Fire, a collection of James Hillman's writings that he edited.

Your physical, spiritual and emotional health

Greenwich Hopsital issues a press release announcing Thomas Moore’s presentation, The Soul and Spirit of Medicine: Your Physical, Spiritual and Emotional Health, to be delivered Wednesday 16 November 2011 as the Bob Rosum Memorial Lecture. According to the release, "In his bestselling book Care of the Soul in Medicine, Moore explains how a person's health always intertwines body, soul and spirit. He says that ordinary people as well as healthcare professionals should keep this image of the human person in mind at times of illness." This event is free, however attendance requires pre-registration. To register call 203-863-3627 or 888-357-2409 or register online from the linked press release.

Wednesday 16 November 2011
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
(Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m.)
Greenwich Library, Cole Auditorium
101 West Putnam Ave.,
Greenwich, Connecticut

Read an earlier Barque announcement for this event.

Read this Foreword about Jung and meditation

Thomas Moore writes the Foreword for the re-issued  Gathering the Light: A Jungian View of Meditation by V. Walter Odajnyk Ph.D. In this piece, Moore references one of his favourite books by Jung:

"If you have read C. G. Jung’s memoir Memories, Dreams, Reflections, you will have eavesdropped on a remarkable man who, perhaps more than any other 20th century person, used many methods, internal and external, to explore his soul. Many readers are surprised to find what they thought was an autobiography to be slight on facts and heavy with internal images and experiences. Jung explored and mapped and named the inhabitants of the inner world with a ferocity of imagination rarely seen."

Moore also writes about Jung's approach to the relationship between psychology and religion:

"When contemporary psychology confronts meditation, it often moves in a reductive direction, like telling us that certain parts of the brain are lighting up when a person enters deep focus. But Jung was not your typical psychologist. He had a vast and detailed interest in religious and spiritual issues and for the most part didn’t reduce the spiritual to the psychological. Or, if he did come close to it on occasion, generally he tried to elevate psychology through an enthusiastic appreciation of religion and opened up the meaning of religious rites and imagery with his own rich brand of psychologizing. As a former member of a Catholic religious order, I found his writings on the Mass and on the Virgin Mary enlightening and enriching."

He includes, "I welcome the re-appearance of this book because generally people focus on the technical aspects of meditating and not so much on the processes and fantasies of the psyche that are involved." Shambhala originally published this book in 1993. Odajnyk is "a Jungian analyst, and serves as a Core Faculty member and is the Research Coordinator for Pacifica Graduate Institute's Mythological Studies Program."

Gathering the Light: A Jungian View of Meditation
by V. Walter Odajnyk
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Fisher King Press (December 2011)
ISBN-10: 1926715551
ISBN-13: 978-1926715551

Kripalu Center hosts Thomas Moore, April 2012

Thomas Moore co-presents Waking Up to an Engaged and More Vital Life with his wife Hari Kirin Kaur Khalsa at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts during the first weekend in April, 2012: Friday 6 April to Sunday 8 April. Tuition for this Easter-themed program is $250 US. Pricing for room and meals is based on accommodation choice. The program description urges, "Light a new fire in your life by honoring the emptyings and rebirths that are happening all the time. Something in you is ending at the same time other interests, qualities, and gifts are coming back to life." Continuing Education credits are available.

"These rituals, songs, and stories of Easter can help you with the difficult places inside you that are in need of resurrection."

Moore describes Marsilio Ficino's natural magic

Today Thomas Moore writes about "Marsilio Ficino, an astrologer, philosopher, musician, translator, priest and magus of 15th century Italy" in his post "Natural Magic":

"I interpret him saying that we can make a more spiritual and more soulful world if we appreciate the power of ordinary things to affect our emotions and sense of meaning. The colors we use, the sounds that surround us, the timing of our projects, the images that we allow to impact us — the objects in our lives are not there just for their utility or their beauty but for their power to affect us profoundly.

This magical philosophy puts a different slant on the arts especially. For Ficino, an art piece is not just an aesthetic object of pleasure but a talisman, an object that has a degree of power for our lives. It’s important what colors we choose for the home and the workplace. Architecture, he said, is the most important of the arts because it affects how we live and accomplish anything. Advertisers know about these things and are always looking for the magic that will sell products. But imagine a natural, everyday magic that would make us healthier and happier, that would support our personal relationships and our work."

Moore describes his natural magic talismans at home that support and inspire him.

Spirituality needs to be tough and substantial

Angelfire offers 19 quotes by Thomas Moore, most of them taken from his book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life. Enjoy the excerpts and the "keywords" associated with each passage (while excusing the typographical errors). A Barque favourite:

"I believe strongly that our personal emotional problems are all spiritual in nature and require a spiritual, not a psychological, response. But the spirituality we seek out for deep and ingrained problems had better be tough and substantial. Otherwise, our spirituality will only increase our problems and give merely the illusion of healing." — Thomas Moore, "The Alchemist's Retort", Spirituality and Health, Spring 2001

How to build theology into our material world

Today "Architecture and Theology" is Thomas Moore's blog post in which he writes about architects as theologians and describes the Shaker aesthetic. He asks, "Many spiritual people do not love their bodies or the material world, and they suffer because of this unnecessary and ill-conceived polarization. It affects their sexuality and their enjoyment of life. How can you be spiritual and not take pleasure in living?" Read Moore's entry and share your reflections in the Comments section.

Moore: Healing includes care, not just treatment

Sharon, with Evergreen Institute for Wellness posts the follow-up entry, "Thomas Moore asks: Can modern medicine heal our body, soul and spirit?" for those unable to attend Moore's session on 1 October 2011 at Theater in the Wood. Moore talks about his findings in Care of the Soul in the Medicine and the need for soulful heathcare. Sharon describes Moore's recommendations for medical practioners, and for patients and their families:

"He offers healing guidance for patients and families as they navigate the existing health care culture. 'I recommend that patients assert themselves and present themselves as individuals,' he says. 'Some caregivers might be put off by this, hoping for a more compliant patient. But I think we are better served by educating our caregivers, letting them know how important it is to be treated as an individual and as a person,' he says. He encourages people to take an active part in healing and to view serous illness as a transition – a positive passage to new awareness."

She emphasize, "Moore focuses on the importance of care as part of healing, not just treatment."

Medical-Spirituality Conference hosts Moore

Vital Signs, a magazine at Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, promotes the fourth annual Medical-Spirituality Conference featuring Thomas Moore. This day-long event is at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio on Thursday 12 April 2012.

Our deep inner source guides us to the edges of life

Austin Vickers shares a 1:14 minute segment with Thomas Moore from his new film People v. The State of Illusion. Moore talks about imagination and the need for each of us to follow our inner resources and source of life.

Moore recommends James Hillman's writings

Thomas Moore updates his blog today with "A Blue Fire", a post about the collection of James Hillman's work with the same title, edited by Moore and originally published in 1989. Moore writes, "The book is now used in several universities and institutes and sells rather well, for what it is, even after all this time. Its one limitation today is that it doesn’t include his more popular recent books or his many recent essays. Someone should do a new version." Moore outlines his continuing relationship with Hillman and urges readers, "If there is one person in the entire field of reflective writing that you should read, it’s James Hillman. I don’t think you will fully understand myth, literature, art or religion without first taking lessons from him."