One of my favorite Jungian authors has written a book that I keep giving away. I have given it to young fathers trying to understand their sons, I have given it to friends trying to understand themselves, I have given it to collegues trying to understand their patients, and I give it to myself by reading every now and then.

If you want a framework, a language, a reference point to understand and discuss men's issues....this a great book. I used it in a workshop I led for psychiatric residents and for three years heard references to it in our discussions and supervision.

This book, together with its companion volume "Gods in EveryWoman" have been foundational in my understanding of my experience of clinical depression. The experience of Persephone speaks very powerfully. Following her myth through I also found that Hades and Dionysus spoke powerfully as well. I have either bought or borrowed every book or article she makes reference to in my myths and some she doesn't. Her evocation of those Gods and Goddesses does justice to all the sources I have found. This is profound stuff.

This book provides incredible insight for every novelist who has a central male character in his book. Based on Jung psychology, it explains why American men are like they are today and what they are becoming tomorrow. Also a great tool to analyze the politicians!

Jean Shinoda Bolen has a unique approach to psychology, which heals the whole being on a deep level. This book presents a very intriguing view of synchronicity (which I find especially interesting because I am a twin). Her practice of recognizing synchronicity in the therapist/patient relationship seems to facilitate a faster and deeper healing process through the respect that it is the patient who heals him/herself. The therapist works with the patient by tuning into his or her individual path towards healing.

I first discovered Jean's work while reading the book "Memory and Abuse" by Charles Whitfield who quotes Jean extensively in his book. I went on further to explore her writing in the book "Ring of Power: The Abandoned Child, The Authoritarian Father, and The Disempowered Feminine: A Jungian understanding of Wagner's Ring Cycle", "Goddesses in Every Woman", and "Crossing to Avalon". She has also written "Gods In Every Man" and many other interesting books.

In reading this book I have gained a more thorough understanding of how our aversions and attractions to people are often based on identification with an archetype (stemming from the collective unconscious). Her explanation of this is very interesting. I especially enjoyed the last two chapters: "The Tao as Path with Heart" and "The Message of the Tao Experience: We Are Not Alone". In my own personal healing from abuse I have understood on the deepest level that we are all connected, and that healing oneself is healing a part of the world.

I like the message in this book that certain things happen to us over and over because it is furthering our growth, not because it is punishment. My understanding of the world and what lies beyond is a very personal understanding that often cannot be portrayed through words. There is an interconnection of psychology, synchronicity, spiritual understanding, biology and physics. In psychology I prefer Jungian or Buddhist to other western models.

Since childhood I have experienced a sense of peace and oneness with the universe and myself. I experience this knowing as a humming in my being. When I feel disconnected or off-kilter I hum to the rhythms of my true nature to bring me back to wholeness. It was a pleasant surprise when I reached the end of chapter 8 in "The Tao of Psychology", and read a beautifully articulated metaphorical description of a similar experience.

In reading the last two chapters of this book two things came strongly to mind: poems by the Sufi poet, Hafiz and the movie "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" by Franco Zeffirelli.

Just as synchronicity brings meaningful events together, this book unites some very meaningful topics: coincidences, psychology, Jung, Taoism and the I Ching. Dr Bolen weaves these phenomena together in a highly readable format. If you've ever believed that there is more to coincidences than meets the eye, then reading this book is perhaps the next meaningful coincidence awaiting your life.

Quantum physics has defined a basic unit of matter that makes up all things, both organic and inorganic, which is pure energy. The same unit of energy that is a part of your body today may, only days before, have been a part of a bird flying over Beijing or an Ethiopian villager. This "new" knowledge from modern physics sounds very much like the Tao--in Eastern phillosophies, the "unifying principle in the universe to which everything in the world relates." The tao (lowercase) is the life path that is in harmony with the universe, the "path with heart." Jung believed that all people and all animate and inanimate objects are linked through a collective unconscious. Synchronicity, he said, was a connecting principle that manifests through "meaningful coincidences." Bolen proposes that synchronicity is the Tao of psychology; it relates the individual to the totality. She makes good use of anecdotes to explain Jung's layers of consciousness, the Jungian analytical tools of amplification and active imagination, and the difference between causality and synchronicity. Bolen has a gift for making clear Jungian concepts that seem obtuse or hazy in the hands of other writers.

Listening to this tape is like sitting across the table having tea with these three wise and wonderful women. They bring their insights into life from different cultures, and yet show how much we all share. You will absolutely love this tape. Listening to any one of these women is a fabulous experience, and here that is compounded.

One does not have to be Alice Walker's, Isabel Allende's or Jean Bolan's admirer to listen to this tape. The language, sincerity and humor are simply irresistable. I would recommend this tape to everyone - not only women. Men can learn a lot from these three wonderful writers.

Austen gives a tremendous overview of the various female deities from throughout the world making sure to hit every continent/region. Obviously in order to include so many goddesses, it was necessary to keep goddess descriptions to a page which leaves you wanting to know more about the goddess' place in the society that she was worshipped.

It was empowering to read about them and their powers over life and death, especially in this modern world that so often forsakes the strength of it women.

The illustrations and pictures are for the most part quite vivid and detailed making the book very visually pleasing and interesting.

This is a wonderful book of stories about those who have been curious and brave enough to search into their own souls and find lost parts of themselves. I read this book while taking a one week workshop on dollmaking and now I wish that I could go through the year long process discribed within these pages. You don't have to be interested in dolls to see the transformations that dollmaking can bring from an individual's own creativity. Great read with excellent photos of dolls created by artist and non-artist.

Womens' wisdom & ways of knowing are almost always discounted by the male-dominated world. The Kirkus Review says, "... quickly degenerates into pop psychology and pseudo-profundities." Why do supposedly intelligent people bother to negate what's profound for someone else? A simple statement that the profundity was lost on you would suffice.

That said, I found this to be a glorious book about a woman's pilgrimage in midlife that changed her deeply and will affect the rest of her life. Women need to hear womens' stories. It's what we've always done & hopefully will continue to do and benefit from.

I found her descriptions of the places she visited absolutely lovely and enriching. Without her extremely intimate perspective, this book would only be an interesting travelogue - not something that inspired me to listen to myself and my body!

To know that my perspective may help someone else clarify theirs is reason enough for me to say all women everywhere should read this one, and share it with the people in their lives.

If you choose not to believe that women all over the world are reawakening to Goddess, that's fine. No one who reveres Goddess will try to change your mind. We simply understand there also was a time when most people thought Earth was flat.

I was laying in a hospital bed sicker than I had ever been in my life....not sure how it was going to turn out and terrified. A friend of mine brought me her copy of this book. I told her that it was one of this authors that I had not read, in part because it was so focused on women's issues. She wisely told me to read it.....and I did.

It made a difference. The idea that women experience pain in childbirth but understand that through that pain something good comes helped me survive a hell of a lot of pain.

I returned the copy my friend lent me and bought my own. Whenever I see it....I remember what I learned....how do you review such a thing? Hmmmm maybe this is the way.

Jean Shinoda Bolen writes beautifully and creates vivid imagery. She describes the earth as a mother, a temple as a woman's body, and the sacred places of the earth as "acupuncture points". She draws the reader into her journey by weaving archetypes into her descriptions throughout the book. And she articulates this herself beautifully; "Artists and writers whose work touches us deeply instinctively access collective symbols. They "Dream" for us; they bring images and stories from their own depths that could be our own. If we are conscious we recognize ourselves in them. Otherwise we only know that we are moved. Seen from this perspective, artists or authors are our contemporary versions of shamen who have visions for their tribes. They tap into a deeper stratum and express it. And that stratum-the collective unconscious-draws upon more than the culture of the time or the experience of that particular individual..."(p.36). She says that everyone who works towards raising awareness or acting with compassion is linked to everyone else who does also.

Crossing to Avalon is a very healing book for women of all ages (and also men). I especially enjoyed reading about her experiences of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. I also loved hearing her thoughts on women falling in love with women, or falling in love with the goddess within a woman. She talks about how a woman can have a male archetype within her and that the goddess energy can be inside of a man as well.

A beautiful and healing journey, a celebration of life and womanhood.

What an amazing book! Jean Shimoda Bolen is remarkable for putting together a set of archetypes for women to study and gain self-comprehension. The use of Greek goddesses- Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Persephone, and Aphrodite- help women readily identify who they naturally are and whom they were conditioned to be. In addition, the archetypes enable women to look into activating whom they would like to be. I too noticed the presence of different goddesses in my life, in particular Artemis, Aphrodite, and Persephone. I was completely taken by these 3 archetypes, and plan to research them further. Truly an insightful read!

I discovered this book only recently, in a small town in Colorado. And what a book it is!! Bolen masterfully weaves her insight into classical women in mythology to portray all of the sides of woman. She explores each archetype, it's strengths, weaknesses, and how archetypes work together. I saw in myself many godesses.. Hestia & Demeter, as well as ones that I would like to have a stronger role.. Aphrodite. When I read about the Persephone archetype, it was like reading a biography of one of my dearest friends. Truly an insighful and powerful book! I was only halfway done when I foolishly lost the book, but I AM going to buy another copy!!

This book is very uplifting and an enlightening read no matter what type of woman you are. One of the best qualities is the author's ability to present the strengths of each archetype and not build a hierarchy of goddesses. This approach allows the reader to understand different women, as well as conflicting emotions within herself, and see the positive qualities. I found myself completely taken by her discussion of the Hestia archetype. In fact, I did some further research on this archetype and now have a collection of notes to pull from. If a book inspires further investigation, it is definitely worth the read.

A rich, chewy, enjoyable read, full of Goddesses as archetypes (Hestia the homebody; Hera the wife; Demeter the mother; Athena the achiever; Artemis the adventurer; etc.). Lots of thought-provoking information here -- but, as a typical American addicted to self-help books which tell you, step by step, WHAT TO DO, I found this book frustrating. She simply states that a Hera (wife archetype) who has lost her husband or has never married will feel miserable and frustrated -- no suggestions on how to cope with it!! Maybe this is realism (and the self-help books are bull), but because Bolen is a Jungian analyst, surely she helps women cope with this sort of thing every day. I would have liked some examples of how other women (patients, or examples from history) cope when they cannot fulfill their archetypes.

Goddess In Older Women reminds me a great deal of Women Who Run With The Wolves which my sister gave me a dozen years ago. Jean Shinoda Bolen MS notes in the beginning that "At some point after fifty, every woman crosses a threshold into the third phase of her life. As she enters this uncharted territory--one that is generally uncelebrated in popular culture--she can choose to mourn what has gone before, or she can embrace the juicy crone years."

The book is split into 4 parts. 1 is Her name Is Wisdom which covers the Goddess of pratical and intellectual wisdom; mystical and spiritual wisdom;Intuitive and psychic wisdom; meditative wisdom.

2 She Is More...Than Wisdom which deals with the Goddess of Transformative Wrath-Her name is Outrage; Healing Laughter Her Name is Mirth; Compassion Her Name is Kindness

3 She Is A Goddess Growing Older Goddesses in Everywoman Revisted Artemis Goddess of Hunt and Moon; Athena Goddess of Wisdom and Crafts; Hestia Goddess of Hearth and Temple; Hera Goddess of Marriage; Demeter Goddess of Grain; Peresephone the Maiden and Queen; Aphrodite Goddess of Love and Beauty

Part 5 She Is a Circle. Circles of Wisewomen clan mothers Grandmother circles and Crone circles.

Fact is European women seem to appreciate and honour the crone more than we do here in the states. Crone sadly is a misunderstood word. It simply means an older women who is wise and wonderful. It isn't anything dark or spooky.

Women Who Run With The Wolves and this book should be books any intelligent women who appreciates being a woman of worth owns. And should you care I am the Athena type....

Early in this beautiful book, Jean Shinoda Bolen reminds us that the Chinese pictograph for "crisis" contains the ideograms for both "danger" and "opportunity." I've worked with clients who deal with life-threatening illness, and it is almost invariably true that this experience raises important "soul-evoking" questions. To explore those questions is inevitably healing, whether in body, spirit, or both.

As with any major crisis in life, we can either view the glass as half-empty, or see the gift that we are offered: the opportunity to re-examine our priorities, our relationships, and to do the soul-work that brings true meaning to life. Illness forces us to deal with "what we know in our bones" that we may have so far denied -- ways in which we are unhappy and/or self-destructive.

And those of us who do not have life-threatening illness can learn from those who do. As Bolen points out, "Life is a terminal condition, after all." So we can all benefit from answering the questions she poses: "What are we here for... What did we come to learn... What and who did we come here to love?"

As a businesswoman seeking to ensure that the daily demands of running a successful organization do not impede my ability to live a life of integrity, I seek to read books that inspire me to find joy in daily living. As I read this book, I was in awe of the stories of the survivors who have found life that much more as a result of their experiences in dealing with terminal illness. I applaud Dr. Bolen's wisdom in sharing the challenges that make a healthy person realize how weak we are in comparison to these heroes who live so richly in spite of events. I found the book a great joy and, in fact, am reading it again - just in case I missed something the first time. I am positioning myself to "recreate" myself in a 2nd career and this book inspired me to think of using my skills in some way to assist women who find themselves dealing with their own terminal illness or the illness of a loved one.

This book is unlike any other I have read. The author is a Jungian analyst and clinical professor of psychiatry. To quote the book jacket, she "weaves myth, experience, and story to produce a book which at once illuminates the experience of the seriously ill patient and shows that facing one's mortality can be a life-transforming, and even a life-saving process". At a time when I was recovering from life-threatening illness myself, I heard the author speak at a lecture in Vancouver, and I found her use of classical myth as an allegory for illness to be quite effective. My friend Russell borrowed this book from me a few weeks before he died from cancer, and in a written note he described it as "the right book at the right time".

This is a very good read if you know nothing about circles. It can be read in a couple of hours and covers the explanation of circles, the do's and dont's. And for me, the book stirred an interest to learn more.

Yes, there are books that tell you a lot more about circles, but if you've just heard about the idea this is the book to read.

Jean gives circle information in an easy to understand format and portrays her enthusiasm about creating the Millionth Circle.

I've recommended this book to all of my friends.

Womens' and Mens' groups everywhere could gain from reading this short, simple, but comprehensive book. Would that leaders of nations could digest it and learn from it.

This is one of the most enlightning and helpful books I have ever read. I had no idea there were so many techniques and different ways of circling. It is a must-read book for anyone interested in creating or being in a circle. I believe it's entirely possible after reading The Millionth Circle that we can change ourselves and the world. One person CAN make a difference and ONE CIRCLE can cause miracles to happen in our lives. Thank you Dr. Bolen for writing this precious little book.