Things I like about this book that have nothing whatsoever to do with it's content: Nifty shade of red on the cover, it's not too big and in my recent aquisition of a crippled mental state not too intimidating, Marie Louise von Franz's name, the charming and magnetic ugliness shared by both MLVF and Flannery O' Conner that I find endearing and fasncinating and which makes me want to call them both up (I know I know they're dead) and invite them over for fresh bread and tea, the fact that it has the word "meaning" in the title something which I would desperately like in my life in some form at the present moment,and the fact that in my purchasing of it I got two, count em', two stamps on my card at Tidal Wave Books and am that much closer to my ten bucks worth of book credit at that aforementioned establishment.

Things I like about this book that have specifically to do with it's content: Von Franz is amazingly to the point. (Unfortunately for those of us looking to BE redeemed, often the point is that there is no set way to do that. [A formula, a formula, my kingdom for a formula] But, I won't hold that against her.) There's a ton of stuff behind what she's saying and she lets you know that without getting bogged down in it. She edits herself well. What amazes me is that this book is basically transcribed notes from a series of lectures, so she's doing all this editing verbally. That's cool. The subject is also cool. What she's looking at is 1) which events in fairy tales indicate themes of redemption (beating, chopping off body parts, bathing, burning, and the tossing on and off of animal skins) and 2)what the heck that might mean to me. Here's the amazing thing: she actually does make it mean something to me.

Slight Digression: I have a German father and I was read all those gruesome little Grimm fairy tales as a child. I loved them, but I wasn't in the habit of thinking that they were particularly applicable to my personal life. I mean, there's not a whole bunch of talking animals and evil stepmothers chopping my sisters up into itty bitty pieces in my life. But, low and behold, I read Von Franz, and I see "Oh, maybe I have been walking around in a donkey-skin after all."

Back to the Book content Bit: VF intersperses her commentary with dreams and case histories of her patients, quotes from Konrad Lorenz about animal behavior, and stories about her dog. She makes it all work. She doesn't give us any set format for how we should go about being redeemed, but rather, gives us a sort of verbal map of the great territory such a subject covers. She lets us peek through the door at the force behind the symbols that manifest themselves in dreams and fairytales that points us to our individual "right way". Right On.

Last Digression: Oh, I wish I could have her to tea.

Anyone who has read anything else by Marie-Louise von Franz knows what to expect from one of her books - erudition, encyclopedic knowledge and plenty of down to earth clinical advice. The spirit of Jung breathes out of every single page and can't help but capture and hold your attention.

Marie-Louise von Franz was a disciple of Carl Jung and has been one of the pre-eminent expositors of Jungian Psychology. In this magnificent book, she considers time from almost all conceivable perspectives: mythological and religious notions of time, cyclical time and linear time, synchronicity and divination, and the perspectives of modern physics: Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. After the opening essay is a dazzling array of images - visual representations of the idea of time (again, from ancient mythological representations to bubble-chamber tracks). Overall, this book is a scintillating virtuoso display, sweeping across cultures and through history to the present day.

just a note: the review above refers to Anatomy of the Psyche by Edinger. Anatomy of the Soul is a misprint.

I first discovered Marie-Louise Von Franz in her collaboration with Emma Jung in their extraordinary book "The Grail Legend", which is by far the most intellectually coherent book I have ever encountered regarding that material, in which they place those strange and surreal stories in the framework of a Jungian perspective on the history of consciousness. In these lectures on alchemical symbolism, Von Franz applies many of the same Jungian techniques to explore some important alchemical texts.

I especially appreciated her decision to explore three texts in depth, rather than simply presenting a survey of alchemical literature, since there are numerous other books that do that. The fact that this is a transcript of a lecture series actually adds a wonderful dramatic tension to the book, since it includes some encounters with the attendees that demonstrate both her tremendous humanity and her impressive understanding of the subject and its relevance to modern psychology.

One of the most provocative concepts presented is the danger of an individual experiencing an overload of revelation from the unconscious, with its accompanying challenge of integrating more insight than a mere mortal can manage. Von Franz explores this concept especially well in the discussion of the text by Thomas Aquinas, where we learn about his very stressful final years in a very moving lecture that continues to provide me with much to ponder.

If I had my time over again I would read these three books on alchemy in the following order: All of them are excellent in their own sphere to introduce a complex process.

(1) The Forge and the Crucible - Eliade
This is an excellent prehistory of alchemy showing the patterns of thought out of which Alchemy most probably arose. An easy read.

(2) Anatomy of the Soul - Edinger
Set out according to seven processes involved in alchemy Calcinatio, Solutio, Coagulatio, Sublimatio, Mortificatio, Separatio, Coniunctio, this is an accessible book that puts each process in reasonably neat boxes, (though the considerable overlap and intermingling is acknowledged). The approach is somewhat mechanical.

(3) Alchemy, an Introduction... - Von Franz.
More 'organic' than Edinger, Von Franz has a very warm and human touch. She deals with the origins of alchemy in Egypt and Greece and delves into the 'Aurora Consurgens', attributed to Aquinas. She includes relevent and interesting case material. Being a transcription of lectures, it is a little haphazard, though none the less informative for that.

If you're looking for an introduction to the symbolic life lived close to the unconscious, it doesn't get much better or more concise than this. In a question and answer format, you'll find an easily accessible introductory guide to analytical psychology and Jungian dream analysis.

"The Way of the Dream is based on an extraordinary series of films made by Fraser Boa, who collected first-person accounts of dreams in street interviews with ordinary men and women in various parts of the world. He then asked the eminent psychoanalyst Marie-Louise von Franz to interpret these dreams on film, just as she would in a private analytical session. The resulting text is a primer explaining and demonstrating the art and science of dream analysis for the general public. The material covered includes dreams of men, dreams of women, what dreams tell us about ourselves and our relationships, the historical significance of dreams, and dreams about death and dying. Dr. von Franz concludes that one of the healthiest things people can do is pay attention to their dreams: 'Dreams show us how to find meaning in our lives, how to fulfill our own destiny, how to realize the greater potential of life within us.'"

This book was a very interesting, readable, understandable introduction to Jungian psychoanalysis. Reading like the transcript from Boa's documentary film, it introduces von Franz' comments between quotes from everyday people about their own dreams. Fascinating dialogue and question/answer format makes this easily understandable and prompts an appetite to learn more. For everyone who ever had a dream and wondered about its possible meaning, this book is a treat and can set you on a journey of self-discovery that is both fun and challenging.

In this volume Marie-Louise Von Franz takes six fairy tales and analyses them from a Jungian perspective. Marie-Louis's insight and clear writing style make this book very readible and her use of Jungian constructs is only used to open up a deeper level of meaning in the stories not to obscure or twist the story to fit Jungian concepts. I highly recommend it.

This book by marie-Luise Von Franz provides valuable insight into the varied uses of a Jungain approach to psychology. Interpreting fairy tales provides us with skills and techniques to help interpret our own fairy tales, that of our dreams and life stories. Useful for all students of Jung and applicable in our own lives if only for the joy of seeking connections and associations in our own experiences. Ideal for dreamers and philosophers as well as beginner Jungians.

If one has "read a little" of Jung's typology but has not ventured yet, or has ventured only partially, into Jung's seminal work Psychological Types, this book by von Franz and Hillman is a very good tutorial to get some of the concepts organized in ones head a little better. The book is divided into two sections. Both sections are transcripts of lectures given at the Jungian institute in Zurich. The first section is by von Franz and covers the Inferior Function. Hillman's half covers the Feeling Function. Although von Franz's section is focused on the development of the psychological type that is one's weaker type (ie: "inferior"), her exposition does cover all of the types. Each of von Franz's lectures is followed by a question and answer section as recorded during the seminars (Hillman's are not). One can say only that von Franz is masterful in her explanations. If one has read any of Jung's own seminars from the 1920's and 30's, von Franz's echo these here. Without overstating it, von Franz truly was closest to Jung in depth of understanding and ability at expression, perhaps better in the latter regard. She was primarilty a "thinking" type and it shows in her thoroughly thought out and well presented arguments. Hillman is another matter. Perhaps it is his disadvantage that his text follows von Franz's, but he does not rise to the same level, at least not for me. He must be a feeling-type as his arguments undulate choppily, taking a sideroad here, a back alley there, a forward lob somewhere else. He uses almost no examples, preferring to "define" as he goes along and seems to expect the reader to nod in agreement. Too much patience is expected of one, I'm afraid, and I didn't finish reading his part. Sorry. Von Franz' section is certainly worth the price alone, however. But feeling-types may prefer Hillman.

Considered a "classic" by Jungians, I found this book to be so filled with Jungian imagery that it was not worth the trouble of wading through it all. The majority of the text is an analysis of The Little Prince, and would be of most value to one who wished to interpret this story.

Almost everything of value regarding the psychological image of the puer is available in the first chapter which is reprinted in Reclaiming the Inner Child by Jeremiah Abrams (ed). Here the reader will find an entire section on Eternal Youth and Narcissism including excellent chapters by Joel Covitz (Narcissism), Alice Miller (The Search for the True Self) and Jeffrey Satinover (The Childhood Self and the Origins of Puer Psychology). This last I especially recommend to anyone interested in the puer.

I know very little about Jungian psychology, but this book caught my eye years ago. I started reading it again and it has made me aware of so much WHY about my life and struggles. It is frighteningly accurate in its descriptions of the puer aeternus and the best and worst of that archetype. I don't agree with some of the Jungian conclusions and assumptions, but the descriptive parts of this book are INVALUABLE if you're ready to face them. I'm finally facing them.

Although I do have a degree in history, my major interest in this book was as an occultist. When I first got the book, the dryness of the language really turned me off. It felt a bit ponderous. Additionally, the author's unasked for review of Kultov's "the Book of Lilith" seemed to be building up of one's self through the tearing down of another. Upon taking a leadership position within the Temple of Lylyth, I felt I had better review some more history. I had paid for the book, so I figured I may as well read it. I actually got into it, and even quoted a few pages to the Temple's mailing list. The second part is the book's saving grace, as it talks about the psychological aspect of Lilith in modern Jewish people as manifested through dreams. They are quite symbolic, and give a deep, if confusing, look into the minds of other people.

I would recommend this book for the serious student of Lilith over and above any other, due to the fact that it clearly contextualizes Lilith both as a historical and modern phenomenon within the culture that created her. This book is also not feminist, and the images of Lilith that come from out of the minds of men may have more meaning and impact on a male reader than a feminist pro-Lilith description.