What little treasure do you wear or keep in your pocket or bag that you have to have with you all the time? Why does it make you feel good, lucky, or safe? Find out here! Barbara Black Koltuv takes you on a journey of understanding---a virtual treasure hunt for amulets, talismans, and magical jewelry. Lavishly illustrated in full color, this book holds a valuable cache of intriguing images and information about the creation, use, and meaning of amulets, talismans, and magical jewelry. Learn what they have done for generations of spiritual seekers. The Second Commandment of the Old Testament forbids the making of idols to represent God. Nevertheless, we have always needed a direct and personal connection to the divine. A way is provided in Exodus, when God says, Make a sanctuary for me and I will come to dwell among you. God then gives instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant---the first tribal amulet, not yet personal, but a way for God to be present with us. From there, amulets, talismans, and magical jewelry evolved to provide a personal connection to God. Koltuv’s love of Hebrew scripture flows through her fascinating collection of pictures and biblical stories that explains the use of and need for sacred objects that affirm this personal connection. You’ll be dazzled and entranced by the array contained here: glass beads for protection against the evil eye; the mezuzah found on door frames; the hamsa, or five-fingered hand; engraved pendants and precious tiny boxes containing special prayers; Aaron’s breastplate; the knots on the prayer shawl and the teffilin; henna hand and foot painting; amulets from the Sefer Raziel that protect newborn infants from evil forces; and much more. When you open this book, you open yourself to a new awareness of the magical objects surrounding us in everyday life and religious practice, as well as to a healing spiritual connection!
About Dr. Barbara Koltuv
When I was growing up in the Fifties, psychology and psychoanalysis were all the rage and fascinated me. That way of thinking had come over to America from Europe in flight from the rising fascism in Europe. It permeated literature, theater, art and film. In college I studied psychology, literature, philosophy, and cultural anthropology. I knew I wanted to be a psychoanalyst.
I received my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in 1962.
I had a Post Doctoral Fellowship in 1963, and was licensed by New York State as a Psychologist.
I began to study at the New York University Post Doctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. My primary supervisor was Erich Fromm, with whom I studied the language of dreams, and learned to work with patients from a deeply spiritual psychological perspective. In 1969 I was awarded a Diploma in Psychoanalysis from the New York University Post-Doctoral Program.
I began my psychoanalytic practice in New York in 1963. I was known to be "a talented psychoanalyst" who, because I had no particular theoretical preference, "worked with dreams from the seat of my pants". All that changed in the summer of 1968 when I discovered Jung's autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections. There I found a theoretical orientation that honored intuition and was deep and broad enough to include psychology, imagination, creativity, spirituality, and a way of healing personal suffering. I began reading everything of Jung's and the Jungians, and began analysis with a wonderful Jungian analyst.
In 1973 I began training at the C.G. Jung Institute of New York. There, my teachers were Edward Edinger and Christopher Whitmont.
I received my Diploma as a Jungian Analyst in 1980 from the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and served on the Board of the Institute, and on the faculty as a supervisor and training analyst.
I lectured and gave workshops and classes in feminine psychology, Lilith, relationships, creativity, and spirituality at the C.G. Jung Foundation, Wainwright House, and The Open Center.
In 2003 I was a founding member of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association, where I continue to be a faculty member, supervisor, and senior analyst, and serve on the Philip T. Zabriskie Lecture Committee.
http://www.jungiananalystnyc.com/
