The Mythic Path: Discovering the Guiding Stories of Your Past Creating a Vision for Your Future [Paperback]

David Feinstein (Author), Stanley Krippner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2006

Each and every one of us grapples with our own highly personal mythology - the psychic force that allows us to weave the fragments of our experience into coherent story. These mythologies shape our every thought, perception, and action, helping us to feel safe and secure in our identities. But when our personal mythologies do not grow and change along with us, we find ourselves stuck in self-defeating life patterns. In "The Mythic Path" David Feinstein, Ph.D., and Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., hailed by Jean Houston as 'masters of the geography of the inscapes', provide a series of detailed exercises developed over a combined 80 years of clinical practice, personal development workshops, and teaching on psychological topics.Using ritual, dreams, and imagination to liberate you from the mythologies of your childhood and culture, the 12-week course will ignite the mystery of a transformed inner life into authentic outer expression. This third edition of a life-changing classic has been revised to include a new Support Guide combining their ground-breaking model for incorporating Energy Psychology into the process of personal transformation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Psychologists Feinstein and Krippner show us how to take responsibility for renewing our personal "guiding" mythologies. These myths establish our identity and provide a sense of direction and self-worth. The book explains how to identify outdated myths ("Everything I do must be perfect"), produce alternative imagery, and integrate a new vision into our life. The program uses dreams, journals, and ritual to create "personal shields," "power objects," and individualized fairy tales that will aid the transformation. During the 12 weeks, the authors explain how to identify conflicts between prevailing and emerging myths, how to understand both, and how to construct, refine, and make a commitment to live from a newly created mythology. They suggest three one-hour sessions per week as well as optional time on journaling and dream work. The authors admit that their prevailing thesis is a reiteration of the Hasidic proverb "Carefully observe which way your heart draws you, and then choose that way with all your strength." Patricia Hassler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A fresh and intriguing synthesis of a mythological perspective with contemporary psychological methods." Commenting on the book’s first edition -- Joseph Campbell

"A masterful guidebook ... deepening your awareness of the personal beliefs that shape your experience. This book can change your life." -- Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., author of Shadows of the Sacred

"Brilliantly conceived and beautifully written ... opens new ground in the fields of personal and social transformation." -- Jean Houston, Ph.D. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Elite Books; 3 Revised edition (November 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600700160
• ISBN-13: 978-1600700163
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #871,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Feinstein, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has served on the faculties of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Antioch College. Author of eight books and more than 80 professional articles, he has been a pioneer in the areas of energy psychology and energy medicine. His books have been translated into 15 languages and won nine national awards, including the U.S. Book News Best Psychology/Mental Health Book in 2007 (for Personal Mythology) and an Indies Best Books Award (for The Promise of Energy Psychology). His website is www.EnergyPsychEd.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Poetry of Change: Living the Mythic Path, August 4, 2000

By 

David Hopkins (Bamberg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythic Path: Discovering the Guiding Stories of Your Past -- Creating a Vision for Your Future (Paperback)

A lucid, warm and transforming work, The Mythic Path is the kind of book one continues to carry around as a companion once finished reading it. The rituals of the 5-stage process provide a framwork for addressing one of the most important questions confronting contemporary humankind: How to find grounding and depth for one's soul and spirit in a world struggling to retain a sense of mythos and the sacred. The two authors have combined their individual expeiriences to create a work that is simple in its approach, while sublime in its impact. Stanley Krippner brings to the book years of experience in the study of shamanism and mythology, and David Feinstein combines philosophy, mythos and years of clinical work to offer a comprehensive program for change accessible and invigorating to both scholars and lay persons.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mythic Path Is A Practical Guide For Reaching One's Goals, August 13, 2000

By 

Jimmy L. Smull (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythic Path: Discovering the Guiding Stories of Your Past -- Creating a Vision for Your Future (Paperback)

Mythic Path is a psychological inventory of personal myths that may no longer be of value. The authors have expanded their original book, Personal Mythology, to challenge the reader to participate in a mythic treaure hunt to uncover the origin of the mythology one is living. By following an easy step-by-step system of discovery some deeply-embedded patterns should be identified. This practical guide helps to acknowledge, heal and integrate new myths that should be helpful in reaching new goals in life. I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't want to waste time living out a mythology imposed on them by their childhood or their culture.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a sacred journey within discovering my inner self, August 22, 2000

By 

Rev. Linda Palmer (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythic Path: Discovering the Guiding Stories of Your Past -- Creating a Vision for Your Future (Paperback)

As so many of us look outside ourselves for ways of reaching the understanding and meaning to our lives, David Feinstein and Stanley Krippner, provide us with a sacred journey through which we discover our inner self. A Mythic Path is a Psycho-spiritual journey through which self appreciation, respect and love is ultimately embraced. Each stage provides a path through which you reach this ultimate experience. It is a comprehensible program designed to help the layman and the professinal. As a spiritual counselor who experienced this program first hand, I can attest to it's validity, not only in my life, but in my own personal practice as well. Thank you for your wisdom......