Customer Reviews

The Secret Lore of Gardening: Patterns of Male Intimacy (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)

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I first came across this book about twenty years ago shortly after coming out. At the time, I understood myself less and had a little trouble accurately typing myself within Jackson's color typology (I'm a yellow type, but because I admire green types, in my youth I wanted to BE a green type!). A few years later my boyfriend at the time (clearly a green, "gardener" type) read it also and was able to perfectly type me, ironically and typically enough, after finishing the book. I had to sit, a little begrudgingly, and ponder the truths revealed about myself by this classification for a while, letting it sink in. And then I forgot about it.

Now in my forties, I recently realized something about myself and was reminded of this theory and this book. I've gone back to read it again, and frankly I'm amazed both at how accurately I seem to fit into this typology as I've matured but also at how fate has intervened in my life over these years to shape both my character and my body to fit even more so!

Jackson's basic premise is that there are two axes in patterns of male erotic intimacy. The vertical is the axis of nature, and the horizontal is the axis of culture. The lower half of the nature/vertical axis, coded the color green, represents the earth, the physical and the unconscious while the top of the nature/vertical axis, coded with the color yellow, represents the sky, spirit and consciousness. The horizontal, culture axis on the right is blue, representing men of the sciences, and the left, red side represents men of the arts. The theory is that men of one of the four poles typically yearn for and become coupled with men on the opposite side of the pole. So "yellow" men typically match "green" men, and "red" men typically are attracted to "blue" men, and visa versa. This book concerns itself solely with the vertical green/yellow axis of nature (see Jackson's other book, The Living Room Mysteries, for his exploration of the horizontal, cultural axis and it's patterns of red/blue intimacy). There are subcategories of types within each color, and this is where I find it most interesting and, in my case, accurate. But that is a little too complex to get into in this review.

First published in 1991, the book surveys art, literature, mythology and history to illustrate and argue Jackson's theory, starting with Gilgamesh and Enkidu and running all the way up to the film, My Beautiful Launderette. Jackson suggests that Yellow/Green relationships, in bringing together sky and earth, spirit and matter, light and dark, give birth to or embody fruits that help humanity as a whole integrate these two opposites so as to heal the severe imbalances of our civilization. What is interesting is that this seems to be a typology that only applies to male homosexual or homoerotic relationships. According to Jackson at least, his typology doesn't seem to fit the patterns in heterosexual intimacy, and he leaves it to women theorists to see if it could apply to female homosexual patterns.

I only have two criticisms of this book. Firstly, it seems that it (and much Jungian theory that I've read) just focuses on the healthy aspects of the archetype or pattern. The darker side is left to the somewhat amorphous category of "shadow", and in this book, the shadow aspect of these relationships only comes up briefly in the short section on case studies. Even here, there is very little insight or understanding brought to them or on how to work with them. They are just presented as part of the pattern, but without acknowledging that they are very unhealthy or dysfunctional sides to the patterns and that they need understanding and integration. My second criticism is related. In the beginning of the book, Jackson brings up the debate about whether the attraction of opposites is to facilitate individuals in integrating qualities from the opposite pole or to facilitate individual becoming more solidly their distinct half of the pole. But in the end, the book never clearly comes to any conclusion about this, and never brings it up again despite the fact that the case studies at the end seem to point to the clients' need to integrate the qualities on the pole opposite to them. This issue may be at the core of my first criticism as well. You can't work within this system to illuminate your shadow if you aren't clear whether you are striving to become a more whole person or whether you are attempting to become a better half of a dynamic or pattern. What wisdom I have regarding relationships would point to the former as the healthiest option, but this book leaves it up to the reader to not only have that wisdom but also to make that choice.

Other than that, this is a fascinating work, one that not only helps me understand the type of relationship I'm attracted to, but also what kind of man I am. The book also raises some fascinating questions for me regarding patterns or archetypes of intimacy in all types of relationships as well as making me wonder about the particular types of human concerns and values that homosexual men seem to be living and working out within the wider population of humanity. What is particular about homosexual intimacy that concerns it so uniquely with the intersection of nature and culture? A shallow response to that question is the current debate concerning the origins of homosexual behavior. But I find that debate trite, dry and tired. Something much more juicy is pointed at by this book. Though I've strayed away from Jungian theories for the last decade or so in my personal quests, this book now makes me reconsider them in a fresh light. Highly recommended for gay men and the psychologists (Jungian or otherwise) who guide them.