Seeker: Traveling the Path to Enlightenment (Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, Vol. 3) [Hardcover]

Philip Dunn (Creator), Manuela Dunn Mascetti (Creator), Jean Houston (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2003

The volumes in this series highlight the artistry of America's collective spirit, as they reveal how archetypal images shape and distinguish us as a people.

With an Introduction by Jean Houston

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This anthology is the third of four volumes in the Archetypes of the Unconscious series dedicated to unearthing the Jungian foundations of American literature. The archetype in this installment is the broadly construed figure of the Seeker in search of, well, you name it-spiritual enlightenment, the meaning of life, social justice, money, even the yellow brick road. The eclectic selection of works includes poetry by Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Anne Sexton, stories by Herman Melville, L. Frank Baum, Donald Barthelme and Alice Walker, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Free At Last" speech and a homily by the Dalai Lama. The introduction by Jean Houston argues that America's immigrant heritage and its enthrallment to mythic archetypes manufactured in Hollywood make it especially susceptible to the Seeker archetype, and goes on in a Jungian vein to remind us that "everything one could ever want to know is to be found in...the subconscious as well as the collective unconscious of the human race and the planetary mind." But whether it helps you locate the Oversoul or not, this wide-ranging collection of intriguing and sometimes inspiring writing, graced by many quest-themed paintings and photos, is worth seeking out.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Readers of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell will be familiar with the concept of archetypes, symbolic figures that embody key aspects of our contradictory nature, from the hero to the fool. The highly innovative and gorgeously illustrated series, Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious: Reflecting American Culture through Literature and Art, considers American variations on these ancient themes in volumes that combine provocative writings, Native American myths, and extraordinarily well chosen images, both handmade and photographic. America, writes best-selling author Jean Houston in introducing The Seeker, is "the seeker's paradise, the visionary land of freedom and opportunity" and a magnet for people on quests pragmatic or spiritual. The American psyche is shaped by both the nation's success and failure in living up to the dreams of seekers hoping for personal revelation and spiritual communion, and America is home to a dazzling diversity of spiritual perspectives and practices, which are reflected in such intriguing selections as excerpts from The Wizard of Oz; poems by Whitman, Frost, and Alice Walker; accounts of spiritual visions by Richard Russo and Rachel Naomi Remen; and the wisdom of Martin Luther King. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; 1st edition (January 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585421898
• ISBN-13: 978-1585421893
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,987,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)