Customer Reviews

She: Understanding Feminine Psychology

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"It is very easy to relegate mythology to a far away place long ago and thus isolate it from the mainstream of here-and-now life." So says Robert A. Johnson in the final chapter of SHE. This short, easy to read book, like Psyche's lamp, sheds light on the inner life of women, as well as the feminine within the male psyche. I've been aware of the Myth of Psyche for many years and have read several books mentioning it. However, I felt the authors often got lost in intellectual jargon or digressive personal experiences, so the meaning of the myth always eluded me. While I had a general idea of its importance, its deeper meanings always remained just out of reach. Johnson systematically takes each stage of the myth apart and shows the reader how it applies to the psyche, and there were many revelations for me in this book. For those who have read SHE and come away unenlightened or confused, I would suggest that perhaps this is not the fault of either author or reader. It does help to have at least a little knowledge of Jungian thought (although Johnson's book could serve as an intriguing introduction to Jungian psychology). I would say that if you're interested in the topic, keep reading about it. Keep building on your knowledge. Over time, your mind will sort out the information--just as the ants help Psyche to sort out the seeds--and you'll come to your own epiphany about the Myth of Psyche, just like I did when I read Johnson's book. I wish readers well in their search.

I admit, I didn't get it. I bought this book on the strong recommendation of a psychology major, who praised He, She & We (all three books by Johnson). Perhaps my lack of understanding of Jungian theory interfered with my ability to glean meaning from the text.

The book is a short, readable eighty pages, developed around the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. In Johnson's explanation of how femininity evolves (including the man's feminine side, or anima), a person must go through certain rites of passage, in sequential order, to develop fully as a woman. Psyche must complete four tasks assigned by Aphrodite. Failure to complete any task before nightfall will result in death. The tasks include sorting a pile of many different seeds, collecting golden fleece from rams, filling a crystal goblet with water from the river Styx, and collecting a cask of beauty ointment from Persephone, goddess of the underworld. Johnson explains how each of these tasks represents an evolution in a woman's life (choosing one of the many seeds a man gives to a woman to begin the miracle of birth, gathering the fleece as acquisition of a bit of masculinity necessary to survive in the world, the single goblet of water from Styx as focusing on a single item at once from the vast choices in the universe). The text is rich with metaphor -- marriage as both death and resurrection for a woman, a beautiful oil-burning lamp as a woman's natural consciousness, etc. Interesting, but (at least for me) not particularly enlightening. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I didn't come away with an enhanced understanding of female psychology.

This is a short, easy read (about 80 pages) of large-typed, generously-spaced, amply-margined words. Johnson's style is light and casual. Whilst not as in-depth as Marie-Louise Von Franz' treatments, for example, it is also much more approachable and less academically inclined. Still, it provides a concise forray into Jungian thought as related to færy tales and myth.

Whilst the readers of Von Franz might find it too light, I suggest it simply adds to the analytical repertoire. If you enjoy Clarissa Pinkola Estes' work relative to færy tales, you should also enjoy this, too.

Robert A. Johnson writes clearly and beautifully. In "She" he succeeds in gracefully and crisply conveying to the reader mythologies and archetypes that existed ages ago, live now, and that will probably exist in 500 years. His text flows as though he is with you, simply speaking to you. He kindly connects elements of the myths and the stories of Psyche, Aphrodite, Eros, Zeus, and others into a cohesive whole and through analogy, provides a connectivity of these stories to our modern day life - helping readers that may have a moment of unsureness in understanding the concepts the myths reveal.

That such simply written words so succinctly convey many of the fundamental concepts of life, of people, and of a woman is wonderful. And that the mythological content is so true in a timeless and universally applicable sense, is more than illuminating. She - is not a long book, but it may speak volumes to those who take a moment to read and absorb the truths it offers.

I recommend it highly.

Regards,

Psych

I picked up this book because I wanted to know more about women. I've been fascinated by them, and irresistably, magnetically attracted to them all of my life. I wanted to understnad a little more about this powerful pull. Women are beautiful, mystical, and wonderfully different. There's that quality in a woman's voice that just doesn't exist in a man's that can make all of the world feel like it's suddenly become light as a feather. There's always been that bewitching paradox about the sexes. We're all human, but our perspectives are inherantly different.

In this slim but nourishing volume, Johnson lucidly examines the Greek myth of Psyche and Cupid. Using Jungian pysychology, he shows that the trials a girl must undertake to become a woman are no different today than they were in the ancient world. Johnson tells us why myth is so important to us as humans. It's one of the truest, clearest records of ourselves. When a myth is passed on from one generation of storytellers to another, it is refined and slowly given its truest shape. The parts that glow are given more emphasis and the parts that don't are left along the way.

As the author stresses, this book is not really about women, but rather about the 'feminine' that exists in both women and to a lesser degree men. In learning to understand the psychological imperatives of the female, not only will a man be more adept in his relationships with women, but he will also better understand his own complex nature.

A man writing a book about the feminine? A man reviewing it? Indeed, for this is not a "woman's book" (whatever that is) but a book detailing for all of us our relationship to our own feminity and to that of others. For several years, it has stood as a torch along the road of my own journey toward my authentic self, and for that I treasure it. This is not some clever academic exercist in, say, Applied Jungianism 101; it is rather a book a rich in insight and in the profound wisdom which can exist in simplicity. Best of all, it is as entertaining as it is profound.

A great presentation of the myth of Psyche and her trials, and integrating that knowledge with his own Jungian analysis. Tells the story well and simple, explaining what the trials in the story of Psyche are telling modern day women and men. The feminine aspects of the human have been trapped somewhere from Ancient Greece to about 1960, and is now slowly revealing itself. Johnson may have a good start and understanding of this knowledge for those who are looking for more of a balance in their lives.

My best friend let me borrow this book; the journey has been without parallel. The book is small, and for the most part, extremely easy to read. But like slow moving river, extremely deep. Though the book's audience appears to be targeted towards the feminine, that does not necessarily mean just woman. It inspires reflection, understanding, and compassion towards ourselves as well as those around us.

This is a book to read and re-read.

Robert Johnson, in his book "she" explores the pathway to mature femininity. To name a few, Robert Johnson teaches:
1)how to be a real mature woman and use masculine energy while staying centered in feminine identity( characteristic that is lacking in modern women because...);
2)the importance of sorting out one's responsibilities (characteristic that is lacking in modern women..);
3) how to deal with jealousy, greed, suspicious, expectation...
By discussing the ancient myth of Amor and Psyche, Robert Johnson again guides us to become a related whole being.

If you are truly interested in the psychology of the feminine, Erich Neumann's study of the myth of Amor (Eros)and Psyche is by far a better book, indeed probably the best explication ever written on what the feminine is, and why it is essential to develop and integrate the feminine, within both the female and the male mind. Johnson's work, like his others, is not without merit, but like all his books, it is a very slim volume, even with double-spaced lines, and seems to be aimed at the layperson who has minimal background. It relies heavily on examples culled from his practice as a psychologist to explain/illustrate the ideas he puts forth, but he fails to give credit to all the thinkers upon whose shoulders he stands: shocking! there is no bibliography. In contrast, Neumann's book is a scholarly work, but it is quite accessible. It provides both the actual Greek myth of Amor and Psyche and a cogent and deeply revealing explication of the myth's meaning. If you have an interest in Jungian archetypes and in becoming as individuated as you can be, I strongly recommend that you forgo this book in favor of Neumann's book.