Customer Reviews

Soultypes: Finding the Spiritual Path That is Right for You

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by personality type. This book separates each personality type into the meaning of the dominant, auxiliary, tertiary and inferior parts and further describes the importance and usefulness of each of these parts in the evolution of the spirit. Easy to read and understand. Great reference material that will be used even after it is put down the first time, and as one gains insight into personality typing and spiritual growth. Helps in understanding yourself and your relations with others. That is, as long as you can accurately type them or they have already typed themselves!

This is a great resource for those exploring their spirituality and familiar with the MBTI. It is insightful, practical, easy to read and comprehensive. I got so excited about the book that I was unable to to read it straight through. Instead, I've been hopping through the pages in my typical "N" (iNtuitive)style.

Sandra Hirsh and Jane Kise have co-authored a book entitled "Soul Types - Matching Your Personality and Spiritual Path." Both of these ladies write extensively and have a vast array of books to their credit. Hirsh is an expert on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Kise specializes in team building and strategic planning.

Though this book has many good things to say, unless one has a thorough understanding of the Myers-Briggs Type concepts the book is too difficult to understand completely.

There are a number of terms the authors either created just for the purpose of writing this book or redefined to suit their own purposes. This adds to the difficulty in understanding this book.

The first key to understanding the book is to understand their definition of spirituality. "Here, spirituality refers to aligning our souls with heart, mind and body to fulfill one's purpose, believing that reality includes more than the tangible, and it refers to pursuing a relationship with One greater than ourselves" (pages 17-18).

The second key to understanding the book is to learn their definition of a new word they created, soulwork. "Soulwork means the pursuits and practices that allow for meaning, purpose, and wholeness in life, reaching beyond direct experiences to the unseen around us" (page 18).

The final key to understanding the book is to grasp their definition of religion. "Religion refers to a way of life pursuing soulwork by banding with others who espouse the same beliefs or creeds" (page 18). Once the reader comes to understand these three key terms, then the book itself can begin to be digested.

As much as I disliked all their terms and definitions, the writers did bring some clarity to my mind about why some people find it more difficult to find spirituality in traditional Christian churches than others. On page 47 they observe that "all too often the Intuitive form of spirituality, with its mysticism, mystery, and concentration on the unseen, is held up as the `right' way to be spiritual." From my personal experience I would agree with this statement. I think it is helpful to realize that those with less intuitive personalities and more sensing personalities discover spirituality in different ways.

I appreciated the format of the chapters. It gave the characteristics for that particular personality type and made suggestions of how people with those personalities might enhance their spirituality. It also gave suggestions of what might cause people with that personality type to struggle. Perhaps one of the most helpful sections of each chapter was the part that gave suggestions for how spiritual leaders or friends of that particular personality type could help them grow spiritually.

After writing a chapter for each of the 16 personality types, Hirsh and Kise tie it all together in a well written final chapter. They conclude that, "In spirituality, traveling down just one path can be the route to stagnation, offering little chance of surprise, challenge, or development" (page 241). Though each personality may have a certain way that they naturally approach spiritual issues, they can learn from each other and be inspired from how others seek spirituality and do soulwork. "Spiritual wholeness develops . . . when we allow for insights and information from spiritual experiences that are different from our initial, more natural paths" (page 241).

What I appreciated about the concluding chapter is that they did not try to convince the reader to stop doing what comes natural to them. Instead they ask the read to simply consider how meaningful other paths might be to other people and to consider trying these other types of soulwork on occasion to keep one's own faith fresh. The "key to understanding isn't adapting to everyone else - it is understanding the genuine psychological differences, comprehending the spiritual viewpoint of another, [and] gaining knowledge from a changed perspective" (page 243). While I may have struggled to understand all the psychological mumble jumble strung throughout the book, this final conclusion made perfect sense to me. This is something I can grasp and put into practice. This is something I can help those around me grasp and put into practice. Therefore, I am glad I read this book.

The concept of the book is interesting, but the book could have been much better. There is only a little bit of information for each type, and the information seems like common sense information. As I read the information for my type, I agreed with the information, but it almost felt like "Ok, I knew this already!" I didn't really gain any new or valuable information. Since most people don't know their types, it wasn't possible for me to look up anyone elses to try to understand them better.

If you don't know about your type already, this might be interesting for you, otherwise this might be just basic information you already know.

As a growing Christian and spiritual director/companion, I highly recommend this book. It not only helps us to understand but celebrate who we are, assuring us there are others like us. From such affirmation we are gently led, not into ways in which we can "improve," but into ways which will enrich both us and our worlds.