Customer Reviews

War of the Gods in Addiction

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I have had the opportunity to read many books on recovery and the nature of addiction. The author immediately takes the stance that true addiction is a "death sentence" and by his personal definition suggests that all addiction will eventually completely take over ones life and eventually kill the inflicted. His descriptions of the Archetypal Shadow / Archetypal Evil is such that it reinforced my already personally defined notions of the nature of addiction. I was initially drawn to the book based on its study of the correspondences between Bill Wilson (Co-Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous) and Carl Jung. David Schoen effectively used this as a spring board to take Jung's evaluation of the components of recovery and masterfully broke down the path to complete addiction and the necessary change that must occur to free oneself of servitude to the shadow. It is equally amazing that David Schoen is not a recovering addict himself. It is rare when someone that has not personally experienced the darkness firsthand can provide such a detailed and believable analysis. I would recommend this book to any member of the drug / alcohol recovery community that wants a fresh perspective that flows perfectly in line with their current 12 step program. Bravo!

The author writes this book as a Jungian analyst. Had he written it simply as an unabashed advocate of AA (which he obviously is), it would not trouble me nearly as much. Although I do not consider myself a Jungian scholar, I have been a student of Jungian thought for 25+ years. I have read a smattering of Jung and many volumes by other Jungian analysts and authors. After years of seeking a spiritual alternative to the fundamentalist Christian framework of my upbringing, Jungian thought finally gave me a spiritual language that I could relate to beyond a purely materialistic and intellectually abstract world -- that could provide some avenue into the unknown that exists beyond fact, materialism, and science. It allowed me to move beyond a "hard choice" beyond physics and metaphysics, as well as (to use Nietzsche's words) beyond "good and evil." That conceptual dualism of pristine "good and evil," and an unrelenting battle between them, lies at the core of this book. Without that concept, the foundation for this book evaporates.

So, I speak from the perspective confessed above and say that I have NEVER read a book by a Jungian that was so grounded in the sort of medieval, metaphysical dualism from which I labored to escape. I think I am being fair; I believe I am reading accurately both the lines and between the lines. Putting all of the author's disclaimers and weak assertions of an ecumenical world view aside, this book presents a fundamentalist christian(really catholic)world view of eternal transpersonal cosmic forces of pure good and pure evil, in which mortal man is buffeted and, if "addicted," must choose to surrender (yes, surrender) to the "pure good" cosmic force, or that mortal is lost.

With respect -- but none the less loudly -- I object. Jung did NOT propound a "true Self" consonant with the catholic view of a "god" of "pure light," the "Good God." (p.121)" If the world could finally ever get beyond this concept of "GOD," perhaps we could get somewhere. Jung certainly sought to help us move beyond the metaphysical and theological grounding of this book.

Please, if you are new to Jung, do not view this book as representative of Jung's concept of the "Self." Read someone else -- Edinger, Sanford, Johnson, Hollis, Dourley, anyone. Jung struggled to present in an acceptable and understandable way the notion of integration of light and dark, both with respect to the notion of human understanding and the "god image." In my humble view, I believe he would be appalled at the pristine dualism at the core of this work, regardless of whether he would agree that "unintergratable evil" exists.

I read this book because, like so many, I often view myself as a problem drinker, a person who should investigate AA. Well, perhaps some day I will get beyond the shock of this book and consider that option again. I trust there are many, many in AA who do not think like either a 12th century monk or a 21st century protestant evangelical. At least I hope this book does not represent the theology of the good people of AA; I say with assurance that it does not speak for the world view of any Jungian I have ever read or talked with at any length.

and that is explore the hidden reasons for addiction in a Jungian fashion. Anyone can read the letter from Jung to Wilson (I found it here: [...]). I'm sure its not easy (for the author as an expert) to get between the two camps; the "its a disease-not your fault" and the "you're sinful-just be good not bad" models and put forth an alternative explanation that seems to me to lie reasonably between the two extremes. I'm certainly not an expert. Addiction seems to me another symptom of modernity in which God is marginalized and made to seem either simplistic or impossible to "believe in". I would venture to say that there is a war going on inside us between the side that wants to believe and the side that cannot find much firm footing on which to stand. In essence we must become our own Archimedes and find some spiritual leverage unless you are one of the lucky ones that can believe simplistically and sometimes against much evidence (at least as popularly presented). Where AA has been successful perhaps it is because it can give the addict a place to stand with others to support them in this hidden war. The Gospel According to Me: A heretic finds his way in modernity using Jungian psychology, science, dreams, and, well, the Gospels

Letters between Carl Jung and Bill W. (founder of AA) lay the foundation for the premise of this psychological treatise on alcoholism that presents addiction as a war between the true self and the false self, and how the false self usurps the true self in addiction.
It is a well thought-out psychological approach to alcoholism that indicates the true nature of addiction: cunning, baffling, powerful.
And it provides strong correlation between the AA approach and this psychological theory.
Recommended for those of psychological bent who realize that most theory does not touch on the true nature of addiction.

This is a refreshing perspective on addiction that very few people will appreciate. Our societal fear of Spirituality and the Dark side of God makes this book an unlikely read for most people. This is very unfortunate indeed. As an alcoholic and as someone who has worked with addicts in a variety of arenas including eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction (primarily Meth), gambling addiction, and love and avoidancy addiction this book helds some unpleasant truths for me. Our inability to acknowledge greater forces at work in our lives may explain some of our failure to help addicts.

Addicts are lost in an "ocean of addiction", as Marion Woodman, Jungian analyst, calls our addicted society and unconsciousness is all too prevalent. Jungian psychology is one Western road to Enlightenment and for addicts in search of Higher Consciousness this book offers some very intriguing theories. My suggestion is, if your having trouble swallowing what it has to say, approach the material metaphorically. It may soften the blow.

This book supports the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and provides the historical relationship between Jung and AA.

There are some shocking claims in this book. First, the author disregards 20 years of historical research concerning the real man who was the link between Bill Wilson and Carl Jung. For at least 25 years the name of Rowland Hazard has been known, and in view of the fact that he was never a member of AA, anonymity does not apply. For about 10 years it has been known that he could not have spent months in Zurich in 1931; for several years now it has been known that the analysis took place in 1926 and that, if Hazard indeed sought further care from Jung, it was years later. Jung's polite response to Wilson's story does not entitle anyone to ignore facts.

More serious are the 12-step fundamentalism and the gnostic-style approach to addiction as a form of archetypal evil. If the author is able to help his own patients with this formulation, he may also be able to reach some people with the book. I would suggest caution to readers, however.