Abraham the man was God's chosen one--chosen to impart the belief in one God to a pagan society and to bring forth a new nation in the Promised Land. Abraham the symbol shows that we all have a mission if we will heed the call from the voice of Self. The Israeli authors' application of Jungian thought adds to a deeper understanding of the father of Israel and Judaism.

The Cult of the Black Virgin

Why are over 500 of the world's images of the Madonna 'black' or 'dark'? And why are they so little known? A resurfacing of the powerful pagan goddesses of sexuality, the underworld and earth-wisdom, the Black Virgins are symbols of power and majesty, the other aspect of the traditional Madonna's maidenhood or tender maternity. They personify the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant in a quest for lost feminine wisdom and the search for soul.
Ean Begg's fascinating book investigates the pagan origins of the phenomenon as well as the heretical Gnostic-Christian underground stream that flowed west with the cult of Mary Magdalene and resurfaced in Catharism at the time of the Crusades, especially with the Templars.

Chiron 2006      192pp.      paper: ISBN 978-1-888602-39-5    $19.95

Experiencing Hildegard

In Experiencing Hildegard, Avis Clendenen synthesizes the spirituality of Hildegard of Bingen into a fresh combination with insights from Jungian depth psychology—particularly that of the unconscious and the soul’s reality.

Hildegard lives in these pages, not only through the superb analysis of a woman living in a turbulent and changing time, but also in an affirmation of Hildegard's deep trust of the soul’s potential to change individuals and their culture. Hildegard emerges as a woman deeply immersed in a rich inner life creatively expressed in many forms. In particular, she is seen as a woman of the past, caught between a patriarchal institution and her recognition of the divinity of all creation and of the feminine. She thus anticipates by many centuries the anguish of our time. The domains of eco-feminism, spirituality (both ecclesial and secular), and the natural religiosity of the psyche are all enriched by the synthetic consciousness evident in this work.

The psychology–theology interface is a contemporary necessity, and this volume in particular will be warmly welcomed by clinicians, spiritual directors, artists and musicians, the Hildegard readership, and the general searching public.

Chiron 2009      192pp.      paper: ISBN 978-1-888602-44-9   $24.95
Including 10 color illustrations

Departing from the traditional image of God as masculine, Engelsman examines the feminine dimension of the divine. She recovers female images of the divine, examining the goddesses Demeter, Isis and in particular, Sophia, to demonstrate how the feminine aspect of God was repressed in Christianity. This revised edition contains a new preface, introduction and updated bibliography by the author.

Highlights of this book include studies of the way in which Christianity is changing, the feminine dimension of God, and Jung's contribution to biblical humanities.

An insightful and convincing interpretation of Jung's encounter with Christianity. In the last 20 years of his life, Jung wrote extensively on the Trinity, the Mass, alchemy and the Bible, in what Stein understands as his effort to help Christianity evolve into its next stage of development. Here, Stein provides a comprehensive analysis of Jung's writings on Christianity in relation to his personal life, psychological thought and efforts to transform Western religion.

The notions of love surrounding us in disguise and of life as an adventure of endless discovery are threads in Irene’s unique philosophy of taking the risk to live life to the fullest, of not missing the boat. The First Epistle of John (4:16) records that God is love. This God who is love desires to find a home—to abide—in us. Such love is all around in disguise awaiting our discovery. This book—part polemic, part instruction manual—is the summation of Irene’s life work, told in her own words and supported by the rich understanding of her trustee.

This book is accompanied by an enhanced CD that includes video and audio clips of Irene Dugan and Avis Clendenen, plus the meditative music of pianist Jerri Greer.

Acquainting readers with certain literary as well as intellectual and psychological aspects of Jewish thought, life, and religious experience, the six legends and tales in Manna and Mystery are rich in the Jewish themes of mystical love, endurance, thirst for learning, and persecution. Knapp's essays open the modern consciousness to their ancient insights and wisdom, while seeking the treasure of subjectivity and soulfulness.

Natural Spirituality moves Jungian dream work from the professional world of the analyst's office into the everyday world of the laity in the local church. The book offers serious Christians in every community an opportunity to embark upon the spiritual path of individuation. With clarity and simplicity Joyce Hudson puts into her reader's hands the tools for inner work that Carl Jung offered to Christianity. She then goes beyond Jung to present original models of masculine and feminine wholeness. In illustrating the masculine model, she offers an analysis of the lives and music of the Beatles that is both insightful and entertaining. To illustrate the model of feminine wholeness, Hudson joins ranks with C.S. Lewis, Robert Johnson, Marie-Louise von Franz, and Erich Neumann in putting forth her own interpretation of the classical myth of Psyche and Eros. Finally, she offers detailed advice and helpful resources for instituting continuing programs for inner work in local churches. While maintaining deep respect for Church tradition, this highly readable work opens the door for an expanded and enlivened Christianity.

C.G. Jung saw in the cultural history of Western man a progressive evolution of its God-image. During the last ten years of his life, he wrote a series of remarkable letters about the new God-image which is now emerging through the discoveries of depth psychology. Edinger discusses fourteen of these letters with respect to the epistemological premises--modern man's new awareness of subjectivity; the paradoxical Godthe nature of the new God--image as a union of opposites; and the continuing incarnation--how the new God-image is born in individual men and women.

Spirituality in Depth: Essays in Honor of Sister Irene Dugan, r.c. reflects the in-depth influence of a spiritual animator whose lifework was dedicated to exploring the provocative and mysterious journey of the magnitude of the inner world and its workings. To develop spirituality in depth in one's life is, as so aptly put by Jungian Murray Stein, to be attuned to the Divine in every act undertaken and every plan or thought entertained.

The ten essays in this book are written by an interesting array of individuals. Each influenced by Sister Irene Dugan during her fascinating 87 years of life. She spent 67 of those years as a member of the Roman Catholic religious congregation, the Religious of the Cenacle. In her lifework as a spiritual mentor and teacher, Sister Dugan blended the traditions of Christian spirituality with modern depth psychology and the arts. In her own way, she pioneered what we may call depth spirituality. The essays in this volume, inclusive of an essay in Sister Dugan's own words, provide the reader with a variety of perspectives on the artistry of depth spirituality and the call to greater spiritual consciousness, personal transformation, and social responsibility.

"Its strength lies in its thought-provoking rhetoric...a work worth exploring; seemingly, it has something for everyone."--Faith & Mission

"This book deftly examines historical, literary, and psychological interpretations of texts, and then sketches a 'biblical empirics' that can reaffirm the revelatory function of holy writ."--Walter Wink

Traditional doctrinal and historical interpretation both rely heavily on rational analysis. But from the disciples at Emmaus to the beginnings of the present century, it has been the impact of scripture upon the human heart that has changed human lives. In recent decades, this impact has been strengthened by advances in linguistic and literary theory, by such disparate influences as feminism, structuralism, Jungianism, deconstructionism, the analysis of archaic imagery and myth, the recovery of Gnostic texts, and finally an openness to pluralism, whether ethnic, geographic, religious, or interpretive. All of these factors are treated here with a brevity and comprehensiveness which convincingly show that the reader of scripture has a creative and not merely passive role.