James Hillman: "Suicide and the Soul"

Share thoughts and ideas regarding what can be done to meet contemporary humanity's need for rites of initiation and passage.

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Martin_Weyers
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James Hillman: "Suicide and the Soul"

Post by Martin_Weyers »

The New York Times obituary of James Hillman made me curious about his 1964 book “Suicide and the Soul”: It ...
... challenged therapists to view thoughts of death not as symptoms to be cured but more as philosophical longings to be explored and understood.
Is anybody here familiar with this issue?

I'm thinking of suicidal ideation, but also interest in horror stories & ~ movies, as far as it is characterized by identification with the victim, rather than offender - committing suicide *symbolically*, as it were, by "enjoying" this kind of stories by way of identifying with the victim.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/healt ... at-85.html
Works of art are indeed always products of having been in danger, of having gone to the very end in an experience, to where man can go no further. -- Rainer Maria Rilke

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

Hi Martin,

I am generally familiar with the topic, but not with Hillman or his work.

Personal experience has taught me that symbolic suicides, like switching out a first and middle name to "kill off" the angst of unpleasant identity issues, have the lasting power to clear away much of the psychological rubbish that tends to clutter up the mind of a deep thinker, a dreamer, or a moody pain in the neck.

Carmela
aka Bernadette

~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

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