Synopses & Reviews
Also available in an open-access, full-text edition at http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/86078and#160;
The Old Womanandrsquo;s Daughter offers men and women alike a way to make sense of their lives and find more healing alternatives than offered by our present culture.
In gentle, evocative imagery, Jungian analyst Claire Douglas invites readers to reconnect with the ancient tradition of the feminine, the andldquo;Old Woman,andrdquo; symbolized by her own Celtic grandmother. After considering the dangers to individuals and the society of the masculine-focused dualities of our own culture, Douglas describes an alternative that incorporates the feminine self within each of us, man or woman.
Douglas draws on myth and story, her own experiences, poetry, the dreams of some of her patients, and images available from Tibetan Buddhism to find archetypes that help us recognize our inheritance from the Old Woman. She describes a form of therapy that emphasizes andldquo;cherishmentandrdquo; or bonding for the purpose of recovering our ties to the ancient feminine, and she deftly incorporates her search for her own voice in shaping the book into an organic whole.
Rising from Douglasandrsquo;s lifelong interest in the psychology of the feminine, this book shows how healing is related naturally to a Motherline of attunement, connection, and cherishment.
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Review
andldquo;Some writers have a love of ideas, some have a love of the soul; some are lucid, some are lyrical.andrsquo; Dr. Claire Douglas, former Bunting Fellow and seasoned psychoanalyst, is highly unusual in that she weaves with each one of these brilliant threads. Her work on the astonishing feminine carries insights that are delivered with grit, wit and elegance.andrdquo;--Clarissa Pinkola Estandeacute;s, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves, and The Faithful Gardener: A Wise Tale About that Which Can Never Die.
Review
andquot; . . . a rich and diverse volume, ranging from biographical reflections, family recollections, a study of myths of the feminine in Tibetan and Nepalese Buddhism, and a useful clinical case study of a middle-aged man who is struggling to win back his lost feminine soul. Douglas writes with commitment, vigour and urgency, and for her the pathological consequences of the lost feminine are found everywhere, if we only had eyes to see . . . this book shows us how a return to the imaginal world of the grandmother can be a healing journey for a granddaughter who has lost something vital due to patriarchal conditioning.andquot;--
Journal of Analytical PsychologySynopsis
Also available in an open-access, full-text edition at http: //oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/86078
The Old Woman's Daughter offers men and women alike a way to make sense of their lives and find more healing alternatives than offered by our present culture.
In gentle, evocative imagery, Jungian analyst Claire Douglas invites readers to reconnect with the ancient tradition of the feminine, the "Old Woman," symbolized by her own Celtic grandmother. After considering the dangers to individuals and the society of the masculine-focused dualities of our own culture, Douglas describes an alternative that incorporates the feminine self within each of us, man or woman.
Douglas draws on myth and story, her own experiences, poetry, the dreams of some of her patients, and images available from Tibetan Buddhism to find archetypes that help us recognize our inheritance from the Old Woman. She describes a form of therapy that emphasizes "cherishment" or bonding for the purpose of recovering our ties to the ancient feminine, and she deftly incorporates her search for her own voice in shaping the book into an organic whole.
Rising from Douglas's lifelong interest in the psychology of the feminine, this book shows how healing is related naturally to a Motherline of attunement, connection, and cherishment.
About the Author
CLAIRE DOUGLAS, a clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst, is in private practice in Malibu, California. She trained at the C. G. Jung Institute of New York and was a Bunting Fellow at Harvard University, where she carried out research on Jung. She has had a number of books published, along with many articles, essays, and book reviews.