Celebrated author and Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis explores the deep archetypal themes of our human lives - and offers questions and insights to help us access the greater meaning of our journey. Includes insights on the nature of meaning, shadow work, resilience in times of change, a psychological approach to the Seven Deadly Sins, and more.

The Best of James Hollis: Wisdom for the Inner Journey is a collection of excerpts from the writings of James Hollis, PhD, Jungian psychotherapist and author. These selections span across his body of work and are organized into different topics, ranging from the psychological concepts of Carl Jung to the everyday tasks of our living and callings. Hollis’ wisdom will challenge listeners to find their own path, to be who they are called to be, to take the risks to trust their soul, and thus live a life worthy of their unique gifts.

Prisms: Reflections on the Journey We Call Life summarizes a lifetime of observing, engaging, and exploring why we are here, in service to what, and what life asks of us. These 11 essays, all written recently, examine how we understand ourselves, and often we have to reframe that understanding, the nature and gift of comedy, the imagination, desire, as well as our encounters with narcissism, and aging. James Hollis explores the roadblocks we encounter and our on-going challenge to live our brief journey with as much courage, insight, and resolve as we can bring to the table.

What does it really mean to be a grown-up in today's world? We assume that once we "get it together" with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood presents varying levels of growth and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the ages of 35 and 70 when we question the choices we've made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck - commonly known as the "midlife crisis".

In Hauntings, James Hollis considers how we are all governed by the presence of invisible forms - spirits, ghosts, ancestral and parental influences, inner voices, dreams, impulses, untold stories, complexes, synchronicities, and mysteries - that move through us through history. He offers a way to understand them psychologically, examining the persistence of the past in influencing our present, conscious lives and noting that engagement with mystery is what life asks of each of us. From such engagements, a deeper, more thoughtful, more considered life may come.

Have you ever looked at your career, your relationships, or your role in life and wondered, "Is this why I’m really here?” If so, then you are ready for your “midlife crisis" - the pivotal time when you have the opportunity to become the person your soul seeks to be.

Exploring Jung’s concept of the Shadow, the unconscious parts of our self that contradict the image of the self we hope to project, Why Good People Do Bad Things guides you through all the ways in which many of our seemingly unexplainable behaviors are manifestations of the Shadow. In addition to its presence in our personal lives, Hollis looks at the larger picture of the Shadow at work in our culture. Accepting and examining the Shadow as part of one’s self, Hollis suggests, is the first step toward wholeness.

Taking a fresh look at the concept of happiness, Hollis uses a warm, accessible tone to encourage listeners to learn to tolerate ambiguity, embrace growth rather than security, respect the power of Eros, engage spiritual crises, and acknowledge the shadow of mortality. Providing inspiring wisdom and personal reflections to address our deepest worries, What Matters Most yields far more than mere self-help clichés.

In The Archetypal Imagination, Hollis offers a lyrical Jungian appreciation of the archetypal imagination. He argues that without the human mind's ability to form energy-filled images that link us to worlds beyond our rational and emotional capacities, we would have neither culture nor spirituality. Drawing upon the work of poets and philosophers, Hollis shows the importance of depth experience, meaning, and connection to an "other" world.

Author James Hollis' eloquent reading provides the listener with an accessible and yet profound understanding of a universal condition - or what is commonly referred to as the mid-life crisis. The book shows how we may travel this Middle Passage consciously, thereby rendering our lives more meaningful and the second half of life immeasurably richer.

What guides us when our world is changing? Discover the path to deeper meaning and purpose through depth psychology and classical thought. 

When our sense of wholeness depends on things or people outside ourselves—whether it's a coveted job, a new house, a lavish vacation, or even a new relationship—sooner or later we're bound to feel unsatisfied. But how do we embark on this inner journey? Living Untethered is the book to reach for. It provides clear guidance for moving beyond the thoughts, feelings, and habits that keep you stuck—so you can heal the pain of the past and let your spirit soar. It's time to stop struggling and start experiencing. 

Marion Woodman believes that centuries of “patriarchal thinking” have stripped the soul from our inner and outer lives and placed the world in grave danger. In talks, workshops, and BodySoul Rhythms intensives in Canada, the United States, and Europe, she has urged us to engage with the unconscious energy that erupts beneath the surface of our best intentions, sending us where we may not want to go. In this lecture and through case studies, dreams, and myths, the Jungian analyst explores the hidden causes of compulsion in the lives of men and women.

What does it really mean to be a man? What are some of the landmarks along the road to mature masculinity? And what of the feminine components of a man's personality? Women have developed, over the centuries, considerable expertise in the technique of adapting to men, and for good reason, but that is not the same as truly understanding them. The transition from male childhood to real manhood is a complicated struggle, and explored in this book. As timely today as when it was first published, He provides a fascinating look into male identity and how female dynamics influence men.

Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of long­ing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute aware­ness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death - bitter and sweet - are forever paired. Susan Cain em­ploys the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir she used in Quiet to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and how embracing the bittersweetness at the heart of life is the true path to creativity, con­nection, and transcendence.