Selected Annotated Bibliography
Appel, Willa. Cults in America: Programmed for Paradise. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1985.
Appel covers such topics in Cults in America as the definitions of the word cult, the different forms of cults, and their functions in our society. She covers aspects of therapy cults that focus on self-improvement often through totalitarian means, millenarian cults that preach the coming thousand year reign of Christ on earth, and messianic movements whose leaders tout themselves as God in the flesh. Even though there is much pain brought on by losing family members to cults, the author believes firmly that government should continue to do nothing about their existence because determining exactly what makes a religious movement a cult is next to impossible. To have religious freedom and a strong first amendment, we must accept cults in our society. Discussed too are interesting parallels between the fascination children have with fairy tales and how adults are drawn to illusory belief systems in the familial safety nets of cult movements. Deprogramming people involved in cults can be most difficult for those with a non-supportive family history. Coming out of cults leads to deep depression and professional psychiatric therapy is recommended.
Apter, Terri. Altered Loves: Mothers and Daughters During Adolescence. New York: St. Martin's Press Inc., 1990.
Researched over a span of several years, Terri Apter interviewed sixty-five sets of mothers and daughters. One main thesis presented is that a mother is the person who has the most influence in a daughter's development, and that through the mother the daughter ultimately creates her self. Instead of breaking away from her mother through the years of adolescence, Apter says that a girl defines herself through her mother. Drawing from fairly diverse socio-economic backgrounds, she is able to make compelling insights into the importance of the mother/daughter relationship as it relates to self-esteem and the identity of young women in today's Western world. The fact that all of the subjects agreed to participate in the interviewing process may have created some bias. A mother who is a perpetrator may have instructed her daughter not to discuss this topic, or more likely, not allowed participation at all. This criterion possibly precludes certain issues of depth from entering the context of the study. For instance, serious abuse issues, both psychological and physical, are not discussed in depth. Nonetheless, the book remains a provocative look at what is perceived as the normal infrastructures of the mother/daughter bond. Botting, Gary. The Orwellian World of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984.
Along with pointing out similarities in the dates and names of Orwell’s first published article, Botting indicates parallel’s between Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and life in the Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Armageddon should have happened in 1914 sometime before October 2, which is thought to be Jesus’ birthday. The same date also marked the beginning of the career of one of the most controversial writers and ‘prophets’ of the twentieth century -- George Orwell, at that time known as Eric Blair: ‘On 2 October 1914 Eric Blair made his first appearance in print . . . his short patriotic poem, “Awake! Young Men of England” ‘ . . . The date -- and Orwell’s first published word with its familiar punctuation -- are, of course, matters of coincidence, but uncannily so. And so is the title of his final novel --Nineteen Eighty-Four. . . . What much of the world has come to think of as an Orwellian metaphor, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have come to think of in quite literal terms as the postulated end of the corrupt world.
For those who may not be familiar with the Witness literature, the Awake! magazine is second only in distribution to the Watchtower, two of the most widely circulated magazines in the world with tens of millions of copies distributed worldwide per issue. Botting compares Orwell’s special language of Oceania, to many of the rules and conditions set upon individual Witnesses by their own Big Brother, the Watch Tower organization and corporation, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Doublethink, pertaining to instances when a person believes two opposite views simultaneously(68); facecrime, disagreement showing on facial expressions, especially in women(86); thoughtcrime, thinking something different than the society teaches, or independent thinking (83); blackwhite, the ability to “know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary” (69); and ownlife, participating in solo activities apart from the group (157), are Orwellian terms Botting uses to effectively shed light on oppressive aspects of the Watch Tower regime. According to M. James Penton in Apocalypse Delayed, both Botting and his wife, Heather, still considered themselves to be Witnesses when this book was published. This is very interesting as it is a “devastating critique of Watch Tower totalitarianism” (362). Heather wrote her doctoral dissertation on the social dynamics of people within the organization; Gary focused much of his doctoral studies in English Literature on the work of George Orwell. Together they have created a must read book for ex-Witnesses, or anyone interested in learning more about true-to-life totalitarian religious movements.
Brown, Lyn M., and Carol Gilligan. Meeting at the Crossroads: Women’s Psychology and Girls’ Development. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1992.
Based on a five year study at the Laurel School for girls, this book is a riveting look at the ways in which the personalities of adolescent girls develop. There is a strong focus on issues such as young girls finding and keeping their voices in those vulnerable years. So often they learn to keep their true feelings to themselves to avoid conflict. This is partially taught to them by their mothers and other older women in their lives. The cyclic nature of such learned behavior--to make nice when there is cause for alarm--becomes wrenchingly obvious in the composite case studies presented. As women, adult readers will find descriptions of themselves as young girls sewn throughout the book. In the words of Brown and Gilligan, this book is about “finding an opening in women’s psychological development--a place where girls’ development and women’s psychology powerfully join” (232).
Carlson, Kathie. In Her Image: The Unhealed Daughter's Search for Her Mother. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1989.
From a psycho-spiritual perspective, Carlson looks at the bond between mothers and daughters and creates a storybook of truisms. This is a slim, but richly potent book that explores the need to process our feelings about our own mothers. The author urges the reader to seek out within her own mother, the qualities resembling those of the Great Mother--God the Mother. This is a great task indeed. Balance between God the Father and the feminine archetypal Goddess is of the utmost importance in our quest for assimilating universal knowledge. Through Goddess based consciousness, the reader is lead from various mythic approaches to an understanding of the importance of recognizing the divine feminine principles in life and nature. Carlson encourages women to seek out "mutually supportive relationships with other women" (70), and to continue "actively participating in the mothering of the unhealed child by connecting her with the resources she needs in the present."
Chernin, Kim. In My Father’s Garden: A Daughter’s Search for a Spiritual Life. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1996.
Chernin has written three stories pondering the questions of where spirituality comes from, whether it is important, and what purpose it serves. She examines the irony of her own spiritual roots having been connected to an upbringing in a highly political, atheist household. In her first story, she remembers her father lovingly as he puttered in his garden. She questions if he was not, unbeknownst to himself, a spiritual man since he could find such joy in simple tasks and pleasures. In another story, she examines her recent intense need to feel herself being of service to the world. She is called to assist a woman in her dying process and discovers that she, herself, may have some healing power. As always, Chernin gives powerful food for thought and draws the reader into her own private world of thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
Deikman, Arthur. The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society. Boston: Beacon Press, 1990.
In The Wrong Way Home, psychiatrist Arthur Deikman takes a look at cult mentality and chronicles how prevalent it is in everyday life. It is not as far reaching as it may seem. His main focus throughout the book is not centered on individual cults, per se, but instead he emphasizes how people find comfort in following and emulating a leader. He sees cult behavior as a search for the security of childhood and as a way to escape and avoid responsibility. He draws a parallel to a “Peanuts” cartoon, printed on page eight in the book, depicting the comfort a child feels as he or she is in the back seat of the car, being driven home by the parents. He believes people find the same kind of comfort in being relinquished of all responsibility due to having all major decisions made by the cult leader or group. In this behavior, people attempt to get back to the security of childhood. Dr. Deikman cites an experience of a couple involved in the “Life Force” psychology cult for many years. He brings the reader to the awareness of the many forms of cult-like behavior in our society from business institutions to the workings of madmen. He once considered himself a very involved peace activist. At one point he found himself being cast out of his own group of peers due to a difference of opinion. This made him aware of cult-like behaviors throughout society. The book has a large political disposition as he looks at nationalism and the likes of such leaders as Mao Tsa Tung, Richard Nixon, Jerry Falwell, and Ayatollah Khomeini.
Franz, Raymond. Crisis of Conscience: The Struggle Between Loyalty to God and Loyalty to One’s Religion. 2nd ed. Atlanta, GA: Commentary Press, 1992.
The Governing Body of the Jehovah’s Witness organization is a group of men at the very top of the society’s infrastructure. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe these men are at the right hand of God and are the link between earthly and heavenly realms. These are the helmsmen of the ship, and are thought to be divine channels inspired by God. All written materials come through the few of them who make up the Writing Committee, and are usually drawn from extant society literature. Most Witnesses have no knowledge of the daily lives of these men, and believe them to be a group of men who study their Bibles and pray together for divine light. According to Franz, this is a huge anomaly of the truth. These men are more administrators and heads of a corporation that sells millions of copies of its publications each year and buys up city blocks of Brooklyn, New York. Until the early 1980’s, Raymond Franz was one of these revered men. A scandalous string of events led to his “disfellowshipping.” Franz resigned from his post at “Bethel”--the society’s headquarters in Brooklyn, NY--in 1980 due to a string of interrogations resembling medieval witch-hunts, and since that time, the Governing Body was intent on finding a solid reason to disfellowship him. Though accused of apostasy, the Governing Body was unable to come to the required two-thirds majority vote to disfellowship him. Rumors spread that he was telling people to act according to conscience instead of doctrine. After literally a lifetime of service to the organization, Franz was eventually disfellowshipped because he was seen having a meal with a man who had recently left the organization intentionally. Up to this point, the society tolerated speaking to a “disassociated” person since such a person had not committed a disfellowshipable offense, but left voluntarily. The man was his landlord and employer at the time, which was good cause to occasionally speak to even a disfellowshipped person according to Watch Tower doctrine. Franz knew they were out to get him with anything they could and states that the society then made speaking to disassociated people an offense worthy of disfellowshipping. On top of this, they made this rule retro-active to disfellowship Franz.
Harrison, Barbara Grizutti. Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah’s Witnesses. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.
Barbara Harrison, following along with her mother, converted to the Jehovah’s Witness sect in 1944. Harrison was then nine years old. Immersing herself in the full time ministry during summer vacation, she began preaching full-time in her New York City neighborhood, often unaccompanied. Due to the influences of the Witnesses, her mother never again shared the same bedroom with her “unbelieving” husband, and instead shared Barbara’s room. Harrison got baptized when she was nine years old. At nine, she was a witty, intelligent spit-fire, which, years later, also shows in her writing. This is a thoroughly enjoyable, personal account of the confusion and isolation Harrison felt until breaking free of the sect in 1955. This came about when she was living at the Watch Tower’s headquarters and working, essentially gratis, eight and three-quarters hours a day almost six days a week. There were forty-five women out of four-hundred-and-fifty workers, although at the time, Witnesses were comprised of two-thirds women. Working at “Bethel” is considered very prestigious and is glorified among Witnesses everywhere. She felt as if she was hated there. She refused to subscribe to the belief that the non-Witness people she loved would die in Armageddon. She did not see these people as sinners, but instead saw them as inspiring, intelligent, gentle people, who had freedom of choice in what they said, thought, questioned, read, where they spent their time, what plays they saw, and with whom they spent their time. Her friends outside “the truth” were much more compassionate and truly loving than her icy cold peers. She wanted this freedom passionately and felt if she stayed in the confines of the sect, that the constriction would eventually kill her. Upon confiding her inability to continue her service to the President Knorr on her day of resignation, he shortly said, seated with his back turned, looking out at the harbor from the society’s prime real estate, that she was too smart for her own good (366). She left with nary a regret, indulging herself in the hot New York jazz scene, Greenwich Village, and the beat authors, never thinking of God again for quite some time. She indulged herself in life, married, had two children, lived in India, became a writer and along with this book, wrote a book about sexism in school. She loves the mysteries of blending Catholicism, feminism, and Marxism. She loves her life.
Hassan, Steven. Combatting Cult Mind Control. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1990.
As a professional counselor and cult exit-counselor, Hassan gives an insightful look at the many aspects of cult conversion processes. He discerns the difference between “brainwashing” and “mind control.” Having been a former member of The Unification Church, popularly known as the “Moonies,” he has first hand information about the destructive nature of cults and the methods they employ to gain and keep converts within their clenches. Steve Hassan is one of the people responsible for transforming forceful “deprogramming” techniques that were often used in rescuing loved ones from cults. These techniques, while sometimes effective, are often controversial, and it has been discovered that many people who are “deprogrammed” end up either going back into the cult, or not getting sufficient mental health care in the months following deconversion. “Exit-counseling” is a sound methodology based on a consentual relationship between exit-counselor and cult-member. Sufficient counseling and re-education are essential ingredients in the healing process. Ultimately, the counselor should have awareness of the specific concerns of cult survivors. While the cult-member often remains unaware of the rescue being attempted, he or she is treated respectfully during the process of being presented with information the cult keeps concealed. Hassan urges all mental health workers to familiarize themselves with destructive cult psychologies to better aid those who truly need help.
Herman, Judith Lewis. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New York: BasicBooks, 1992.
Herman recognizes the importance in finding an appropriate designation to what is considered beyond the scope of “post traumatic stress disorder.” The conditions for people who have been chronically traumatized over the course of months or years, as opposed to single incident traumas, creates for individuals so exposed, compound issues that have often not been given necessary credence by the psychiatric community. On the other hand, at times such deprecatory titles as “borderline personality syndrome” label people in need of much help, in such a way that sometimes prevents professionals from wanting to oversee their course of treatment. Herman has initiated the phrase, “complex post-traumatic stress disorder,” for those who have survived “extreme situations” (118-119).
Hoffer, Eric. The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. 1951. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
Hoffer draws from mass movements of all kinds in his book, The True Believer. He maintains that while mass movements are sometimes each other’s arch-enemies, they are, nonetheless, “interchangeable” (17). By this he means that a follower of one mass movement, upon disillusionment of that particular group’s dogma, is a ready convert for another movement. Hoffer sees the phenomenology of mass movements as based in the desire of “frustrated” people to have others do their bidding, and therefore, take responsibility. Whether a political or religious movement he says:
All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; all of them demand blind faith and singlehearted allegiance (xi).
The frustration and fanaticism Hoffer speaks of is due either to creative suppression, or lack of ability to actualize creative impulses and endeavors. He notes that “most of the Nazi bigwigs had artistic and literary ambitions which they could not realize” and that these ambitions “were originally far deeper than political ambitions: and were integral parts of their personalities” (145). Hoffer notes that beneficial leaders such as Gandhi, not only know how to activate a large movement, but they also know when to end “its active phase” (154). It is the failure to end a movement that can lead it to tyranny.
Jacobs, Janet L. Divine Disenchantment: Deconverting from New Religions. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989.
Jacobs reviews the deconversion process involved for individuals in the process of breaking away from an authoritarian religious movement. The book is based on research conducted through the University of Colorado and includes the results from forty research subjects. The book is unusual in that it looks at cults and authoritarian religions from a feminist perspective, adding fresh discourse to this field. The author’s reason for bringing in a feminist viewpoint is “in order to clarify the ways in which patriarchal authority affects the conversion process and the definition of spirituality within the religious community” (7). In this context, Jacobs examines the role of men and the “halo of male power” that men hold in relation to “the psychological lives of their children” (4). Within the context of this study, Jacobs notes that women coming out of mind-controlling cults often develop a “feminist consciousness” (69). It is common among female defectors to begin having thoughts of leaving a movement based on their leader’s relational failures amongst fellow worshippers. For instance, while she may dislike the way in which she is treated, and as her self-esteem is eroded by membership, she is set up to believe that she is at fault and in need of deeper obedience. However, when a woman observes the mistreatment of her peers or family, she may be aroused enough to consider leaving.
Miller, Alice. For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence. 3rd ed. Canada: HarperCollinsCanadaLtd, 1990.
Miller takes a look at what she terms "poisonous pedagogy." This is any system of child-rearing that invades the child's choice of separateness permitting total parental domination. The author looks at three striking examples of cruelty: drug addiction (self-abuse), child molestation and killers (abuse of one person to another), and Adolph Hitler (mass terror and abuse). Miller cites examples of child-rearing manuals popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that promoted the ideas that children should be suppressed and made to behave in ways that would not interfere with the parents’ activities. These manuals promoted some old maxims like "children should be seen and not heard." In these old methods of child rearing, the belief is that children are the property of the parents, and the rod was the devise that God the Father designed to keep children in their place. Children should never be encouraged, lest pride develop, and kindness is viewed as spoiling the child, which is to be avoided at all possible cost. These methods, Miller contends, are the reasons for such extreme violence in the world today. She calls such methods "soul murder."
Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.
Although this book is about the specific problems adolescent girls face in the 1990's, its title, drawing from Shakespeare's Hamlet, implies the timeless nature of the dilemmas facing young women. Pipher advocates androgynous cultural values instead of the many "junk values" found in our modern world. These junk values introduce young women to insidious sexism, and consequently, cause them to loose their sense of self-hood. The author encourages assisting adolescent girls in articulating the deeper meanings of their lives. To help girls find their autonomy from their true nature instead of peer pressure is the objective. The book also touches on such concerns as creativity, eating disorders, self-mutilation, drug and alcohol abuse, mother/daughter concerns, and sexuality.
Quick, Kevin R. Pilgrimage Through the Watchtower. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989.
Quick, a former Jehovah’s Witness, tells how he became a member. Being raised in a non-religious home, he began his spiritual quest by following Transcendental Meditation and popular Eastern traditions. He was stunned when his brother, who was studying with the Witnesses, told him he should stop meditating. His brother, with his new knowledge of the Bible, told Kevin that meditation attracts evil spirits. Although this was unthinkable to him at first, he swiftly yielded to his brother and became a Witness. Quick’s involvement with the organization eventually led to disillusionment in the Witness’ teachings. He became suspicious when his weekly study group was instructed to end their sessions even though they were reviewing society publications and not the Bible. Reading the Bible without a divine guide is not tolerated in Witness doctrine since this leads to independent thinking. He also noticed that his college attendance was frowned upon by the organization (13). At first he excused the redundant contents of the weekly meetings since many of the Witnesses were less educated (19). His questions at the meetings were noticeably unwelcomed. He left the Witnesses after realizing that it was structured towards obedience to an organization instead of loyalty to God. Quick presents a resourceful overview of Jehovah’s Witness’ beliefs, and a look at how he came to be “born again.”
Reed, David A. How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989.
By comparing Bible scriptures to Witness doctrine, Reed helps the reader see how misconstrued Witnesses have been by the Watch Tower organization. He cites numerous examples of how, when Witnesses come to his door, he is able to jolt, stupefy, and leave speechless, these true believers. Instead of accusatory comments and “misinformed charges that they are communists, that they do not love their children, or that they refuse all medical treatment” (24), he urges people who wish to help a friend or family member out of the Witnesses, to educate themselves in Witness doctrine. In this way, instead of assaulting Witnesses punitively, one may appeal to them through their own ever-changing doctrines. Since Witnesses are instructed to stay away from apostate literature, which is any kind of literature that berates Witness doctrine, Reed has assembled in a portion of this book, an array of literature from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society’s own publications. He insists that if you know anyone who is getting involved with the Witnesses, immediate action is necessary. The longer they are involved the more they are prone to stay involved. The way to do this, however, is not by throwing a stack of papers in the Witness’ face and telling them they’ve been duped, but by thoroughly preparing yourself to meet them point by point. Anyone who has ever debated doctrine with a Witness knows this can be challenging. Sitting down with the fledgling member without their book study teacher and playing the part of the student is seen as a most effective method of deconversion. Reed explains:
. . .if you forcefully point out . . . that the Watchtower Society’s founder, Charles Taze Russell, believed the Great Pyramid of Egypt was inspired by God . . . . and that some of Russell’s false prophecies were based on his calculations of measurements of chambers within the pyramid, the Witness will view you as an opposer. . . . But if you are the Witness’s ‘student,’ and you happen to come across this material and have questions about it, the Witness will feel obligated to help you. And in the course of helping you he may have to look at and read the same material that he would have refused to look at if you had confronted him with it as a challenge to his faith. (36, italics his)
This non-confrontational method often has remarkable results as Witnesses are made to think about what they are doing instead of following blindly. Singer, Margaret T., and Janja Lalich. Cults in Our Midst: The Hidden Menace in Our Everyday Lives. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996.
As a psychiatrist practicing for over fifty years, Singer has worked with or interviewed over three-thousand ex-cult members. In this look at cults, she sheds light on many hidden dangers and aspects of cult psychology, and the makings of a cult. She lists many different kinds of cults, including “The 1970’s: Cults to Expand Awareness” (40-42), “Transformational” (41), “Political” (41-42), “Large Group Awareness Training” (42-43), “Spiritual” (43), and, “The 1980’s: Psychological, Occult, and Prosperity Cults” (43-45). Singer has been a target for angry cults for her activism in this matter. She has been a professional witness at many trials held against cults. Her efforts to expose these destructive entities go undaunted by inane threats. While she is most definitely the former-cultists advocate, she does seem to have strong opinions about what constitutes a cult. I could not comprehend whether she regards the Jehovah’s Witnesses as a cult, although there are many excerpts where her descriptions of cults fit the Witnesses precisely. She does not, however, mention them. It is my impression that she overlooks the fact the Witness cult began through the charm and enthusiasm of one Charles Taze Russell in the late nineteenth century. The fact that the organization does not have a singular “charismatic leader” does not do away with the destructive nature of this “humble” cult. Yes, God is the focus, not a living messiah. But God’s word is translated by men who have very little formal theological training or training in the original languages of the Bible. They are connected to Christ’s “divine inspiration.” Would Singer herself not call this channeling a form of occultism? This is a cult that has outlived its charismatic leader. This is a cult that is roughly 112 years old. They truly believe they are doing God’s word, but this is indication of the mind numbing they are exposed to upon conversion. She says herself that “A thought reform program . . . can be likened to gaining weight, a few ounces, a half pound, a pound at a time” (62). It is bewildering why Singer does not acknowledge the five-million plus members, and the tens of thousands of ex-members who are recovering their lives from exposure to this dangerously “nice” cult. Perhaps her exclusion of the Witnesses is for reasons she was not able to disclose.
Terr, Lenore. Too Scared to Cry: How Trauma Affects Children and Ultimately Us All. New York: BasicBooks, 1990.
Mostly concentrating on the Chowchilla school bus kidnapping of 1976, Terr looks into the effects of trauma on the developing child's mind. Over a period of five years, the author studied this group of twenty-six children. She blends her findings with those of other studies giving a comprehensive look at how different types of traumas affect children. Looking into the family lives of these children, she interprets how their lives have been interrupted or changed as a result of outside traumatic events. She cites examples of over two-hundred-eighty children with traumas ranging from sexual abuse to freak accidents and kidnappings. She also delves into the creative geniuses of Alfred Hitchcock, Edgar Allen Poe, René Magritte, and Stephen King, attempting to show how their creative processes may have been induced or influenced by their own traumatic childhood experiences. Terr weighs the differences of "single shock" traumas with more long term repetitive traumatic abuses. She notes that while the child tends to mistakenly mix-up the facts in a single traumatic event, memory often remains vivid. Children who experience repeated abuses often tend to see and remember their experiences correctly. In the latter cases, it is quite common for the child to experience denial and a numbing effect. Terr explains that trauma occurring before the ages of twenty-eight to thirty-six months, prevents a child from retaining "verbal memory" of the event. In other words, the child cannot put into words what happened (181).
The effects of trauma will linger throughout a child's life. The longer the period of time in between the traumatic event and the reaching out for help, the more difficult the recovery will be. Terr says that "these post-traumatic effects may spread to others who themselves were never actually victims at all" (26).
Woodman, Marion, and Elinor Dickson. Dancing in the Flames: The Dark Goddess in the Transformation of Consciousness. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1996.
“Metaphor is the language of the Virgin. Virgin . . . is an image of the soul” (186). Woodman and Dickson look into the depths of the psyche through the metaphor and the myth of the Dark Goddess. This Dark Goddess, as I have come to understand her, embodies the energies of many goddesses of the underworld. Hecate, Kali, Persephone, and Demeter, each offer their praises and their descensions, as we allow ourselves to welcome them into our imaginations. The underworld in which they live is the underbelly, or the tender side of our existence. It is the realm of darkness that only the brave choose to explore. It is the side of ourselves that remains hidden and holds all the mysteries of the masculine and feminine. It is the keeper of both our nightmares and our dreams. To peer into the dark side of our natures, requires us to remain brutally honest. It requires us to look into our insecurities, our fears, our foibles. That man has remained so long bound for heaven, has resulted in an imbalance that is due to a lack of true soul searching, which can only be attained by exploring the darkness. Essays
Jordan, Judith. “Empathy and Self Boundaries.” Work in Progress. Wellesley, MA.: Stone Center Working Papers Series, 1983.
An interesting view emerges in this essay on Empathy and Self Boundaries. The author equates the emergence of psychology’s relational models, which present the idea of interconnectedness, with the new physics. The old model of the autonomous self can be viewed in conjunction with Newtonian physics, which “emphasized notions of discrete, separate entities acting on each other in measurable ways” (1). She disputes theories that view relational models as “regressive” or “movement into more primitive functioning” (2), and instead views empathy in the balanced relationship as the key to true intimacy.
Miller, Jean B. “The Development of Women’s Sense of Self.” Work in Progress. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Working Papers Series, 1984.
In this essay, Miller attempts to shed light on the notion that modern professional psychology has concentrated on a theory of separation from parents as the main form of individual growth. She believes that relational theories have been overlooked and questions the validity of one theory over the other. She feels that women are more inclined, and further encouraged, to develop through relationships with others, and that it is unfortunate that men are often omitted from these enriching experiences due to cultural norms.
Surrey, Janet L. “Self-in-Relation.” Work in Progress. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Working Papers Series, 1985.
In her essay, Self-in-Relation, Janet Surrey looks at the relational theory of female development. She overviews women in the context of ”parentified” relationships and discusses relational growth leading out of such relationships. She encapsulates the relational model, saying women desire “understanding,” or being “recognized,” by others, and simultaneously “through their lives feel the need to ‘understand’ the other” (7). |