A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life

This is an insightful and thought provoking discussion of care of the soul as contrasted with self-improvement. It speaks to the age-old affinity of human beings towards beauty and invites us towards an understanding of the world and our place in it from the perspective of a poet or an artist, rather than a technician or engineer. Moore counsels us to live with discomfort and ambiguity and to ponder our emotional reactions rather than trying to fix ourselves or others.

I read this book. Soul-work is a gritty experience, but rich. The author shows how so. If you are a person who hopes for "something more" to life this is a book for you to read. The author encourages the reader to consider the length and width of existence, appreciate it, and prosper in the soul.

I have often tried to reduce the baggage I accumulate over the years...and then wish I had not given something away. The OED was one - I kept it for 35 years and then gave it away. Missed it so much I bought another - for $5 at a library book sale!

I decided I really did way Care of the Soul near at hand - borrowed the one from my local library - and elected to buy a copy from the store. Welcome home, Old Friend.

It is always worthwhile reading the Jungian analysts. Entertaining, erudite and enchanting, they also offer blessed relief from the medicalized theories and labels of modern psychotherapy. These theories, labels, and the treatments which inevitably go with them are embedded in the culture, but archetypal analysis offers an alternative. Instead of seeing ourselves as pathetic misfits in need of adjustment to healthy normality, we are cast as heroic beings engaged in the perilous hero's journey which often involves a trip to the underworld. There will be gods and goddesses, planets and stars, iconic animals, nymphs, monsters, magic. Archetypal analysis appeals to the other side of the brain -- the irrational, non-intellectual, instinctual. The apprehension of dreams is important.

Thomas Moore writes from the same tradition as Joseph Campbell, Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Women Who Run with the Wolves) and Jonathan Shay (Achilles in Vietnam). He makes the case for perceiving the body as something more than a machine to be fed, exercised and re-calibrated when necessary. He is in fact a secular priest, in every sense of the words. "A myth is a sacred story set in a time and place outside history, describing in fictional form the fundamental truths of nature and human life," he writes. He describes himself: "a practicing therapist writing about transforming psychotherapy by recovering a religious tradition called care of the soul -- which originally was the work of a curate or priest." He goes further, telling us that we ourselves can be "the curates of our own souls, an idea that implies an inner priesthood and a personal religion." There is a beguiling reference to "care" vs. "cure". Cure is the province of the medical practitioner; care belongs to nursing. In Thomas Moore's framework, care of the soul is something better undertaken by the nurse. No drugs, no surgery, nothing cut off and discarded, everything maintained -- "we do not care for the soul by cutting it down to reasonable size", says Moore. Furthermore, the care is ongoing, permanent, there will be no discharge plan. There is a lifetime commitment to the care, the comfort, the ways of being of this particular beloved character.

Moore contrasts medical science, which prefers interpretations that are univocal, one reading is all that is desired, with poetic interpretations of illness. "Poetry never wants to stop interpreting. It doesn't seek an end to meaning." He comes back to this idea in the last third of the book, which I found rather weak in comparison to the introduction and the first several chapters. "Ruminating is one of the chief delights of the soul," writes Moore, as he ruminates his way through the last 100 pages. Yes, there are a few nuggets to be mined in the ending chapters, but overall hardly worth the effort of reading and has the unfortunate effect of cancelling out the uplifting new expansiveness of vision offered earlier.

Not that the early chapters were uniformly provocative and illuminating for me; the Narcissus chapter was impenetrable, the Jealousy chapter was written specifically for a young man and had no resonance for me. 'Envy' was more pertinent to my condition, and that chapter was helpful in reminding me to live the life which was presented to me, not the life I aspired to. The chapter on Love was sublime! 'Depression' seemed specific to the elderly retired person, one who has the luxury of riding it out, waiting for it to lift, meanwhile absorbing what Saturn has to say to the soul.

Moore's comparison of Jesus to Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun, was unsettling -- a bit too close to home even for a recovering Catholic. But a day's reflection on this heresy brought me back to the dream which inspired me to finally read this book which has been languishing on my shelves for years, fortunately at eye level. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

This book was atrocious. My friends shrink recommended it to him for a read to help him, and I was wondering why he was walking around even more confused in life so I decided to buy it and see why. I now understand. I would like to consider myself very intelligent, but this book is not an easy read, at all. I found myself rereading pages just to try and understand it. The average person would get lost in all the fancy jargon. I found myself skimming the pages toward the end hoping someone would put me out of my misery. Would not recommend.

Thomas Moore, a Jungian psychologist and former monk, elaborates a theory of spiritual hygine, a way to provide for the nurturance of the soul. Frequently drawing on the now-unfamiliar metaphors of the Renaissance alchemists and on the writings of Carl Jung and other turn-of-the-century writers, Moore illustrates how the soul is interconnected with all aspects of our life and health. He lends key insight into the symbolism of the soul, the ways in which the soul manifests its many aspects.
Moore considers mostly a particular facet of personal spirituality - the need of each person to spend time nurturing his or her spirituality in everyday life (outside of the church or synagogue). This, he explains, one accomplishes through self-reflection and self-awareness. Over time, one comes to understand the language with which one's soul communicates back to the conscious self.
Though he himself spent twelve years living as a Roman Catholic monastic, Moore does not pitch the book's message to a particular religious tradition (in fact, others have done a better job of just that). A modest familiarity with Greek and Roman mythology is all one might require to gain the most from this book and Moore's main thesis.
The book is best digested slowly. The strongly reflective nature of the work the book describes indicates that readers will gain the most from the book when they couple their reading with frequent pauses to assimilate the way in which the text gives meaning to them. Very likely, the book would be most appropriate as a part of a larger program of spiritual development, as the material in Moore's book will doubless resonate with that of other texts. The reader is advised to be patient and consider carefully how Moore's message interrelates with others' messages.

I initially loved this book unreservedly. Then I heard someone trashing it because it had "no morality", which confused me greatly because I remembered a great deal of morality in the book. So I went back and reread it with the criticism in mind. My conclusions were that it is easy to miss the deep and subtle morality in the book. It is true that Thomas Moore does not side with hard and fast moral rules. In particular he advises care rather than cure for maladies no matter their nature. For instance: the first specific example he gives is bulemia. When a young lady presents to him with a problem with bulemia he explores with her her feelings about food, her parents, and her life in general, rather than directly assaulting the bulemia. In his view behaviors like this, no matter how destructive of oneself or others are the surfacing of some need of the soul, and the appropriate reaction is to inquire, observe, and then try to find some less distressing way to meet the need, rather than to simply try to stop the behavior.
In principle I agree with his thoughts. On the other hand, I can see why a lot of people might have problems with the implication that people engaged in behaviors that hurt themselves or others should observe and inquire rather than stop the behavior. In some instances - affairs, abuse, drugs, deep depression etc. I would decidedly tend to agree with those who think the behavior should be stopped first, and then examined and inquired into in retrospect rather than as an ongoing process. Some things are simply too damaging to continue doing.
However, Moore's principle arguement is that even the worst behaviors need to be examined in this way rather than simply excised from the soul, and there I tend to agree with him. To simply tell someone to stop an ongoing behavior because it is wrong, without having them make any attempt to find out what need is being met, or why they do such things is doomed to failure. The need that was showing in the behavior will simply resurface, and the behavior will resume, or some other method will be found which may be equally or even more distressing. I.e. simply make alcohol unvailable to an alcoholic, and you haven't cured the alcoholism, he will either revert to drinking as soon as alcohol is available again, or turn to some other method - likely harder drugs to meet whatever need the alcohol was meeting.
In short, this is an excellent, and thought provoking book, but with a few flaws of writing that make it easy to misinterpret the author's meaning on some things.

We already know that it is possible to "feed" the brain as well as the body. Moore explains why and how it is also possible to "feed" the soul. For me, that is the core concept in his book. He sees this book as a "fiction" of self-help because "no one can tell you how to live your life. No one knows the secrets of the heart sufficiently to tell others all about them authoritatively." Hence Moore's focus on the care of the soul which, if sufficient to the soul's needs, enables us to achieve spiritual health at a time when "the mind is separated from body and spirituality is at odds with materialism." In Part IV, he shifts his and his reader's attention to "Care of the World's Soul," an obligation which the world's great religions require of those who profess to be devout Muslims, Jews, or Buddhists as well as Christians. This book will not be of substantial value to everyone because many people are unwilling and/or unable to absorb and then digest what may seem to them to be a simplistic invitation: To feed the soul with at least as much care as they now feed their minds and/or their bodies. Nonetheless, I hope at least a few of them allow Moore the full opportunity to share what he offers by reading his book with an open mind.

In reading some of the other reviews on this book,some people saying it has no morality(rules), or that it is good for people under 35, I must shake my head. What this book is about, is that we cant judge everything for what it is on the surface. Yet he doesnt go into all that new age stuff about everything being a lesson or being for our highest good. (puke) He also says that acceptance of not having the answers is sometimes the best answer to our frustrations. He explores the soul's dark side in a candid manor that should make those people who crave food, sex and alcohol and fun not feel guilty about these things as everything has a purpose to the soul.
Great piece of work Mr. Moore. I would give anything to sit and sip coffee with you all day and hear your thoughts. In fact, what he says is so profound, it probably takes a lifetime(or several) to absorb what he says fully. I truly believe he is an old soul. He doesnt sugar coat things with "believe and you will achieve" new age mentality. He basically says......."It's all good." 3 thumbs up!

I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in making their life more meaningful and purposeful. My fiance and I have been reading this book together and discussing it for several months. I have found it to be one of the most profound books I ever read; one worth reading slowly and savoring. Moore's ideas about creating sacred places and meaningful rituals in the midst of our increasingly secular and materialistic culture have been life-changing. His message that the path to developing depth (soulfulness) is not to reject one's preceived faults and weaknessess but rather to embrace them as unique and critical aspects of one's self has been a wonderful alternative to the "fake it 'till you make it" spirituality of my upbringing.

The whole book is somewhat hard to follow, concepts are often thrown upon by surprise. The thematic though is great, meaning the main point that the soul's needs need to be taken care of and that those are different than that of the spirit. In drawing his examples using mythology, he ends up spending close to half of the book in the significance and importance to take homage to these 'gods', just like in ancient Greco-Roman tradition. I got the impression his love for this polytheistic tradition is more than nominal and indeed might be his new religion. The mythology could have served as good examples but why should we focus so much on the deeds of ancient Greek gods? I have to admit though that some of the relationships contained and linked to each God were interesting but some of the conclusions I couldn't agree with, while in some parts he started to sound like the Mars and Venus guy and we just can't go back to those ancient times. The last two chapters contain what I thought would be most of the book and are pretty good, for example the treatment of art as a soul's need and his alternative treatment of entertainment which I do agree. This part contributed to raise my ratings of this book from two stars to three. By the last two chapter I had had enough of ancient mythology.

Care of the Soul contains exactly what is missing in psychology/counseling/psychotherapy; soul.
Most of the counseling books I have had to read have been about as rich and as captivating as a Chilton's car repair manual. Sometimes I feel that as counselors, we are out own worst enemy.
Like a previous reviewer noted, this book is all about mystery, paradox, wonder, and living authentically and mindfully. This is the type of book that you have to let speak to you, as opposed to reading it and trying to figure out what the author is talking about, which is how most people, undoubtedly, have read this book. To do so destroys the magic of the soul.
Early on in the book Moore establishes that in order to cultivate depth, sacredness, truth,simplicity, profundity, and reality in our inner lives, we must become curators of our own soul; he traces the etymology of the word "care," in a way that sets the tone for the rest of the book. Get this right away, and the book will be a life transforming experience. Read it intellectually like most people read psychology/counseling/and psychotherapy books, and Care of the Soul will just seem like a lot of "new age" ..., which it is definately not.

Evidently the author is a neighbor of mine, given the fact that he lives less than a dozen miles away in another local rural hamlet. Yet I knew virtually nothing about him or his masterwork until a friend gave it to me as a present, telling me with a chuckle and a knowing look that I needed some work on my soul. Indeed. For anyone attempting to take amore spiritual path, this book certainly provides some essential grist for grinding away on the eternal issues facing each of us, the battle for good against evil within our own hearts. The narrative of the book reminds me of no one more than Thomas Merton, and in this fashion, Moore, also once a monk, as was Merton retraces some familiar pathways for those of us who were earlier exposed to a dollop of his thought in undergraduate or graduate school.
Yet it would be grossly unfair to Moore to simply dismiss him as being nothing more than a revisionist of Merton's weighty and somewhat puzzling observations and prognostications about the world and our place in it. Moore does much more than that in this thin yet provocative and thought-stirring tome; what he winds up offering the reader is nothing less than a life-embracing philosophy. Moore encourages the reader to cultivate his or her own peace, dignity, and depth of character by grounding ourselves in meaningful and eventful daily rituals, things that firmly plant us in our natural surroundings. In times such as these, when the media and the outside world tries to overwhelm us with all they want to sell us and convince us we need from them to live more meaningful and more fulfilled lives. It is hard to do justice to the benefit one can derive from reading about the simple virtues or the provocative truths he offers in this book. Enjoy!

Moore addresses a very urgent subject: the loss of the soul in the modern society. His discourse is insightful and, at times, inspiring. I also found that a lot of practical advantage can be derived by just accepting many things as they are, or at least, by not being in such a rush to change them. Haste makes waste, to say nothing of occasional tragedies.
However, Moore perspective should be complemented in, my view, by a scientific approach, whereby some intervention and change in the real world can occur. I am not surprised that Moore is rather negative on Henry Ford. But we need more efficiency, more material wealth, and more change. Mankind is not condemned to a soulful resignation to its condition of recurring neurosis and misery. In short, I accept many of Moore's insights and the message of gracefully and artistically accepting our conditions for the moment, but I refuse to give up the hope that in the future things will be greatly improved. I may have to accept many illnesses, dysfunctions in the family, and a string of failures at some particular time. But better days will be here again, thanks to science and technology, and optimism.

Moore's book is an excellent guide which points the way to personal enrichment. The criticisms made of it, such as lack of academic thoroughness are valid in so far as it would have been better as a more substantiated and context based book. References to other works are absent and would help enormously. However, the same criticisms fall short of destroying the books credibility. This is because the enrichment advocated is fundamentally personal. One cannot therefore present an exact guide to health for it would nearly always be irrelevant. With this in mind, Moore has clearly produced an excellent and special book. It is like a flawed diamond that, however, reflects a rare hue.

This is a creative book in which Thomas Moore synthesizes psychological,spiritual and religious knowledge and beliefs of his into a deeper description and analysis of the idea of a soul. Who among us, with the possible exception of theologians, has spent much time even thinking about what a soul is? We use words like soul, spirit, intuition, instinct, feelings, emotions, etc., all the time, but seldom do we take the time to develop meaning for these words that ring true, or resonate on the level of personal experience. Moore peppers the book with numerous case studies of clients he has counseled. These examples add a great deal of interest and insight into Moore's thinking. He leads us into an examination of soul - what it is, what it might be, what it represents. This journey can serve to expand and open new realms for readers.

He adds depth to the book's message by suggesting that care of the soul works both ways: we care for our soul by listening, nurturing and abiding it. We are also cared for by our soul in the ways that it guides our lives, most often subconsciously. Moore equates aspects of the soul to our psychological shadows and subconscious realm of suppressed and repressed feelings, emotions and desires. His approach offers a useful perspective for better understanding the role of our shadows and for coping with it - including simply accepting the mystery the soul delivers.

This analysis includes a look at the inseparability of our soul from the soul of all-that-is. In doing so, Moore draws the connection between care of the individual's soul and the destiny of the broader ecology.

At times, Moore seems to fall back on his theological training with the Catholic church. These sections feel a little awkward juxtaposed to the deeper spiritual nature of the book. At these times he slips into a bit of a lecturing, imploring tone that, in its certainty, seems out of place in comparison to his celebration of the mysteries of the soul throughout most of the rest of book.

Recommended reading for its creative exploration of these interesting ideas!

Who would think that a psychiatrist could possibly have anything sensible to say about the real world? In his eviscerating series of articles in the NY Review of Books, Frederick Crews has amply shown that most psychiatrists are nothing more than emotionally crippled left-wingers who live parasitically on their narcissist hosts. And then to tackle a subject--personal spirituality--that has been gummed up by every maudlin bathos-peddler since Pollyanna's dying father, why the chances of any thing sensible being said by that combination-much less fascinating-seems one in a million.

Well, psychiatrist Thomas Moore has succeeded beyond all expectations. His book is truly one in a million. Since he is the expert, here are a few excerpts of what he has to say:

" The great malady of the twentieth century, implicated in all of our troubles and affecting us individually and socially, is "loss of soul." When soul is neglected, it doesn't just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, vio¬lence, and loss of meaning. Our temptation is to isolate these symp¬toms or to try to eradicate them one by one; but the root problem is that we have lost our wisdom about the soul, even our interest in it.

Modern psychologies and therapies often contain an unspoken but clear salvational tone. If you could only learn to be assertive, loving, angry, expressive, contemplative, or thin, they imply, your troubles would be over. [On the other hand] The self-help books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance... gave recipes for good living and offered suggestions for a practical, down-to-earth philosophy of life. I'm interested in this humbler approach, one that is more accepting of human foibles, and indeed sees dignity and peace as emerging more from that ac¬ceptance than from any method of transcending the human con¬dition. Therefore, this book, my own imagination of what a self-help manual could be, is a guide offering a philosophy of soulful liv¬ing and techniques for dealing with everyday problems without striving for perfection or salvation.

"Fulfilling work, rewarding relationships, personal power, and relief from symptoms are all gifts of the soul. They are particularly elusive in our time because we don't believe in the soul and there-fore give it no place in our hierarchy of values. We have come to know soul only in its complaints: when it stirs, disturbed by neglect and abuse, and causes us to feel its pain. It is commonplace for writers to point out that we live in a time of deep division, in which mind is separated from body and spirituality is at odds with ma¬terialism. But how do we get out of this split? We can't just "think" ourselves through it, because thinking itself is part of the problem. What we need is a way out of dualistic attitudes. We need a third possibility, and that third is soul.

"What I am going to present in this book, then, is a program for bringing soul back into life.

This book will focus not just on the idea of soul, but on concrete ways we can foster soulfulness in our ordinary everyday lives."

And foster it he does. This is a work of astonishing common sense, with reverence for the common man in all of us, and filled with genuine inspiration. Truly a one in a million text.

Thomas Moore enters into the realm of spirit in this book, and he takes the reader with him on this wonderful journey through the human soul. I never quite thought of the soul in the way it is presented here, but having reflected on Thomas Moore's path to enlightenment via the soul, I have to admit I found much to think about in this book. In an extraordinarily imaginative way, we learn the myriad aspects of how to care for our souls. This book teaches, entertains, and provides us with a plan of action to begin working on recognizing the soul's need for attention. Parts of the book were a bit dry, but overall this is a deeply spiritual and emotionally penetrating book.

I remember sitting by my fireplace reading "Care of the Soul" years ago. Little did I know, this one book would transform my life.
Care of the Soul is my favorite book. It is written in a narrative style that not only enables the reader to embrace their soul, but has the ability to teach how to create a more meaningful life. From the smallest daily endeavor to lifes larger moments, applying the underlying principles in Care of the Soul gives readers the ability to find true happiness in everyday life.
I have only read this book once. I had to give it to someone immediately and share what I had learned. Needless to say, I have purchased and given this book to others more times than I remember. Of course, this is not the type of thing you keep to yourself if you truly understand the meaning within the words. Nor do you need to re-read the book. By reading this book once, I became more fulfilled in my everyday life, more intent on pursuing my dreams, and more successful in my endeavors.
I highly recommend this book, although many may not understand that this is not a book to "read" but to "apply."

I recommend this book for young people 18-28 especially. It is simply written and discusses alternate ways to look at life's conundrums in a gentle and informative manner. Among my friends, the ones over 35 find him rambling and simple. I cannot say whether Mr. Moore's translation of Greek is accurate, but I do think his analysis of Narcissus is not only on the mark, but different from every other interpretation I've come across. Also, I showed his discussion of jealousy to an enraged person, and it really calmed them down! He's no Seth or Joseph Campbell, but who is?

I excitedly bought this book after hearing wonderful things about it from friends, fellow students and teachers. I was profoundly disappointed. Moore never actually guides one through "cultivating depth and sacredness". He lectures about subjects that the average reader cares little about. There are a great many books out there that are infinitely more accessible to the common reader. I suggest that they be sought out. This book is thoroughly unenjoyable.

I found Thomas Moore's book engaging and profoundingly moving. I appreciated the book's mythological language and metaphorical imagining. I especially liked the way Moore used paradox to reflect wholeness. I also liked the lesson that all things are teachers, whether negative or positive in appearance, when we let them be. I would highly recommend this book to seekers who are ready to embrace reality and are through with analytical fixatives.

You better know your Greek mythology, and be prepared to get lost in detailed abstraction if you want to read this one! I found this to be a drudge to get through. Moore never defines "soul", but says something like everyone knows when a person has soul: She's got soul. What does that mean??? Very little is defined in this book, and there are no footnotes where there should be!! I found this to be a hollow book, promising much and delivering little. I didn't even bother to pick up "Soul Mates". What Dorothy Parker supposedly said about a novel is also true of this book. It is not "to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force".

This particular copy was a gift to my grandson. I have had my own copy for several years. I find it to be an inspirational and uplifting book. I think Thomas Moore is a profound thinker and a good writer, very balanced and sensible.

I bought this book because the author. I know nothing about Thomas Moore, but I supposed he should be very interesting because he was a religious man. So, I liked the book; it was also interesting to see the Jung ideas developped by somebody very different. Unfortunely, the translation of the book in Romanian language is horrable; so, I am not sure if the things that I don't like are becasue of the author, or because of translator.

This is an impressive guide to the details of soul re-connection, cultivation and grace.

Sweep Away Your Thorny Childhood: Eight Steps to a Life of Well-Being

From beginning to end this book on tape accompanied me through my day, highlighting the routine activities of gardening and housework. As I listened to Moore's words, I felt more and more aware of the importance of each thing I did, decision I made, person I talked to, smile I sent another's way. Thomas Moore's intelligence and education is only surpassed by his human understanding, compassion and ability to relate the Soul's needs to the common person, making them feel unique and important in their endeavor to do their best in this life. This is truly an all encompassing book for anyone who seeks fulfillment out of life. It can be done!