Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life

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Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 7,126 ratings · 194 reviews

This "New York Times" bestseller (more than 200,000 hardcover copies sold) provides a path-breaking lifestyle handbook that shows how to add spirituality, depth, and meaning to modern-day life by nurturing the soul.

Paperback, 312 pages

Published January 26th 1994 by Harper Perennial (first published January 26th 1988)

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May 11, 2007 Keriann rated it 4 of 5 stars

The chapter "Gifts of Depression" is phenomenal. One cannot feel true happiness until they've felt true pain. Our society today is so focused on the quick-fix in order to 'feel' happy, that we don't allow people to go through the NORMAL ups and downs of life. It is NORMAL to hurt, and cry, and feel pain. By going through those emotions we are able to move on to greater happiness. I would not give up the pain in my life for anything in this world. Nothing.

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Apr 17, 2008 Mme. Bookling ~ rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those suffering under self-hatred

Recommended to Mme. Bookling by: my counselor

SECOND REVIEW, MARCH 2008:
There will be many revisions of this review because I will probably have to read and re-read this book for my entire life just to fully absorb it.

Freaking Thomas Moore. He grabs my soul where no other nonfiction spiritual author has managed. The other night, I craved some spiritual comfort (don’t' even talk to me about opening my bible right now! :), and his words jumped from the pages and balmed my broken soul. Let me share some of my favorite passages from the last ch...more SECOND REVIEW, MARCH 2008:
There will be many revisions of this review because I will probably have to read and re-read this book for my entire life just to fully absorb it.

Freaking Thomas Moore. He grabs my soul where no other nonfiction spiritual author has managed. The other night, I craved some spiritual comfort (don’t' even talk to me about opening my bible right now! :), and his words jumped from the pages and balmed my broken soul. Let me share some of my favorite passages from the last chapter i read:

On page 258, he just finishes a story about a nun who "lost her faith." To sum up he says something profound.

"There is a Job-like mystery in human suffering and loss that can't be comprehended with reason. It can only be lived in faith. Suffering forces our attention towards places we wound normally neglect. The nun's attention had long been focused on her spiritual practice, but then she was forced to look at her own heart without any spiritual props or lenses. She had to learn that faith comes not only from the spiritual life and high revelations, it also comes as an emanation from the depths, a starkly impersonal reality from the most personal place...we have to arrive at that difficult point where we don't know what is going on or what we can do. That precise point is an opening to true faith."

On page 260, "This is the goal of the soul path - to FEEL EXISTENCE; not to overcome life's struggles and anxieties, but to know life first hand - to exist fully in context."

on page 262, after embracing your soul work..."Then your soul, cared for in courage, will be so solid, so weathered and mysterious, that divinity will emanate from your very being. You will have the spiritual radiance of the holy fool who has dared to live as it presents itself and to unfold personality with its heavy yet creative dose of imperfection."

FIRST REVIEW, MARCH 2007:
Being a student of classical literature, I have very rarely found nonfiction that can speak in the same language to which I am accustomed. This book is deeply profound and challenging--perhaps the most evocative approach to psychology, philosophy, and mythology that I have ever encountered.

It is especially helpful to those who enjoy literature. It is artistic and aesthetic, yet still very, very helpful for practical use and everyday living. I have found myself challenged deeply towards personal and spiritual fulfillment, and have been recommending the book to everyone that I know.

My husband and I read it together and are continuing to sift through its richness. No other book has been able to so completely shift my spiritual and psychological paradigm effectively. This is a must read.
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May 31, 2011 booklady marked it as abandoned

Setting this aside for now...

Moving further along ....

While Moore was taking a myth and 'opening it up' I was fine. He seems to have drifted into other speculative and drier areas, also aspects of personality and personalities which don't concern me. I'm skimming more than reading....

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Think I'm 'getting' this book! Moore is taking the ancient myths and reinterpreting them for us in a new and deeply spiritual way! I LIKE...more

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Jun 29, 2007 Ganesh rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who want a realistic, compassionate view of human nature

Shelves: philosophy, psychology, poetry, spirituality, favorites, art

Many of the religions I've been exposed to preach reaching for an impossible ideal, and my attempts as transcendence have left me inevitably frustrated with myself, others, and my life. That is why I appreciate Thomas Moore's philosophy. Here is, in a nutshell: don't try to transcend your humanity, embrace it.

Moore's ideas would resonate with spiritual wanderers and people who view life as an artistic work in progress.

Here is what I took away from the book:

-When Moore was a therapist, he notic...more Many of the religions I've been exposed to preach reaching for an impossible ideal, and my attempts as transcendence have left me inevitably frustrated with myself, others, and my life. That is why I appreciate Thomas Moore's philosophy. Here is, in a nutshell: don't try to transcend your humanity, embrace it.

Moore's ideas would resonate with spiritual wanderers and people who view life as an artistic work in progress.

Here is what I took away from the book:

-When Moore was a therapist, he noticed that many clients would come to him, wanting him to remove a flaw of theirs. They went to him like patients seeking a surgeon to remove a tumor.

For instance, once a woman told him that her problem was that she was too dependent on others, and she wanted him to help her get rid of this tendency. He explained to her that if it were magically possible to remove this tendency, she would simply acquire an entirely new of problems that comes with being an independent person. Instead of fighting one's nature, why not accept it and the inevitable positives and negatives that come with it, and find a way to live more peacefully with that knowledge.

-I had always assumed that nothing good could come from being jealous. So, I found it immensely frustrating when I fell in love and experienced intense jealousy for the first time. Moore helped me realize that jealousy is natural and even necessary in an intimate relationship. It is that possessiveness that keeps a couple together. If there's too high a level of detachment, then it'd be too easy for the couple to drift apart.

-When people think of what "creativity" means, according to Moore, most people think of the child-like initial stages of creativity. However, the less-than-glamorous, mundane tasks are also essential to the creative process.

-He is critical of conventional psychotherapy because of its often cold, scientific approach. He feels that labeling a person with a condition can reflect a condescending view.

I've sat around with friends listening to someone's relationship problems, when a friend will say "The problem is he's avoidant and a total narcissist." Everyone, including myself, would then roll their eyes and nod in agreement. But I would feel like something's wrong with dismissing someone in this way. Thomas Moore's approach seems much more compassionate to me. He might respond by saying that there are reasons people resist dealing with difficult situations and it can take time for them to work through denial, and narcissists have good and bad traits.

-Our culture celebrates light, and many feel ashamed when we aren't happy. However, Moore contends that sadness is, in a sense, a gift, for it gives one depth and perspective. Healing can take time. It rarely occurs overnight.
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May 15, 2009 Helynne rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a short, but very wise and soothing read, just as one might imagine from the title. While providing a lot of suggestions for treating ourselves with gentlessness and respect to better our daily lives, Thomas Moore urges readers to remember that our souls are only partly on the earth, and partly in eternity, "We might remember the part the resides in eternity when we feel despair over the part that is in life" (96). An especially interesting discussion in this book is Moore's caution abou...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Lcbogota rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although this book was presented to me as "not a self-help book," it really is. The most important point that this book made for me was the value of accepting contradictions, why we accept or reject certain behaviors/characteristics.

All behaviors exist on a continuum, and the actions that we pursue change in response to our circumstances and maturity. These behaviors may be opposites and they would appear to contradict each other, but we draw on these characteristics and use them as they are ne...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Sasha rated it 4 of 5 stars

The very first book I have read in 2012 (in fact,I was reading it during New Year's Evening) was "Care of the Soul" by Thomas Moore. No,it's not Thomas Moore that got beheaded on orders by Henry VIII but the new one. I wanted this book for some time already, since it as always mentioned in the same breath with my one of my all-time favorite psychology writers James Hillman - apparently they know each other very well and Moore often mentioned Hillman as his mentor. Finally I found this book when...more

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May 08, 2012 Carl Brush rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thomas Moore brings an impressive background and set of degrees to his psychiatric practice. He was a monk before he got into psychology, and he has a Ph.D and a number of other impressive certificates to his credit. He also plays the piano, he lets us know, as a way of relieving grief and anxiety in strenuous moments such as 9/11, which spurred him into a three-hour communion with Bach.
Care of the Soul he envisions as a “Guide for cultivating depth and sacredness in everyday life.” An ambitio...more Thomas Moore brings an impressive background and set of degrees to his psychiatric practice. He was a monk before he got into psychology, and he has a Ph.D and a number of other impressive certificates to his credit. He also plays the piano, he lets us know, as a way of relieving grief and anxiety in strenuous moments such as 9/11, which spurred him into a three-hour communion with Bach.
Care of the Soul he envisions as a “Guide for cultivating depth and sacredness in everyday life.” An ambitious goal, and I suppose you could use the book in this way, although if you do, I think it ought to have a warning label or two.
I found Moore impressive and insightful, but have some reservations to mention before I get to the positives. A person in the wrong frame of mind could suffer severe consequences by taking Moore’s advice too literally. He maintains, for example, that it might be a good idea to combat depression by diving into the negative feelings, dealing with the causes, and coming out stronger on the other end. Trying to combat such feelings with drugs (allotropically rather than homeopathically), he goes on, is liable to cover up the root causes of melancholy without solving the problem. With expert guidance, this could be a fine approach. No doubt we’re way too dependent on pills as problem solvers. However, true depression can often end in suicide, and Moore’s remedy as a do-it-yourself cure would be, to say the least a bad idea. He also doesn’t mention that there are millions of people for whom life and relationships would be impossible without the help of psychotropic drugs. I know a few such folks, and they are neither addicts nor idiots. Moore doesn’t offer such caveats.
Too, he keeps harking back to the Greeks and medievals as true guides to body and spirit, reminding us of the beneficial influences of concepts like the four humors. True, he often speaks of these as metaphorical and wants his readers to use them mainly as ways around the concept our scientific age has created that we can have concrete, linear solutions even for situations for which they are inappropriate. Again, well and good, except that the medicine and “science” based on such ideas produced in their day dangerous practices like bleeding, purging, and heavy metal cocktails. His heavily anti-scientific bent could easily feed those among us today who deny all things scientific. Those, who, for example, put their own children and the rest of us in danger by refusing vaccinations. Although I am receptive to much of his message, I wish he’d made the context and limits more clear.
When I taught in an experimental high school way back when, I had the exciting opportunity to invent a course called Dreams, Myth, and Magic. We used Jung’s Man And His Symbols as the central text, along with a wonderful book called The Lost World of the Kalahari by Laurence Van Der Post. Van Der Post’s study of the lives and myths of the San People, or the Bushmen of South Africa took a Jungian look at how myths and dreams can be used to guide and structure a peoples’ very existence. Because the Bushmen lived, at the time he was among them, virtually without influence from the modern west, they provided a virtual tabula Rasa for testing some of Jung’s pet theories about the universality of the myth patterns and unconscious sources of dreams and archetypes. Afterwards, the Bushmen quickly became rather famous, and there was even a Hollywood movie out for a while that made fun of the little men as they encountered 20th century modern miracles, a little on the order of the Beverly Hillbillies.
However, my students and I had a good time exploring Jung’s theories of myth and archetypes and dream analysis. I wasn’t and still am not qualified to act as either a scholar or therapist, so we approached it all in a rather literary and historical way. I didn’t want things to get too personal, though we did have some relatively intimate discussions, and I think the course did us all a lot of good. The reading and interactions have provided some good guideposts for me and I hope for my students.
I say all this to demonstrate that I have at least a passing interest and involvement in much of what Moore is “preaching,” and I am receptive. What he calls the “Soul” is more or less what Jung calls the “Unconscious,” or what Freud calls the “Id.” Freud and Jung were trying to separate their work from the theological frameworks which had always been responsible for explaining the mysteries of our existence. Moore, by contrast, wants to dive right back into the world of the numinous and provide an antidote to the intellectualized, materialistic world we have created and in which we have such “faith.”
He prescribes everything from meditation/prayer to arts and crafts. Concentrate on your inner self. Do your own work--housecleaning, dishwashing, gardening. Create--not just buy--your own art and decorations. But he’s not nearly that simplistic. You also need to encounter your own fears, anxieties, failures. Not to “fix” them. The soul is not a mechanical object to be repaired. Instead, you embrace your negatives with the notion that they are single aspects of whole entities, of which you are at any moment experiencing only a part. In that whole entity reside positives you will never know or understand unless you accept the negatives that go with them. And once you have understood the whole you will be a richer being inside and more effective in the world.
One of the most fascinating areas of the book was the idea of animism, the dominant religion of “primitive” cultures whose gods are multi-faceted rather than monotheistic. Seen from this perspective, our personalities are a collection of separate drives and desires and influences that live within us contradictory and often argumentative lives. There is the Daedalus, the inventor in a labyrinth; there is also the Icarus, the son who longs to soar beyond the labyrinth and who destroys himself in the process. There is the Narcissist who in a truncated and undeveloped form sees in the whole world only himself--Freud’s “ego,” undeveloped and dangerous. And the Narcissist who dives into the pool after his own image and comes out on the other side with a vision of the whole world and a wholeness and affection for self without which the true self the whole ego, is either terrifying or insignificant in the world. It was Jung’s idea thyou were to eventually unify all these fragments in the eventual process of “individuation.” Moore doesn’t seem to see that as a goal.
So the book goes, myth after myth, one psychological theory after another, patient and dream anecdotes galore. Moore acts as his own Virgil guiding us on a fascinating journey through his conception of “the underworld” with the idea that if we pay close enough attention, we’ll be able to fashion a way out of our own labyrinth.
Not an easy read, but a worthwhile one. Or, you could just opt for no growth.(less)

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Feb 11, 2013 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars

read this book years ago and loved it, went to see the author speak at Duke Chapel in NC and had him sign my copy. Did not get to bring all my books with me to the UK, and this was one I had to leave. A new edition of it arrived at the library the other day and I got very excited to see it again. Reading it now after all these years is wonderful, still much wisdom to gain from it.

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Mar 29, 2012 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book twenty years ago at a time when I needed to understand something that was very difficult for me to accept. Often, it amazes me how books find their way into our hands exactly when we need them. The gist of this councilling book was the lesson of respecting every person's right to make choices for themselves even when those choices are hurtful and seemingly unacceptable to us. What is unacceptable? Nothing! It is what it is, only our ego thinks we could have made it happen some o...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Miyuki Masuda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Thomas and I had a great deal of conversations over 6 months. He introduced me to the Greek mythology, invited me to see differently the emotions I preferred to avoid, and encouraged me about imagination and mystery. What was once called hallucinations is now the soul of the world again, and this time, I am so happy to be Home.

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Feb 12, 2010 Chelsea rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was attracted to this book because of Thomas Moore's scholastic background in mythology, musicology and theology. It was a nourishing book, with little to no overtones of "churchiness". In fact it is a direct challenge to the traditional religious way of thinking about spirituality. He casts the obstacles of life in a soothing light, using the tales of Greek/Roman mythology and traditional shamanic dreamwork to add richness to our understanding of life's trials (depression, anxiety, death, nar...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Julian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology

After sitting on my shelf gathering dust and unread for 20 years, I have finally got round to reading this courtesy of my book club members collectively recommending this. I am glad to have taken up their advice, as this gem has a lot of wisdom to offer. I have always found the Jungian perspective 9and depth psychology) fascinating, and Thomas Moore has made this perspective directly relevant to daily life and thus in my view, has succeeded in 'soulfully' making such concepts highly practical. I...more

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Sep 26, 2007 Larrirosser rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a beautiful, thoughtful reflection on spirituality and internal health. Not a "read straight through" book, more of a chapter-at-a-time-and-digest tome.

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Dec 08, 2012 Stephanie added it

I first read this book after my brother passed away. He had recommended it shortly before his passing. Now, as I am going through a challenging phase in life, I am taking time to re-read it, to remind myself that intellect and clinicians alone are not the answer. I am re-commiting to my soul. I think the first few words of Moore's introduction sum up why I am re-reading this book: "The great malady of the twentieth century, implicated in all of our troubles and affecting us individually and soci...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Nick Duretta rated it 4 of 5 stars

This a wonderful antidote to a world where, in our quest for efficiency, growth and constant activity, we lose touch with that part of us that makes us alive--our soul. Although the term "soul" means different things to different people, Moore's multifaceted definition that encompasses mystery, uncertainty, wonder and beauty resonated very deeply within me. At several points I stopped and realized the myriad ways, in collusion with the daily world around me, I work at cross-purposes to my soul....more

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Sep 17, 2011 Austen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: spiritual

When I picked up this book at the Memphis / Shelby Public Library bookstore, I was expecting something more in line with Brennan Manning or Billy Graham or Rich Mullins. This was a welcome change into the realm of the link between mind, spirit and soul, especially soul. Putting a face on the idea of soul - something that is difficult at best for laymen's terms - and how the soul can be damaged, ripped, shredded by hard times, and also able to be healed through time, understanding, love, and even...more

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Feb 22, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok, the title sounds cheesy, but this is basically the best book of all time. It has absolutely informed my approach to my life, my friends', and my clinical work. Basically, Moore addresses what he terms our culture's overly "hygenic" approach to mental health - the idea that we need to clean up and get rid of undesirable parts of ourselves. Having been educated in theology, psychology, and musicology, Moore is in a good position to advocate for a polytheistic approach. He does not mean that li...more

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Jan 13, 2008 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology, religion, classic-books

Amazing, intricate, and deep. I want to own a copy of this so I can re-read it many times. There was far too much for me to take in on the first run-through and I look forward to revisiting this book in the future.

FAVOURITE QUOTES:

“Ancient psychology, rooted in a very different ground from modern therapeutic thinking, held that the fate and character of each of us is born in mystery, that our individuality is so profound and so hidden that it takes more than a lifetime for identity to emerge. R...more Amazing, intricate, and deep. I want to own a copy of this so I can re-read it many times. There was far too much for me to take in on the first run-through and I look forward to revisiting this book in the future.

FAVOURITE QUOTES:

“Ancient psychology, rooted in a very different ground from modern therapeutic thinking, held that the fate and character of each of us is born in mystery, that our individuality is so profound and so hidden that it takes more than a lifetime for identity to emerge. Renaissance doctors said that the essence of each person originates as a star in the heavens. How different this is from the modern view that a person is what he makes himself to be.” [p. 19]

“When love’s sadness visits us, that is Tristan floating on his skiff, trusting and yet moving ever closer to the tragic side of life that redeems his light spirit. It isn’t necessary to take a pill or search out a therapeutic strategy to dismiss the feeling, because to dismiss that feeling is to banish an important soul visitor. The soul apparently needs amorous sadness. It is a form of consciousness that brings its own unique wisdom.” [p. 86]

“When I speak for the soul of poverty, I do not mean one should romanticize poverty as a means of transcending bodily life. Certain forms of spirituality flee the evils of money in favor of transcendence and moral purity. Some people think they should work without receiving any payment. Others like to barter their services, with the intention of avoiding money’s shadow. But poverty, like wealth, can be taken too literally, so that the person escaping money stands lonely outside the community that economics helps to sustain. The desire for wealth, a legitimate element in the soul’s eros, may be lost, along with its joy; or it is repressed and then sneaks back in awkwardness about money or in behind-the-scenes financial wizardry and hoarding. Religions of all denominations demonstrate a remarkable ability, often covert, to raise and invest money. It is not surprising to hear now and then of a highly regarded religious group or leader suddenly exposed for financial scheming, for when the soul of money is denied, it takes on an added measure of shadow.” [ p. 192]

“We have a spiritual longing for community and relatedness and for a cosmic vision, but we go after them with literal hardware instead of with sensitivity of the heart. We want to know all about peoples from far away places, but we don’t want to feel emotionally connected to them. Our passion for anthropological knowledge is paradoxically xenophobic. Therefore, our many studies of world cultures are soulless, replacing the common bonding of humanity and its shared wisdom with bites of information that have no way of getting into us deeply, of nourishing and transforming our sense of ourselves. Soul, of course, has been extracted from the beginning because we conceive education to be about skills and information, not about depth of feeling and imagination.” [p. 208]

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Sep 03, 2008 Lilly G rated it 4 of 5 stars

My soul hurts from reading Accounting and Statistics.

I will now care for it.

**
(later)
After a brief hiatus, I picked this book up again today and haven't put it down yet, except to login and write this sentence.

**
(later)
Just finished the book. A friend (hi Rustam!) had given it to me as an antidote for the quarterlife crisis I had been going through last year around my 30th birthday. I can't remember whether I'd told him I was having a quarterlife crisis or if it was just *that* obvious, but I di...more

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Oct 29, 2007 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Philosophers, Dreamers, and those with an itch for a deeper existence.

This is the sort of book that I'll keep near my tissue box for the rest of my life, not because it made me cry. Rather, when I cry, I'll go for a tissue, see Thomas Moore's brilliant book, and feel better, hopefully. I'll give myself time to brood, time to weep, and time to allow my soul to grow.

There's a chapter in here for nearly every modern major problem. I'll be memorizing the ones on jealousy and depression. Sex, relationships, love, careers, and money are covered, plus more. What a barga...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Fatima rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: inspiration

Lots of really interesting food for thought. The author expounds on certain stories from Greek mythology & shares anecdotes from his clinical experience as a therapist. The author was trained as a monk and there is an interesting section on the need for soulfulness in spirituality & religion. In general, the purpose of the book is to raise questions & inspire a state of wonder in the reader. Mostly, I enjoyed reading this just to contemplate soulfulness and how it presents itself in...more

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Aug 08, 2012 JoAnn rated it 3 of 5 stars

In his introduction, Dr. Moore states that the great malady of the twentieth century is the “loss of soul.” A little further on, he states that the need of our time is to integrate therapy with spirituality. He brings an integrative approach to his thoughts: he calls envy and jealousy “healing poisons” and devotes one chapter to “gifts of depression.” Using myth and ritual as healing agents, he provides both a conceptual approach and practical suggestions for restoring and tending to one’s soul....more

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Mar 26, 2012 Anja Weber rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Anja by: fellow ship

Interesting compilation between several schools of psychiatry as Jung, Fraud, old masters as Marcelo Ficino and New movement in philosophy in RENAISSANCE SO CALLED NEOPLATONISM..in combination with mystics; etc James Code of Soul< and old master of soul.
As therapist I am not impressed with chapter about depression, it is very week..But chapter about care of heart is very good wroten, basically all either majority people wtih heart disease are very vulnerable so heart is not just machine..

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Sep 20, 2011 Miriam rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is such an amazing book that really helped me shift my perspective of the healing journey. In one of many metaphors that stuck with me, he describes the soul journey as a following the path of a labyrinth rather than a climbing up a mountain, reaching a spiritual peak. There's a place for those spiritual ascents, too, but Moore always brings our attention back to our ordinary broken humanness--which is where we can find true nourishment. I will be referencing this book again and again.

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Oct 30, 2008 Vicky rated it 5 of 5 stars

It took me some time to finish this book, but it was worth the effort. Here is an important book that teaches you how to accept the everyday life, to understand yourself and not be afraid to fail, to be sad, to be ordinary. To care for your soul is to appreciate the everyday moments, to feel the sadness and happiness in small things, to know how to be quiet, to contemplate. The author, who was brought up as a Roman catholic, has an education in theology and now works as a psychoanalyst. He talks...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who works, deals with money, or is artistic

Shelves: read-long-ago, read-since-2000, bought-09, many-copies-of-title, box-487-selfhelp-psych

new set of tapes from CD's

I have many books from Thomas Moore. I have read Care of the Soul many times. I listened to this one from the library books on tape set many times.

I especially like how he thinks about work. He says that finding right work is not something that is easily accessible for most people. He says you find it organically. He shows that you have to fail at a few things to really find yourself. He also says you have to put as much effort into finishing up a failure as in any oth...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Stephanie Cage rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that can't be read quickly. There's a great deal to think about in every chapter, and as each chapter more or less stands alone, it's best to take some time to digest each one.

Moore draws on myth and legend to provide context for many of the common ills of modern life including aspects of depression, and to suggest approaches to caring for - not curing - the soul during difficult times (and let's face it, who isn't going through difficult times right now?). His thesis...more

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May 22, 2009 Alex Schmidt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not only is this book lucid, but if anyone is as interest in Zen/Buddhism as I am this will connect a lot of pices for them. I had found it hard to connect the action of impassion with letting go all under the umbrella of non-doing (wu-wei). Sometimes when one gets to a certain point however, despite their clarity, will become abstract from the everydy wolrd of human society. This book is playing a great role in my reintegration.

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Apr 11, 2009 Kylie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book years ago but I frequently remember stories and examples from it. One of the major insights that I gained from Thomas Moore is that there is a value to depression/sadness and that the only way out of it is to really go into it. I feel that reading this book helped me to deal with many events that came afterwards in a much more present way. There's much more to be said about this book but I've have to re-read it first!

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About Thomas Moore

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling book Care of the Soul and fifteen other books on deepening spirituality and cultivating soul in every aspect of life. He has been a monk, a musician, a university professor, and a psychotherapist, and today he lectures widely on...more

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Books by Thomas Moore

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The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love

A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do

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“Disappointments in love, even betrayals and losses, serve the soul at the very moment they seem in life to be tragedies. The soul is partly in time and partly in eternity. We might remember the part that resides in eternity when we feel despair over the part that is in life.” — 55 people liked it

“It may help us, in those times of trouble, to remember that love is not only about relationship, it is also an affair of the soul.” — 32 people liked it

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title link	preview: Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295132.Care_of_the_Soul?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360677664l/295132.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295132.Care_of_the_Soul?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life by Thomas Moore[/url]

Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life

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