The Wisdom of the Serpent: The Myths of Death, Rebirth and Resurrection

by Joseph L. Henderson

The tribal initiation of the shaman, the archetype of the serpent, exemplifies the death of the self and rebirth into transcendent, "unknowable" life. Henderson and Oakes trace the images and patterns of spiritual initiation in religious rituals and myths of resurrection, poems and epics, the cycles of nature and universal human responses in art and dreaming. The authors dramatize the metamorphosis from a common experience of death's inevitability into a transcendent freedom beyond the individual's limitations.

Genres: Psychology, Mythology, Nonfiction

266 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Seekers of Unity]

I had way high expectations for this book and was way disappointed. It turned out just to be an anthology and almost none of their own analysis and a poor anthology at that. Poor work Jungians.

If you like books like this you'll love my project:
http://youtube.com/c/seekersofunity?s...

[Airic Easm]

Considering the amount and depth of lore of the world this coffee arm chair reader is great to get a sense of different anthropologies mythic heritages.

[Tacitus]

The Wisdom of the Serpent by Joseph Henderson

Joseph Henderson was a psychiatrist trained in Jungian analysis. I don't know much about the thought of Jung and his school, but one of their interests seems to be how myths serve as representations for psychological transitions that occur at different stages in life. It is a fascinating thesis, but perhaps, one more rich in speculations than in specific applications. The book is divided in two parts: in the first, Henderson tries to categorize myths into their psychological functions. For example, a myth of death and rebirth may serve as a pattern of initiation of an immature ego to a mature self serving a purpose in the community. The second part is a collection of myths categorized by the authors according to the function they serve. I found the book difficult reading, and I would imagine anyone not already familiar with this kind of thinking would find it a poor introduction. The second part can be read as a interesting collection of myths on death and rebirth, but without a good understanding of the first part, their connection to psychology will remain nebulous.

[Bookcel8132]

Jungians are insane.