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Title: A Mythic Life : Learning to Live our Greater Story by Jean Houston ISBN: 0-06-250282-4 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 20 November, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Mythic Life Is A Wild Ride
Comment: Readers of this book will have sharply diverging reactions to it, and I myself am of two minds. At her worst, Jean Houston can come across like a precocious and hyperactive college kid: flip, full of herself, flaunting exuberance, self-promoting, greedy for catharsis, disorderly ideas sprouting everywhere like psychedelic mushrooms. On the other hand, at her best, she's brilliant, scholarly, profoundly creative, wise, kind, and funny. On the balance, happily, I found the latter set of characteristics predominant here, although the less attractive side of her nature will be readily apparent to anyone unsympathetic to her style and her philosophy. This is an autobiography of sorts, although one in a style that only Jean Houston could conceive: utterly non-linear. What she actually gives us is series of anecdotes from all stages of her life, interspersed chaotically with a fireworks display of philosophical musing, human potential pep talks, New Age proselytizing, scientific speculation, and lectures on her original brand of mystical anthropology. Interestingly, she's the daughter of neither a scholar nor a mystic, but of an itinerant Hollywood gag writer, whom she loved dearly and who ran the family like an overbearing-but-lovable gypsy king. Numerous accounts of his lautish stunts pepper his daughter's book and bring comic relief. He was a direct descendent of Sam Houston, the flamboyant Texan general and politician, laying down a genetic strain that seems not at all improbable once you begin getting a sense of what Jean Houston is about. Of her retiring Sicilian-American mother, we learn very little. Dr. Houston's central animating idea, like that of her teacher and colleague Joseph Campbell, is that certain myths are universal among all peoples and all times, including our own, and they are the main drivers of psychological and spiritual essence of human existence. Exploring ourselves in light of these myths is key to fulfilling life - hence the book's title. Jean Houston takes this idea much further than Campbell did, and makes it the centerpiece of the teaching, lecturing, and mystical psychotherapy which has become both her life's calling and her business. This is compelling material and she presents it with eloquence and passion, despite the interference which her manic style at times brings to the narrative. I recommend "A Mythic Life", although it's not for everyone, and readers should be prepared for what they're getting.
Rating: 5
Summary: Follow the Leader into the 21st Century
Comment: Through sharing fascinating details of her entire life and family, as well as people she has known and worked with, such as Margaret Mead, Jean Houston demonstrates vividly how we can all be more fully awake to our lives and the myths we all live by, whether we consciously know them or not. Reading her stimulates the reader to want more of her writings, which are plentiful and available.She also has a website worth pursing, at Jean Houston.org. An enjoyable read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Read
Comment: Jean Houston is a gifted writer and speaker. In this book, Jean reminds us that our myths have power within them. They reveal our soul and ways we manifest ourselves into daily living. In so doing, our divine and human qualities merge into a sacred human path. -- Samuel Oliver, author of, WHAT THE DYING TEACH US: LESSON ON LIVING.
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Title: A Passion for the Possible : A Guide to Realizing Your True Potential by Jean Houston ISBN: 0062515322 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to Our Inner Life by Jean Houston ISBN: 1930722133 Publisher: Inner Ocean Publishing Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Search for the Beloved: Journeys in Mythology and Sacred Psychology (Inner Workbook.) by Jean Houston ISBN: 0874778719 Publisher: J. P. Tarcher Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Possible Human : A Course in Enhancing Your Physical, Mental, and Creative Abilities by Jean Houston ISBN: 0874778727 Publisher: J. P. Tarcher Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence by Deepak Chopra ISBN: 0609600427 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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