book points to the turn away from intuition, nature, and soul that much of Western civilization has taken and offers a way back.
Our science and capitalism has given us the significant gifts of health and easyeven pleasurablelives, and yet we have payed the price in terms of losing deep meaning that often comes from confronting our human frailty within the bigger natural world.
Soulcraft is Plotkin's way of recovering meaning in our lives, in way that balances the typical Western attitude of transcending nature and ignoring embodiment.
His final thoughts on returning to the world were very helpful to me, particularly his assertion that soul images rarely translate directly to job titles p.
If soulcraft is a way to reconnect with our individual gifts and purpose, of course we can't confine ourselves to culturally constructed identities.
On the level of these ideas, I loved this book,
On the level of how to get there, I'm more ambivalent, The stories and "pathways to soul" he includes are inspiring, but I'm not sure I needed so many stories as were included.
I ended up skipping large sections of the book because the stories weren't suiting my needs, As far as the pathways are concerned, they just didn't resonate, I'm finding that seasonal rituals and more mundane ways of being in nature walking, gardening, paying attention are good for me.
Of course, the whole point of Soulcraft is that we Westerners need to radically alter our connection to nature, and yet I feel that my reorientation toward more soulful living has been quite gentle.
I really loved this book about getting to know your soul, soul image, and soul path, There were many useful exercises and I was really inspired, As I read, I learn more about, "an unmet longing for wildness, mystery, and a meaningful engagement with the world.
" p.I am enjoying this book, Recommended for a guide to initiation, Finished this book. I am not in complete agreement with this author's explanation of soul, However, I found it very worthwhile read, The book lays out basic components to initiation, which is helpful, He is obviously influenced by James Hillman, which is a great source of reading about the nature of soul.
wise fodder for a hungry psyche, I hear and ingest this man's insightful perspectives and recommend him to anyone interested in some good old fashioned inner work.
A beautiful journey into the experiential path of the soul, Absolutely fantastic book on the process of crafting the soul and putting to rest all of the habits and behaviors that no longer serve us.
Cant really decide onorfor this one, I really, really enjoyed this book and got so much out of reading it, The problem was the emphasis on the wilderness expedition as a requirement for soul craft, I love being in nature and obviously think its an enormously important component of soul development, I just dont think i need to put myself at risk by heading out into an unknown environment without food or shelter for days on end.
One can develop ones soul without being stupid, Additionally, being able to engage in an expedition such as the ones described is a huge sign that one leads a very privileged life.
It IS possible to engage in many of these practices without having to spend thousands of dollars on an experience.
All that aside, i still loved the book, Soit is. Im incorporating the ideas into my every day life, Nodays of naked starvation in the desert required, Although a long read, with some dry and even repetitive sections, Bill Plotkins Soulcraft is good introduction for anyone who might be feeling like their life is not their own.
Soulcraft is about allowing yourself to recognize, experience, seekout, value and most of all, nourish and encourage the essence of your soul.
I am not talking about some sort of ethereal, ghostlike apparition that flies out of your body at death and is judged by some bearded guy in the clouds who decides to shuffle you off to some Heavenly or Devilish eternity.
That particular view of soul is a silly, childish and naive fairytale developed out of human ignorance, mythological/religious misinterpretation and a psychological/spiritual vacuum.
I am talking about that True Nature of who you are in your essence, the soul of your Being.
The core and fundamental aspect of who and what you are unblemished or discolored by social or egodriven influences.
We often hear the expression “be authentic” or “be true to your True Nature”, This is the soul that Plotkin writes about in Soulcraft, And all through his book Plotkin reminds us that this journey of identifying and nourishing our True Nature, our Soul, is not an easy task given how relentlessly our ego, and society, will work to keep it hidden, compliant, inauthentic and disingenuous.
“The ego fears an initial encounter with soul, and understandably so: on the way to soul initiation, it will have to surrender everything it has come to believe about itself.
Initiation is a process “costing not less than everything,” to use T, S. Eliot's phrase.Our ego's job, after all, is to draw the line between what is possible for us personally and what isn't.
To undergo a radical change in selfconcept, there must be a shift in our understanding of what is possible.
This can occur only when we encounter what previously had been literally unthinkable, Such an encounter requires a nonordinary state of awareness, ” Bill Plotkin
But the effort is certainly worthwhile as there is nothing like the sense of confidence, certainty and of course clarity and fulfillment that comes when one is comfortable in their own skin secure in their sense of self and authentic to its expression.
There are many ways through which one can identify, nourish and live a life true to ones nature, true to ones soul.
Bill Plotkin shows us many of those ways, techniques and opportunities to hone your own Soulcraft,
“The good news is that if you commit yourself to uncovering and living your soul image, to living as if your place in the world mattered, you will embark on the most engaging, mysterious, and fulfilling journey of your life, a journey of enchantment, pathos, joy, life, and death.
If you dare to sing your true song, you shall inherit the beauty and terror of your deeper life.
On your deathbed, you will not be filled with regret for a life unlived, And, following soul initiation, you will experience the unparalleled rewards of contributing your unique gifts to a world in need, more in need now than ever.
Doing so allows your deepest human nature to once again join greater nature, ” Bill Plotkin
For millennia, ceremonies and initiation rites have helped societies survive and thrive by marking life transitions.
In contemporary America, except for bar mitzvahs, graduations, and weddings, these rituals are conspicuous by their absence, Written for people in search of their true selvesparticularly those on the verge of adulthood and those at a major crossroads such as divorce or carrier change"Soulcraft restores the ritual to its rightful place as a crucial part of personal growth and selfemployment.
Exercises and insightful stories explain how to discover one's unique gift, or "soul purpose," to be shared with others through a ceremonial event.
Drawing on ancient traditions, this vision quest serves as a modern rite of initiation, Plotkin is an ecotherapist and wilderness guide, who writes about what he terms the "soul," and the art of engaging and understanding it.
He explains that encounters with our soul provide us with our life's purpose, and help us to live in harmony with nature.
I had picked up the book anticipating more of a guide book about what one does to achieve "Soul Crafting," particularly as the book is set up this way however, it turned out to be more of an expose on the experience.
I was completely interested and hooked in at the beginning of this book but I felt my interest in it dwindling as I went along.
My initial reaction to this book was that the best way I could relate my experience of this book is that it is rather like entering a thrift shop: with many things that are not so appealing about it, yet, if you persevere, there are some gems hidden amongst it.
At the end of the book, however, I was left wondering if those few gems were good enough to merit the rest of it.
. and my final answer is no,
Plotkin can be incredibly longwinded and often redundant, He is particularly keen on providing endless examples and anecdotes, even if they aren't interesting for the reader, such as his use of his dream about Blue and Red.
Another thing about Plotkin is that he likes coining his own phrases and repeating them often such as "Second Cocoon" which I find to be an irksome, and somewhat distracting, habit.
In some instances, it can leave the reader at a loss as to what Plotkin is even trying to get at such as in Plotkin's list of events where we might have encountered our soul on page, which includes "a dark night of the soul.
" Just what is "a dark night of the soul," Mr, Plotkin However, Plotkin nonetheless has a smooth and pleasant narrative that is poetic and rich with imagery, which will likely appeal to many readers.
I did enjoy a number of Plotkin's ideas however a warning to the reader some of his other ideas do get quite outthere.
He fancies talking about feeding bodies to vultures, for instance, and, in another, smearing shit on oneself in order to reenact a dream.
Another thing here I had hoped Plotkin would provide more evidence to support his ideas being his occupation as a psychologist, but he doesn't seem really interested in that and instead draws primarily on anecdotal evidence and other nonacademic works.
He goes on a few great leaps and bounds, asserting several times, for instance, that we are reincarnated souls.
Perhaps I could and should
have expected this from a book that is ultimately a book on spirituality,
One last thing about "Soulcraft," and which annoyed me, was the reckless manner that Plotkin uses to endorse many "soulcraft techniques" that could be dangerous.
For instance, he goes on at great length about the benefits of fasting but, never once does he seem obliged to forewarn anyone that fasting may not be for everyone, or that it may be advisable to see a doctor before fasting for long lengths of time.
He devotes much of the book to writing about adventuring in the wilds and going on vision quests but he barely touches on the practical concerns of such an endeavor, or provide recommendations for developing practical skills before embarking on these adventures and quests.
Maybe Plotkin hopes that everyone will seek out Animas Valley Institute for help adventuring in the wilderness, Or perhaps Plotkin simply does not care about the reader's safety, as he often writes that danger and dances with death are required for "encounters with the soul.
" On page, he tells us about the Dagara people who undertake initiation rituals where "the small risk of death is preferable to the living death of an uninitiated life.
" Perhaps for some, but I question the ethics of composing a book that encourages people to endanger themselves,
Although I didn't enjoy this book myself, perhaps if you are a patient reader and are especially interested in naturebased spirituality and ecopsychology I see this book possibly appealing to the hippiest of hippies, then this book may be worth your time and provide a starting point for getting in touch with "true self" and "finding more meaningful ways to exist in the world".
I, however, would still suggest that you most definitely want to explore other books on the topic, and seek out more complete resources.
Plotkin does provide some of his own suggestions at the back of his book,
Yet I wouldn't recommend it, In summary, it started as a reasonable read with some interesting ideas, but was lacking in constraint, focus, and a certain je ne sais quoi that would have kept me more engaged.
It didn't help that, along the way, it just got way way too out there for my personal tastes with far more bad than good.
It would be more suiting to name this one "Soul Crap, ".