Book Project

This page contains exploratory essays as part of a book project; it is a work in progress. I'm open to feedback and suggestions.

This book project involves the integration of two branches of psychology for the benefit of humanity — a potential renaissance in how we relate to ourselves, each other and David Abram’s “more-than-human world.”

The works derived from Carl Jung, James Hillman, Bill Plotkin (now called Eco-Depth Psychology) and those derived from Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Marshall Rosenberg (Humanistic Psychology) are brought together through the relational metaphor of the human psyche introduced in the first blog post below: “Connection Tree of Life: A Relational Metaphor of the Human Psyche.”

The base metaphor, or archetype of the Tree of Life has been around for millennia, and has been part of many religious traditions. The Nonviolent Communication inspired “NVC Tree of Life” created by Inbal Kashtan, where self-empathy, empathy and self-expression are parts of the tree, provides the foundational metaphor for this extended version.

The cardinal directions, which result from the rotation of the Earth’s metal core creating a magnetic field, have been part of indigenous spirituality and more recently inspired Bill Plotkin’s “Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche” introduced in the book “Wild Mind - Field Guide to the Human Psyche.”

The compass rose, which contains references to Jung’s Cognitive Functions (now called “windows of knowing” by Stephen Gallegos) and Plotkin’s Facets of the Self, also conveniently map to Marshall Rosenberg’s “NVC Components.”

The heart, which is also a metaphor with historical significance, was originally shown in Kashtan’s NVC Tree of Life without much explanation (references sought) is shown to be a kind of psychic center of gravity defined by the intersections of a Venn diagram containing references to the mind, body, spirit and soul, all of which are very old words that have been used in many contexts with many definitions.

Defining the heart as a new element of the model was important to contain the center of gravity of one’s conscious self-awareness in relation to the boundary between what is seen and unseen, between the air and the earth. A heart which is on the trunk of the tree but not yet intersected with the earth is not quite intimately connected to the earth resulting in what I call the “Oikos Gap.” Once the heart does have an intimate relationship with the earth, it can be said that “eco awakening” has occurred, and the psyche will do everything in its power to honor that relationship with love (i.e. to make choices that consider the needs of both the human and more-than-human worlds).

The arrow pointing to the base of the tree labeled “Place” is a reference to Bill Plotkin’s definition of Soul as the ecological niche of the psyche in service of the forest, a metaphor for the village or community in which it serves. One’s place in the forest is rediscovered through a journey of soul initiation, which Plotkin describes in his book with that title.

This is not so much an academic endeavor, but rather an integration of the practices invited by these branches of psychology. The relational metaphor of the human psyche provides a foundation for a book that may or may not ever be completed. I’m hoping that it will inspire new experimentation while discovering new ways of being within a sustainable loving relationship with everything beyond the human. I see this invitation as “a glorious opportunity not to be missed.”