ROMANCE

Archetypes: Who Are You? Hay House

by Caroline Myss
2013. 248p. ISBN 9781401941086. $24.95. PSYCH
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Best-selling author Myss (Anatomy of the Spirit) writes a laundry list of 12 archetypes; the impetus behind the categories is valid—if you can figure out who you are, through encouragement, your positive attributes may become self-actualizing. However, this unfortunate amalgam of modern stereotypes doesn't come close to identifying itself with the concept of archetypes originating from the field's leading thinkers. Myss's "new" archetypes are watered-down versions of previous incarnations, appealing to a trendy sensibility. In addition, each chapter has a "male counterpart," which one may only guess is a nod to Jung's anima/animus, a misunderstanding even Myss senses when she writes that archetypes are "mostly inherently genderless." Is preying on women with low self-esteem an honest way to increase book sales?
VERDICT Read Joseph Campbell, Carol Pearson, Carl Jung, or your favorite fairy tales and/or myths and be inspired by the magnitude of the archetype's true form. This book is an unnecessary purchase.
Reviewed by Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH , Jan 25, 2013
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