The Origins And History Of Consciousness: 7 (The International Library of Psychology) Paperback – 3 Jun. 2013

Erich Neumann must count as one of Jung's most influential students. Jung himself (who also contributes a forward to the book) is on record in saying Neumann was taking ideas about archetypes further than he had been able. Neumann himself has influenced the likes of Camille Paglia and Jordan Peterson who both have produced interesting essays and talks about him available on the web, and regard this as one of the greatest works of Jungian psychology.Nuemann's thesis is a mixture of anthropology, mythology as well as psychology observed sometimes, he states, with his patients as a psychotherapist. He shows how certain creation myths reflect how a child becomes conscious of itself while separating from the mother in particular. After the separation there are problems for both and others. Readers of psycho-analytic literature may be familiar with this through say the work of Klein and Winnicott, which has parallels with Jung's idea of the mother archetype. Through all this, Neumann plots a path of human consciousness as emerged from the Great Mother who was worshipped in ancient times. Neumann has written more about the Great Mother elsewhere. He suggests changes in human consciousness for the future paralleling the processes described here.For some this might be heady material, especially as it is spread over just under 500 pages. That said, I found myself able to read this over only a couple of days on a holiday. I found it insightful, not least as a psychotherapist who sometimes has to help people navigate their own mother problems be they real or symbolic. Neumann's suggestion of a possible new leap in human consciousness, has in some ways been better argued by Jean Gebser in "The Ever-Present Origin." But what he presents here is visceral and immediate, so the books deserve both to be read.Neumann is himself a lucid read. His thesis worth reading. This is justifiably seen as a classic, and is worth reading for psychological insight alone

The author has studied Einstein's life and works deeply. He is giving the reader the benefit of his conclusions. The reader would best be familiar with such subjects before tackling this one. That said, this is utterly fascinating and intriguing and I, for one, have had my intellectual horizons extended with a very satisfying experience which will remain with my remaining years ( I'm 85, which shows one is never too old to learn yet more).

Ordered for my son ,he says itsa brilliant book

This is the first time I have felt I really understood the importance of Archetypes and what Jung was on about. In fact since reading it, I see the world (and myself) in a very different light, the Archetypal world has become alive in everything I see and experience around me. A life-changing book.

One of the many books influencing JB Peterson's now world famous million amazon No.1 smash hit, and his earlier, and wow, you can see how JP did his homework. This is forensically compelling in thesis.

Great insights. Some of it seems dated but the core of the book is still instructive and nourishing.

A fascinating journey into the development of consciousness

Amazing book. The illustrations dont look too impressive in black and white but good none the less.

Explains that consciousness development is a part of the culture.

Aliás como tudo que Erich Neumann escreveu

A very insightful and interesting book that I took a very long time to read. I like both parts of it, which are analysis of the mythologies and analysis of the psyche. It's a book that will probably change your view on yourself, your personal history and your relation to the society you belong to. However if you are not familiar with Jung's theory or psychoanalyses at all I recommend you to familiarize yourself with them because during the second half of the book you are likely to encounter them quite often.

The book’s cover was damaged: it had a piece or cardboard sticked to it, almost impossible to remove. And once removed, the cover is all sticky and nasty. On top of that, the book took around 3 weeks to arrive, and it didn’t mention anything about it at the moment of buying. Really disappointed!!

Exactly as expected.