Quest Magazine

Alchemical Psychology: Old Recipes for Living in a New World

By Thom F. Cavalii
New York: Jeremy R. Tarcher/Putnam, 2002. Paperback, 365 pages.

Thom Cavalli's new book provides a very readable introduction for the nonspecialist to the Jungian approach to alchemy- sometimes called the Great Work. Here, alchemy is the quest for the transformation of the "lead" of our unconscious lives into the "gold" of greater consciousness and psychological integration. The book is written in an entertaining style and includes helpful chart's and pictures; with plenty of space, for notes. The attractive presentation is unfortunately marred by a number of small errors - for example, Albertus Magnus has become Albertus Magus, and Wittgenstein might be surprised to find himself listed as a physicist.

In a welcome move, Cavalli acknowledges that alchemy also has legitimate physical laboratory applications and higher spiritual aspects, but that explicitly psychological readings of the Work only made their appearance in the last hundred years. However, I was disappointed that he did not give more than a passing nod to nonpsychological approaches to alchemy, leaving his psychotherapeutic approach to stand alone, at least as far as this book is concerned.

As Cavalli himself states, the psyche is only one level of our being. One of the strengths of the alchemical tradition is its ability to describe and catalyze transformation on all levels-elemental, physical, psychological, and spiritual. Cavalli's readers might want to broaden their search by investigating laboratory alchemy (e.g., the courses written by Jean Dubois for the Philosophers of Nature), alchemical magic (e.g., David Goddard, The Tower of Alchemy; Gareth Knight, Experience of the Inner Worlds and The Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend), and spiritual alchemy (e.g., the sacramental alchemy of Paul Blighton, The Philosophy of Sacramental Initiation and The Book of Alchemy).

Cavalli's practical exercises and clear language will insure that his book is a valuable help to seekers. Nonetheless, we know our soul only in living experience and in union with our body and our spirit, and the wise operator will not neglect these aspects of being in the alchemical Work. After all, "what is below is like that which is above, and what is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracle of the one thing."

--JOHN PLUMMER

March/April 2003

The Spirituality of Success: Getting Rich with Integrity

By Vincent M. Roazzi
Dallas: Brown Books, 2002. Paperback, xvi + 244 pages.

A tradition found in the West and elsewhere around the world values holy poverty. And that is a good tradition, but it is not the only approach to spirituality and economics. Saint Paul is often misquoted as having said, "Money is the root of all evil." What he actually wrote (I Timothy 6.10) is "The love of money is the root of all evil." And that's an important distinction. Things have no moral value in themselves-but only in how we relate to them.

Contemporary world culture is capitalist in orientation, and capitalism values capital, income, and business success. But those things need to be related to in ways that make them spirituality-friendly, and that means treating them as means to a morally good end, not as ends in themselves. One of the steps on the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path is "right means of livelihood," a step that all of us need to be mindful of, whatever economic activities we engage in.

This book by a member of the Theosophical Society focuses on spiritually appropriate means to achieve economic success, but the purpose of that success is not neglected. And that purpose must always arise from the recognition, in the words of one of the great teachers, that "it is 'Humanity' which is the great Orphan, ... and it" is the duty of every man [and woman] who is capable of an unselfish impulse to do something, however little, for its welfare." Or as Roazzi writes in his preface, "After all, your success will not be for you alone to enjoy, nor does anybody become successful by themselves." The true key to personal success is impersonal altruism.

-JOHN CROWE

March/April 2003

The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus

By Neil Douglas-Klotz
Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, Quest, 1999. Paperback, [viii] + 222 pages.

While scholars and theologians struggle to disentangle "the historical Jesus" from the "Christ of the Christian faith," Douglas Klotz proposes filtering Jesus' words through the Aramaic language that Jesus actually spoke. Thus "Blessed are the meek" becomes "Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within." Perhaps such translations simply reflect the information in a good psychology text-book. Using this rhetorical-psychological method, the author attempts to decode the spiritual and prophetic statements expressed in Christian scripture as hidden messages. This book evokes a statement by Jesus indicating that he taught an exoteric message to a general audience and an esoteric message for a select few. But until Jesus' actual expressions are confirmed with certainty, reinterpreting the words in scripture remains a creative exercise. Saying the "same" thought in a different context or a different language is not saying the same thing. All of our translations are really interpretations.

-DANIEL ROSS CHANDLER

March/April 2003

A Sense of the Cosmos: Scientific Knowledge and Spiritual Truth

By Jacob Needleman
Rhinebeck, NY: Monkfish Books Publishing, 2003. Paperback, 178 pages.

Explorations of the relationship between science and religion/spirituality generally focus on the pressing need to reconcile these two great domains. The aim of Jacob Needleman's A Sense of the Cosmos, originally published in 1975 and now reissued, is very different though equally important: It probes our attitudes toward both science and ourselves.

Few can be better qualified for such probing than Jacob Needleman, distinguished philosopher, teacher, widely published author and editor (and the general editor of two outstanding metaphysical/philosophical series), and sought-after consultant in many fields including psychology, education, medical ethics, philanthropy, and business.

In the preface to the present edition, Needleman states: "We cannot know, so the great spiritual traditions teach, with only one part of the human intelligence." The greatness of modern science is rooted in its courageous effort of reliance on what it considered the pure intellect as it was joined to and supported by a rediscovered respect for the bodily senses, .. as the source of knowledge. But in this revolutionary development ... what was forgotten is that the heart, the power of profound feeling, is absolutely necessary in order both to be good and to see the good." The ultimate question we must deeply ponder is the "Being of beings." If this sounds too abstract, simply "step outside one starry night