Writing Toward Wholeness

From its first pages, Writing Toward Wholeness encourages readers to embark on their own journey through writing toward selfhood, toward wholeness. At every step, it reinforces the lessons C.G. Jung learned and shared with millions of people. In focusing on insights and excerpts from Jung's writings, and from contemporary writers, the author brings together psychology, spirituality, and the arts, offering a way to wholeness.

"Susan Tiberghien writes from a long experience of teaching creative writing and shares here the essence of what she has reaped in eight lessons, starting with journaling.

"Jung kept his journals (the Black Books) and eventually turned them into The Red Book, the carefully worked out and illustrated version, published in 2009. Susan Tiberghien does a close reading of Jung and asks us to keep our own journals, to make our own Red Books.

"Writing towards Wholeness presents the different phases of this process of "writing to the soul", as seen and lived by C.G. Jung. But other spiritual teachers are present, Thomas Merton is often quoted and his spirituality of wholeness is strongly felt. Tiberghien herself refers to him as a mentor for 50 years.

"Susan Tiberghien is an outstanding teacher. She is of course irreplaceable. But only few of us will have the privilege to participate in one of her workshops. Writing towards Wholeness however somehow asks to be put to use. As a handbook for writers and creative writing groups, of course. But ideally a spontaneous movement to be formed, where people would get together and reflect on Writing towards Wholeness, thereby perhaps making our world a somewhat less disruptive place.

"Tiberghien's book is also helpful as a reference work. She has over the years collected an impressive library of Jungian work, as well as from Merton and other writers within the area of spirituality. Writing towards Wholeness contains an excellent selection from older spiritual teachers like Hildegard of Bingen and Meister Eckhart, as well as contemporary writers. Quotes are of generous length, with accompanying explanatory notes, to make the reading meaningful.

"Not all of us have Jung's The Red Book available, and Tiberghien's selection and comments are just by themselves a treasure." - Review by Christina Ekeus-Oldfelt