Blue Fire (Hillman) Discussion Group

The Hillman / Soul of the Post-Jungians reading group meets this Saturday, March 14, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon. We’ll be starting Chapter 9, "Mythology as Family." It is the first of four chapters under the general topic of "Eros."

We have just finished "World" after having started last year on "Soul." So there's your arc. Notice Chapter 9 is not titled "Family as Mythology."

Chapter 9 is over 40 pages, so we will have to be selective. My recommendation is: Moore's introductory summation, Family, Father, Puer, Child. Certainly Mother if time permits. The other sections will be subject to a skim or two. As always, we can be persuaded otherwise.

As a group, we haven't formally completed the readings of any chapters, including the last two, Chapters 7 and 8. Since A Blue Fire is a compendium rather than a linear argument, it lends itself to being finished individually, at one’s own pace and leisure. We can trust (or at least provisionally trust) that Hillman’s characteristic redundancy means no one will have “missed” anything essential.

Looking a bit ahead, we’re holding two intentions simultaneously:

• to complete A Blue Fire sufficiently by our June meeting (our last gathering before the summer break), and

• to begin anticipating a follow-on book to start in October. That will be the subject of a separate note.