Picasso's 1937 painting, Guernica.
Robert Sardello calls himself a spiritual psychologist and his beliefs are rooting in the thinking of both Austrian philosopher and esotericist Rudolf Steiner and Swiss psychological sage Carl Jung. There’s something about Sardello’s writing that awakens parts of my soul. When I read him ~ I’m now in my third Sardello book ~ it’s as if a deep-toned gong is being struck, sending out reverberations of truth.
I would not classify his 1999 book Freeing the Soul From Fear as your standard self-help book. His discussion of personal fear goes well beyond the familiar descriptions, and many of his observations of fear in today’s world are profound. Here’s a small sample:
Fear constitutes a much larger and more comprehensive presence than has yet been realized. Beginning in the nineteenth century, therapeutic psychology sought to identify the symptoms related to this phenomenon. The types of fear recognized included hysteria, behind which some trauma, real or imaged, was always to be found; shell shock or combat neurosis, now commonly called post-traumatic stress syndrome, which was first investigated after World War I; abuse and domestic violence; fear of natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or fire; individual phobias such as panic attacks, anxieties, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The reality of fear is far more wide-ranging, however. Working with victims of trauma does little to impede the larger presence of fear in the world. The goal is to become more conscious of what we are dealing with and to recognize that different fears require different capacity of soul to overcome them. The need is not to remove fear from the world, but instead to develop in ourselves the psychic capacity to confront its destructive power. In this realm, consciousness, coupled with love, is everything. Enlarging consciousness to include an awareness of soul allows a healthy struggle with fear, and love makes possible its transformation, not just within ourselves but also within the world.
I’ve not yet finished the book. His overall message, at this point, promises to be optimistic.
2 comments:
"to recognize that different fears require different capacity of soul to overcome them. "
This has proven true in my own life. For example, my fear of flying, I've been working on overcoming by taking short flights (1 hour +/-) I "FACE" my fear.
The fear of some harm coming to one of my children (which increased as they got older..and when, eventually,phone calls would come in about a car accident, a health concern...) could only be overcome by "RELEASE" - releasing it to my High Power, understanding that I don't have any control over life. It just happens.
Great piece :)
Glad you enjoyed the post, Grace, and glad you left your insightful comment. One of the reasons I'm enjoying Sardello's book(s) is that his observations have the ring of authenticity, as do your own observations about the varying nature of fear.
Thanks for stopping by, Grace!
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