Coming Home to Myself: Reflections for Nurturing a Woman's Body and Soul

The second printing of Coming Home to Myself revives a popular and noteworthy book that does indeed bring women home to a more intimate connection with their feminine selves. Not quite poetry and not quite prose, this collection of quotes offers a series of bite-size excerpts from the writings of Jungian therapist Marion Woodman (Leaving My Father's House, Dancing in the Flames). As Woodman calls it, this is a "surprise child" that was born from the creative mind of artist and psychotherapist Jill Mellick (The Natural Artistry of Dreams), who initially imagined excerpting Woodman's quotes and illustrating them with her watery, Zen-like paintings. Woodman's kernels of wisdom are organized beneath 34 different headings, such as "Unmasking Myself," "Rites of Passage," and "Coming to Love." For example, under the heading of "My Body" a Woodman quote reads as follows: "If the dream says something is wrong with your body, check. Long before you do, your body knows when something is wrong." Or, "Give your body an hour a day. If it's not worth an hour an a day, there's nothing your body can tell you and not much else anyone else can do." Under "Reclaiming My Own Energies," we find this nugget: "A mother who is identified with being mother has to have children who will eat what she gives them and do what she wants them to do. They must remain children." This is the kind of book you can open to any page and find a quote worth pondering for a moment or a lifetime. --Gail Hudson