Rating: 
Summary: Useful to a degree
Review: The premise of this book is to better understand who you are by using archetypes and then deriving what your 'sacred contrats' are based on these archetypes. The first half of the book is very useful as the reader learns about the four primary archetypes that we all have as well as how they influence our actions or reactions in various situations. The reader then selects 8 other archetypes that fit them based on information provided in the back of the text on various archetypes. Three serious downfalls of this book are:1. limited information about each archetype's strengths/weaknesses; responses/actions; acended;descended attitudes - The readers are left to intuit much of this information about themselves with limited information to help guide them along the path. (I don't count examples of movies or myths to be useful as you would have to see the movie or know the myth to understand how it applies and most readers will not do that.) Surely the author could have spent a little more time elaborating on the archetypes that her readers will be assessing themselves to have. 2. What I believe to be a serious error is the author's assessment that we have the same 12 archetypes with us all our lives. I can attest to the fact that a certain points in my life I was guided by specific archetypes which are no longer part of my 'family.' As we develop and change (yes, we do change if we are aiming to grow spiritually) what was true of us at age 15 might no longer be true of us at age 40. If we are stagnant then it is likely we will remain the same 12 archetypes, but many of us will move on to others as we develop. (BTW the number 12 is chosen so we can do a zodiac wheel using archetypes and otherwise has no real logic behind it.) Honestly, I think I have about 14 archetypes and I have friends who have 8. Hmmm? Do we then just choose them because we have to? 3. My final concern is use of a zodiac wheel to give more specific meaning to each of the 12 archetypes we chose. My greatest issue here is that there is no rhyme or reason to selection of what archetype goes where. You just cut up papers with the names of the archetypes and numbers on them then pick from the piles and match them up on the wheel. (I kid you not!) A serious concern here is that if a reader has a Hedonist archetype and ends up with that in her Marriage & Relationship house, she could continually view herself from that perspective if she is deeply in need of 'sacred contracts' to make more sense of her life. Thus, even though she may have the Mother as one of her archetypes which may suit her far better in this house, she might judge herself over cautiously in her marriage and as a mother and thus be harder on herself and not find pleasures or draw out the pleasure of being a mother/wife because she thinks of herself as a hedonist in those roles. Am I over dramatizing this scenario? Possibly. But the reader should take the zodiac wheel (which the author changes slightly to better 'fit' the archetype context - another cause for concern) part of this book with a grain of salt. Barring these pitfalls, the use of archetypes to help one discover and rise to meet their spiritual contracts as well as better understand themselves is insightful as is much of this book. I believe that all readers can benefit from this book if they remember to take what they find to be true for them and leave the rest. If only 9 archetypes really fit you then allow that and don't feel like you HAVE to find 3 more. If 15 fit you, then be okay with that, too. Finally, forget about the zodiac wheel because it will give you a very limited perspective of yourself and is more likely detrimental to how you grow spiritually than anything else. And for all the work you will put into trying to understand how each archetype affects each house, you would be better off assessing where each archetype appears in your life and what you can learn from it's appearance, whether it is in it's shadow or not.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing and somewhat disappointing
Review: This author has an interesting way of looking at the world, and gives us a few hints to how to see what she sees. We are also treated to insight into the lives of various religious and political leaders of history.
That's very interesting, but aside from doing a philosophical exploration, what do I do with it? I expected a lot more guidance in finding my own "sacred contract." Maybe it's in there, but I didn't find it.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Help For Those on the Sacred Path
Review: This is an excellent book and one of the 10 best I have read in the past 5 years when I began at midlife to question the world's views of life and belief systems. I am a psychotherapist and am impressed with the way the book integrates many belief systems, mythology and psychology. No book can be the ultimate answer but it comes closer to any book I can find to attempt to integrate these areas. If it creates more questions than answers, that only makes it a better book. The day we stop questioning ourselves and our existence is the day we give up on life. Her book Anatomny of the Spirt is equally as thought-provoking and insightful. I would give anything to work with this woman professionally. I feel that we do contract before we are born, but this does not negate freewill as some reviewers have indicated. We can choose before we are born the lessons and life situations that might cross our path. This does not predestine us to how we respond and whether we even see the lesson when it pops up in our life. There are no accidents in this life. All things happen for a reason. I have attempted to research archetypes on my own and there is a wealth of information on them in this book and the examples are clear. If there are other books on archetypes that readers would reccommend I would be interested in them. This book may not be the easiest book to digest and read, but it this not Self Help 101. Even the Bible is not easy to digest and read. Nor are the writings of other yogi's. A book of this depth can be read over and over again and each time you can discover something new about yourself and the meaning and purpose of your life. Thank you Caroline for your courage to attempt a very challenging subject and for the help you give countless people though your books, seminars and readings. Blessings.
Rating: 
Summary: Categorically Confusing
Review: I went into this book with great excitement after just finishing up Singer's interpretation of Jung, which I liked much better. I decided that Sacred Contracts was not a book for me to finish reading. Although many of the reviewers who liked this book, also like the archetypal descriptions, I found these to be much too skimpy to compare with the complexity of human beings, as opposed to a storybook or a movie. Even those archetypes that I knew to associate with still left me feeling incomplete. While I wholeheartedly believe in our inner power from the Divine and a holistic approach to our lives that should include others and the earth itself, I feel that we cannot so neatly assign ourselves in succinct packages of the collective unconscious otherwise known as archetypes that this method suggests. In fact I wonder if we lose touch with mystery when we try too hard, as I felt the assignment of this book called for, to define that which is in reality indefinable; we can be in awe and acceptance of mystery and still not understand it! Yes, we need to understand our strengths and weaknesses, the latter I felt was over emphasized here, so that we can in turn be more compassionate towards others. So, rather than read this book, do something nice for someone else! You'll note that the shadow sides of these archetypes are all related to self-centeredness. One who seeks to help others avoids the trap of the shadow.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: We all have a contract with God and ourselves. And it is to be the best we can be and to show what we are, Love. This book explores one of my most favorite of topics, Spirituality. And it applies it to everyday life. Afterall, we are spirits every day. Another Spiritual book I recommend that I absolutely loved is called, "I Talked To God And He Wants To Talk To You".
Rating:
Summary: A lot of work, but you get out as much as you put in
Review: It is good to have both the audiotapes and the book on this one. Myss really pulls out the stops and gives a ton of information and instruction.
It is all fascinating. What, after all, is more interesting than looking into ourselves? But she does not give the answers, just the methods and materials we can use to explore for ourselves. It is a lot of work, but well worth the effort. We can get a truly detailed and useful picture of who we are, and how we agreed to live this life before we were born.
For some people, a little suspension of disbelief may be necessary, but that is part of the exercise. review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God
Rating: 
Summary: Very Deep
Review: This book causes you to think. Many times in our lives we are wondering why things happened as they did. Could this be an explaination?
Rating:
Summary: Feeling at home with yourself.
Review: I found Caroline Myss' "SACRED CONTRACTS" to be a warm and insightful guide to investigating one's purpose in life. Myss writes with a great generosity of heart. She describes her book as "a product of my wanting to share with people my insights about our individual and collective life purpose over nearly two decades of working with the energies of the human spirit." Myss explores the idea of archetypes, or energies, that are aspects of our personalities intricately involved in the fulfilling of our purposes. The book functions as a guide to help you identify the key archetypes in your life, so that rather than getting lost in the drama of your life, you can step back and experience yourself as more centered in the big picture. The tone is light and often playful, and Myss sprinkles her discussions with many gems, such as: "real creativity is based on a solid foundation of knowledge and discipline." Her chapter on the "Wizard of Oz" as a symbol of personal transformation is moving and mesmerizing. I had never considered the difference Dorothy made to the lives of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion before I read this chapter. Myss repeatedly underlines the importance of living in the moment: "Fulfilling your highest potential actually means acting on your highest or deepest truth each moment of your life." As an excellent companion book on your road to personal growth, I strongly recommend "WORKING ON YOURSELF DOESN'T WORK" by Ariel and Shya Kane. (Their audio CD's and tapes are brilliant as well.) This simple and practical book is an indispensable guide to living fully in the moment and discovering joy and satisfaction with a consistency beyond your wildest imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Sacred Contracts
Review: I have known my whole life that we have made a sacred contract with those that have come along our path. After learning to let the ego step aside now and then, I started figuring these contracts out and what lessons I was to learn, but Carolyn Myss comes along and puts it into laymens terms just exactly how to get there. Everyone should figure out what it was they were born to do or be, life is about RE membering.....
Rating:
Summary: Only for those ready to take action.....
Review: Carolyn Myss is a must read for any middle aged or older adult. She is witty, practical, and doesn't pull punches. Sacred contracts will help you understand your most potent relationships, and what gifts they are giving to you! You cannot ask for a more powerful tool to help you change your own perspective and made solid changes to your life and your relationships. Not only that, but Carolyn's process (Astrology, Archatypes and Spiritual Contracts) gives you a long term process that can be a life-long (or one-time) companion to deeper and deeper understanding of yourself and other people. Be sure to read "Spiritual Madness" as well, if you haven't already. Talk about validation at midlife (and even sooner!). Happy Reading.
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