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Rating: 
Summary: Profound Anatomy
Review: As a practicing clinical psychologist, I want to offer my positive critique of this important work. Edinger, as one of the two primary and most influential students of Jung--until his death in 1998--displays here his thorough knowledge of alchemy, mythology, and Jung's teachings (as I and many others understand them). In his progressive explication of the alchemical stages of development he not only educates the reader about the alchemists' understanding of their own work, he uses their writings and images as a way to understand the human psyche. In doing this he not only gave me insight into my treatment of my clients, his wisdom helped me to understand myself and my dreams in a new and significant way. Furthermore, even as a skeptic, I am able to make use of his psycho-spiritual interpretations, for they are about the growth of human consciousness and the essential nature of maturity, theoretical and practical. I recommend this important work to anyone who desires a deeper, enrichened awareness of the nature of the human psyche as well as the development of consciousness--as seen through an alchemical metaphor.
Rating: 
Summary: A very sloppy book, full of errors.
Review: Edinger continues the distortion of the Jungian theory he is said to subscribe to. According to Edinger the ego and its consciousness should be developed by "incarnating" the archetypes including the Self. Subsequently, according to him, the personal ego is made eternal and takes its place among "the eternal images in the Platonic sphere" as a new archetype. (Edinger, "Anatomy of the Psyche" ch."Sublimatio": "It seems to imply that consciousness achieved by individuals becomes a permanent addition to the archetypal psyche".)All this certainly has no place in Jungian psychology. This is some kind of strange religion. In order to amplify his views he does many serious errors in the interpretation of alchemical symbology, dreams and myths. Here is an example: (ch."Coagulatio") "In India or Ceylon there is supposed to exist a deep valley of diamonds, infested with deadly serpents. In order to acquire the diamonds pieces of flesh are thrown into the valley. The diamonds adhere to the flesh, and vultures carry the flesh back to the top of the gorge where they are retrieved. " (Edinger's interpretation:) The essential feature of the story is that diamonds adhere to flesh. We have here, I think, a tantalizing glimpse into the meaning of egohood." (My comment:) This is an absurd interpretation. The flesh according to Edinger is in some way the same as the diamonds which are carried away by the vultures but in this way are retrieved at the same time as they are removed by the vultures which suddenly appeared. An then he draws the conclusion that it's a coagulation myth since the flesh suddenly is diamonds. But this is not a "quaint" myth as he puts it. It is the same old archetypal story behind it. The flesh that is thrown to the snakes is the flesh sacrifice of traditional cultures which signifies the offering of the desires that adheres to the human flesh. One offers something that one really desires for the ego. But this entails that psychic libido ends up in the unconscious, the realm of the snakes. The object of desire is repressed and ends up in the unconscious. What is typical then is that the unconscious "comes to life" under the observing consciousness and the snakes which are psychic complexes acquire wings and become vultures. The vulture too has a snake-like neck. When the snakes become birds this means that they become spiritual and can be integrated with consciousness. Then the diamond can be harvested, which is a symbol of the self or godlike qualities in the unconscious. The reason why the diamond can be reached now is that the snakes, i.e the complexes are no longer in the way. There exists a free path to the collective unconscious which is the horn of plenty. So Edinger is also wrong when naming it a coagulation myth. It is a calcinatio and solutio myth since it talks about making spirits of complexes. (Coagulatio does the reverse, namely concretizing spirits.) This is only one example of the sloppy and erroneos nature of this book. Don't buy it - it will only lead you astray. There is much better literature in this field.
Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to a fascinating subject
Review: If I had my time over again I would read these three books on alchemy in the following order: All of them are excellent in their own sphere to introduce a complex process. (1) The Forge and the Crucible - Eliade
This is an excellent prehistory of alchemy showing the patterns of thought out of which Alchemy most probably arose. An easy read. (2) Anatomy of the Soul - Edinger
Set out according to seven processes involved in alchemy Calcinatio, Solutio, Coagulatio, Sublimatio, Mortificatio, Separatio, Coniunctio, this is an accessible book that puts each process in reasonably neat boxes, (though the considerable overlap and intermingling is acknowledged). The approach is somewhat mechanical. (3) Alchemy, an Introduction... - Von Franz.
More 'organic' than Edinger, Von Franz has a very warm and human touch. She deals with the origins of alchemy in Egypt and Greece and delves into the 'Aurora Consurgens', attributed to Aquinas. She includes relevent and interesting case material. Being a transcription of lectures, it is a little haphazard, though none the less informative for that.
Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to a fascinating subject
Review: If I had my time over again I would read these three books on alchemy in the following order: All of them are excellent in their own sphere to introduce a complex process. (1) The Forge and the Crucible - Eliade
This is an excellent prehistory of alchemy showing the patterns of thought out of which Alchemy most probably arose. An easy read. (2) Anatomy of the Soul - Edinger
Set out according to seven processes involved in alchemy Calcinatio, Solutio, Coagulatio, Sublimatio, Mortificatio, Separatio, Coniunctio, this is an accessible book that puts each process in reasonably neat boxes, (though the considerable overlap and intermingling is acknowledged). The approach is somewhat mechanical. (3) Alchemy, an Introduction... - Von Franz.
More 'organic' than Edinger, Von Franz has a very warm and human touch. She deals with the origins of alchemy in Egypt and Greece and delves into the 'Aurora Consurgens', attributed to Aquinas. She includes relevent and interesting case material. Being a transcription of lectures, it is a little haphazard, though none the less informative for that.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This book is simply superb. Edinger is a master of his field. As a Jungian analyst who teaches Jungian psychology at all levels, I have found this book the best intermediate-level text for studying what Jung's psychology is about and how the process of psychotherapy actually works. Edinger's prose is clear and concise and examples abound. The book is thorough, readable, and an absolutely accurate description of the role of alchemical symbols in personal growth.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This book is simply superb. Edinger is a master of his field. As a Jungian analyst who teaches Jungian psychology at all levels, I have found this book the best intermediate-level text for studying what Jung's psychology is about and how the process of psychotherapy actually works. Edinger's prose is clear and concise and examples abound. The book is thorough, readable, and an absolutely accurate description of the role of alchemical symbols in personal growth.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This is an excellent resource for those already familiar with Jung's work, and I agree with a previous reviewer that it should be considered an intermediate-level text. I disagree with another reviewer who slams this book because of its spiritual connotations and because of disagreements on specific interpretations. Allow me to comment as yet another practicing therapist in this set of reviews. My personal experience of this book is that nearly every page stimulated further insight into my own life and the lives of my clients, and any book that does that warrants 5 stars. How could anybody conclude otherwise? Well, there is a percentage of people who are very troubled by the many spiritual or metaphysical implications of Jung's works, and they often present very narrow views about what Analytical Psychology is and how it works. That seems ironic for such a highly interpretive theory and system. Personally, I am not troubled in the least by those implications for I am convinced that Jung was not only aware of them, he actively explored them himself. If you are in the nay-sayers camp then you are not going to like everything about Edinger's work. On the other hand, if you are open to such implications, or if you can merely overlook them and translate words like "God" into something more human and scientific, then you should find this book a useful addition to Jungian studies of alchemy and psychotherapy. It's important to further consider the entire matter of interpretation. It's true that on many counts I might have differed with Edinger on how to interpret various images and passages. As I pointed out before, Analytical Psychology is nothing without freedom of interepretation. There are no hard and fast equations to follow in decoding the symbolism of dreams and myth, though Jung has provided us with some powerful guidelines and tools. If I recall correctly, Edinger even points out that more than one alchemical operation can be seen at work within the same symbolism. Still, he clearly trusts his own experience, insights, and feelings, and has integrated them with the host theory in a way that is open and flexible enough that others can find it very stimulating and applicable.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another therapist likes it!
Review: This would be a valuable text for anyone working with the Jungian model of alchemy, but I'll echo the view that it is not exactly a beginner's book. If you're new to this kind of work, a good place to start would be Calvin Hall's Primer of Jungian Psychology.
Excellent companions to Anatomy would be Jung on Active Imagination, edited by Chodorow, and Jung's own Memories, Dreams and Reflections, or Man and His Symbols.
Edinger's book would also be a smart buy for anyone practicing pathworking or other spiritual techniques that make extensive use of imagination. If this is your thing, another great companion text would be Alchemy & Mysticism: the Hermetic Museum, by Roob. That book is a peerless collection of alchemical images. Occult Psychology (one of my personal favorites), by Alta J. LaDage, would also be a very natural fit.
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