by Dr. Peter B. Raabe
(raabe@interchange.ubc.ca)
I must admit that I came to this book,
"Dreams of Wholeness," with two
hasty assumptions. The first was based on the
title and the cover art
work. I assumed it was going to be a book
steeped in "New Age"
mysticism, or filled with a profusion of
pseudo-psychological/spiritual
jargon. And because of my analytical training, I
was prepared to find
the book difficult to read and comprehend. The
second assumption was
based on my previous but limited acquaintance
with Freud and Jung. In
the past I learned enough about their theories
of the unconscious to
find neither terribly convincing. To date I have
felt no great need to
pursue either of them with any more vigour. At
first glance this book
seemed to be a defense of both theories, and I
therefore assumed that it
would prove to be a chore to finish. I'm happy
to report that both my
assumptions were wrong.
I found "Dreams of Wholeness" a
pleasure to read. Rather than
dividing the book into chapters, Palmquist has
offered his reader a
total of 36 lectures which, in the end, form a
very satisfying circle.
The writing is clear and understandable, without
the "ethereal"
terminology often found in "dream"
books that can set a more
scientifically oriented mind on edge. The book
is rich with detailed
information, and offers some very
thought-provoking insights on both
philosophy, psychology, and religion, but
remains temperate enough for
undergraduates and non-academics to comprehend.
For example, the
question of whether a psychotherapist offers
"friendship on demand"
(lecture 30) is a combination of information
(citing Peck, Freud,
Jung, Moore, and others), insight
("friendship-in-conversation is
actually the essence of good philosophy."
[234]), and temperance ("The
reason for this should become more clear if we
picture the soul as being
like a giant vat containing both love and
hate" [233]).
I also found the discussion of both Freud's and
Jung's theories to be
less of a defense and much more of an invitation
to see them in a new
light. The detailed yet succinct discussion of
the development and
content of both theories stands not only as an
excellent starting point
on the way to an understanding of both the men
and their thinking, but
can also serve as a useful reference source for
students in religion,
psychology, and counseling. There is a delicate
balance between detail
and holism, and between inquiry and overview
which serves to inform both
theories from multiple perspectives. The many
diagrams sprinkled
throughout the text serve as helpful visual aids
to understanding. The
glossary at the end of book also comes in handy.
Palmquist offers his book as a combination of
theory and practice. He
illuminates what seems to be a reflection of the
changing mind-set of
the times in the theories of Freud and Jung:
Freud seems much more the
pre-twentieth-century, modern man whose theory
is founded exclusively on
the reductionist, materialist, anti-religious,
scientific perspective,
while Jung is clearly more of a post-modern man
who thinks in a more
holistic and inclusive manner that allows for,
and perhaps even
legitimizes, the subjective and the spiritual.
While attending to the
theory, Palmquist simultaneously coaches the
student reader in the
recording and psychological interpretation of
personal dreams to guide
them on the path of their own development. This
book then is both a
lesson and a guide.
I have three points I would like to make by way
of criticism: first, I
would suggest that the book have an index.
Although I am an avid
underliner, I'm often unable to locate from
memory that one particular
underline I would like to find.
Second, I find the issue of the questionable
similarity between
psychotherapy and prostitution a somewhat
irrelevant excursion. The
concept of payment for services rendered applies
to a multitude of
helping professions, none of which agonize over
the issue of whether
their paid professionals ought to be considered
either a friend or a
prostitute in relation to their clients.
Furthermore, the mention of
the coincidence that the word
"therapist" can be separated into "the
rapist" is also an unnecessary diversion
which fails to acknowledge the
etymology of "therapy" as located in
the Greek words "therapeia"
(service) and "therapeuein" (to be an
attendant).
My third criticism concerns Palmquist's
adaptation of Jung's theory of
depth psychology to his agenda of self-discovery
within the framework of
Christianity, and in order to make it more
palatable to his modern, or I
should say post-modern, students. Palmquist
suggests that Jung calls
for a variety of disparate interpretations of
both the elements of his
theory of the unconscious and its application to
dream interpretation.
But it seems to me that by announcing so many
caveats and provisos
Palmquist has watered down Jung's theory to the
point of leaving it
terminally contingent. By this I mean that he
has left me seeing Jung's
theory as offering no conclusive stance, no
solid foundation from which
to proceed. It seems as though any and all
interpretations of the
waking or dreaming self can be justified if the
elements of Jung's
theory are in fact as nebulous and mercurially
interpretable as they
seem in this book. Jung's theory seems to be
vulnerable to the
criticism of the "theory" of
post-modernism which says that, because
post-modernism includes all, there is no theory.
In Jung's case, if any
interpretation of a life or a dream is
acceptable under his theory, then
there is no theory. And if this is the case then
I feel that my
initial, though meagerly informed, opinion and
subsequent rejection of
it was indeed justified.
As a philosophical counselor, I find this book
useful in that it has
granted me a better understanding of depth
psychology as it was
expressed by its two greatest proponents. It has
also given me a better
insight into relationships, both mundane and
spiritual, and allowed me
to appreciate an approach to spiritual
self-development grounded in
reason. I highly recommend this book for both
its informative content
clarity.