Close to the Bone. Jean Shinoda Bolen
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Praise for the First Edition of Close to the Bone
“This is the book I needed when my daughter was sick. It would have helped me through it, like a map of the underworld. Myths, stories, prayer, touching, visualization, rituals, and especially love are some of the tools and wisdom that this extraordinary book gives us. Thank you, Jean.”
—Isabel Allende
“Jean Shinoda Bolen moves far beyond ordinary notions of medicine, treatment, and even suffering to place illness within a human framework. When you are sick, read pages from this book to be reminded that you and your illness are full of soul.”
—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul
“A finely polished mirror for the healing heart and body. An important statement of theories and practices which have aided many in the course of their illness and recovery.”
—Stephen Levine, author of Who Dies?
“This book can be a companion to anyone in physical or mental pain or crisis.”
—Louise L. Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life
“Beautifully written…Anyone affected by a serious illness will find Close to the Bone a wise and warm companion.”
—New Age Journal
“Simple and straightforward…this book probes beneath, urging the reader to plumb the depths and then return to the surface.”
—Houston Chronicle
“Jean Shinoda Bolen has created a poetic rhythm that will uplift the spirit and soul. This is a deep, powerful, and gentle book, in which Dr. Bolen masterfully discusses the search for meaning as well as the power of prayer and angels.”
—Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., founder, Center for Attitudinal Healing
“Dr. Bolen sees with an insightful eye into the true meaning of healing. A compelling and compassionate book!”
——Marion Woodman, co-author of Dancing in the Flames
“Richly probing…A skillful assemblage of views on the harrowing experience of physical illness and mental dissociation from which we can and may emerge with a new clarity about who we are and what we want our lives to be.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The great teacher is our mortality. Let this book be a guide to your feelings and enlightenment. There are no exceptions, we are all mortal. Accept that—read this book and live a fuller, healthier, more meaningful life.”
——Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine and Miracles
BOOKS BY JEAN SHINODA BOLEN, M.D.
The Tao of Psychology
Goddesses in Everywoman
Gods in Everyman
Ring of Power
Crossing to Avalon
The Millionth Circle
Goddesses in Older Women
Crones Don't Whine
Urgent Message from Mother
This edition first published in 2007 by
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
500 Third Street, Suite 230
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.redwheelweiser.com
Copyright © 1996, 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Originally published in 1996 by Scribners, ISBN: 0–684–82237–7
Excerpts from “The Dry Salvages” and “Little Gidding” in Four Quartets, copyright 1943 by T. S. Eliot and renewed 1971 by Esme Valerie Eliot, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company and Faber and Faber Ltd.
“Descent of Inanna,” poetry excerpts from Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery by Starhawk. Copyright © 1987 by Miriam Simos. Used by permission of HarperCollinsPublishers.
“All This Joy,” words and music by John Denver. Copyright © 1988 Cherry Mountain Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Excerpt from Angels in America, Part I: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner. Copyright © 1992, 1993 Tony Kushner. Used by permission of the Theater Communications Group.
ISBN-10: 1–57324–303–5
ISBN-13: 978–1–57324–303–2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bolen, Jean Shinoda.
Close to the bone: life-threatening illness as a soul journey / Jean Shinoda Bolen. — Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57324-303-5 (alk. paper)
1. Sick--Psychology I. Title.
R726.5.B65 2007
616--dc22
2006034185
Cover and text design by Donna Linden
Typeset in Minion and Trajan
Cover photograph © Lilypons Water Gardens
Lotus illustration by Jean Shinoda Bolen
Printed in Canada
TCP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The lotus is a symbol of soul development because it rises through and above muddy waters to bloom, inspiring the Eastern saying, Out of the mud grows the lotus. A lotus is an appropriate symbol for the soul journey taken by people who are plunged into the depths by a diagnosis that then becomes a turning point for spiritual and physical healing.
CONTENTS
1 Close to the Bone: Illness and the Soul