{"product_id":"the-serpent-and-the-staff-ronald-schenk-9781685035143","title":"The Serpent and the Staff\/ The Mermaid and the Diver: Stalking the Roots of Psychoanalysis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWithin a field which ostensibly aims its focus on the unknowability of a realm below the surface, the unconscious, but which continues its tradition of basing itself in a rational mode \"above ground,\" ego consciousness, this book aims to \"stalk the roots\" of the psychoanalytic enterprise in a ground breaking manner. The goal is to bring to light foundational ancestors and agencies, invisible principles and ways of seeing, underlying attitudes and structures which make up the core of the analytic mind in its approach to the question, what heals? It starts with the ancient art of alchemy which integrates theory and practice, worker and worked upon, and moves from there to illustrate the nature of language as an undercurrent in the flow of the healing process. Ritual and myth serve as guides into the core inter-relational nature of the psyche, as a \"wilderness of mirrors,\" and finally \u003cem\u003epathos\u003c\/em\u003e, experience itself in its essential leaning toward chaos. is presented as the psyche's \"matter\" being worked upon in the analytical mode. In short, \"Stalking...\" intends toward opening the vision of a field which daily grapples with the darkest \"underworldly\" aspects of the human soul, towards its \u003cem\u003eur\u003c\/em\u003e, originary, \u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003edepth and breadth. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter One - Alchemical Awakening: the Initial Mess \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Two - Hands in the Mess: \u003cem\u003ePrima materia\u003c\/em\u003e in Psychoanalysis \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Three - Rhetoric and Therapy \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Four - Ritual as Healer: Return to Origins \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Five - Myth as Guide: Wound as Healer \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Six - Gnostic Myth as Dream \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Seven - Self\/Other: The Infinite Wilderness of Mirrors \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Eight - The Fiery Furnace\/The Sacred Bath \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Nine - Slipping into the Swamp \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Ten - Psychopathology I: A Double Vision \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter Eleven - Psychopathology II: The Soul as Borderline \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBibliography \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ronald Schenk\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1685035140\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781685035143\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Chiron Publications\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/09\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.04lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d","brand":"Ronald Schenk","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47072300728575,"sku":"9781685035143","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e2b4b88d-b786-4341-b661-49599baf5741.jpg?v=1753416395","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-serpent-and-the-staff-ronald-schenk-9781685035143","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}