Freeing the Soul from Fear [Hardcover]

Sardello calls this presence "the double" following the lead from literature. We are being told that a new presence is in the world that is not reducible to external "causes" but is nonetheless very real and influencing the actions of our children. The only way to perceive this presence of Fear is through the organ of the soul and everything Sardello says in his book can only be understood if the reader accepts an "epistemology of the soul" that is to say, the imagination as a legitimate way of knowing the world. By the way, this way of knowing reigned supreme until the Age of Science which systematically sought to excise any shred of imagination from observation on the false grounds that it was merely subjective.

If the reader can accept the reality of the soul as a way of knowing the world objectively-once the method of observation has been learned of course, as in science-then the problems facing us today in our lives yield to astonishing and fresh insight in this book.

This book is about Fear in the world and the organ of the soul teaches us that this Fear is an autonomous presence in the world, invisibly influencing even determining events in the world. Sardello's approach, rooted in his Spiritual Psychology concludes that modern therapies search fruitlessly for psychological causes to this fear, as rooted in experiences in the past (p.151ff). Instead we need to perceive Fear as actual presence in the world which can enter us and affect our body and senses, as he describes in great detail in the first chapters of the book. The way to deal with Fear according to Sardello is to become conscious of how it affects us now, rather than to seek causes in the past. We can become so conscious if we can exercise and develop the capacities of the human soul.

This book is concerned with fear and Sardello does not shrink from giving us the facts about fear according to the epistemology of the soul. This also makes difficult and yet necessary reading. Yet, none of this "facing reality" is intended merely to frighten or to sensationalize. On the contrary, I understand the whole premise of the book to be that Fear is in the world as a necessary agent to wake us up to the profound absence of Love in the world today. Once woken up, we no longer need to continually feed our fears. Instead Sardello gives throughout the book, systematic meditative exercises designed to strengthen the capacity of the soul to love. As Sardello says Love casts out Fear.

So this book, which does not flinch from describing the reality of a fear-filled world is after all primarily a book of Love, teaching us how to develop the capacity of love for the sake of a world bereft of love. Fear then becomes a strange and disturbing visitor who brings us the important news that we must bend to the task of creating Love for the sake of our future on this earth.

Sardello's new book is the kind you must buy two of: one to keep safely on the bookshelf for your own pleasure, and one to lend your friends.

In Freeing the Soul From Fear, Sardello carefully explores the fragmenting effects of fear and describes how we might meet it with its only antidote -- love. Sardello, whose perspective grows from a 20-year practice as a depth psychologist, maintains that the real power of fear lives in our wish to avoid it. By repressing our fear, we give it power to take hold.

There is a gentle quality about the book, as the author takes a fresh look at love; introduces a strange, fear-based behavior called "doubling"; and weaves in the unearthly ideas of anthroposophist Rudolph Steiner.

Sardello's premise is that the soul is not an entity but a capacity, and freeing it involves participating in fear, not naively, but with the greatest intensity of consciousness and attention we are able to muster.

The ability to raise good questions is also one of Sardello's gifts. In his previous book, Love and the Soul, one question he asks is, How can I love you in a way that frees you? In this book, he explores questions that range from interesting (How do we love the unpleasant aspects of another person?), to difficult (What does consciousness consist of?), and those that are nearly unanswerable (Why are we here?).

A chapter on artistic living reminds readers that bringing the arts into our lives integrates the physical with soul and spirit. Musicians, writers, and artists, who work toward truth in a bodily way, show us that our feelings are not our possessions: the colors and sounds of an average day are loaded with feeling. Poets show us how to "jump into the abyss of not knowing, and there let language come to us and speak through us."

Sardello chaired the psychology department at the University of Dallas and co-founded the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, where he worked closely with James Hillman and Thomas Moore in the 1980s.

In 1993, Sardello co-founded the School of Spiritual Psychology, which offers courses throughout the U.S., Canada, and England, and can be reached at spiritualpsyche@mindspring.com.

Sheridan Hill, a freelance writer in North Carolina, can be reached at sheridanhill@mindspring.com