Squaring the Circle (Revised and Expanded Edition)

Download or read book Squaring the Circle (Revised and Expanded Edition) written by Ryan Mills and published by Dorrance Publishing. This book was released on 2017-02-14 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Squaring the Circle (Revised and Expanded Edition) by Ryan Mills In the alchemical tradition of Medieval and Renaissance Europe, “squaring the circle” referred to the final stage of the alchemical process—the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone, a substance that could supposedly transmute lead into gold. But alchemy was more than just a pseudo-scientific pursuit aimed at amassing material wealth. In fact, according to the Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung, the alchemical process with its various stages is best understood as a symbolic representation of what Jung termed individuation, or the journey toward wholeness of personality that each of us is called upon to undertake. In his generous collection of poetry, Squaring the Circle, Ryan Mills brings together four carefully structured texts, each of which represents a stage in his own journey toward wholeness. Drawing upon influences that range from Jungian psychology to Buddhism, from ancient mythology to modern detective fiction, Mills wrestles with himself and with the stories, traditions and systems of thought that have inspired him. This revised and expanded edition of Squaring the Circle contains over twenty new poems, as well as revised versions of a number of poems.