The Planets Within

Jungian psychoanalyst Thomas Moore, a kind wizard and knowledgeable scholar, creates a bridge through five centuries with this book — and introduces us to the most remarkable psychologist who lived long before the twentieth century. This is Marsilio Ficino, philosopher, magician, and healer of the soul, founder and head of the Platonic Academy, spiritual mentor of the Compagnia dei Magi, the society of the Magi. It was his methods that allowed the legendary geniuses of the Renaissance to achieve outstanding, unparalleled results in many fields of science and art. And the secret of Ficino is not in exhausting training, incredible motivation, or strict daily routines. One must skillfully and evenly nourish one's soul, nurturing its strength until the complex becomes simple, the heavy becomes light, and the unbearable becomes divine.
Ficino's planetary psychology has not become outdated — on the contrary, humanity itself has outdated with its Saturnian rationalism, hypochondriacal concern for the body, architecture reminiscent of graves, the power of the elders, and fear of death. And Thomas Moore here acts as Hermes, a guide, showing modern man this ancient, noble path to the immortal, divine youth of the soul.