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"This, I felt, is the best way to consider the soul--to be stopped in almost every page by an intriguing image that sustains the mystery but at the same time reveals something that words cannot express," writes Thomas Moore in the introduction to his illustrated edition of Care of the Soul. To this end, Moore has inarguably succeeded. For example, when discussing Jung's version of the shadow, Moore writes, "The person we choose to be automatically creates a dark double--the person we choose not to be." On the opposite page he places Edvard Munch's painting titled Puberty, showing a stark- eyed, naked girl, covering herself in modesty, as her shadow looms large behind her. Later, when Moore writes, "We can bridge the gap between the sacred church and the secular world by occasionally ritualizing the everyday things we do," he uses Johannes Vermeer van Delft's portrait of The Lacemaker to stitch the two worlds together.

It is Moore's hope that readers recognize their souls in the realm of everyday humanity, rather than distancing themselves with disrespect or lack of awareness. Ironically, he now brings readers closer to their souls through the human and mysterious realm of art--a feat that adds greater meaning and purpose to an already profound and satisfying work. --Gail Hudson [via]