Here are a few books that you might find useful in your own journey of Purpose. Taken as a list they may not seem to have a theme, however, each one brings something related directly or indirectly to the journey of Purpose discovery.
The Journey of Soul Initiation (Plotkin)
is the book that Bill Plotkin was trying to write all along, incorporating elements from Soulcraft, Nature & the Human Soul, and Wild Mind. He details the rigorous, transformative passage from a healthy ego-centered adulthood to a Soul-led existence dedicated to visionary service. An important book of personal myth, meaning-making, and psychological transformation.
Why I liked it: Plotkin’s work has always taken theory into action, and this handbook is no exception. He grounds the threshold process of Soul initiation in practices like deep nature immersion, dreamwork, fasting, and ceremonial encounters in the wild. Along the way he overlays his framework on Carl Jung’s Red Book to elucidate what Jung was going through during his “confrontation with the unconscious.”
Read if: You are a guide leading people in deeper purpose discovery and would like a map of the territory (and you know that maps are just maps). You are being called to the life adventure of the descent to Soul.
The Wild Edge Of Sorrow (Weller)
re-evaluates grief as a vital practice for emotional health, spiritual depth, and communal bond. By welcoming our pain through sacred ritual and communal support, we unlock our capacity for profound joy, connection, and renewal.
Why I liked it: Weller broadens the definition of grief far beyond death, mapping out five distinct sources that we often carry silently. It highlights that grief was never meant to be carried alone. It offers rituals to be with our grief in a new way, and come into a healing relationship with it.
Read if: You’re carrying the weight of grief from personal loss. Whether it's a death, a relationship end, a lost dream, environmental distress, or a lingering sense of disconnection, this book validates feelings that society tells you to "get over." You work in a caring profession, and want to serve your clients better.
The Vital Spark (Marchiano)
explores how cultural conditioning compels women to hide their power, ambition, and defiance under layers of niceness and compliance. Drawing on fairy tales, archetypal characters, and stories from the consulting room, readers learn what it looks like to reclaim eight banished “outlaw energies,” and regain psychological wholeness.
Why I liked it: Working with many women in my practice, this book helps me to understand more of the typically feminine journey, and how my clients may be experiencing it. It reframes traits typically seen as negative as important survival tools. It points to the importance of integrating these traits along the path of human development.
Read if: You suspect that you may need different strategies to deal with life’s situations. You struggle to say “no” or you feel like you’ve lost your spark. You reject the patriarchy and want to prioritize living in your own wholeness.
Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life (Hollis)
turns our society’s perspective upside down by repositioning the challenging middle of life malaise as not a crisis to be avoided or ignored, but a necessary calling for us to dismantle our dangerous and harmful self-beliefs from our first half of life, and to find and live a greater purpose. Written by the famous Jungian analyst James Hollis, he invites us to shift and widen our perspective to understand what meaning is trying to flow through us and into our lives.
Why I liked it: It reframes our challenge, anxiety, depression, etc. not as failures but as necessary steps to us living an integrated and meaningful life. He adds insight into the 2 halves of life, the first focused on building an ego, establishing a career, and fitting in, and the second focused on depth, meaning, and becoming who you actually are.
Read if: You find yourself in the middle of your life starting to ask the bigger questions. You want to stop living for others. You suspect you might be in the middle of a larger psychological transition.
Braiding Sweetgrass (Kimmerer)
demonstrates that the ecological crisis is at it’s root a misunderstanding of relationship. Addressing the climate catastrophe must be done on the relational level with Earth. Integrating scientific knowledge with indigenous wisdom, her stories show that gratitude and reciprocity is at the core of healing our broken relationship with Earth, and steering ourselves toward a more sustainable way of life.
Why I liked it: Her storytelling is beautiful, making this a powerful and emotional read, that had me feeling hopeful.
Read if: You like naturalist writing and enjoy learning about the wonders of the Earth. You want to deepen your own relationship with the Earth, focusing on gratitude and reciprocity. You like sharing incredible books with future generations by reading to them.
The Myth of Normal (Maté)
holds that what our modern society considers "normal" behavior and health is actually profoundly abnormal and toxic to human biology. Chronic stress, unaddressed trauma, and societal isolation directly manifest as physical illness and psychological suffering. Knowing this helps offer an alternative and effective roadmap for individual and collective healing.
Why I liked it: It focuses on mind-body connection and how emotions directly impact our physiological wellbeing. Taking a more holistic look at Trauma to include subtle, everyday instances where our basic human safety is threatened was refreshing. I liked the reframe of mental illness and addiction as not purely personal character flaws or genetic determination, but as adaptive responses to a culture that fails to meet our basic needs.
Read if: You deal personally (or with others) with chronic illness or anxiety. You are a parent, doctor, or caregiver who wants to understand how early childhood shapes longterm physiology. You want understand the deep biological link and draw a better connection between suppressed feelings/emotions, nervous system regulation, physical symptoms. You feel “alienated” by modern culture.
Dream Wise (Marchiano, Stewart, Lee)
demystifies the art of Jungian dream analysis by teaching readers how to treat dreams as urgent, and significant messages from the unconscious Self. Through a clear framework they show how dream symbols and emotional themes provide access to hidden psychological shadow and genuine inner guidance.
Why I liked it: The methods are practical and offers a solid process for unpacking personal meaning from dreams. The 67 “keys” are helpful reference tools to apply to any dream. The examples of real dreams from the clinical setting is useful to see how dreamwork can augment personal discovery.
Read if: You feel stuck in your waking life and want to try a new method of self inquiry. You want to start exploring messages from your unconsious. You are drawn to depth psychology and symbolic meaning. (Caution: some of the method strays from Soul-centric dream tending, and can become over-analytical if you let it.)
Ishmael (Quinn)
is told as a socratic dialogue examining the hidden cultural assumptions and illusions driving global environmental crisis. Quinn explores how humanity has fallen under a dangerous delusion (that the world was created specifically for us to conquer) and how we must rewrite our story to survive.
Why I liked it: It blew my mind, and gave me a new perspective with which to challenge everything I’d been told by industrial civilization. It’s a beautiful fictional teaching book that’s easy to read. It reveals how deeply embedded the story of human dominance is in everything from theology to modern economics.
Read if: You enjoy intellectual and philosophical fiction. You are concerned about climate and ecology, and wonder why modern human societies struggle to live sustainably.
The Smell of Rain on Dust (Prechtel)
puts forth the idea that grief is a form of love. Grief is the totally natural and expected expression of our love for what we have lost. In this beautiful book Prechtel argues that unexpressed grief is the underlying contributor to violence, addiction, and apathy. Learning to grieve is an important and necessary skill for our lives, helping to revitalize the cultures, communities, and societies we are a part of.
Why I liked it: I liked the radical idea that to grieve deeply for something is to honor its beauty, making the expression of our sorrow a form of deep reverence. It offers a compelling explanation for modern societal dysfunction, showing the dangers of suppressed grief.
Read if: You are experiencing persistent grief (small or large). You want to turn to ancient wisdom to renew your perspective on grief. You are seeking authentic ritual, and want to experience the passage of grief in a society that tries to ignore, downplay, and disown grief.
