Mary Harrell unflinchingly greets a cast of imaginal figures who inhabit her life,
and encourages all of us to welcome their wisdom into our own inner
landscapes. These very real beings dwell in a realm between matter (nature)
and mind (reason), appearing in dreams, intuitive callings, visions, feelings,
and sometimes frightening events. Mary offers her own intimate experiences
through which she explores and engages these figures, showing her readers
how to host these beings as one would host invited guests. From the work of
philosopher Henry Corbin, psychiatrist C. G. Jung, and psychologist James
Hillman, we know that the name of the realm in which these figures dwell is
the "mundus imaginalis," or the imaginal world. As this is a work in which
archetypes are grounded in experience, "Imaginal Figures In Everyday
Life: Stories from the World between Matter and Mind" is both a path to
individual transformation and, in the words of psychologist Robert
Romanyshyn, "a therapy of culture."
Mary Harrell, Ph.D., a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist and New York licensed
psychologist, received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with Emphasis in Depth
Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California. She is
Curriculum and Instruction Associate Professor Emeritus at State University of New
York (SUNY) at Oswego. While at the university she taught education and psychology
courses and served as Professional Development Schools (PDS) specialist, supporting
the National PDS initiative, which builds bridges between elementary and secondary
schools and the university's School of Education. Her writings in the areas of
educational reform, and imaginal psychology appear in four invited chapters in
edited books. In 2014 Mary's poetry was anthologized in Syracuse
University's "The Stone Canoe, a Journal of Arts, Literature and Social Commentary,
No. 8." She lives with her husband, Stephen, in South Carolina.