Some things never change; and the effect of the parental image in the life of each individual has ever been the basis upon which we develop relationships with other people, with a vocation, and with the physical and spiritual realms of life. This image derives its deep resonance from a connection back through personal experience to the collective layer of the psyche and the history of human experience. This book explores the various stages of maturation and the challenges faced by each person who seeks authentic independence. Adulthood is hard-won, the work of heroes. Dr. Harding describes in depth the task of each level of development as we venture into the world and create a life. Using the ancient Babylonian creation legend (the Enuma Elish) to illustrate her overview of the process, and demonstrating this process with modern case material, the author makes it clear that this struggle has always been both necessary and liberating. Thanks to Inner City for offering a new edition of this much-loved classic of Jungian psychology. M. Esther Harding, M.D., was trained at the London School of Medicine for Women and the University of London, England. She began working with C.G. Jung in 1922, and soon after became the first Jungian analyst to practice in New York City. She was a founding member of both the Analytical Psychology Club of New York and the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York, and a patron of the Jung Institute in Zurich. Her other well-known works are The Way of All Women , Woman's Mysteries , The I and the Not-I and Psychic Energy . She died in 1971. | 
