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Richard Theodore Tarnas is a cultural historian and astrologer known for his books '' The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View'' and '' Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View''. Tarnas is professor of philosophy and
psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is the founding director of its graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness.


Biography

Tarnas' father, also named Richard Tarnas, worked as a government contract attorney, former president of the Michigan Federal Bar Association, and professor of law. His mother, Mary Louise, was a teacher and homemaker. The eldest of eight children, he grew up in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, where he studied Greek, Latin, and the Classics at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. In 1968 Tarnas entered
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, graduating with an A.B. ''cum laude'' in 1972. He received his Ph.D. from
Saybrook Institute Saybrook University is a private university in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1971 by Eleanor Camp Criswell and others. It offers postgraduate education with a focus on humanistic psychology. It features low residency, master's, a ...
in 1976 with a thesis on psychedelic therapy. In 1974 Tarnas went to Esalen in California to study
psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...
with
Stanislav Grof Stanislav "Stan" Grof is a Czech-born psychiatrist who has been living in the United States since the 1960s. Grof is one of the principal developers of transpersonal psychology and research into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness ...
. From 1974 to 1984 he lived and worked at
Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education. The institute played a key role in the Human Potenti ...
in
Big Sur, California Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California between Carmel Highlands, California, Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the ...
, teaching and studying with Grof,
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
,
Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. His writings include ''Steps to ...
,
Huston Smith Huston Cummings Smith (May 31, 1919 – December 30, 2016) was an influential scholar of religious studies in the United States, He authored at least thirteen books on world's religions and philosophy, and his book about comparative religion, ' ...
, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, and James Hillman. He also served as Esalen's director of programs and education.
Jeffrey Kripal Jeffrey John Kripal (born 1962) is an American college professor. He is the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University in Houston, Texas. His work includes the study of comparative erotics and ethics in myst ...
characterizes Tarnas as both the literal and figurative gate-keeper of Esalen. From 1980 to 1990, Tarnas wrote '' The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View'', a narrative history of Western thought which became a
bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, co ...
and remained in use in universities . The book was highly acclaimed by
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
,
Huston Smith Huston Cummings Smith (May 31, 1919 – December 30, 2016) was an influential scholar of religious studies in the United States, He authored at least thirteen books on world's religions and philosophy, and his book about comparative religion, ' ...
,
Stanislav Grof Stanislav "Stan" Grof is a Czech-born psychiatrist who has been living in the United States since the 1960s. Grof is one of the principal developers of transpersonal psychology and research into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness ...
, John E. Mack,
Stanley Krippner Stanley Krippner (born October 4, 1932) is an American psychologist and parapsychologist. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1954 and M.A. (1957) and Ph.D. (1961) degrees from Northwestern University. From ...
,
Georg Feuerstein Georg Feuerstein (27 May 1947 – 25 August 2012) was a German Indologist specializing in the philosophy and practice of Yoga. Feuerstein authored over 30 books on mysticism, Yoga, Tantra, and Hinduism. He translated, among other traditional t ...
, David Steindl-Rast, John Sculley, Robert A. McDermott, Jeffrey Hart, Gary Lachman, and others. Tarnas is the founding director of the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), where he remains a core faculty member . Tarnas' second book, ''Prometheus the Awakener'', published in 1995, focuses on the astrological properties of the planet
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...
, describing "the uncanny way astrological patterns appear to coincide with events or destiny patterns in the lives of both individuals and societies". Tarnas suggests that the characteristics associated with the
mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
figure Uranus do not match the astrological properties of the planet Uranus, and that a more appropriate identification would involve the mythological figure Prometheus. In 2006, Tarnas published his third book, '' Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View''. It claims that the major events of Western cultural history correlate consistently and meaningfully with the observed angular positions of the planets. The book received favorable reviews in '' Tikkun'' magazine, in an
anthroposophical Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...
journal, and in the web magazine ''Reality Sandwich'' (by Daniel Pinchbeck), but was panned in the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. Tarnas featured in the 2006 film '' Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within'', a documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world. In 2007 a group of fifty scholars and researchers in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...
formed the Archetypal Research Collective for pursuing research in archetypal cosmology. An online journal, ''Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology'', edited by Keiron LeGrice and Rod O'Neal, began a year later, based on the research orientation and methodology established in ''Cosmos and Psyche''. Advisory-board members include Christopher Bache, Jorge Ferrer, Stanislav Grof, Robert A. McDermott, Ralph Metzner, and
Brian Swimme Brian Thomas Swimme (born 1950) is a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco, where he teaches evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program. He received his ...
. Contributors have included Keiron Le Grice, Richard Tarnas, Stanislav Grof, and Rod O'Neal. In 2008 Tarnas was invited to address members of the Dutch Parliament about creating a sustainable society. In 2007
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
and Tarnas gave some public lectures together at the Esalen Institute in
Big Sur, California Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California between Carmel Highlands, California, Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the ...
and in Santa Barbara. The lectures discussed regaining a connection to the sacred in the modern world. Cleese and Tarnas then taught a seminar at CIIS called "The Comic Genius: A Multidisciplinary Approach". American Astronaut
Susan Helms Susan Jane Helms (born February 26, 1958) is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general and NASA astronaut. She was the commander, 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic); and commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space at ...
cited Tarnas' ''The Passion of the Western Mind'' as one of the five 'classic American books' that inspired her career as an astronaut.


Bibliography


By Tarnas


Books

* ''LSD psychotherapy, theoretical implications for the study of psychology'', 1976 * ''Birth and rebirth: LSD, psychoanalysis, and spiritual enlightenment''csp.org
* '' The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View'', 1991; Ballantine () * ''Prometheus the Awakener: An Essay on the Archetypal Meaning of the Planet Uranus'', 1995; Spring Publications, Woodstock, CT () * '' Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View'', 2006; Viking ()


Articles

* "Uranus and Prometheus" ''Spring'', 1983 psycnet.apa.org * "The Transfiguration of the Western Mind in Philosophy and the Human Future" ''Cross currents'' , 1989, vol. 39, no3, pp. 258–280 Association for Religion and Intellectual Life, New Rochelle, NY * "The Transfiguration of the Western Mind" ''ReVision'', 1990 * "The Masculine Mind" ''Only Connect: Soil, Soul and Society'', 1990 * "The Western Mind at the Threshold," ''The Quest'', Summer 1993 (also published in ''Re-vision'', Vol. 16, 1993) * "The Western World View: Past, Present And Future" in R. E. Di Carlo (Ed.), ''Towards a New World View: Conversations at the Leading Edge.'', 1996 * "The Great Initiation", ''Noetic Sciences Review'', Vol. 47, Winter 1998 * "A new birth in freedom: A (p)review of Jorge Ferrer's Revisioning transpersonal theory: A participatory vision of human spirituality" ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'', 2001 * R Tarnas, E Laszlo, S Gablik, "The Cosmic World-How We Participate in Thee and Thou in Us" Revision 2001 * Foreword to ''Revisioning Transpersonal Theory'' by Jorge Ferrer, 2002; SUNY * "Two Suitors: A Parable" ''ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness'' 2007 Heldref Publications * "The modern self and our planetary future: a participatory view" ''symposium De Binnenkant van Duurzaamheid'' 2008 * "The Planets" ''Theoretical Foundations of Archetypal Cosmology'', 2009 - archaijournal.org * "The Ideal and the Real" ''Theoretical Foundations of Archetypal Cosmology'' 2009 * "World Transits 2000–2020" archaijournal.org


Video

*


About Tarnas

*Sean M. Kelly, "The Rebirth of Wisdom" Review of ''The Passion of the Western Mind'' by Richard Tarnas ''The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal'' pp. 33–4
jstor.org


See also

* Participatory theory * Hermeticism *
List of American philosophers This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours" , - ! {{MediaWiki:Toc , - , style="text-al ...
*
Postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of modern ...


References


External links


Richard Tarnas
at California Institute of Integral Studies
''Cosmos and Psyche'' website
* California Institute of Integral Studiesbr>graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
* The_Passion_of'',_ch._vi,_section_''The_Postmodern_Mind''.html" ;"title="The Passion of the Western Mind">The Passion of'', ch. vi, section ''The Postmodern Mind''">The Passion of the Western Mind">The Passion of'', ch. vi, section ''The Postmodern Mind''


Articles and interview


Epilogue to ''The Passion of the Western Mind''
An Interview with Richard Tarnas by Scott London
The Enchanted Universe
Interview by Shelley Ackerman,
beliefnet Beliefnet is a lifestyle website featuring editorial content related to the topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, wellness, love and family, news, and entertainment. History Launched in 1999 by Steven Waldman and Robert Nylen, Beliefnet ...

An Interview with Richard Tarnas
by Ray Grasse Reprinted from The Mountain Astrologer, issue #124, Dec/Jan 2006

from Tarnas' ''Prometheus the Awakener''

by Tarnas

CBC program "Tapestry"
"The Intelligent Universe:
Is Nature Trying To Change Our Minds?" by Alice Klein '' Now Magazine'' April 17–24, 2008 Vol 27 No 33 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnas, Richard Living people Writers from Detroit American astrologers American philosophers Harvard University alumni Integral thought 20th-century astrologers 21st-century astrologers University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy alumni American male non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people)