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Spiritual Hunger:

160 pages

From daily activities such as work and eating to milestones such as graduation and marriage, this discussion debates the myths that guide lifestyles and questions why they exist in the first place. Each belief is broken down and examined in terms of how it works, exposing its true nature so that its value and necessity in culture as well as the way it operates can be determined.

This unique self-help guide demonstrates how to reinvent old, outdated rituals; get rid of those rites that are entirely ineffective; and create new habits that provide a deeper meaning to everyday life. A gateway to finding a better understanding of what contributes to healthier relationships, this guide to rituals paves the way to sustaining a fulfilling and happy life.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments   9
PART I   Spiritual Hunger:  What It Is, How It Works, And Why We Need Myths
   1.   Ritual as a Way of Making Meaning   12
   2.   The Nature of Spiritual Hunger   14
   3.   Rituals and Myths That Have Lost Their Power   22
   4.   So What Do We Do?  One Size Does Not Fit All   27
PART II   The Advantages of Ritual: Learning to Listen to Your Heart
   5.   The Nature of Ritual and Myth   33
   6.   Myth Doesn't Have to Be True to Reveal Truth   40
   7.   How Ritual Can Put Us In Touch With the Present   46
PART III   How To See Beneath The Surface:
                 Some Practical Examples of Rituals And Myths in Action
   8.   The Mythic Landscape:  The World Is Our Sacred Dwelling Place
   9.   The Palio di Siena:  A Ritual of Social Competition   59
  10.  Dangerous Myths:  Gun Ownership and War   62
  11.  Ritual Occasions That Have Changed Their Emphasis:
         Childbirth   71
  12.  Myth is Everywhere - If You Look For It   75
PART IV   We Need Myths, But How Can We Choose Productive Myths?
                  Some Practical Guidelines
  13.  Bogus Myths and How to Identify Them   80
  14.  What Do Myth and Ritual Supply?   84
  15.  Some Devalued Rituals:  Jury, Duty, The Drinking Age   90
  16.  A Ritual We All Think We Know:  Graduation   96
  17.  A Ritual That Has Endured:  Marriage   99
  18.  The Rold of the Unconscious in Ritual Actions
          - The Mute Message of Funerals   102
PART V   The Cost of Not Embracing The Mythic Aspects of Life
  19.   What We Can Expect in a World of Weak Myths   110
  20.   A World Without Coherent Rituals and Myths: Boredom   118
 PART VI   Everyday Myth:  Finding Soul Sustenance To Get You Through
                   Each Day
  21.   Work:  Burden or Ritual Opportunity?   122
  22.   What Sorts of Myths Do We Need?   126
  23.   Rituals of Food:  Dietary Norms and Structures   132
  24.   Underappreciated Rituals - Cars, and Kitchens: 
           Establishing Our Ritual Space   135
  25.   A Theory of Ritual and Myth:  Choosing the Way Forward   143
  26.   Ritual in the Activity That Makes us Human: 
           A Primary Structure of the Psyche   150
PART VII   Conclusion
  27.   What it all Means:
           Myth and Ritual and the Six Archetypes   154
Notes   165
Bibliography   170

About the author:
Allan G. Hunter, Ph.D. was born in England in 1955 and completed all his degrees at Oxford University, emerging with a doctorate in English Literature in 1983.  For the past twenty years he has been a professor at Curry College in Massachusetts, and a therapist.  He has authored many books.

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