The Meeting with the Goddess

About the Book

In the wake of true love’s death, a gateway to grace is discovered. A unique blend of memoir, psychology, spirituality, and cutting-edge neuroscience, The Meeting with the Goddess is the story of a boy’s journey toward adulthood through the universal experience of hopeless love and the torment of its desperate loss. Part One, Stories of Experience, is the universal and tender story of a boy’s first encounter with love. As two young lovers fight through time, distance, and family to be together, the story breaks to explore how the brain was formed and functions, modern theories of consciousness and neuroscience, and how the mind creates and lives in narrative. As their love matures and grows into adulthood, Hanson also discusses how symbols, language, and metaphor pervade our lives. Part two, Stories of Imagination, sees the rending of a relationship and the desperate quest to regain it. Here, an investigation of spiritual doctrine begins, tapping the waters of countless stories and myths to reveal the nature of memory, mourning, heroism, discipline, and others. As the quest comes to its conclusion, and at the precipice of love regained and triumphant, the ultimate psychological wounding comes in the surprise of a lifetime. Part three, Stories of Integration, sees the boy mature into a man, as he picks up the pieces of his broken life and discovers the true nature of friendship, kinship, sacrifice, and love. Here are explorations of the different kinds of love, the destructive nature of depression and loneliness, and the incredible power of the human imagination. As the story meets its climax, what appears to be descent into ultimate sadness (and madness) is redeemed as a man becomes a hero in the ultimate act of sacrifice in the name of love. At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Hanson’s incredible story reveals the grace of healing made possible when we reflect our own lives against the universal human story in the quest to recover meaning and purpose.

About the Author

Michael J. Hanson’s career has spanned depth psychology and the poetics of myth to behavioral finance and asset management. He’s lectured at the University of California at Berkeley on topics in money management, and is currently a PhD candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Michael’s poetry, articles, reviews, and essays have appeared in numerous publications, and he speaks regularly to audiences throughout the country on a variety of topics. He lives in San Francisco.