Crenshaw's Books & Decks

Lying with the Heavenly woman is an essay that reflects on the relationships of a man with his outer and inner female using Jungian psychology. The first part is devoted to the feminine elements in a man's psyche in general and the second is devoted to what happens when these elements are distorted, contaminated and mixed together, and how they affect the way a man relates to women in general, and the women in his life in particular.

Johnson has a deep knowledge of Jungian Psychology and mythology, and he uses them in this book to explore the relationship of the male psyche with his inner/outer female. Johnson does a good job at describing the mother complex, the mother archetype, the relationship with the sister and the hetaira, but other times he says obvious things that are of little help or depth, while the concept of anima is barely sketched and not properly explained.

The e-book is very short, barely 100 pages, and it feels more like a collection of hurriedly arranged notes on the topic than a proper book. The writing is less precise and more vague than in other of Johnson's books, some of the punctuation and paragraphs too long and unpolished at times.

There are many pearls of wisdom in this book, but I would go for any of the other books by Johnson on the male and female psyche before buying this one. In other words, I would read He and We first.