About Daniel Deardorff’s The Other Within
The Other Within:
The Genius of Deformity in Myth, Culture and Psyche, 3rd ed.
By Daniel Deardorff
with commentaries by Robert Bly, Martin Shaw, and Robert Simmons
3rd ed.: Published by Inner Traditions.
On Sale Now!
ISBN-13: 9781644115688
The Other Within reveals myth and “otherness” as keys to restoring self, nature, and society.
Having survived disabling polio as an infant, Daniel Deardorff knows well the oppressions of outsiderhood and “otherness.” He guides readers on an initiatory journey through ancient myths, wisdom literature, and personal revelation to discover our own true identity and the wisdom of the “other” within.
The book:
Shows how myths contain medicine to restore wholeness amidst trauma, exile, sudden life change, disability, illness, death, or grief
Synthesizes lessons from shamanic practice, quantum physics, alchemy, soul poetry, wildness, social justice, and the author’s lived experience
Discloses the blessings of outsiderhood and the gifts and insights gained and contributed to culture by those who are marginalized and outcast
Daniel Deardorff (1952-2019)
Songs from The Other Within audiobook
There is an “other” that lives within each of us, an exiled part that carries wisdom so desperately needed for ourselves and the culture at large. Drawing upon 10,000-year-old stories, the wisdom teachings of nearly 100 authors, and his own lived experience, Deardorff gathers insights that release imagination and restore wholeness.
He illustrates how archetypal figures of the Other—the Trickster, Daimon, Not-I, etc.—hold paradox, and teaches us to reframe disparities of self/other, civilization/wilderness, form/deformity and transform the experience of being outcast. Deardorff affirms the disruptive, transgressive, innovative forces that break through dogma, conventionality, and prejudice. He shows how, through myth-making (mythopoeisis), the experience of Otherness—cultural, racial, religious, sexual, physiognomic—can become one of empowerment, a catalyst for human liberation.
Severance between nature and culture, wild and “civilized,” self and other has brought us to the brink of extinction. Deardorff gives us ancient stories known to originate in the great storehouse of the Earth to help us address climate catastrophe and restore our relationships with each other and the Living World.
Author Endorsements
“Daniel Deardorff’s The Other Within is one of the most astonishing, thought-provoking, and strategically subversive books I’ve ever read. It skillfully weaves together thoughts on comparative mythology, depth psychology, and profound musings on disability and art, dancing at the edge of the unsayable to unmake the social structures that oppress us all. Deardorff is an extraordinary guide for an extraordinary journey of soul-making.”
—Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
“...a book to savor....a love song to the Outsider, a paeon to the transformative potential of myth, a profound and generous guidebook for living wholeheartedly in dangerous times.”
—Sharon Blackie, Ph.D., author of If Women Rose Rooted and The Enchanted Life
“The ‘other within’ is uncertain terrain for many, and we need someone to guide us through this labyrinth of the unfamiliar. Daniel Deardorff is that expert guide... essential reading.”
—Clyde W. Ford, author of Of Blood and Sweat and The Hero with an African Face
“This book has tremendous hope in it. It contributes to the hope that the superb work Joseph Campbell did on the written story and Gioia Timpanelli does on the spoken story can be continued. Deardorff carries mysteries into a new place. The place is nourishing, startling, and full of intelligence.”
—Robert Bly, author of Iron John, The Sibling Society and more than a dozen books of poetry
“Daniel Deardorff, himself severely disabled through polio, has used world myths and his own intelligence and sensitivity to explore that tender area between the Other that the world sees and the Other Within, the person we are and can become. Unflinching, sometimes uncomfortable, always brave and provocative, this is a book like no other.” —Ellen Dissanayake, author of Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes from and Why
“To witness Deardorff in action is less storytelling, more an invocation. The precious winter fire, the tip of an owl’s wing, the freshness of tundra snow, all abide directly in the rich seam he draws upon. He has a hard won intelligence that informs, dismays and ultimately inspires the listener about the ragged grandeur of our own lives. The openness of his heart provides a trail for the initiated to travel into the deep magic of myth.”
—Martin Shaw, Ph.D., award winning author of many books, his most recent include Smoke Hole, Courting the Wild Twin & The Night Wages
The Mythsinger Legacy Project is fiscally sponsored by Songwriting Works Educational Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization which Daniel supported as a board member, guest artist and teacher.
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Contact us! We’d love to hear from you: mythsingerlegacy at gmail dot com