The Bill Plotkin Soul Initiation book — full title The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries — maps a spiritual adventure most of the modern world has forgotten, or never discovered in the first place: the descent to soul.
Published by New World Library in January 2021, this 464-page field guide comes from ecopsychologist Bill Plotkin, who has spent over four decades guiding people through nature-based rites of passage. It’s not a light read or a quick self-help formula — it’s a detailed map for a genuine inner descent, built from the real experiences of thousands of people Plotkin has guided directly.
About the Bill Plotkin Soul Initiation Book
Plotkin lays out soul initiation in distinct phases: the dissolution of one’s current identity, an encounter with the mythopoetic mysteries of soul, and the eventual metamorphosis of the ego into what he calls a “cocreator of life-enhancing culture.” Throughout, he weaves in an in-depth exploration of Carl Jung’s Red Book, using it as a companion map for the same territory.
Author Derrick Jensen described the book’s guidance as gentle, informed, and quietly powerful — a rare combination for a work this ambitious in scope.
What You’ll Learn
- A phase-by-phase framework for the descent to soul, grounded in real case stories rather than abstract theory
- How Carl Jung’s own descent, documented in the Red Book, maps onto the five phases of soul initiation
- Practical language and structure for a stage of psycho-spiritual development that Western culture rarely names, let alone guides
- How Plotkin’s three earlier books (on soulcraft, nature, and the human psyche) integrate into one unified field guide
Who This Book Is For
This is a serious companion for practitioners, guides, and anyone already deep in their own initiatory work — not a casual introduction to shamanic or spiritual concepts. It rewards readers who are ready to sit with difficult, disorienting material rather than looking for quick reassurance. Practitioners who already work with rites of passage, vision quests, or depth psychology will find a rigorous framework they can bring directly into their own practice.
About the Author
Bill Plotkin, PhD, is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and founder of the Animas Valley Institute in southwest Colorado, where he has guided people through nature-based initiatory passages since 1980, including a contemporary Western adaptation of the pan-cultural vision fast. He is the author of several earlier books, including Soulcraft and Nature and the Human Soul, both widely referenced in ecopsychology and depth-psychology circles.
Explore More Selections of the Month
Browse more picks in our
Selection of the Month archive,
or return to the
Shaman Portal homepage.
