Author Guide · Jungian Psychology · Myth & Archetype
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In 1984 a psychiatrist on the clinical faculty of the University of California, San Francisco, published a book that read the myths of the Greek goddesses as patterns of personality in living women. Jean Shinoda Bolen, born in Los Angeles in 1936 to a businessman and a physician, had qualified as a Jungian analyst ten years earlier; Goddesses in Everywoman was reissued for its 20th and 30th anniversaries, and she followed it with a book on the gods in men. Her own site counts more than one hundred foreign editions of her books, which are used as college texts in women’s psychology, mythology and east-west philosophy. This guide covers her fourteen key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 14 key books · 1979–2025 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Jean Shinoda Bolen has written fourteen books, from The Tao of Psychology (1979) to her autobiography Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments (2025). The best known are Goddesses in Everywoman (1984), Gods in Everyman (1989) and Crossing to Avalon (1994). Start with Goddesses in Everywoman; the books after it apply the same archetypes to men, to midlife, to illness and to older women.
Where to Start with Jean Shinoda Bolen
If you want her defining book
→ Goddesses in Everywoman (1984) — Greek goddess myths as patterns in women’s lives.
If you want the same approach applied to men
→ Gods in Everyman (1989) — the Greek gods as models for men’s lives.
If you want a midlife journey to sacred places
→ Crossing to Avalon (1994) — a pilgrimage to Chartres, Glastonbury and Iona.
If you want Jung and the Tao
→ The Tao of Psychology (1979) — her first book, on synchronicity.
14 Jean Shinoda Bolen Books, in Order
The Tao of Psychology
Her first book explores links between Taoist philosophy and Carl Jung’s idea of synchronicity. A reviewer in the Antioch Review wrote that it helps readers understand unusual experiences and “see them as more than coincidence”. Harper published it in 1979, and a 25th-anniversary edition followed in 2004.
Goddesses in Everywoman
Bolen uses the myths of the Greek goddesses to describe patterns of personality in women, each goddess standing for a different way of living and loving. Harper & Row published it in 1984. The 20th-anniversary edition of 2004 carries the subtitle Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives, and a 30th-anniversary edition followed in 2014.
Gods in Everyman
The follow-up to Goddesses in Everywoman, aimed at men: it takes the Olympian gods of Greek myth as models for patterns of male behaviour. The reviewer John Lash found it at times simplistic but wrote that she “is gifted with the ability to make what she knows accessible to everyone”. A 25th-anniversary edition appeared in 2014 as Gods in Everyman: Archetypes that Shape Men’s Lives.
Ring of Power
A Jungian reading of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle, published by HarperSanFrancisco in 1992. Its subtitle names its three themes: the abandoned child, the authoritarian father and the disempowered feminine. A 1999 edition reframed it as Symbols and Themes, Love vs. Power in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and in Us: A Jungian-Feminist Perspective.
Crossing to Avalon
Built as a pilgrimage to sacred sites such as Chartres, Glastonbury and Iona, which Bolen connects to earth-based beliefs, the book asks women in midlife to be patient with themselves and to find new meaning. The reviewer Andrea DuFlon praised its blend of “myth, metaphor, and personal story”. Later editions carry the subtitle A Woman’s Midlife Quest for the Sacred Feminine.
Close to the Bone
A book on the crisis that serious illness brings, drawing on Greek myth to show how facing it can deepen spiritual understanding and clarify what matters. It touches on several diseases but focuses on cancer, especially as it affects women. Scribner published it in 1996; a revised edition with the subtitle Life-Threatening Illness as a Soul Journey followed in 2007.
The Millionth Circle
A short guide to women’s circles, published by Conari Press in 1999 with the further subtitle The Essential Guide to Women’s Circles. Its title gave its name to The Millionth Circle, one of the organisations she represents at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Goddesses in Older Women
It reuses the format of Goddesses in Everywoman for women over fifty and argues for greater respect for older women. Beyond Greek myth it draws on the maiden, mother and crone pattern found in many cultures and on Asian and Egyptian archetypes. HarperCollins published it in 2001.
Crones Don’t Whine
A short book of about 128 pages, published by Conari Press in 2003. Bolen argues that older women should stand up for their rights, wants and desires rather than complain.
Urgent Message from Mother
Bolen frames the book as “an urgent message from Mother to her Daughters”: a call for a third women’s movement, after the suffragists and the movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Conari Press published it in 2005.
Like a Tree
Published by Red Wheel/Conari in 2011. As its subtitle says, it links trees, women and “tree people” to the future of the planet.
Moving Toward the Millionth Circle
A follow-up in title to The Millionth Circle (1999), published by Red Wheel/Conari in 2013 with the subtitle Energizing the Global Women’s Movement.
Artemis
A whole book on a single goddess: Bolen explores the Greek myth of Artemis and of her mortal counterpart, the huntress Atalanta, and connects their qualities to modern women. Conari published it in 2014, the same year as the 30th-anniversary edition of Goddesses in Everywoman.
Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments
Her autobiography, published by Chiron Publications in March 2025, a book of 318 pages.
In What Order to Read Jean Shinoda Bolen
Her books stand alone, but they fall into clear groups. Goddesses in Everywoman (1984) sets out the method; Gods in Everyman (1989), Goddesses in Older Women (2001) and Artemis (2014) apply it to men, to later life and to a single goddess. Reading Goddesses in Everywoman first makes the others easier to follow.
A second group is personal and spiritual: The Tao of Psychology (1979), Crossing to Avalon (1994) and Close to the Bone (1996). A third is activist, from The Millionth Circle (1999) to Moving Toward the Millionth Circle (2013). Her 2025 autobiography is best kept for last, when the books it looks back on are familiar.
A reading path
1. Goddesses in Everywoman (1984)
2. Gods in Everyman (1989)
3. Crossing to Avalon (1994)
4. The Tao of Psychology (1979)
5. Goddesses in Older Women (2001)
6. Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments (2025)
Everything Else Jean Shinoda Bolen Published
Beyond the 14 key books: 1 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Audio
1
1 book · 1991
- 1991Wisewoman Archetype: Menopause as Initiationaudiotape, Sounds True
The years · 1936–2025
Quick facts about Jean Shinoda Bolen
- Known for
- Jean Shinoda Bolen is known for reading the gods and goddesses of Greek myth as Jungian archetypes, patterns of personality that she traces in the lives of ordinary women and men.
- 1936
- Born in Los Angeles
- 1974
- Certified as a Jungian analyst
- 2025
- Publishes her autobiography
- Born
- 29 June 1936, Los Angeles, to Joseph Shinoda, a businessman, and Megumi Shinoda, a physician
- Education
- BA, University of California, Berkeley, 1958; MD, University of California, San Francisco, 1962
- Training
- Psychiatry residency at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute; certified Jungian analyst, C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, 1974
- Taught
- UCSF faculty, 1967–2010; clinical professor of psychiatry
- Activism
- Founded and co-chaired Psychiatrists for ERA; NGO representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women
- Honours
- Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
The red mark is 1984: Goddesses in Everywoman, the book that set out her reading of Greek myth as women’s psychology.
How Jean Shinoda Bolen Writes: Myth as a Map of Personality
Her central move is to take a figure from Greek myth and treat it as an archetype, a pattern a reader can recognise in her own life or in people she knows. Goddesses in Everywoman does this for women, Gods in Everyman for men, and Artemis for a single goddess and her mortal counterpart Atalanta. She weighs the archetypes against family and culture, and her work keeps returning to the search for meaning and the need for a spiritual dimension in life.
She writes as a psychiatrist with clinical training rather than as a scholar of myth, and reviewers have noted both sides of that: John Lash found Gods in Everyman at times simplistic but praised how accessible she makes what she knows. Several books are personal: Crossing to Avalon follows her own pilgrimage, and a reviewer singled out its mix of “myth, metaphor, and personal story”. From 1999 her books turn outward, to women’s circles, the women’s movement and trees.
Her first book is where she comes closest to the non-duality thread of this site. The Tao of Psychology sets Jung’s idea of synchronicity beside Taoist philosophy and reads unusual coincidences as signs of a connection between inner and outer life rather than chance. She remains a Jungian analyst, not a non-duality teacher. For the source of her framework, see Books by Carl Jung.
Watch
Jean Shinoda Bolen in Conversation with Tami Simon
Sounds True founder Tami Simon talks with Jean Shinoda Bolen about her years as a writer, teacher and activist on the Insights at the Edge podcast, posted in May 2022. From the official Sounds True channel.
Frequently asked questions about Jean Shinoda Bolen’s books
How many books has Jean Shinoda Bolen written?
Fourteen: thirteen books between The Tao of Psychology (1979) and Artemis (2014), and her autobiography Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments (2025). She has also released recorded talks, such as Wisewoman Archetype: Menopause as Initiation (1991).
What are Jean Shinoda Bolen’s books in order?
The Tao of Psychology (1979), Goddesses in Everywoman (1984), Gods in Everyman (1989), Ring of Power (1992), Crossing to Avalon (1994), Close to the Bone (1996), The Millionth Circle (1999), Goddesses in Older Women (2001), Crones Don’t Whine (2003), Urgent Message from Mother (2005), Like a Tree (2011), Moving Toward the Millionth Circle (2013), Artemis (2014) and Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments (2025).
Where should I start with Jean Shinoda Bolen?
With Goddesses in Everywoman (1984), which sets out the method her later books build on. If you are more interested in her spiritual side, Crossing to Avalon (1994) or The Tao of Psychology (1979) are good alternatives.
What is Jean Shinoda Bolen’s most famous book?
Goddesses in Everywoman (1984), which uses the myths of the Greek goddesses to describe patterns of personality in women. It was reissued in 20th- and 30th-anniversary editions in 2004 and 2014.
Is there a version of Goddesses in Everywoman for men?
Yes: Gods in Everyman (1989), which takes the Olympian gods as models for patterns in men’s lives. Its 25th-anniversary edition of 2014 is subtitled Archetypes that Shape Men’s Lives.
Is Jean Shinoda Bolen a Jungian analyst?
Yes, and a psychiatrist. She earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, in 1962, trained at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and was certified as a Jungian analyst in 1974. She taught at UCSF from 1967 to 2010.
What is the Millionth Circle?
The title of her 1999 guide to women’s circles, and the name of an initiative she represents at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She returned to the idea in Moving Toward the Millionth Circle (2013).
Has Jean Shinoda Bolen written an autobiography?
Yes. Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments: Autobiographical, Historical, Spiritual, Psychological & Political was published by Chiron Publications in March 2025.
What is the link between Jean Shinoda Bolen and non-duality?
An indirect one. Her first book, The Tao of Psychology (1979), connects Jung’s idea of synchronicity with Taoist philosophy and treats meaningful coincidences as more than chance. She writes as a Jungian analyst, not as a non-duality teacher.
Footnotes
- About Jean — Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.
- Bolen, Jean Shinoda 1936– — Encyclopedia.com
- Jean Shinoda Bolen — Spirituality & Practice
- Jean Shinoda Bolen — Publishers Weekly
- New Book Releases — Local News Matters, 2025
- A Favorite Quote from a New Dimensions Guest — New Dimensions, 2025
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“They are like a dandelion whose seeds are blowing across the planet.”
— Jean Shinoda Bolen on her books, Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments (2025)
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